Paranthodon

near Anthodon ("beside flower tooth")

• para · Greek · beside, near
• Anthodon · Greek (genus name) · 'flower tooth' (anthos = flower, odous = tooth); a genus of pareiasaur reptile named by Owen

Paranthodon means "near Anthodon". Nopcsa coined it in 1929 for fossils that Broom had earlier called Palaeoscincus africanus, because he thought the remains resembled Anthodon, a reptile that was once mistakenly thought to be a dinosaur. Anthodon itself means "flower tooth", so the name refers to a perceived similarity rather than to any feature of Paranthodon itself.

Named by

Nopcsa

Year named

1929

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Berriasian – Valanginian

Found in

Kirkwood Formation, Eastern Cape (Cape Province), South Africa

A stegosaurian (plated) dinosaur known from fragmentary remains, mainly a partial skull/snout and teeth. The type species is Paranthodon africanus. It is one of the few stegosaurs known from Africa (alongside Tuojiangosaurus-like relatives elsewhere and Kentrosaurus from Tanzania). The stage range is approximate and its exact age is debated.