Astrodon
Astrodon (meaning "star-tooth") was a long-necked plant-eating dinosaur, a relation of Brachiosaurus. The sauropod was about 30 feet (9 m) long. It lived during the Lower Cretaceous period, about 130 million to 120 million years ago. Astrodon is known from teeth and scattered bones found in Maryland. Astrodon is the state dinosaur of Maryland. Astrodon was named by Johnston in 1859. The type species is A. johnstoni. Astrodon may be the same as Pleurocoelus.
| Astrodon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Life restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| Infraorder: | |
| Genus: | Astrodon
|
Carpenter and Tidwell (2005) accepted Hatcher's argument that there is only one species of sauropod dinosaur known from the Arundel Formation and that Astrodon johnstoni is it. Interestingly, the majority of the bones of Astrodon are of juveniles, and Carpenter and Tidwell considered the two species named by Marsh, P. nanus and P. altus, as different growth stages of Astrodon johnstoni.[1]
Astrodon Media
Astrodon holotype tooth
Plate XIII from Cretaceous Reptiles of the United States, showing teeth of Astrodon on the bottom left
Dorsal and sacral vertebrae of Pleurocoelus nanus.
Skeleton of a juvenile in Maryland
References
- ↑ Carpenter, Kenneth; Tidwell, Virginia (2005). "Reassessment of the early Cretaceous sauropod Astrodon johnstoni Leidy 1865 (Titanosauriformes)". Thunder lizards: the sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp. 38–77. ISBN 978-0-253-34542-4.