Aublysodon
| Aublysodon Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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| Teeth of tree species, the numbers 4: A. mirandus, 5: "A." amplus, 6: A. cristatus. | |
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| Superfamily: | †Tyrannosauroidea
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| Subfamily: | †Aublysodontinae
Nopcsa, 1928 nomen dubium
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| Genus: | †Aublysodon Leidy, 1868 nomen dubium
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| Type species | |
| †Aublysodon mirandus Leidy, 1868
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Aublysodon is an extinct genus of dubious dinosaur theropod that belongs to the Tyrannosauridae family.
Currently, scientists have recognized only one species in this genus: Aublysodon mirandus. The species was named in 1868 by Joseph Leidy.
Fossils
Paleontologists found Aublysodon fossils in Montana, U.S.A. that are around 75 million years old. At that time, the world was in the Campanian stage of the Upper Cretaceous Period.
Several possible A. mirandus fossils have been found in Asia and Canada.[1]
Other species
Other species were named as possible Aublysodon. However, scientists found that they belong to other extinct species, like juvenile Tyrannosaurids such as Tyrannosaurus, Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus.
Taxonomy
When Joseph Leidy named Aublysodon mirandus in 1868 by Joseph Leidy, the holotype consisted of a single tooth, named ANSP 9535. In the same year, fossils of Troodon, Trachodon and Deinodon were found in similar localities in the Western United States.
In Judith River Formation, between 1854-1855, archaeologists found a fossil of Deinodon horridus[2]. The fossil was formally described in 1866 by Edward Drinker Cope.
The name Aublysodon mirandus is a junior objective synonym of Deinodon horridus. Because of this, in 1868 Cope renamed the Deinodon horridus as a second species, Aublysodon horridus.[3] Today, the fossil of Aublysodon is referred as juvenile Tyrannosaurids, such as Daspletosaurus or Tyrannosaurus. New studies replaced Aublysodon as a nomen dubium.[1]
Referred species
Apart from A. mirandus and A. horridus, several others species have been named within the genus. In 1876, Cope named the Aublysodon lateralis, based on specimen AMNH 3956,[4][5] but now referred to a synonym of Deinodon horridus.[6]
In 1963, the paleontologist Alan Jack Charig named three species: Aublysodon lancinator, Aublysodon novojilovi and Aublysodon lacensis. Today they are classified as synonyms of Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus or a separate genus called as Nanotyrannus.[7]
Size
Estimates say that Aublysodon was about 4 meters (13 ft) tall. Its maximum size was around 7–8 meters (23–26 ft) long, with a maximum weight of 3 tons (3.1–3.6 short tons).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Currie, P. (2005). "Theropods, including birds." Pp. 367-397 in Currie and Koppelhus (eds)., Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
- ↑ "Aublysodon." Dodson, et al. Page 128.
- ↑ Cope, E.D., 1868, "On some Cretaceous Reptilia", Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 20: 233-242
- ↑ Cope, E.D., 1876, "Descriptions of some vertebrate remains from the Fort Union Beds of Montana", Paleontological Bulletin, 22: 1-14
- ↑ Cope, E.D., 1876, "Descriptions of some vertebrate remains from the Fort Union Beds of Montana", Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 28: 248-261
- ↑ Sahni, A. (1972). "The vertebrate fauna of the Judith River Formation, Montana." Bulletin of the AMNH, 147(6).
- ↑ Bakker, R.T., Williams, M. & Currie, P.J., 1988, "Nanotyrannus, a new genus of pygmy tyrannosaur, from the latest Cretaceous of Montana", Hunteria 1(5): 1-30