What is "rutellum"

Rutellum is the pre- Linnaean name given to a dinosaur specimen from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod, possibly a cetiosaurid, which lived in what is now England. The specimen, called Rutellum implicatum, was described in 1699 by Edward Lhuyd, and is notable as the earliest named entity that is recognizable as a dinosaur. It was based on a tooth collected from Caswell, near Witney, Oxfordshire.

Because Rutellum implicatum was named before 1758 (the official starting date for zoological nomenclature according to the ICZN), it is not considered a part of modern biological nomenclature.

See also Scrotum.