Rhabdodon

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Rhabdodon
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous

Rhabdodon priscus

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. It was smaller than its relatives, possibly due to the insular environment that existed in Europe during the Cretaceous period.

[edit] References

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