Matheronodon Matheronodon

"Matheron tooth"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Matheronodon 5 m (16.4 ft) long
3 people holding hands
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Cretaceous (145–66 Mya)
Place
France
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Dinosauria

Matheronodon (meaning “Matheron tooth”) is a genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Grès à Reptiles Formation in France. The genus contains a single species, M. provincialis, which is known from a single maxilla and associated teeth. It was named by Pascal Godefroit and colleagues in 2017. The teeth of Matheronodon are large but few in number. The teeth are also in an unusual arrangement, emerging alternatingly from one of a pair of fused tooth sockets in its mouth. In life, the teeth would have functioned like a pair of scissors, allowing Matheronodon to feed on the tough leaves of monocot plants.

What we know

  • Named by Godefroit et al., 2017.
  • Body length estimated at about 5 m.
  • Fossils found in France.