Alocodon
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Extinct (fossil)
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Alocodon kuehnei |
Alocodon (a-LOK-o-don) is the name given to a genus of dinosaur discovered by Thulborn in 1973, whose Greek components, alox and odon mean respectively, 'furrow' and 'tooth'. It had small ornithopod-like teeth with vertical grooves. This animal is only known from these teeth, and is usually considered a nomen dubium.
The type species is Alocodon kuehnei, the specific epithet honoring the German paleontologist Kühne. Though at first is was considered a hypsilophodontid, Paul Sereno (1991) regarded A. kuehnei as an Ornithischia incertae sedis. Further studies indicate this species as a probable thyreophoran. This genus of dinosaur lived in the Middle Jurassic of what is now Portugal.