Zalmoxes Zalmoxes

Zalmoxes is a genus of probable rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Romania. The genus is known from specimens first named as the species Mochlodon robustum in 1899 by Franz Nopcsa before being reclassified as Rhabdodon robustum by him in 1915. In 1990, this name was corrected to Rhabdodon robustus by George Olshevsky and, in 2003, the species was once more reclassified as the type species Zalmoxes robustus. Zalmoxes represents one of the most common vertebrates of Transylvania during the latest Cretaceous period. The generic name refers to the Dacian deity Zalmoxis and the specific name robustus refers to the robustness of the remains. Another species, Zalmoxes shqiperorum, was named in 2003, but this species has since been reassigned to a separate genus of ceratopsian, Ferenceratops.