- Apatodon
"Apatodon" ("Apatodon mirus") (
Othniel Charles Marsh (1877 ) is not considered a valid scientific name (i.e. it is a "nomen dubium ").When Marsh named it, he thought it was a
jaw with atooth from aMesozoic pig , but it was soon shown that the specimen was an erodedvertebra , from adinosaur possibly from theMorrison Formation of theRocky Mountain region (theprovenance data was unclear). Marsh had misidentified the neural spine as the tooth of apig -like animal (Baur, 1890).The only recovered specimen is not regarded as sufficient to identify a particular species of
dinosaur . However, it is now considered by some authors (George Olshevsky in particular) likely to have been from "Allosaurus fragilis".The issue is now beyond resolution; however, as the type bone fragment has been lost.
The name was derived from Greek: απατη ("trick", "deceit") and οδους (
genitive οδοντος) ("tooth ", in reference to its original, incorrect identification).References
*Baur, G. 1890. A review of the charges against the paleontological department of the U.S. Geological Survey and of the defense made by Prof. O.C. Marsh. "American Naturalist" 24:288-204.
* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5a7ec21.htm The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia]
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