Pronunciation: uh-PAT-uh-don
Meaning: Deceptive tooth
Author/s: Marsh (1877)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Uncertain
Acta Ordinal: #48
Apatodon mirus
O.C. Marsh coined Apatodon — meaning "Deceptive Tooth" — in 1877 for a bone fragment he believed to be the partial lower jaw of a Mesozoic pig. However, it didn't deceive Georg Baur who, in 1880, correctly identified the remains as a terribly worn vertebra, and its neural spine as the bit that Marsh mistook for a tooth.
As if poor quality isn't enough cause to question the validity of Apatodon, its origin is shrouded in uncertainty and the only known fossil has been long-lost. 21st century palaeontologists would not entertain such wretched remains and a lack of discovery data, but such things did little to curb the enthusiasm of earlier scientists.
Apatodon was assigned to Iguanodontoidea by Hay in 1902, to Ornithischia by von Huene in 1909, to Stegosauridae by von Zittel in 1911, and to Titanosaurinae by Steel in 1970 and Casanovas in 1987. George Olshevsky reckoned it was synonymous with Allosaurus fragilis that may have lived in the same area, but AWOL remains are making his hunch tough to prove.
As if poor quality isn't enough cause to question the validity of Apatodon, its origin is shrouded in uncertainty and the only known fossil has been long-lost. 21st century palaeontologists would not entertain such wretched remains and a lack of discovery data, but such things did little to curb the enthusiasm of earlier scientists.
Apatodon was assigned to Iguanodontoidea by Hay in 1902, to Ornithischia by von Huene in 1909, to Stegosauridae by von Zittel in 1911, and to Titanosaurinae by Steel in 1970 and Casanovas in 1987. George Olshevsky reckoned it was synonymous with Allosaurus fragilis that may have lived in the same area, but AWOL remains are making his hunch tough to prove.
(Amazing deceptive tooth)Etymology
Apatodon is derived from the Greek "Apatao" (to deceive) and "odon" (tooth) in reference to its remains of which O.C. Marsh admitted: "its exact affinities are doubtful".The species epithet (or specific name), mirus (mee-russ) means "amazing", "surprising", "wonderful" or "marvellous" in Latin.
Discovery
In keeping with the air of mystery regarding the Deceptive Tooth's deceptive remains, their provenance is far from certain. They were described by O.C. Marsh in 1877 as being "from the Rocky Mountain region", and may have been found in the Morrison Formation of Garden Park, Colorado, USA.
The holotype (USMN coll.) is nothing more than a partial vertebra.
