Tendagurodon janenschi Heinrich, 1998

Tendagurodon janenschi Heinrich, 1998

Berlin-based paleontologist Wolf-Dieter Heinrich described this new genus and species on the basis of only a single tooth. The genus name Tendagurodon combines tendaguru, the Kiswahili name of the find site (meaning “bedpost” in the local language of Kimwera) and the Greek οδοντιΚός / odontikos, meaning “tooth.” The genus name is somewhat artificial, since “odon” is not a Greek suffix, although it is frequently used this way in zoological nomenclature. The specific name honors the head of the German Tendaguru Expedition, Werner Janensch, and the major contributions he made to our understanding of African dinosaurs. 103 The binomial translates roughly to “bedpost tooth of Janensch,” but Heinrich clearly meant it in the sense of “Tendaguru tooth of Janensch.”