Paronychodon Dromaeosaurid Tooth Fossil Specimen Hell Creek MT

Collector notes

Paronychodon (meaning "beside claw tooth") is an extinct genus of small, carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, roughly 75 to 66 million years ago. It is classified as a "tooth taxon" (or form taxon), meaning the entire genus is known and described only from fossilized teeth, with no skeletal remains ever found. Because "buckets" of these teeth have been discovered across highly disparate time periods and geological formations, scientists often view the genus as a dubious or wastebasket taxon. Classification: It is generally thought to be a small maniraptoran theropod, likely belonging to the family Troodontidae or representing the specialized front teeth of a dromaeosaurid (raptor).