Prodeinodon

Prodeinodon Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Barremian–Aptian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Genus:	† Prodeinodon Osborn, 1924
Type species
†Prodeinodon mongoliense Osborn, 1924
Species
†P. kwangshiensis (?) Hou et al., 1975 †P. mongoliensisOsborn, 1924
Synonyms
Prodeinodon mongolienseOsborn, 1924

Prodeinodon (meaning "before Deinodon ") is a wastebasket taxon and a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian stages) from the Xinlong Formation in the Napai Basin of China and from the Oosh Formation of Mongolia. ^[1] Two species have been formally identified (with a third informal species), all three known only from tooth fragments, showing no diagnostic features, making them difficult to classify, though they may belong to a carnosaur. At least some of the referred species may represent basal carcharodontosaurid theropods similar to Acrocanthosaurus . ^[2]

The type species, P. mongoliensis, was described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1924. ^[3] A second species, P. kwangshiensis, was named in 1975. ^[4] "P. tibetensis" has not been formally described, and it may have belonged to its own, separate genus. ^[5]

Species

• P. mongoliensis (Osborn, 1924) is known from a single tooth, collected around 1923 and described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in a 1924 paper, where he also described several other theropods and sauropods discovered in Mongolia. ^[3] The holotype of P. mongoliensis, which is the holotype for the entire genus, is AMNH 6265, a single tooth collected from the Oosh Formation. Some scientists have considered P. mongoliensis to have been a carnosaur. ^[6]

• P. kwangshiensis (Hou et al., 1975) is known from four incomplete teeth and a tibia, found in the Xinlong Formation, China. ^[4] It can confidently be identified to Theropoda but it was probably not the same type of theropod as P. mongoliense. ^[6] It could represent a carcharodontosaurid closely related to Acrocanthosaurus. ^[7]

• "P. tibetensis" is an informal species of Prodeinodon that was briefly mentioned in 1986. ^[5] Known from a single vertebra found in the Hettangian Daye Group in China, this species was probably a theropod but it most likely did not belong to the same animal as P. mongoliensis and it may have belonged to its own, entirely separate genus. ^[6] It is geographically present in Xizang Zizhiqu, China. ^[8]

References

1. Lambert D (1993). The Ultimate Dinosaur Book. Dorling Kindersley, New York, 180. ISBN   1-56458-304-X.
2. Chan-gyu Yun (2020). "A Carcharodontosaurid tooth from the Hasandong Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of South Korea". Mongolian Geoscientist. 50: 2–10. doi: 10.5564/mgs.v50i0.1325 .
3. Full reference: H. F. Osborn. 1924. Sauropoda and Theropoda from the Lower Cretaceous of Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 128:1-7
4. L.-h. Hou, H.-k. Yeh, and X.-j. Zhao. 1975. Fossil reptiles from Fusui, Kwangshi. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 13(1):24-33
5. L. Ye, Y. Hao, H. Qi, Y. Li, and X. Zhao. 1986. [The southern Xinjiang–the Qinghui, Xizang region]. Ching-kuo Ti Pao o Hsi [The Cretaceous System of China. The Stratigraphy of China] 12:193-204
6. "Prodeinodon mongoliensis, P. kwangshiensis, P. tibetensis". Tumblr. A Dinosaur a Day. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
7. Yun, Chan-gyu (2020-06-02). "A Carcharodontosaurid tooth from the Hasandong Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of South Korea". Mongolian Geoscientist. 50: 2–10. doi: 10.5564/mgs.v50i0.1325 . ISSN   2663-5151.
8. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Jurassic, Asia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 534–535. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.

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