Manidens 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 heterodontosaurid 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 Middle Jurassic

Middle Jurassic

The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from 176-161 million years ago. In European lithostratigraphy, rocks of this Middle Jurassic age are called the Dogger....

 of Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

. Fossils have been found from the Cañadon Asfalto Formation

Cañadon Asfalto Formation

-Paleofauna:-References:* Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka : The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2....

 in Chubut Province

Chubut Province

Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, dating to the Bajocian

Bajocian

In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age or stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 171.6 Ma to around 167.7 Ma . The Bajocian age succeeds the Aalenian age and precedes the Bathonian age....

.

Etymology

The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 of Manidens, Manidens condorensis, was described in the journal Naturwissenschaften in 2011

2011 in paleontology

-Lobopods:-Arachnids:-Insects:-Newly named jawless vertebrates:-Newly named acanthodian:-Newly named cartilaginous fishes:-Newly named bony fishes:-Newly named lepospondyls:-Newly named temnospondyls:-Newly named lissamphibians:...

. Manidens was named in by Diego Pol, Oliver Rauhut and Marcos Becerra. The generic name is derived from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 manus, "hand", and dens, "tooth", a reference to the hand-shaped form of the posterior lower teeth. The specific name refers to the village of Cerro Cóndor

Cerro Cóndor

Cerro Cóndor is a village and municipality in Chubut Province in southern Argentina....

, located near to the Queso Rallado site where the specimen was found by zoologist Guillermo Rougier.

Description

The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 specimen of Manidens, MPEF-PV 3211, consists of a partial skeleton

Skeleton

The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...

 with skull

Skull

The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

 and lower jaws, including the axial column except most of the tail; a left shoulder girdle; and the pelvis. The specimens MPEF-PV 1719, 1786, 1718, 3810, 3811, isolated posterior teeth, from the same locality and horizon as the holotype are also referred to this genus. The specimens were found in the Queso Rallado locality of the Cañadón Asfalto Formation

Cañadon Asfalto Formation

-Paleofauna:-References:* Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka : The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2....

, dating to the Aalenian

Aalenian

The Aalenian is a subdivision of the Middle Jurassic epoch/series of the geologic timescale that extends from about 175.6 Ma to about 171.6 Ma . It was preceded by the Toarcian and succeeded by the Bajocian.-Stratigraphic definitions:...

–Early Bathonian

Bathonian

In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age or stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 167.7 Ma to around 164.7 Ma...

 stages, 171 ± 5 to 167 ± 4 Ma.

Manidens was a relatively 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:...

 heterodontosaurid that grew to about 60 to 75 cm (23.6 to 29.5 in) in length, smaller than later heterodontosaurids. It has high-crowned teeth indicative of an increased adaptation to a herbivorous diet but lacks the wear facets seen in more advanced forms like Heterodontosaurus

Heterodontosaurus

Heterodontosaurus is a genus of small herbivorous dinosaur with prominent canine teeth which lived in the Early Jurassic of South Africa. It was similar to a hypsilophodont in shape, and ate plants, despite its canines.Heterodontosaurus is currently known from specimens of the SAFM from South...

. Manidens is the sister taxon of a clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 consisting of the African species Heterodontosaurus, Abrictosaurus

Abrictosaurus

Abrictosaurus is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Period of what is now southern Africa. It was a small bipedal herbivore or omnivore, approximately 1.2 meters long, and weighing less than 45 kilograms .This dinosaur is known from the fossil remains of only...

and Lycorhinus

Lycorhinus

Lycorhinus is a genus of heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur hailing from the Early Jurassic strata of the Elliot Formation located in the Cape Province, South Africa....

, indicating an early radiation of the heterodontosaurids.

Phylogeny

Cladogram

Cladogram

A cladogram is a diagram used in cladistics which shows ancestral relations between organisms, to represent the evolutionary tree of life. Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters, DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational...

 after Pol et al., 2011:
*Note: Pol et al. regard Echinodon as a genus of Heterodontosauridae.