Trachodon

Taxobox
name = "Trachodon"
fossil_range = Upper Cretaceous


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Ornithischia
familia = Hadrosauridae
subfamilia = ?Lambeosaurinae
genus = "Trachodon"
genus_authority=Leidy, 1856
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"T. mirabilis" Leidy, 1856 (type) ("nomen dubium")

"Trachodon" (meaning "rough tooth") is a dubious genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur based on teeth from the Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana, U.S.A.Leidy, J. (1856). Notice of remains of extinct reptiles and fishes, discovered by Dr. F. V. Hayden in the Bad Lands of the Judith River, Nebraska Territories. "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science Philadelphia" 8:72-73.] It is a historically-important genus with a convoluted taxonomy that has been all but abandoned by modern dinosaur paleontologists.Creisler, B.S. (2007). Deciphering duckbills. in: K. Carpenter (ed.), "Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs". Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 185-210. ISBN 0-253-34817-X]

Interestingly, despite being used for decades as the iconic duckbill dinosaur per antonomasia (see [http://rubberdinosaurs.com/marx-tracho.htm here] for a brief discussion on its use in toys and popular culture), the material it is based on is composed of teeth from both duckbills and ceratopsids (their teeth have a distinctive double rootHatcher, J.B., Marsh, O.C. and Lull, R.S. (1907). "The Ceratopsia". Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 300 pp. ISBN 0405127138] ), and its describer, Joseph Leidy, came to recognize the difference and suggested limiting the genus to what would now be seen as ceratopsid teeth. Restricted to the duckbill teeth, it may have been a lambeosaurine.Sternberg, C.M. (1936). The systematic position of "Trachodon". "Journal of Paleontology" 10(7):652-655.]

History and taxonomy

In 1856, Joseph Leidy received fragmentary remains from the Judith River Formation, collected by Ferdinand V. Hayden. From these bones, he provided the first names for North American dinosaurs: "Deinodon", "Palaeoscincus", "Trachodon", and "Troodon" (then spelled "Troödon"), the latter of which being the only name still in use. "Trachodon" was based on ANSP 9260, seven unassociated teeth, one of which had double roots. With better remains from "Hadrosaurus", he began to reconsider his taxonomy, and suggested, at least informally, that "Trachodon" should refer to the double-rooted tooth, and the other teeth should be referred to "Hadrosaurus".Leidy, J. (1868). Remarks on a jaw fragment of "Megalosaurus". "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science Philadelphia" 20:197-200.] In the Bone Wars that followed, and their wake, the taxonomy of "Trachodon" and its relatives became increasingly confusing, with one author going so far as to sink all known hadrosaur species into "Trachodon" except for "Claosaurus agilis",Hatcher, J.B. (1902). The genus and species of the Trachodontidae (Hadrosauridae, Claosauridae) Marsh. "Annals of the Carnegie Museum 14(1):377-386.] but as new material was described from the Rocky Mountain region, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, later authors began progressively restricting the reach of this genus.Gilmore, C.W. (1915). On the genus "Trachodon". "Science" 41:658-660.]

By 1942, and the publication of the influential Lull-Wright monograph on duckbills, its holotype was regarded as "typical of all the genera of hadrosaurian dinosaur", except for the roughened margin that gave it its name, and which they regarded as due to the tooth having not been used (p. 149).Lull, R.S., and Wright, N.E. (1942). Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America. "Geological Society of America Special Paper 40":1-242.] The name is no longer in use, except in historical discussions, and is considered a "nomen dubium".Coombs, Jr., W.P. (1988). The status of the dinosaurian genus "Diclonius" and the taxonomic utility of hadrosaurian teeth. "Journal of Paleontology" 62:812-818.] Weishampel, D.B., and Horner, J.R. (1990). Hadrosauridae. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). "The Dinosauria." University of California Press:Berkeley, 534-561. ISBN 0-520-24209-2] Horner, J.R., Weishampel, D.B., and Forster, C.A. (2004). Hadrosauridae. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). "The Dinosauria (second edition)". University of California Press:Berkeley, 438-463. ISBN 0-520-06727-4]

pecies

Numerous species have been referred to this genus, mostly before World War I. Only those which were originally named as a species of "Trachodon" will be considered here.

Type species: "T. mirabilis" Leidy, 1856

Other species:
*"T." ("Pteropelyx") "altidens" ("nomen dubium") Lambe, 1902Lambe, L.M. (1902). On Vertebrata of the mid-Cretaceous of the Northwest Territory. 2. New genera and species from the Belly River Series (mid-Cretaceous). "Contributions to Canadian Paleontology" 3:25-81.] (based on NMC 1092, a left maxilla with teeth, from the late Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada; regarded by Lull and Wright as a species of "Procheneosaurus", so probably a juvenile lambeosaurine of some sort. It is also known as "Didanodon altidens" Osborn, 1902,cite journal |last=Osborn |first=Henry Fairfield |authorlink=Henry Fairfield Osborn |year=1902 |title=Distinctive characters of the mid-Cretaceous fauna. 1. New genera and species from the Belly River Series (mid-Cretaceous) |journal=Contributions to Canadian Paleontology |volume=3 |pages=1–21 ] which seems to predate Lambe's version, but has been essentially forgotten.)
*"T. amurense" Riabinin, 1925Riabinin, A.N. (1925). A mounted skeleton of the gigantic reptile "Trachodon amurense", nov. sp. "Izvest. Geol. Kom." 44(1):1-12. [Russian] ] (based on IVP AS collection, a partial skeleton from Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Amur River banks of Heilongjiang, Manchuria, China, amended to "T. amurensis" and now the type species of "Mandschurosaurus")Riabinin, A.N. (1930). "Mandschurosaurus amurensis", nov. gen., nov. sp., a hadrosaurian dinoasur from the Upper Cretaceous of Amur River. "Mémoir II, Société Paléontologique de Russie." [Russian] ]
*"T. atavus" ("nomen dubium") Cope, 1871Cope, E.D. (1871). Supplement to the synopsis of the extinct Batrachia and Reptilia of North America. "American Philosophical Society, Proceedings" 12(86):41-52.] (usually regarded as a specimen of "Edmontosaurus regalis", although it predates that species by many years and would have taxonomic priority)
*"T. cantabrigiensis" ("nomen dubium") Lydekker, 1888Lydekker, R. (1888). Note on a new Wealden iguanodont and other dinosaurs. "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London" 44:46-61.] (based on BMNH R.496, a dentary tooth from the late Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Cambridge Greensand, Cambridgeshire, England, regarded as a dubious early hadrosaurid)
*"T. longiceps" ("nomen dubium") Marsh, 1897Marsh, O.C. (1897). Vertebrate fossils of the Denver Basin. "U.S. Geological Survey, Monthly" 27:473-527.] (based on YPM 616, a large right dentary with teeth from the late Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming, U.S.A., later assigned to "Anatotitan")
*"T." ("Pteropelyx") "marginatus" ("nomen dubium") Lambe, 1902 (based on ROM 1218, disassociated postcranial material; a chimera including material later named "Stephanosaurus marginatus"Lambe, L.M. (1914). On a new genus and species of carnivorous dinosaur from the Belly River Formation of Alberta, with a description of the skull of "Stephanosaurus marginatus" from the same horizon. "Ottawa Naturalist" 28:13-20.] and then assigned to "Lambeosaurus lambei",Parks, W.A. (1923). "Corythosaurus intermedius", a new species of trachodont dinosaur. "University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series". 15:1-57] C. W. Gilmore. 1924. On the genus "Stephanosaurus", with a description of the type specimen of "Lambeosaurus lambei", Parks. "Canada Department of Mines Geological Survey Bulletin (Geological Series)" 38(43):29-48.] and other material sometimes referred to "Kritosaurus marginatus", which is not supported by later reviews.)
*"T." ("Pteropelyx") "selwyni" ("nomen dubium") Lambe, 1902 (based on NMC 290, a dentary with teeth, from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta; too fragmentary to assign beyond Hadrosauridae)

Paleobiology

As a hadrosaurid, "Trachodon" would have been a large, bipedal/quadrupedal herbivore.

References

External links

* [http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/misc/trachodon.html Whatever happened to "Trachodon"?]
* [http://rubberdinosaurs.com/marx-tracho.htm "Trachodon" as a toy and in pop culture]