Open Paleo

Paranthodon

Nopcsa, 1929 puh-RAN-thuh-don /pəˈrænθədɒn/

From Greek para- (παρά, 'beside' or 'near') and Anthodon, the pareiasaur genus to which the fossil was initially misassigned; meaning 'near Anthodon'

143.1–132.6 million years ago Berriasian–Valanginian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Paranthodon is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur that lived in what is now South Africa during the Early Cretaceous, between 139 and 131 million years ago. Discovered in 1845, it was one of the first stegosaurians found. Its only remains, a partial skull, isolated teeth, and fragments of vertebrae, were found in the Kirkwood Formation.

Diagnosis

  1. Both sides of maxillary tooth crown bear a prominent bulbous cingulum
  2. Maxillary tooth crown has a large subcentral vertical ridge terminating in a large apical denticle
  3. Five to seven smaller denticles anterior to central ridge, four or five posteriorly, continuing dorsally as tapering rounded ridges curving slightly toward the central ridge
  4. Referred dentary teeth similar but subcentral ridge less prominent and fewer smaller denticles

Species

Paranthodon africanus (Broom, 1912)

Type species

First named as Palaeoscincus africanus

From Latin 'africanus' meaning 'African', after South Africa, the country where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
BMNH 47338 , Natural History Museum
Material
Partial left snout with much of the premaxilla and the anterior part of the maxilla and nasal preserved, with thirteen maxillary teeth
Horizon
upper Kirkwood Formation, Berriasian–Valanginian, Early Cretaceous , 143.1–132.6 million years ago
Locality
Bushmans River, Woodbury Farm, Eastern Cape, South Africa

References

  1. Raven, T. J.; Maidment, S. C. R. (2018). The systematic position of the enigmatic thyreophoran dinosaur Paranthodon africanus, and the use of basal exemplifiers in phylogenetic analysis. PeerJ 6: e4529. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.4529

    Gives the occurrence as the "Upper Kirkwood Formation" at Bushmans River.

    raven2018a
  2. Broom, R. (1912). Observations on some specimens of South African fossil reptiles preserved in the British Museum. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 2: 19-25. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/00359191009519357

    Names the species Palaeoscincus africanus, the origin of the specific epithet africanus.

    broom1912a
  3. Nopcsa, B. F. (1929). Dinosaurierreste aus Siebenbürgen V [Dinosaur remains from Transylvania V]. Geologica Hungarica, Series Palaeontologica 4(1): 1-76.

    In German. Erects the genus Paranthodon (as Paranthodon owenii), unaware of Broom's earlier name.

    nopcsa1929a
  4. Olshevsky, G. (1978). The Archosaurian Taxa (excluding the Crocodylia). Mesozoic Meanderings 1: 1-50.

    First published use of the combination Paranthodon africanus.

    olshevsky1978a
  5. Galton, P. M.; Coombs, W. P. Jr. (1981). Paranthodon africanus (Broom) a stegosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of South Africa. Geobios 14(3): 299-309. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(81)80177-5

    Redescribes the material and confirms Paranthodon as a valid Lower Cretaceous stegosaurid.

    galton1981a
  6. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026a