DYSGANUS
a dubious ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America.
Pronunciation: dis-GANN-us
Meaning: Rough enamel
Author/s: Cope (
1876)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Montana, USA
Discovery Chart Position: #41
Dysganus encaustus
(Concave Rough Enamel)Etymology
Dysganus is derived from the Greek "dys" (bad) and "-ganos" (tooth enamel).
The
species epithet,
encaustus, means "burnt in" in Greek, referring to the concave (inwards curving) surface of the tooth.
Discovery
The remains of
Dysganus were discovered at "Dog Creek" in the Judith River Formation, Fergus County, Montana, USA, by Charles H. Sternberg in 1876.
The
holotype (AMNH 5739) is a single fragmentary tooth. Five additional teeth from the same area were also assigned here.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Stage: Campanian
Age range: 79-75 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: ?
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Herbivore
Other species
Dysganus bicarinatus (Cope, 1876). Meaning "two keels", from the Latin "bi" (two) and "carinatus" (keeled), referring to the two ridges running down the teeth. Named for a single tooth (AMNH 3975), plus two more
fragmentary teeth and numerous scraps of bone, from the same area as
Dysganus encaustus.
Dysganus peiganus (Cope, 1876). In honour of the Peigan Native Americans of Montana. Named for a single tooth (AMNH 3974) from the same area as
Dysganus encaustus.
Dysganus haydenianus
(Cope, 1876). In honour of U. S. Geologist, Doctor Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. Named for a single tooth (AMNH 5738), plus seven additional fragmentary teeth, from the same area as
Dysganus encaustus.
References
• Cope ED (1876) "
Descriptions of some vertebrate remains from the Fort Union Beds of Montana".
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 28: 248-261.
• Lull RS and Wright NE (1942) "Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America".
Geological Society of America Special Papers, 40: 27-28.
• Stanton TW, Hatcher JB and Knowlton FH (1905) "Geology and Paleontology of the Judith River Beds: With a Chapter on Fossil Plants".
United States Geological Survey Bulletin, 8(157): 90.
• Coombs WP and Galton PM (1988) "
Dysganus, an Indeterminate Ceratopsian Dinosaur".
Journal of Paleontology, 62(5): 818-821.
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Atkinson, L.
"
DYSGANUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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