Mochlodon
Encyclopedia
Mochlodon is a genus
of iguanodont
dinosaur
from the Late Cretaceous
.
In 1859 coal mine administrator Pawlowitsch notified the University of Vienna
that some fossils had been found in the Gute Hoffnung mine at Muthmannsdorf in Austria
. A team headed by geologists Eduard Suess
and Ferdinand Stoliczka
subsequently uncovered numerous bones of several species, among them those of a euornithopod dinosaur. Stored at the university museum, the finds remained undescribed until they were studied by Emanuel Bunzel
from 1870 onwards. Bunzel in 1871 named the euornithopod a new species of Iguanodon
: Iguanodon suessii. The specific name honours Suess and is today more often spelled suessi. In 1881 Harry Govier Seeley named a separate genus: Mochlodon. The generic name is derived from Greek mokhlos, "bar", and odon, "tooth", a reference to the bar-like median ridge on the teeth. The type species
is Mochlodon suessi. Mochlodon and Struthiosaurus
, the latter found at the same site, are the only dinosaur genera named from Austrian finds.
The type specimen PIUW 2349 was found in the Coal-Bearing Complex Formation of the Gosau Group dating from the Lower Campanian
, about eighty million years old. It consists of a dentary, two vertebrae (presently lost), a parietal, a scapula, an ulna, a manual ungual
, a femur and a tibia. Bunzel did not assign a holotype
. In 2005 the dentary was chosen as the lectotype
.
At the end of the nineteenth century Baron Franz Nopcsa noted the similarity of fossils found in Romania
to both the French Rhabdodon
and the Austrian Mochlodon. In 1899 he named some of these Mochlodon inkeyi, the specific name honouring Béla Inkey, but the same year changed the name into Rhabdodon inkeyi. In 1900 Nopcsa named some Romanian remains Mochlodon robustum (emended to M. robustus in 1990 by George Olshevsky
). In 1915 however, he concluded that all this material could be referred to Rhabdodon, the Austrian remains to Rhabdodon priscus. In later years, Mochlodon was often considered a nomen dubium
. In 2003, when M. robustus was renamed Zalmoxes
, Mochlodon was tentatively reinstated as a separate genus for the species Mochlodon suessi. In 2005 a study concluded that no unique derived features, autapomorphies
, could be established for Mochlodon in relation to Zalmoxes, assigning the Austrian remains provisionally to a Zalmoxes sp.; a definite identification would give Mochlodon nomenclatural priority.
Mochlodon was a small bipedal herbivore
.
Mochlodon is since 2003 considered a member of the Rhabdodontidae
.
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 Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
.
In 1859 coal mine administrator Pawlowitsch notified the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
that some fossils had been found in the Gute Hoffnung mine at Muthmannsdorf in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. A team headed by geologists Eduard Suess
Eduard Suess
Eduard Suess was a geologist who was an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana and the Tethys Ocean.Born in London to a Jewish Saxon merchant, when he was three his family relocated toPrague,...
and Ferdinand Stoliczka
Ferdinand Stoliczka
Ferdinand Stoliczka was a Moravian palaeontologist who worked in India on paleontology, geology and various aspects of zoology. He died of high altitude sickness during an expedition across the Himalayas.-Early life:Stoliczka was born at the lodge Zámeček near Kroměříž in Moravia...
subsequently uncovered numerous bones of several species, among them those of a euornithopod dinosaur. Stored at the university museum, the finds remained undescribed until they were studied by Emanuel Bunzel
Emanuel Bunzel
Emanuel Bunzel, born 1828, was an Austrian paleontologist.In 1871, he described a skull fragment found in an Austrian coal mine years before by colleagues Ferdinand Stoliczka and Eduard Suess as the type specimen for the dinosaur genus Struthiosaurus, the first discovered in the region. Another...
from 1870 onwards. Bunzel in 1871 named the euornithopod a new species of Iguanodon
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...
: Iguanodon suessii. The specific name honours Suess and is today more often spelled suessi. In 1881 Harry Govier Seeley named a separate genus: Mochlodon. The generic name is derived from Greek mokhlos, "bar", and odon, "tooth", a reference to the bar-like median ridge on the teeth. 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...
is Mochlodon suessi. Mochlodon and Struthiosaurus
Struthiosaurus
Struthiosaurus is one of the smallest known and most basal genera of nodosaurid dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period of Austria, Romania and France in Europe. It was protected by body armour...
, the latter found at the same site, are the only dinosaur genera named from Austrian finds.
The type specimen PIUW 2349 was found in the Coal-Bearing Complex Formation of the Gosau Group dating from the Lower Campanian
Campanian
The Campanian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch . The Campanian spans the time from 83.5 ± 0.7 Ma to 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma ...
, about eighty million years old. It consists of a dentary, two vertebrae (presently lost), a parietal, a scapula, an ulna, a manual ungual
Ungual
An ungual is a highly modified distal toe bone which ends in a hoof, claw, or nail. Elephants and other ungulates have ungual phalanges, as did the sauropods and horned dinosaurs. A claw is a highly modified ungual phalange.As an adjective, ungual means related to nail, as in periungual .-External...
, a femur and a tibia. Bunzel did not assign a 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...
. In 2005 the dentary was chosen as the lectotype
Lectotype
In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...
.
At the end of the nineteenth century Baron Franz Nopcsa noted the similarity of fossils found in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
to both the French Rhabdodon
Rhabdodon
Rhabdodon is a genus of dinosaur that lived in Europe approximately 70 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous. It is unclear whether it was an iguanodont or a hypsilophodont, and may be a "missing link" between the two. Current evidence indicates it is an iguanodont similar to Tenontosaurus...
and the Austrian Mochlodon. In 1899 he named some of these Mochlodon inkeyi, the specific name honouring Béla Inkey, but the same year changed the name into Rhabdodon inkeyi. In 1900 Nopcsa named some Romanian remains Mochlodon robustum (emended to M. robustus in 1990 by George Olshevsky
George Olshevsky
George Olshevsky is a freelance editor, writer, publisher, amateur paleontologist, and mathematician living in San Diego, California.Olshevsky maintains the comprehensive online Dinosaur Genera List...
). In 1915 however, he concluded that all this material could be referred to Rhabdodon, the Austrian remains to Rhabdodon priscus. In later years, Mochlodon was often considered a nomen dubium
Nomen dubium
In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...
. In 2003, when M. robustus was renamed Zalmoxes
Zalmoxes
Zalmoxes is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Romania. It is classified as a rhabdodontid iguanodont....
, Mochlodon was tentatively reinstated as a separate genus for the species Mochlodon suessi. In 2005 a study concluded that no unique derived features, autapomorphies
Autapomorphy
In cladistics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive anatomical feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given terminal group. That is, it is found only in one member of a clade, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to the group...
, could be established for Mochlodon in relation to Zalmoxes, assigning the Austrian remains provisionally to a Zalmoxes sp.; a definite identification would give Mochlodon nomenclatural priority.
Mochlodon was a small bipedal herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
.
Mochlodon is since 2003 considered a member of the Rhabdodontidae
Rhabdodontidae
Rhabdodontids were herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period. Rhabdodontids were similar to large, robust hypsilophodonts, with deep skulls and jaws. The family was first proposed by David B. Weishampel et al. in 2002...
.