Open Paleo

Matheronodon

Godefroit et al., 2017 math-uh-ron-o-don

Named after French paleontologist Philippe Matheron, combined with Greek 'odon' (tooth); meaning 'Matheron's tooth'.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Matheronodon is a genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Grès à Reptiles Formation in France. The genus contains a single species, M. provincialis, which is known from a single maxilla and associated teeth. It was named by Pascal Godefroit and colleagues in 2017. The teeth of Matheronodon are large but few in number. The teeth are also in an unusual arrangement, emerging alternatingly from one of a pair of fused tooth sockets in its mouth. In life, the teeth would have functioned like a pair of scissors, allowing Matheronodon to feed on the tough leaves of monocot plants.

Diagnosis

  1. Extreme enlargement of both maxillary and dentary teeth (up to 5 cm mesio-distal length)
  2. Reduction of maxillary tooth families to 4 per generation
  3. Interalveolar septa alternately present or resorbed ventrally, enabling one functional tooth per paired alveolus
  4. Shortened rostral process on the maxilla, rostrocaudally oriented
  5. Broad dorsal shelf along rostral third of maxilla
  6. More than 25 vertical and parallel ridges on labial side of maxillary teeth

Species

Matheronodon provincialis Godefroit et al., 2017

Type species

From Latin 'provincialis' meaning 'of the province', referring to Provence, the region of southeastern France where all known specimens were found.

Holotype
MMS/VBN-02-102 , Museo Municipal de Salto "José Bonaparte"
Material
Right maxilla with extreme tooth enlargement and reduced tooth count
Horizon
Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Velaux-La Bastide Neuve, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

References

  1. Godefroit, P.; Garcia, G.; Gomez, B.; Stein, K.; Cincotta, A.; Lefèvre, U.; Valentin, X. (2017). Extreme tooth enlargement in a new Late Cretaceous rhabdodontid dinosaur from Southern France. Scientific Reports 7(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13160-2 godefroit2017a
  2. Díez Díaz, V.; Garcia, G.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X.; Jentgen-Ceschino, B.; Stein, K.; Godefroit, P.; Valentin, X. (2018). The titanosaurian dinosaur Atsinganosaurus velauciensis (Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern France. New material, phylogenetic affinities, and palaeobiogeographical implications. Cretaceous Research 91: 429-456. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.015

    Assigns the Velaux locality to the Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation of the Aix-en-Provence Basin, naming this taxon among its fauna.

    díezdíaz2018a