Trachodon?

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Hey, everyone!
I was just wondering about Trachodon. Do you guys know of any hadrosaurs that have been found that have the same teeth as 'Trachodon'? Or are 'Trachodon' teeth unique? If they are, I say that there is still a chance that Trachodon as a genus is saved. Thanks!

[Newt]

Trachodon teeth are non-diagnostic, meaning that they could have come from any number of hadrosaur genera. This is true of quite a few of the dinosaur genera based solely on isolated teeth. In the early days of dinosaur paleontology, any unique new tooth would be given a name, because it was distinct compared to the other animals known at the time - but as more and more dinosaurs became known, the teeth were no longer so distinctive. These paleontologists were likely spoiled by mammals, which often have teeth that are diagnosable at the genus or species level. Dino teeth are more conservative, and also convergent - see the similarity of diplodocid and titanosaur teeth, for example, or at a broader scale the teeth of camptosaur-grade ornithopods, basal ornithischians, "prosauropods", and silesaurids. All of these have extremely similar teeth.

[Zhuchengotyrant]

Thanks. So there's no hope that Trachodon would be used again? Sad!