Fruitadens

Fruita tooth

• Fruita · English (place name) · Fruita, Colorado, USA
• dens · Latin · tooth

The name combines Fruita, the Colorado town near where the fossils were found, with the Latin word for "tooth" (dens). It refers to the discovery locality and to the animal's teeth, which show the specialised, differently shaped teeth typical of heterodontosaurids. The type species is Fruitadens haagarorum.

Named by

Butler et al.

Year named

2010

Period

Late Jurassic

Stages

Kimmeridgian – Tithonian

Found in

Morrison Formation, Fruita Paleontological Area, Colorado, USA

A very small heterodontosaurid ornithischian, roughly 70 cm long, and one of the smallest known ornithischian dinosaurs. The stage range is approximate (Morrison Formation, Brushy Basin Member).