Prodeinodon

before terrible tooth

• pro- · Greek · before / prior to
• deinos · Greek · terrible
• odous (odon) · Greek · tooth

The name combines the Greek prefix "pro-" (before/prior), "deinos" (terrible), and "odon" (tooth), meaning roughly "before [the] terrible tooth." It was coined as a reference to the earlier or more primitive relative of Deinodon, a large-toothed theropod known from isolated teeth. The name thus situates this genus as a precursor or forerunner to Deinodon in time and/or evolutionary grade.

Named by

Osborn

Year named

1924

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Barremian – Aptian

Found in

Öösh Formation (also spelled Oshih), Övörkhangai, Mongolia; also reported from China

Prodeinodon is a nomen dubium. It is based solely on isolated teeth from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia (and possibly China), which are too fragmentary and non-diagnostic to confidently assign to any particular theropod lineage. It has sometimes been tentatively referred to as an early tyrannosauroid or a large tetanuran, but neither assignment is secure. Because the holotype material consists only of teeth, it cannot be reliably distinguished from other theropods, hence its dubious status.