Tenontosaurus

sinew lizard

• tenon · Greek · sinew, tendon
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek "tenon" (sinew or tendon) with "sauros" (lizard). Ostrom chose it because of the unusually extensive ossified tendons that stiffened the animal's back, hips and tail. The name means "sinew lizard".

Named by

Ostrom

Year named

1970

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Aptian – Albian

Found in

Cloverly Formation (Montana and Wyoming), Antlers Formation (Oklahoma, Texas), and other formations in the western USA

A basal iguanodontian ornithopod. The type species is Tenontosaurus tilletti, named by Ostrom in 1970, with T. dossi named by Winkler et al. in 1997. It is famous for its association with the predator Deinonychus.