Lophorhothon

Name: Lophorhothon.
Phonetic: Lo-for-rho-fon.‬
Named By: W.‭ ‬Langston‭ ‬-‭ ‬1960.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda,‭ ‬Hadrosauroidea‭?
Species: L.‭ ‬atopus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Holotype roughly estimated at about‭ ‬4.5‭ ‬meters.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Alabama‭ ‬-‭ ‬Mooreville Chalk Formation,‭ ‬Carolina‭ ‬-‭ ‬Black Creek Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: At least two individuals known from partial remains.

       Lophorhothon was first discovered in the US state of Alabama in the Mooreville Chalk Formation.‭ ‬During the Cretaceous,‭ ‬this area was known as a region of Appalachia‭ (‬the eastern landmass of North America at the time separated from Laramidia in the West‭)‬,‭ ‬and what is significant about this is that when Lophorhothon was described it was thought to be a hadrosaurid dinosaur,‭ ‬and was the first such dinosaur of its kind to be discovered in Appalachia.‭ ‬Since this time other researchers have preferred to class it as an iguanodont,‭ ‬and occasionally a hadrosauroid‭ (‬close to but not quite a hadrosaurid‭)‬.‭ ‬In‭ ‬2016‭ ‬a new genus from the same Mooreville Chalk Formation as the holotype individual of Lophorhothon was named as‭ ‬Eotrachodon,‭ ‬and this is identified as a full hadrosaurid dinosaur.‭ ‬Regardless of whether Lophorhothon becomes known as a full hadrosaurid again or not,‭ ‬we at least now are certain that hadrosaurid dinosaurs,‭ ‬and not just closely related forms,‭ ‬were at least present in Appalachia.

Further reading
-‭ ‬The vertebrate fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama,‭ ‬part VI:‭ ‬the dinosaurs.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Fieldiana:‭ ‬Geology Memoirs‭ ‬3‭(‬5‭)‬:‭ ‬315-359.‭ ‬-‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Langston‭ ‬-‭ ‬1960.
-‭ ‬Lophorothon,‭ ‬an iguanodontian,‭ ‬not a hadrosaur.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology,‭ ‬18‭ (‬3‭ ‬Abstracts‭)‬:‭ ‬59A.‭ ‬-‭ ‬J.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Lamb‭ ‬-‭ ‬1998.
- Redescription of Lophorhothon atopus (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Alabama based on new material. - Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.- Terry Gates & James Lamb - 2021.



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