Dakotadon is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of iguanodont

Iguanodont

Iguanodonts were herbivorous dinosaurs that lived from the mid-Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Some members include Camptosaurus, Callovosaurus, Iguanodon, Ouranosaurus, and the hadrosaurids or "duck-billed dinosaurs". Iguanodonts were one of the first groups of dinosaurs to be found...

 dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 from the Barremian

Barremian

The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale between 130.0 ± 1.5 Ma and 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous epoch...

-age Lower Cretaceous Lakota Formation

Lakota Formation

The Lakota Formation is a sequence of rocks from the Barremian epoch from Western North America. Located in South Dakota, the name is derived from the Lakota Native American tribe....

 of South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, known from a partial skull. It was first described in 1989 as Iguanodon lakotaensis

Iguanodon

Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...

, by David B. Weishampel and Philip R. Bjork

Philip R. Bjork

Philip Reese Bjork is an American geologist and paleontologist known for his work in unearthing dinosaur species in America.-Career:Bjork received his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan...

. Its assignment has been controversial. Some researchers suggest that "I." lakotaensis was more basal

Basal (phylogenetics)

In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...

 than I. bernissartensis, and related to Theiophytalia

Theiophytalia

Theiophytalia is a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian dinosaur from the lower Cretaceous period of Colorado.-Etymology:...

, but David Norman

David B. Norman

David Bruce Norman is a British paleontologist, currently Director of the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge University. He is a fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge where he teaches geology in the Natural Sciences tripos. He is a member of the Palaeontological Association. He has studied Iguanodon...

 has suggested that it was a synonym

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

 of I. bernissartensis. Gregory S. Paul

Gregory S. Paul

Gregory Scott Paul is a freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, and more recently has examined sociology and theology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dinosaurs and his detailed illustrations, both live and skeletal...

, working on a revision of iguanodont species, gave "I." lakotaensis its own genus (Dakotadon) in 2008.