Doratodon

spear tooth

• doratos · Greek · spear
• odon · Greek · tooth

The name Doratodon is derived from the ancient Greek words 'doratos' (δόρατος), meaning 'spear' or 'lance', and 'odon' (ὀδών), meaning 'tooth'. It was chosen to reflect the elongated, lance-like shape of the animal's teeth. The name was given by Seeley in 1881 based on isolated jaw and tooth material.

Named by

Seeley

Year named

1881

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Campanian – Maastrichtian

Found in

Austria, Romania, and possibly Hungary and France (European Late Cretaceous deposits)

Doratodon is not a dinosaur — it is generally considered to be a large crocodyliform (crocodile-line archosaur), though it has sometimes been misclassified. It is known only from fragmentary jaw and tooth material, which makes its classification uncertain, and it is widely regarded as a nomen dubium. Some material referred to it may represent a large ziphodont crocodyliform. It is popularly associated with dinosaur-bearing formations but is not itself a dinosaur.