page_title: Zalmoxes
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Zalmoxes / Description
context_page_description: Zalmoxes is an extinct genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Maastrichtian of Romania. The genus is known from specimens first named as the species Mochlodon robustum in 1899 by Franz Nopcsa before being reclassified as Rhabdodon robustum by him in 1915. In 1990 this name was corrected to Rhabdodon robustus by George Olshevsky, and in 2003 the species was once more reclassified, this time as the type species Zalmoxes robustus. Zalmoxes refers to the Dacian deity Zalmoxis, and robustus to the robustness of the remains. In 2003 another species was named, Zalmoxes shqiperorum, named for the Albanian name for Albanians.
context_section_description: Zalmoxes is a rather small genus of bipedal herbivore with a large triangular head and a beak. Z. shqiperorum is the larger species, known from a subadult 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long, as well as an early juvenile 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length, while Z. robustus subadults range from 2–2.4 m (6.6–7.9 ft) long. An unnamed species of Zalmoxes, is known from larger sizes, with an adult 2.9 m (9.5 ft) in length. Although Nopcsa thought the small size of Zalmoxes was due to island dwarfism, Attila Ösi and colleagues found it was closer to the size of the rhabdodontid ancestor, with larger Rhabdodon and smaller Mochlodon having island gigantism and island dwarfism respectively. However, when the species of Zalmoxes are taken into account separately, it can be seen than Z. shqiperorum continued the general size trend from Orodromeus to Tenontosaurus, while Z. robustus may have had slight nanism.
  Z. robustus is known from about 80% of the skull. However, no complete articulated skull is known, and most of the bones do not overlap and are found in isolation. Weishampel et al. found that these likely represented one individual, as the bones were from the same formation and are the same colour. Four individuals were identified by Nopcsa for Z. robustus, and from these it can be seen that there is skeletal variation in the species. Like with the cranial material, vertebrae of Z. robustus are often found isolated. All regions of the vertebral column are represented in the fossil record, although no sternal plates have been found yet. The sacrum includes three vertebrae, with two sacrodorsals (dorsal vertebrae in the sacrum) and three sacrocaudals (caudal vertebrae in the sacrum). The limb and girdle bones are also well represented, with only the hands (manus) and feet (pes) mostly lacking.
  While more poorly known than Z. robustus, Z. shqiperorum is still known from a relatively large amount of the skeleton. Only two mostly complete skeletons are known, the holotype adult, and a referred juvenile. The lower jaw (dentary) of Z. shqiperorum is relatively shorter than the equivalent in Z. robustus, although it is much larger. Ossified tendons are known from the juvenile specimen, showing that they were circular or elliptical in cross section and have fine striations in Z. shqiperorum. Cervical, dorsal and caudal vertebrae are known from Z. shqiperorum, although the former two are only represented by juvenile material. A complete articulated sacrum is known for Z. shqiperorum, with three vertebrae and at least two sacrodorsals. No manual material is known from the species, although a metatarsal and a few phalanges are known.
caption: Zalmoxes robustus (purple) compared in size to a human and other iguanodonts