Apatodon

deceptive tooth

• apatē · Greek · deceit, deception
• odon · Greek · tooth

Apatodon combines the Greek words for "deceit" and "tooth". Othniel Charles Marsh chose the name because the fragmentary fossil it was based on was misleading. It was first interpreted as one kind of animal and later reinterpreted as something else, so it "deceived" its describer.

Named by

Marsh

Year named

1877

Period

Late Jurassic

Found in

Morrison Formation, western USA

Apatodon is based on very scrappy material (type species Apatodon mirus). It is generally regarded as a doubtful name (nomen dubium) because the remains cannot be identified with confidence. Its original identification and exact locality details are uncertain, so treat the year, location and age here with caution.