Cionodon

pillar tooth

• kionos · Greek · pillar / column
• odous (odontos) · Greek · tooth

The name combines the Greek words 'kionos' (κίονος), meaning 'pillar' or 'column', and 'odous/odontos' (ὀδούς/ὀδόντος), meaning 'tooth'. It was chosen to describe the columnar or pillar-like form of the teeth of the animal. This kind of tooth-based naming was very common for hadrosaurs in the 19th century, when isolated teeth were often the primary fossil material available.

Named by

Cope

Year named

1874

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Colorado, USA

Cionodon is a nomen dubium (doubtful name). It was erected by Edward Drinker Cope in 1874 on the basis of fragmentary hadrosaur teeth from the Campanian of Colorado, which are not distinctive enough to confidently assign to any particular genus or species. It has historically been considered undiagnosable and is not regarded as a valid genus by most modern authorities. It is a hadrosaurid (duck-billed dinosaur).