Zapsalis Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, | |
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Tooth of cf. Zapsalis from the Milk River Formation, with close up of denticles | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Family: | † Dromaeosauridae |
Clade: | † Eudromaeosauria |
Subfamily: | † Dromaeosaurinae |
Genus: | † Zapsalis Cope, 1876 |
Type species | |
†Zapsalis abradens Cope, 1876 |
Zapsalis is a genus of dromaeosaurine theropod dinosaurs. It is a tooth taxon, often considered dubious because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, which include teeth but no other remains.
The generic name is derived from Greek za~, "thorough", and psalis, "pair of scissors". The specific name means "abrading" in Latin.
Fossils of Zapsalis were first described by American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1876 but as species of the large carnivorous theropod Laelaps (now Dryptosaurus ). [1] Cope erected 2 species, Laelaps explanatus and L. laevifrons, the former based on a collection of 27 teeth and the latter based on a single tooth. [2] [1] It wasn't until later in 1876 that Cope made the genus Zapsalis, with Z. abradens as the type, based on a second premaxillary tooth. [3] All of the fossils were collected from the Campanian age strata of the Judith River Formation in Montana, USA. [3] [4] [2] Cope named Zapsalis during the Bone Wars, his competition with Yale paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, to collect and describe as many fossil taxa as possible. [5]
After the Bone Wars, the type fossils of Zapsalis and the Laelaps species were sold to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. [2] In the wake of the Bone Wars, the complicated errors in dinosaur taxonomy were left to other paleontologists, with the Laelaps species being moved to other theropod dinosaurs like Deinodon, [6] [7] Aublysodon, [8] and Dromaeosaurus . [9] [10] Z. abradens was moved to Dromaeosaurus [9] and synonymized with the other Dromaeosaur Paronychodon. [11] It wasn't until 2002 that Julia Sankey e.a. concluded the teeth represented a separate "?Dromaeosaurus Morphotype A". [12] In 2013 Derek Larson and Philip Currie recognised Zapsalis as a valid taxon from the Judith River and Dinosaur Park Formation. The teeth are typified by a combination of rounded denticles, straight rear edge and vertical grooves. Similar teeth from the older Milk River Formation were referred to a cf. Zapsalis. [13] In 2019, Currie and Evans announced that the Zapsalis teeth from the Dinosaur Park Formation represented the second premaxillary tooth of Saurornitholestes langstoni , in a paper describing a complete skull of that species. [4] The authors kept the species distinct because the type species' holotype is likely indeterminate on a species level. [14]
As for Laelaps explanatus and L. laevifrons, they were never synonymized with Zapsalis but have been synonymized with Saurornitholestes langstoni and in turn, Zapsalis, as well. [2] [4]
The type tooth of Z. abradens is flat lingually, with no mesial serrations and 3 distal serrations per millimeter and is 12 mm in total length. There are three lingual ridges and four labial ones. [3] [2] Currie & Evans, 2019 diagnosed Zapsalis from Saurornitholestes by noting the type of the former is lacking mesial serrations and being concave apicodistally, and therefore "recommended that the two genera be kept separate." [4] The second premaxillary teeth of Zapsalis and other dromaeosaurids may have been structurally specialized for preening feathers, as seen in some Oviraptorosaurs as well. [4]
All 4 named species are known from the Judith River Formation, the site of expeditions first by Edward Drinker Cope's crews during the early stages of the Bone Wars, including the discoveries of many taxa that he named, though all are now seen as dubious. These include fossils of large, carnivorous tyrannosaurid theropods like Aublysodon and Deinodon. As for the herbivorous Ornithischians, like the beaked hadrosaurids Trachodon and Cionodon were named. The most common fossils are those of the horned Ceratopsians like Monoclonius, Ceratops, and Pteropelyx. Lastly, the armored ankylosaur Palaeoscincus is known from scattered teeth. [15]
Albertosaurus is a genus of large tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in northwestern North America during the early to middle Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 71 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which the genus is named, although an indeterminate species has been discovered in the Corral de Enmedio and Packard Formations of Mexico. Scientists disagree on the content of the genus and some recognize Gorgosaurus libratus as a second species.
Daspletosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Laramidia between about 78 and 74.4 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. The genus Daspletosaurus contains three named species. Fossils of the earlier type species, D. torosus, have been found in Alberta, while fossils of a later species, D. horneri, have been found only in Montana. D. wilsoni has been suggested as an intermediate species between D. torosus and D. horneri that evolved through anagenesis, but this theory has been disputed by other researchers. There are also multiple specimens which may represent new species of Daspletosaurus from Alberta and Montana, but these have not been formally described. The taxon Thanatotheristes has been suggested to represent a species of Daspletosaurus, D. degrootorum, but this has not been widely supported. Daspletosaurus is closely related to the much larger and more recent tyrannosaurid Tyrannosaurus rex. Like most tyrannosaurids, Daspletosaurus was a large bipedal predator, measuring around 8.5–9 metres (28–30 ft) long and weighing up to 2–3 metric tons, equipped with dozens of large, sharp teeth. Daspletosaurus had the small forelimbs typical of tyrannosaurids, although they were proportionately longer than in other genera.
Troodon is a former wastebasket taxon and a potentially dubious genus of relatively small, bird-like theropod dinosaurs definitively known from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period. It includes at least one species, Troodon formosus, known from Montana. Discovered in October 1855, T. formosus was among the first dinosaurs found in North America, although it was thought to be a lizard until 1877. Several well-known troodontid specimens from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta were once believed to be members of this genus. However, recent analyses in 2017 have found this genus to be undiagnostic and referred some of these specimens to the genus Stenonychosaurus some to the genus Latenivenatrix, and some to the genus Pectinodon. The genus name is Ancient Greek for "wounding tooth", referring to the teeth, which were different from those of most other theropods known at the time of their discovery. The teeth bear prominent, apically oriented serrations. These "wounding" serrations, however, are morphometrically more similar to those of herbivorous reptiles, and suggest a possibly omnivorous diet.
Dromaeosaurus is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, sometime between 80 and 69 million years ago, in Alberta, Canada and the western United States. The type species is Dromaeosaurus albertensis, which was described by William Diller Matthew and Barnum Brown in 1922. Its fossils were unearthed in the Dinosaur Park Formation. Teeth attributed to this genus have been found in the Prince Creek Formation. Dromaeosaurus is the type genus of both Dromaeosauridae and Dromaeosaurinae, which include many genera with similar characteristics to Dromaeosaurus such as possibly its closest relative Dakotaraptor. Dromaeosaurus was heavily built, more so than other dromaeosaurs that are similar in size, like Velociraptor.
Gorgosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian), between about 76.6 and 75.1 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Canadian province of Alberta and the U.S. state of Montana. Paleontologists recognize only the type species, G. libratus, although other species have been erroneously referred to the genus.
Saurornitholestes is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Canada (Alberta) and the United States.
Richardoestesia is a morphogenus of theropod dinosaur teeth, originally described from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Canada, the United States and Kazakhstan. It currently contains two species, R. gilmorei and R. isosceles, and a possible third, R. asiatica. It has been used as a morphotaxon to describe other theropod teeth widely displaced in time and space from the type species. If all teeth assigned to the genus are truly reflective of the animals biology and taxonomic state, it would have been one of the longest lasting dinosaur genera, perhaps also being the most widely distributed.
Aublysodon is a genus of carnivorous dinosaurs known only from the Judith River Formation in Montana, which has been dated to the late Campanian age of the late Cretaceous period. The only currently recognized species, Aublysodon mirandus, was named by paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1868. It is sometimes considered dubious now, because the type specimen consists only of an isolated premaxillary (front) tooth. Although this specimen is now lost, similar teeth have been found in many US states, western Canada, and Asia. These teeth almost certainly belong to juvenile tyrannosaurine tyrannosaurids, but most have not been identified to species level. However, it is likely that the type tooth belongs to one of the species in the genus Daspletosaurus, which was present in contemporary formations, and which matches specific details of the original tooth. The synapomorphies alleged to distinguish the Aublysodontinae, especially lack of serrations on premaxillary teeth could have been caused by tooth wear in life, postmortem abrasion, or digestion. Most other "aublysodontine"-type teeth may be from ontogenetic stages or sexual morphs of other tyrannosaurids.
Chirostenotes is a genus of oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. The type species is Chirostenotes pergracilis.
Deinodon is a dubious tyrannosaurid dinosaur genus containing a single species, Deinodon horridus. D. horridus 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. These were the first tyrannosaurid remains to be described and had been collected by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden. The teeth of Deinodon were slightly heterodont, and the holotype of Aublysodon can probably be assigned to Deinodon.
Paronychodon was a theropod dinosaur genus. It is a tooth taxon, often considered dubious because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, which include "buckets" of teeth from many disparate times and places but no other remains, and should be considered a form taxon.
Pectinodon is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaurs from the end of the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period (66 mya). It currently contains a single valid species, Pectinodon bakkeri, known only from teeth.
Dysganus (dis-GANN-us) is a dubious genus of ceratopsian dinosaur from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The fossil teeth referred to Dysganus were first collected by Charles Sternberg from the Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana and later described by Edward Drinker Cope. All of the species are now seen as dubious Ceratopsians, though referred material from tyrannosaurids and hadrosaurids were found in New Mexico.
Dromaeosaurinae is a subfamily of the theropod group Dromaeosauridae. The earliest dromaeosaurine is Utahraptor, dating back to the Early Cretaceous period in North America, however, some isolated teeth seems to represent an indeterminate species of dromaeosaurine, coming from the Late Jurassic period in Africa. If true, this will push their range to the Jurassic period, instead of the Cretaceous, as in most dromaeosaurs.
Velociraptorinae is a subfamily of the theropod group Dromaeosauridae. The earliest velociraptorines are probably Nuthetes from the United Kingdom, and possibly Deinonychus from North America. However, several indeterminate velociraptorines have also been discovered, dating to the Kimmeridgian stage, in the Late Jurassic Period. These fossils were discovered in the Langenberg quarry, Oker near Goslar, Germany.
Xixiasaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now China. The only known specimen was discovered in Xixia County, Henan Province, in central China, and became the holotype of the new genus and species Xixiasaurus henanensis in 2010. The names refer to the areas of discovery, and can be translated as "Henan Xixia lizard". The specimen consists of an almost complete skull, part of the lower jaw, and teeth, as well as a partial right forelimb.
Dinosaur diets and feeding behavior varied widely throughout the clade, including carnivorous, herbivorous, and omnivorous forms.
This timeline of tyrannosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the tyrannosaurs, a group of predatory theropod dinosaurs that began as small, long-armed bird-like creatures with elaborate cranial ornamentation but achieved apex predator status during the Late Cretaceous as their arms shrank and body size expanded. Although formally trained scientists did not begin to study tyrannosaur fossils until the mid-19th century, these remains may have been discovered by Native Americans and interpreted through a mythological lens. The Montana Crow tradition about thunder birds with two claws on their feet may have been inspired by isolated tyrannosaurid forelimbs found locally. Other legends possibly inspired by tyrannosaur remains include Cheyenne stories about a mythical creature called the Ahke, and Delaware stories about smoking the bones of ancient monsters to have wishes granted.
This timeline of dromaeosaurid research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the dromaeosaurids, a group of sickle-clawed, bird-like theropod dinosaurs including animals like Velociraptor. Since the Native Americans of Montana used the sediments of the Cloverly Formation to produce pigments, they may have encountered remains of the dromaeosaurid Deinonychus hundreds of years before these fossils came to the attention of formally trained scientists.
Dryadissector is an extinct genus of varanoid lizard represented by the type species Dryadissector shilleri from the Late Cretaceous of Texas. Dryadissector is known only from isolated teeth, which may have been shed by living individuals. These teeth are common in early Campanian strata within the Aguja Formation, which date back about 80 to 82 million years. The teeth of Dryadissector are extremely similar to those of theropod dinosaurs, which led to them initially being misidentified as the remains of theropods. Like theropod teeth, the teeth of Dryadissector are recurved, laterally compressed, and serrated. However, their lizard affinities are made evident by serrations that are smaller and more numerous than those of theropods, as well as a bulge on the inner surface of the base of each tooth that is characteristic of varanoids.