| Priconodon Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 113 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ | |
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| Priconodon tooth in multiple views | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Thyreophora |
| Clade: | †Ankylosauria |
| Family: | †Nodosauridae |
| Genus: | †Priconodon |
| Species: | †P. crassus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Priconodon crassus Marsh, 1888 | |
Priconodon (meaning "saw cone tooth") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur (perhaps nodosaurid), mainly known from its large teeth. Its remains have been found in the Aptian-Albian age Lower Cretaceous Arundel Formation of Muirkirk, Prince George's County, Maryland, USA and the Potomac Group, also located in Maryland. As an ankylosaur, Priconodon would have been a large armored quadrupedal herbivore, though no size estimation has been done due to the scarcity of described remains.
History of discovery
O. C. Marsh named the genus for USNM 2135, a large worn tooth from what was then called the Potomac Formation. As ankylosaurians were by and large unknown at the time, he compared it to Diracodon (=Stegosaurus) teeth. It was not identified as an ankylosaurian until Walter Coombs assigned it to Nodosauridae in 1978.
In 1998 Kenneth Carpenter and James Kirkland, in a review of North American Lower Cretaceous ankylosaurs, considered it tentatively valid as an unusually large nodosaurid, larger than all those described before. Carpenter (2001) retained it as a valid nodosaurid, but did not employ it in his phylogenetic analysis. Vickaryous et al. (2004), in a review of armored dinosaurs, considered it to be dubious without comment. West and Tibert, however, followed this with a preliminary account of a morphometric study that found it to be a unique genus.
Additional specimens
Carpenter and Kirkland (1998) listed 12 additional teeth from the same area as the holotype tooth, and tentatively added a robust tibia (USNM 9154) to the genus. They found the lack of armor found in the Arundel to be peculiar, but noted that fossils are rare in that formation anyway. In 2018, three new ankylosaur teeth described from the Potomac Formation were assigned to Priconodon crassus based on their similarity to the holotype. In 2023, large ankylosaur fossils (including a vertebra and a osteroderms) were announced to be found at Dinosaur Park by John-Paul Hodnett, which may potentially represent additional specimens of Priconodon.
See also
References
- "Untitled Document".
- Marsh, O.C. (1888). Notice of a new genus of Sauropoda and other new dinosaurs from the Potomac Formation. American Journal of Science 135:89-94.
- Coombs, Jr., W.P. (1978). The families of the ornithischian dinosaur order Ankylosauria. Palaeontology 21(1):143-170.
- ^ Carpenter, K., and Kirkland, J.I. (1998). Review of Lower and middle Cretaceous ankylosaurs from North America. In: Lucas, S.G., Kirkland, J.I., and Estep, J.W. (eds.). Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 14:249-270.
- Carpenter, K. (2001). Phylogenetic analysis of the Ankylosauria. In: Carpenter, K. (ed.). The Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press:Bloomington 455-483. ISBN 0-253-33964-2
- Vickaryous, M.K., Maryańska, T., and Weishampel, D.B., (2004). Ankylosauria. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press:Berkeley 363-392. ISBN 0-520-24209-2
- "West, A. and Tibert, N. (2004). Quantitative analysis for the type material of Priconodon crassus: a distinct taxon from the Arundel Formation in southern Maryland. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 36(5):423". Archived from the original on 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
- Joseph A. Frederickson; Thomas R. Lipka; Richard L. Cifelli (2018). "Faunal composition and paleoenvironment of the Arundel Clay (Potomac Formation; Early Cretaceous), Maryland, USA". Palaeontologia Electronica. 21 (2): Article number 21.2.31A. doi:10.26879/847.
- Domen, John (2023-07-12). "Dinosaur Park in Laurel reveal the largest theropod fossil in Eastern North America". WTOP News. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
- Reed, Lillian (2023-07-12). "Maryland before time: Rare dinosaur bone bed uncovered in Prince George's County". The Baltimore Banner. Archived from the original on 2023-07-13.
- Dipiazza, Chris (2023-07-17). "Prehistoric Beast of the Week: Maryland Dinosaurs: Major Discovery!". Prehistoric Beast of the Week. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
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| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Priconodon crassus | |