| Protohadros | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
| Superfamily: | †Hadrosauroidea |
| Clade: | †Hadrosauromorpha |
| Genus: | †Protohadros Head, 1998 |
| Type species | |
| †Protohadros byrdi Head, 1998 | |
Protohadros (meaning "firsthadrosaur") is agenus of herbivorousornithopoddinosaur from the LateCretaceous (Cenomanian stage) of what is nowNorth America.
Gary Byrd, a part-timepalaeontologist, discovered some remains of thiseuornithopod (ribs and anungual) during early 1994 atFlower Mound,Denton County, north-centralTexas. He informed professional palaeontologistYuong-Nam Lee of the find, who arranged for the entire preserved fossil to be excavated. It was first reported upon in 1996 byJason Head of theDedman College of Humanities and Sciences,Southern Methodist University.[1] Thetype speciesProtohadros byrdi was described and named by Head in 1998. The genus name is derived from Greek πρῶτος,protos, "first", en ἁδρός,hadros, "thick", a reference to the fact that Head considered the species the oldest knownhadrosaur. Thespecific name honours Byrd.[2]
Theholotype, specimenSMU 74582, ofProtohadros, was found in theWoodbine Formation, which dates to the middleCenomanian. It consists of a partial skull, pieces of ribs, a hand ungual and aneural arch. In 1997 Lee named possible tracks ofProtohadros as theichnospeciesCaririchnium protohadrosaurichnos.[3]
