Cronopio dentiacutus was established as a scientific taxon based on fossil material recovered from the La Buitrera locality (Candeleros Formation, Río Negro province) dating to the early Cenomanian (early Late Cretaceous, ~99.6–96 Ma). The holotype (MPCA PV 454) and referred specimens (MPCA PV 450, MPCA PV 453) were described in the paleontological literature and popularized in press accounts. The genus name intentionally references the 'cronopios' of Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar, while the specific epithet dentiacutus derives from Latin for 'sharp-toothed'.
Known material includes a partial skull (holotype MPCA PV 454; ~27 mm long) missing some elements (skull roof, basicranium, squamosals) and referred partial jaws (MPCA PV 450, MPCA PV 453). The fossils indicate a very small, shrew-sized mammal with an elongate snout and pronounced, sharply pointed teeth — the dentition emphasized by the specific name and popular descriptions as 'saber-toothed'. Reconstructions are necessarily partial and based on fragmentary cranial and mandibular remains.
As a fossil taxon, Cronopio dentiacutus has no supernatural abilities. Scientific inferences from the material identify it as a small insectivorous mammal (dietary interpretation supported in source descriptions) and place it within the diversity of meridiolestidan/dryolestoid mammals of Cretaceous South America, indicating an ecological role as a small insectivore among contemporaneous vertebrates.
Arundelconodon hottoni
Arundelconodon hottoni is an extinct genus and species of small Mesozoic mammal (family Triconodontidae) known from jaw and dental remains recovered from the Arundel Clay (Potomac Group) of Maryland, USA. Described from a right mandibular ramus with five teeth, it is interpreted as an Early Cretaceous triconodont whose anatomy informs triconodontid evolution and the composition of eastern North American faunas.
Comodon
Comodon is the scientific genus name applied to an extinct mammal known from a mandible (USNM 2703) from Quarry 9 at Como Bluff, Wyoming, in the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation. The name was erected as a replacement for the preoccupied Phascolodon and is used within paleontological nomenclature rather than as a mythic or folkloric being.
Crom Cruach
Crom Cruach is a pre-Christian cult figure in medieval Irish sources, presented as a central idol venerated on Magh Slécht and described in Christian-era narratives as surrounded by twelve subsidiary figures and associated with propitiatory offerings for agricultural bounty; hagiographies recount Saint Patrick destroying the image and casting out a demon said to inhabit it.
Crom Dubh
Crom Dubh is a fluid mythological and folkloric figure from Irish tradition, variously represented as a remnant cultic god, a pagan chieftain or robber, a servant-figure, and the focal figure of seasonal first-fruits rites (Crom Dubh Sunday). In later narratives he is frequently framed as an antagonist subdued or reinterpreted by St. Patrick.
Cromm Cruac (Robin of Sherwood)
Cromm Cruac is a reworking of the Irish figure Crom Cruach used in the British television series Robin of Sherwood as a named pagan locus of power. Historically attested in Christian sources as a pre‑Christian Irish deity whose worship Christian writers claim involved offerings, the television series presents 'Cromm Cruac' (episode title, 17 May 1986) as a place — associated in the episode with a lake — whose powers can be invoked in the drama.
Crommyonian Sow
A monstrous wild pig from Greek heroic legend that terrorized the region around Crommyon on the Isthmus between Megara and Corinth. The creature — also called Phaea in some accounts — is slain by the culture-hero Theseus and appears in variant traditions as either an extraordinary beast or as a human outlaw nicknamed 'Sow.'
Crone
A folkloric character-type of an older woman whose age and gender define her social and symbolic role. The crone appears ambivalently across traditions as a malicious hag, a stern tester or guardian, or a venerated wise woman and keeper of remedies and lore.
Cronus
A principal Titan in ancient Greek myth, Cronus (Κρόνος) is the youngest leader of the Titans who overthrew his father Uranus, ruled in the mythic Golden Age, devoured his newborn children to avert a prophecy, and was later overthrown by his son Zeus and confined to Tartarus. He is associated in some traditions with the harvest and is later equated with the Roman Saturn.
Crotopus (Κρότωπος)
Crotopus is a legendary king of Argos in Greek mythic-historical tradition. He is depicted as a mortal ruler whose condemnation and execution of his daughter Psamathe for bearing Apollo's child provokes divine retribution (a plague on Argos) and leads to oracle-prescribed rites and, in some accounts, the king's exile and founding of a new city, Tripodiscium.
Croydon Cat Killer
A contemporary social and media label applied to an alleged perpetrator (or perpetrators) blamed for a large series of cat mutilations first reported in Croydon, South London, from 2014 onward. The term functioned as a focal agent in community fear, media coverage and police investigation, and was later reinterpreted by forensic reviews as more likely the result of vehicle trauma and wildlife scavenging.
Cruel Coppinger
Cruel Coppinger is a semi-legendary Cornish figure—remembered as a foreign, fearsome smuggler/wrecker whose biographical fragments were elaborated into a dramatic folk narrative. Collected in 19th-century sources (notably Rev. R. S. Hawker's account published in All the Year Round) the tale blends probable historical persons (members of the Coppinger family) with folklore motifs of seizure, wrecking, illicit wealth, and a mysterious maritime disappearance.
Cruinniuc
Cruinniuc is a mortal figure in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, described as a wealthy widower and cattle-owner of Ulster whose boast at a festival precipitates the events in which his pregnant wife, later revealed as Macha, is forced to race the king's chariot, gives birth to twins at the finish, and curses the men of Ulster.
Community Record
- [1]Cronopio dentiacutus — Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors. 'Cronopio dentiacutus.' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [2]Cronopio (literature) — Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors. 'Cronopio (literature).' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [3]Dental morphology in a juvenile mammal from the late Cretaceous of Sou (thesis excerpt). Newton, Kayla E., thesis excerpt (University repository).academic
- [4]Saber-toothed fossil sheds new light on ancient mammals - RedOrbit. RedOrbit press article discussing Cronopio dentiacutus.other
- [5]Cronopio dentiacutus — ReptileEvolution summary. Online summary and reconstruction of Cronopio and comparative taxa.other
- [6]Cronopio dentiacutus — Animal A Day blog. Popular blog post summarizing the taxon.other
- [7]Archive record: Cronopio dentiacutus (Demon Hunter). Archive listing referencing the name in an unrelated catalog context.other
- [8]Answers in Genesis: 'Saber-Toothed Squirrel Discovered Among Dinosaurs'. Popular-press summary referencing Cronopio.other