Priconodon

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title: "Priconodon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nodosauridae", "dinosaur-genera", "aptian-dinosaurs", "taxa-named-by-othniel-charles-marsh", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1888", "dinosaurs-of-the-united-states"] description: "Extinct genus of dinosaurs" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priconodon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of dinosaurs ::

| fossil_range = Early Cretaceous, | image = Priconodon.jpg | image_caption = Priconodon tooth in multiple views | taxon = Priconodon crassus | authority = Marsh, 1888 | display_parents = 2

Priconodon (meaning "saw cone tooth") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur (perhaps nodosaurid), mainly known from its large teeth. Its remains have been found in the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian age) Arundel Formation of Muirkirk, Prince George's County, Maryland, USA, and possibly the Potomac Group, also located in Maryland. As an ankylosaur, Priconodon would have been a large armored quadrupedal herbivore, though no size estimation has been done due to the scarcity of described remains.

History of discovery

O. C. Marsh named the genus for USNM 2135, a large worn tooth from what was then called the Potomac Formation. As ankylosaurians were by and large unknown at the time, he compared it to Diracodon (=Stegosaurus) teeth. It was not identified as an ankylosaurian until Walter Coombs assigned it to Nodosauridae in 1978.

In 1998 Kenneth Carpenter and James Kirkland, in a review of North American Lower Cretaceous ankylosaurs, considered it tentatively valid as an unusually large nodosaurid, larger than all those described before. Carpenter (2001) retained it as a valid nodosaurid, but did not employ it in his phylogenetic analysis. Vickaryous et al. (2004), in a review of armored dinosaurs, considered it to be dubious without comment. West and Tibert, however, followed this with a preliminary account of a morphometric study that found it to be a unique genus.

Additional specimens

Carpenter and Kirkland (1998) listed 12 additional teeth from the same area as the holotype tooth, and tentatively added a robust tibia (USNM 9154) to the genus. They found the lack of armor found in the Arundel to be peculiar, but noted that fossils are rare in that formation anyway. In 2023, large ankylosaur fossils (including a vertebra and a osteroderms) were announced to be found at Dinosaur Park by John-Paul Hodnett, which may potentially represent additional specimens of Priconodon.

References

References

1. "Untitled Document".
2. Marsh, O.C. (1888). Notice of a new genus of Sauropoda and other new dinosaurs from the Potomac Formation. ''American Journal of Science'' 135:89-94.
3. Coombs, Jr., W.P. (1978). The families of the ornithischian dinosaur order Ankylosauria. ''Palaeontology'' 21(1):143-170.
4. Carpenter, K., and Kirkland, J.I. (1998). Review of Lower and middle Cretaceous ankylosaurs from North America. In: Lucas, S.G., Kirkland, J.I., and Estep, J.W. (eds.). ''Lower and Middle Cretaceous Terrestrial Ecosystems.'' New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 14:249-270.
5. Carpenter, K. (2001). Phylogenetic analysis of the Ankylosauria. In: Carpenter, K. (ed.). ''The Armored Dinosaurs.'' Indiana University Press:Bloomington 455-483. {{ISBN. 0-253-33964-2
6. Vickaryous, M.K., [[Teresa Maryańska. Maryańska, T.]], and Weishampel, D.B., (2004). Ankylosauria. In: Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press:Berkeley 363-392. {{ISBN. 0-520-24209-2
7. "West, A. and Tibert, N. (2004). Quantitative analysis for the type material of ''Priconodon crassus'': a distinct taxon from the Arundel Formation in southern Maryland. ''Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs'', 36(5):423.".
8. (2018). "Faunal composition and paleoenvironment of the Arundel Clay (Potomac Formation; Early Cretaceous), Maryland, USA". Palaeontologia Electronica.
9. Domen, John. (2023-07-12). "Dinosaur Park in Laurel reveal the largest theropod fossil in Eastern North America".
10. Reed, Lillian. (2023-07-12). "Maryland before time: Rare dinosaur bone bed uncovered in Prince George's County".
11. Dipiazza, Chris. (2023-07-17). "Prehistoric Beast of the Week: Maryland Dinosaurs: Major Discovery!".

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