Name

Siamodon (Greek for "Siamese tooth"); pronounced sie-AM-oh-don

Habitat

Woodlands of Asia

Historical Period

Early Cretaceous (110-100 million years ago)

Size and Weight

About 20 feet long and 1-2 tons

Diet

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics

Small head; thick tail; occasional bipedal posture

 

About Siamodon

Ornithopods, like titanosaurs, had a worldwide distribution during the middle to late Cretaceous period.


The importance of Siamodon is that it's one of the few dinosaurs to be discovered in modern-day Thailand (a country that used to be known as Siam)--and, like its close cousin Probactrosaurus, it lay close to the evolutionary juncture when the first true hadrosaurs branched off from their ornithopod forebears. To date, Siamodon is known from only a single tooth and a fossilized braincase; further discoveries should shed additional light on its appearance and lifestyle.