Rhabdodon

Rhabdodon; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
	Rhabdodon priscus fossils in place on a skeletal restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Suborder:	Cerapoda
Infraorder:	Ornithopoda
Family:	Rhabdodontidae
Genus:	Rhabdodon; Matheron, 1869
Species
	R. priscus Matheron, 1869 (type); R. septimanicus Buffetaut & Le Loeuff, 1991;

Rhabdodon (meaning "fluted tooth") is a genus of dinosaur that lived in Europe approximately 70 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous. It is unclear whether it was an iguanodont or a hypsilophodont, and may be a "missing link" between the two. Current evidence indicates it is an iguanodont similar to Tenontosaurus. Rhabdodon priscus is the type species; another species, described in 1991, is R. septimanicus (Buffetaut and Le Loeuff), but these may be the same animal. Rhabdodon lived in Spain, France, and on Haţeg Island in Romania. Remains of very similar dinosaur (femur and limb bone fragments) are also known from the Czech Republic^[1]. It was smaller than its relatives, possibly due to the insular environment that existed in Europe during the Cretaceous period.

In popular culture

Rhabdodon was featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel Series Dinosaur Planet, but was referred to as "Dwarf Iguanodon".

References

^ http://dinosaurus.bloguje.cz/748912-prvni-kosterni-pozustatky-dinosaura-v-cr.php

Brinkmann, W., 1986. Rhabdodon Matheron, 1869 (Reptilia, Ornithischia): Proposed conservation by suppression of Rhabdodon Fleischmann, 1831 (Reptilia, Serpentes). Case 2536. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 43: 269-272.
ICZN, 1988. Opinion 1483. Rhabdodon Matheron, 1869 (Reptilia, Ornithischia): Conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 45: 85-86.
Thescelosaurus! on Rhabdodon

This dinosaur-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1]