Picrodon

bitter tooth

• pikros · Greek · bitter, sharp
• odōn · Greek · tooth

The name combines the Greek words 'pikros' (bitter or sharp) and 'odōn' (tooth), referring to the character of the teeth of the animal. It was named on the basis of a tooth fossil, and the name likely alludes to the distinctive or pointed nature of the tooth. The genus was described by Seeley in 1898 from fragmentary dental material found in England.

Named by

Seeley

Year named

1898

Period

Late Triassic

Stage

Rhaetian

Found in

England, UK

Picrodon is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. It is based on extremely fragmentary material — a single tooth — from the Rhaetian (latest Triassic) of England. It has sometimes been tentatively placed among early dinosaurs or dinosauriform archosaurs, but its classification cannot be confidently established from the available material. It is not definitively confirmed as a dinosaur.