Open Paleo

Echinodon

Owen, 1861 e-KIEN-o-don

From Greek echinos, 'prickly/spiny' (as in hedgehog or sea urchin), + Greek odon, 'tooth'; means 'prickly tooth', referring to its distinctive dental anatomy

143.1–137.1 million years ago Berriasian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Echinodon is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the earliest Cretaceous of southern England and possibly western France in the Berriasian epoch. The first specimens were jaw bones named Echinodon becklesii by Sir Richard Owen in 1861, and since their original description only additional teeth have been discovered. The specific name honors collector Samuel Beckles who discovered the material of Echinodon and many other taxa from across England, while the genus name translates as "prickly tooth" in reference to the dental anatomy of the taxon.

Diagnosis

  1. One or possibly two caniniform teeth at the anterior end of the maxilla

Species

Echinodon becklesii Owen, 1861

Type species

Named for Samuel Beckles, the collector who discovered the fossil material of Echinodon and many other taxa from across England.

Lectotype
NHMUK 48209, NHMUK 48210 , Natural History Museum
Material
Left and right premaxillae, the left maxilla in two parts with natural molds of maxillary and dentary teeth, the left pterygoid, and a possible jugal and palatine.
Notes
Norman and Barrett (2002) designated the lectotype from Owen's syntype series. Its two numbers are one individual, the maxillary fragment of 48210 fitting the mold preserved with 48209; the other syntypes are paralectotypes.
Horizon
Lulworth Formation, Berriasian, Early Cretaceous , 143.1–137.1 million years ago
Locality
Mammal Pit, Durlston Bay, Dorset, United Kingdom

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Sauraechinodon junior subjective Variant spelling of Saurechinodon, itself treated as a synonym of Echinodon.
Sauraechmodon junior subjective Variant spelling of Saurechinodon, itself treated as a synonym of Echinodon.
Saurechinodon junior subjective Treated as a synonym of Echinodon; the name also appears as 'Sauraechinodon' and 'Sauraechmodon'.

References

  1. Owen, R. (1861). Monograph on the fossil Reptilia of the Wealden and Purbeck formations. Part V. Lacertilia (Nuthetes, etc.). [Purbeck]. Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society 1858: 31-39. owen1861a
  2. Norman, D. B.; Barrett, P. M. (2002). Ornithischian dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian) of England. Special Papers in Palaeontology 68: 161-189.

    Redescribes the Echinodon material, designates the lectotype, revises the diagnosis, and finds the genus probably a late-surviving heterodontosaurid.

    norman2002a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a
  4. Sereno, P. C. (2012). Taxonomy, morphology, masticatory function and phylogeny of heterodontosaurid dinosaurs. ZooKeys 226: 1-225. Pensoft Publishers. doi:10.3897/zookeys.226.2840

    Places the holotype at the Mammal Pit in Durlston Bay, Dorset, and finds the horizon unresolved between the Marly and Cherty Freshwater members.

    sereno2012a