Deinodon

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Deinodon
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 77  Ma
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Deinodon horridus lectotype.png
Lectotype tooth of D. horridus (specimen ASNP 9534)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Superfamily: Tyrannosauroidea
Family: Tyrannosauridae
Subfamily: Deinodontinae
Cope, 1866 emend Brown, 1914 sensu Matthew and Brown, 1922
Genus: Deinodon
Leidy, 1856
Type species
Deinodon horridus
Leidy, 1856
Synonyms

Deinodon (Greek for "terrible tooth") is a dubious genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur containing a single species, Deinodon horridus, which is known only from a set of teeth found in the Late Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana and named by paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1856. [1] These were the first tyrannosaurid remains to be described and had been collected by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. [1] The teeth of Deinodon were slightly heterodont, and the holotype of Aublysodon can probably be assigned to the former. [2]

Contents

History and classification

Teeth assigned by Leidy Deinodon.JPG
Teeth assigned by Leidy

It is likely that the fossilized teeth of D. horridus belonged to the dinosaur later identified as Gorgosaurus libratus . In a 1922 study, William Diller Matthew & Barnum Brown found that the teeth of D. horridus and G. libratus were indistinguishable from each other, and that they almost certainly belonged to the same species. However, because D. horridus was not yet known from any skeletal remains, they refrained from formally declaring them to be synonyms. [3] [4] In a 1970 review, Dale Russell stated that because the teeth of D. horridus could not be distinguished from either G. libratus or his newly described species Daspletosaurus torosus , it must be considered a nomen vanum ("empty name"). [5] Since Russell published his opinion, most researchers have regarded Deinodon as a nomen dubium , [4] though some have argued that since Deinodon and Gorgosaurus cannot be distinguished, they should be synonymized with D. horridus as the valid name for "Gorgosaurus" skeletons. [6] Additionally, several researchers have agreed that the genus Aublysodon (including the species A. mirandus and A. lateralis), should also be considered a synonym of Deinodon, since it is based on incisor teeth that likely come from the same animal. [2] [3] [6] Lambe (1902) went further, and said that as originally named, Deinodon was not preoccupied, and instead, regarded Aublysodon as a nomen nudum. [2]

Description

Deinodon is known from a few, slightly heterodont teeth. [2]

A few phalanges, and a metatarsal with fragments of others, were found to be possibly assignable to D. horridus by Lambe in 1902. [2]

List of species and synonyms

Numerous species were referred to the genus Deinodon in the past. However, because most researchers now consider the genus and its type species nomina dubia, any additional species referred to the genus cannot be supported.

NameAuthorYearCombination authorCombination yearStatusNotes
Deinodon horridusLeidy1856Leidy1856Nomen dubium, type species
Deinodon explanatusCope1876Lambe1902Reclassified as Dromaeosaurus explanatus nomen dubiumOriginally Laelaps explanatus
Deinodon falculusCope1876Osborn1902Reclassified as Dromaeosaurus falculus nomen dubiumOriginally Laelaps falculus
Deinodon incrassatusCope1876Osborn1902Nomen dubiumOriginally Laelaps incrassatus
Deinodon lateralisCope1876Hay1902Synonym of Deinodon horridus[ citation needed ]Originally Aublysodon lateralis
Deinodon cristatusCope1877Osborn1902Synonym of Troodon formosus Originally Laelaps cristatus
Deinodon hazenianusCope1877Osborn1902Nomen dubiumOriginally Laelaps hazenianus
Deinodon laevifronsCope1877Osborn1902Reclassified as Dromaeosaurus laevifrons Originally Laelaps laevifrons
Deinodon amplusMarsh1892Hay1902Reclassified as Aublysodon amplus Originally Aublysodon amplus
Deinodon cristatusMarsh1892Hay1902Reclassified as Aublysodon cristatus Originally Aublysodon cristatus
Deinodon grandisMarsh1890Osborn1916Synonym of Deinodon horridusOriginally Ornithomimus grandis
Deinodon sarcophagusOsborn1905Matthew & Brown1922Reclassified as Albertosaurus sarcophagus Originally Albertosaurus sarcophagus
Deinodon libratusLambe1914Matthew & Brown1922Synonym of Gorgosaurus libratus Originally Gorgosaurus libratus
Deinodon arctunguisParks1928Kuhn1939Synonym of Albertosaurus sarcophagus Originally Albertosaurus arctunguis
Deinodon novojiloviMaleev1955Maleev1964Synonym of Tarbosaurus bataar Originally Gorgosaurus novojilovi
Deinodon sternbergiMatthew & Brown1923Kuhn1965Synonym of Gorgosaurus libratus Originally Gorgosaurus sternbergi
Deinodon periculosusRiabinin1930Kuhn1965Synonym of Tarbosaurus periculosus Originally Albertosaurus periculosus
Deinodon lancensisGilmore1946Kuhn1965Reclassified as Nanotyrannus lancensis Originally Gorgosaurus lancensis
Deinodon lancinatorMaleev1955Kuhn1965Synonym of Tarbosaurus bataar Originally Gorgosaurus lancinator
Deinodon kenabekidesHay1899Olshevsky1995Synonym of Deinodon horridusOriginally Dryptosaurus kenabekides

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Leidy, J. (1856). "Notices of the remains of extinct reptiles and fishes, discovered by Dr. F.V. Hayden in the badlands of the Judith River, Nebraska Territory." Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 8(2): 72.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lambe, L. (1902). "On Vertebrata of the Mid-Cretaceous of the North West Territory". 3 (4). Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology: 49. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61817.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. 1 2 Matthew, W.D. and Brown, B. (1922). "The family Deinodontidae, with notice of a new genus from the Cretaceous of Alberta." Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 46(6): 367-385.
  4. 1 2 Carr, T. D. (1999). "Craniofacial ontogeny in Tyrannosauridae (Dinosauria, Coelurosauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 19 (3): 497–520. Bibcode:1999JVPal..19..497C. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011161. S2CID   83744433.
  5. Russell, D. (1970). "Tyrannosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of western Canada." National Museum of Natural Science Publications in Palaeontology, 1: 1–34.
  6. 1 2 Sahni, A. (1972). "The vertebrate fauna of the Judith River Formation, Montana." Bulletin of the AMNH, 147(6).