Troodon

History & Fossils ~ ~ ~ ~

Troodon was discovered by Joseph Leidyin ‬1856 by a single fossilized tooth. The tooth was believed to have belonged to a type of lizard. By 1901, the tooth was placed in megalosauridae, the default clade that was given to carnivorous dinosaurs without much taxonomic knowledge. By 1924, Troodon was thought to be a Pachycephalosaurid and in 1932, Stenonychosaurus was discovered. Troodon is still a valid genus, but it’s only material is still just its wounding teeth. Its Sister Taxa, Stenonychosaurus, and Latenivenatrix are the animals that Troodon takes inspiration from. I still like the name far more than the other species which aren't fun to say or pronounce, as well as troodon still being represented far more than the other species. Anyways Troodon was invalidated in 2017 since it's only fossils were teeth. Until 2025 when a neotype has been found and described arguing Troodon should be a valid genus: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/troodontid-specimens-from-the-cretaceous-two-medicine-formation-of-montana-usa-and-the-validity-of-troodon-formosus/3E58F1FDA3FE53DE569E0D0B20E79F22