Paranthodon
Encyclopedia
Paranthodon was a dinosaur
from the early Cretaceous
. It lived in what is now South Africa
. It is classified as a stegosaur. It has a long and confusing history. The type species
, Paranthodon africanus, comes from a partial skull first described as Palaeoscincus africanus in 1912. It was renamed as Paranthodon in 1929 by the famed Franz Nopcsa
. It owes its name to the fact that its jaw was found near the fossils of a Permian
pareiasaur
named Anthodon.
In 1845 amateur geologists William Guybon Atherstone
and Andrew Geddes Bain
near Dassieklip, Cape Province
, in the valley of the Bushmans River found a number of fossils. Bain in 1849 and 1853 sent some to the British paleontologist Richard Owen
for identification. Among them was the upper jaw of what Bain thought was a dinosaur that he informally had indicated as the "Cape Iguanodon"; the site likewise was named "Iguanodonhoek". In 1857 Atherstone published about the find, but in 1871 lamented that it as yet had received no attention in London. Only in 1876 Owen named a series of specimens as Anthodon serrarius. Anthodon means "flower tooth".
In 1909 the South-African paleontologist Robert Broom
visited the collection of the British Museum of Natural History. He concluded that Owen had mixed the fossils of two entirely different species: those of a member of the Pareiasauria and a dinosaur jaw. Broom kept the name Anthodon for the pareiasaur and identified the dinosaur fossil as belonging to the genus Paleoscincus, naming in 1910/1912 the new species Paleoscincus africanus.
In 1929 Baron Franz Nopcsa also studied the specimen. Unaware of Broom's publication he basically drew the same conclusions but also named a new genus coining for the dinosaur the name Paranthodon Oweni. The generic name means "near" or "besides" (para in Greek) Anthodon. The specific name honours Owen. In his publication Nopcsa by mistake also used the spelling variant Paranthodon Owenii. By present conventions the name should be written as Paranthodon oweni.
Only in 1978 Walter Coombs correctly combined both names into a Paranthodon africanus.
The holotype
, BMNH 47338, was found in a layer of the Kirkwood Formation
dating from the Berriasian
-Valanginian
. It consists of the back of the snout, containing the maxilla
with teeth, the posterior caudodorsal ramus of the premaxilla
and part of the nasals
. The snout is elongated but not extremely so and convex on top; the back of the premaxilla is long and broad; the external nares are large. The teeth have a prominent primary ridge.
Paleoscincus is a ankylosaur genus. Nopcsa however, thought Paranthodon was a member of the Stegosauridae
, related to Stegosaurus
and Kentrosaurus
. After 1929 most scientists nevertheless tended to classify Paranthodon as an ankylosaur. Only in 1981 Peter Galton
established it was indeed a stegosaurid. If so, it would be about five metres long and be the second stegosaur discovered, after Regnosaurus
, besides being the first dinosaur found in South-Africa. According to a recent analysis it would be closely related to Tuojiangosaurus
, Loricatosaurus
and Stegosaurus.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
from the early Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. It lived in what is now South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It is classified as a stegosaur. It has a long and confusing history. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
, Paranthodon africanus, comes from a partial skull first described as Palaeoscincus africanus in 1912. It was renamed as Paranthodon in 1929 by the famed Franz Nopcsa
Franz Nopcsa von Felso-Szilvás
Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás was a Hungarian-born aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, and paleontologist...
. It owes its name to the fact that its jaw was found near the fossils of a Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
pareiasaur
Pareiasaur
The Pareiasaurs - Family Pareiasauridae - are a clade of medium-sized to large herbivorous anapsid reptiles that flourished during the Permian period....
named Anthodon.
In 1845 amateur geologists William Guybon Atherstone
William Guybon Atherstone
William Guybon Atherstone medical practitioner, naturalist and geologist, one of the pioneers of South African geology and a member of the Cape Parliament....
and Andrew Geddes Bain
Andrew Geddes Bain
Andrew Geddes Bain , South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.-Life history:...
near Dassieklip, Cape Province
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
, in the valley of the Bushmans River found a number of fossils. Bain in 1849 and 1853 sent some to the British paleontologist Richard Owen
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
for identification. Among them was the upper jaw of what Bain thought was a dinosaur that he informally had indicated as the "Cape Iguanodon"; the site likewise was named "Iguanodonhoek". In 1857 Atherstone published about the find, but in 1871 lamented that it as yet had received no attention in London. Only in 1876 Owen named a series of specimens as Anthodon serrarius. Anthodon means "flower tooth".
In 1909 the South-African paleontologist Robert Broom
Robert Broom
Professor Robert Broom was a Scottish South African doctor and paleontologist. He qualified as a medical practitioner in 1895 and received his DSc in 1905 from the University of Glasgow...
visited the collection of the British Museum of Natural History. He concluded that Owen had mixed the fossils of two entirely different species: those of a member of the Pareiasauria and a dinosaur jaw. Broom kept the name Anthodon for the pareiasaur and identified the dinosaur fossil as belonging to the genus Paleoscincus, naming in 1910/1912 the new species Paleoscincus africanus.
In 1929 Baron Franz Nopcsa also studied the specimen. Unaware of Broom's publication he basically drew the same conclusions but also named a new genus coining for the dinosaur the name Paranthodon Oweni. The generic name means "near" or "besides" (para in Greek) Anthodon. The specific name honours Owen. In his publication Nopcsa by mistake also used the spelling variant Paranthodon Owenii. By present conventions the name should be written as Paranthodon oweni.
Only in 1978 Walter Coombs correctly combined both names into a Paranthodon africanus.
The holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
, BMNH 47338, was found in a layer of the Kirkwood Formation
Kirkwood Formation
The Kirkwood Formation is a geological formation in Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, South Africa whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous...
dating from the Berriasian
Berriasian
In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Creteceous. It is the oldest or lowest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It spanned between 145.5 ± 4.0 Ma and 140.2 ± 3.0 Ma...
-Valanginian
Valanginian
In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 140.2 ± 3.0 Ma and 136.4 ± 2.0 Ma...
. It consists of the back of the snout, containing the maxilla
Maxilla
The maxilla is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible , which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis. Sometimes The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper...
with teeth, the posterior caudodorsal ramus of the premaxilla
Premaxilla
The incisive bone is the portion of the maxilla adjacent to the incisors. It is a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the jaws of many animals, usually bearing teeth, but not always. They are connected to the maxilla and the nasals....
and part of the nasals
Nasal bone
The nasal bones are two small oblong bones, varying in size and form in different individuals; they are placed side by side at the middle and upper part of the face, and form, by their junction, "the bridge" of the nose.Each has two surfaces and four borders....
. The snout is elongated but not extremely so and convex on top; the back of the premaxilla is long and broad; the external nares are large. The teeth have a prominent primary ridge.
Paleoscincus is a ankylosaur genus. Nopcsa however, thought Paranthodon was a member of the Stegosauridae
Stegosauridae
Stegosauridae is a family of stegosauria, large thyreophorans. They lived longer than other Stegosaurs; while all Huayangosauridae and most of basal stegosaurs died out in Tithonian - Kimmeridgian, stegosauridae survived till Middle Cretaceous. They are usually characterized by triangular plates on...
, related to Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
and Kentrosaurus
Kentrosaurus
Kentrosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Tanzania. Its fossils have been found only in the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, dated to the Kimmeridgian stage, between about 155.7 ± 4 Ma and 150.8 ± 4 Ma . Apparently, all finds belong to one species, K...
. After 1929 most scientists nevertheless tended to classify Paranthodon as an ankylosaur. Only in 1981 Peter Galton
Peter Galton
Peter M. Galton is a British vertebrate paleontologist working in America, who has to date written or co-written about a hundred papers in scientific journals or chapters in paleontology textbooks, especially on ornithischian and prosauropod dinosaurs.With Robert Bakker in a joint article...
established it was indeed a stegosaurid. If so, it would be about five metres long and be the second stegosaur discovered, after Regnosaurus
Regnosaurus
Regnosaurus is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period in what is now England.-Discovery and species:...
, besides being the first dinosaur found in South-Africa. According to a recent analysis it would be closely related to Tuojiangosaurus
Tuojiangosaurus
Tuojiangosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period, recovered from the Upper Shaximiao Formation of what is now Sichuan Province in China. Physically similar to the North American Stegosaurus, Tuojiangosaurus is the best understood of the Chinese stegosaurids...
, Loricatosaurus
Loricatosaurus
Loricatosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from Callovian-age rocks of England and France...
and Stegosaurus.