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beaked plant-eater
Dakotadon
Say it like this: “da-KO-tuh-don”
Dakotadon lakotaensis
Dakotadon ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Valanginian · Hauterivian · Barremian) · roughly 137.1 to 121.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 2008 · Paul, G. S.
- Hip height
- 1.6 m · 5 ft
- Length
- 6 m · 20 ft
- Weight
- 1 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Lakota
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two or four legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Styracosterna
The story in short
In 2008, G. S. Paul published the name Dakotadon. The name means “dakota tooth.”
It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian · Hauterivian · Barremian), roughly 137.1 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Lakota Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.
Published estimates put Dakotadon at a length near 6 m, hips about 1.6 m high, and a body mass around 1 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Styracosterna, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Bayannurosaurus
Bayannurosaurus perfectus
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago
Calvarius
Calvarius rapidus
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Cedrorestes
Cedrorestes crichtoni
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago