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Pectinodon is an extinct genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in Wyoming.

Description[]

Kenneth Carpenter (1982) named some theropod teeth from the Late Maastrichtian of the Lance Formation, Wyoming as Pectinodon bakkeri, derived from the Latin pecten, "comb" and odon, "tooth" (referencing the comb-like serrations at the rear edge, and the specific epithet after Robert Bakker). UCM 38445, a 6.2-millimeter-long adult tooth, is the holotype; 3 juvenile teeth are paratypes. Lev Nesov (1985) named P. asiamericanus from CCMGE 49/12176, a tooth from the Khodzhakul Formation of the Cenomanian-aged Uzbekistan, often considered to be a nomen dubium today.

It is historically considered synonymous with Troodon formosus, with Phillip Currie et al. (1990) noted P. bakkeri from the Lance and Hell Creek Formations might be separate speciees. George Olshevsky (1991) assigned the Lance specimens to Troodon. Zanno et al. (2011) reviewed the history of troodontids, following Longrich (2008), treating P. bakkeri as valid, noting many specimens assigned Troodon were likely different taxa, with a more thorough review required.

Currie and Derek Larson (2013) concluded P. bakkeri is valid and spanned both the Laramie and Hell Creek Formations. Teeth from the older Dinosaur Park Formation could not be differentiated, probably due to an insufficient sample, and were assigned cf. Pectinodon. However, it has been theorized that a new species of Pectinodon may actually be in Dinosaur Park after all. USNM V8295 is a dermal cranial bone discovered in 1909 from the Lance Formation and called Troodon sp. by the Smithsonian.

References[]

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