''Craspedodon'' (meaning 'edge tooth') is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

ornithischian Ornithischia () is an extinct clade of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek st ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

Lonzée Member of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Only a single species, ''C. lonzeensis'', is known.

Discovery and naming

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

Belgian paleontologist

Louis Dollo Louis Antoine Marie Joseph Dollo (; 7 December 1857 – 19 April 1931) was a Belgian palaeontologist, known for his work on dinosaurs. He also posited that evolution is not reversible, known as Dollo's law. Together with the Austrian Othenio Ab ...

described the fauna found in the

of Belgium near

Lonzée Lonzée (; ) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Gembloux, located in the province of Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. It was a municipality in its own right until the fusion of the Belgian municipalities i ...

, naming the theropod species '' Megalosaurus lonzeensis'' and the new herbivorous dinosaur ''Craspedodon lonzeensis''. Dollo identified ''Craspedodon'' from three teeth in the collections of the

Museum of Natural Sciences The Museum of Natural Sciences (, ; , ) is a Brussels museum dedicated to natural history. It is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (; ), itself part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSP ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, from the Lonzée Member, finding the most similarities with species of ''

Iguanodon ''Iguanodon'' ( ; meaning 'iguana-tooth'), named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus ''Iguanodon'', dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, Taxonomy (bi ...

'' amongst ornithischians. The

genus name Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial spec ...

is a reference to the strong ridges that cross the teeth, while the

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

is a reference to the locality where it was found. Dollo specified the Lonzée Member as being middle Senonian in age, which is now understood to be

Coniacian The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series and spans the time between 89.8 ± 1 Ma and 86.3 ± 0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Coniacian is preceded by ...

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya ( million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 m ...

. Since its description, ''Craspedodon'' was considered an

ornithopod Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (). They represent one of the most successful groups of herbivorous dinosaurs during the Cretaceous. The most primitive members of the group were bipedal and relatively sm ...

following the relationship with ''Iguanodon'' suggested by Dollo, but this was revisited in 2007 by Belgian paleontologists Pascal Godefroit and Olivier Lambert. Godefroit and Lambert identified that the three teeth described by Dollo are IRSNB R57, R58 and R59, and rather than being an ornithopod, are actually some of the earliest evidence of

Neoceratopsia Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Late Ju ...

from Europe. They were unable to determine whether ''Craspedodon'' was a diagnostic taxon or a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

'', identifying some features that suggest separation but also noting that tooth anatomy is to poorly understood to be definitive.

Classification

''Craspedodon'' was long thought to be an

iguanodontia Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (). They represent one of the most successful groups of herbivorous dinosaurs during the Cretaceous. The most primitive members of the group were bipedal and relatively sm ...

n, but Godefroit & Lambert (2007) suggested that it was actually a

neoceratopsian Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Late Ju ...

, perhaps closer to Ceratopsoidea than

Protoceratopsidae Protoceratopsidae is a family of basal (primitive) ceratopsians from the Late Cretaceous period. Although ceratopsians have been found all over the world, protoceratopsids are only definitively known from Cretaceous strata in Asia, with most spec ...

. If the reidentification is correct, ''Craspedodon'' would be the first neoceratopsian known from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. However, the describers of ''

Ajkaceratops ''Ajkaceratops'' (pronounced "oi-ka-sera-tops") is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur described in 2010. It lived during the Late Cretaceous in the western Tethys Ocean, Tethyan archipelago, in what is now Europe. The type species, ''A. kozmai'', ...

'' noted that ''Craspedodon'' might instead represent a hadrosauroid

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1657542 Ceratopsia Dinosaur genera Coniacian dinosaurs Santonian dinosaurs Taxa named by Louis Dollo Fossil taxa described in 1883 Dinosaurs of Europe