Pronunciation: an-o-DONT-o-SOR-us
Meaning: Toothless lizard
Author/s: C.M. Sternberg (1929)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Alberta, Canada
Discovery Chart Position: #154
Anodontosaurus lambei
When Charles Mortram Sternberg named Anodontosaurus (toothless lizard) in 1929 he thought it was the "first toothless member of the Stegosauria to be recorded"... except it did have teeth, they were just pushed out of their sockets by crushing during preservation... and it isn't actually a stegosaurid, it's a member of Ankylosaurinae. It's also one of three armour-clad North American brethren that were recently pulled from the brink of oblivion.
In 1978 Walter Coombs was so convinced that there was just one type of ankylosaur present in the Maastrichtian of western North America that he sank Anodontosaurus, Dyoplosaurus and Scolosaurus into Euoplocephalus tutus. But one by one their distinct features were singled out, first by Victoria Arbour in 2009, and later by Paul Penkalski and others, and by 2013 they were all rescued and ressurected as valid critters worthy of their own names. At this point, Oohkotokia was plucked and raised from Euoplocephalus too but, funnily enough, its remains may actually belong to Scolosaurus.
In 1978 Walter Coombs was so convinced that there was just one type of ankylosaur present in the Maastrichtian of western North America that he sank Anodontosaurus, Dyoplosaurus and Scolosaurus into Euoplocephalus tutus. But one by one their distinct features were singled out, first by Victoria Arbour in 2009, and later by Paul Penkalski and others, and by 2013 they were all rescued and ressurected as valid critters worthy of their own names. At this point, Oohkotokia was plucked and raised from Euoplocephalus too but, funnily enough, its remains may actually belong to Scolosaurus.
(Lambe's toothless lizard)
Etymology
Anodontosaurus is derived from the Greek "an-" (not, without), "odont" (tooth) and "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, lambei, honours Canadian geologist and palaeontologist Lawrence Morris Lambe (1863-1919).
Discovery
The remain of Anodontosaurus were discovered in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, 8 miles southwest of Morrin, Alberta, Canada, by Charles Mortram Sternberg in 1916.
The holotype (CMN 8530) is a badly crushed partial skeleton.
