Zanclodon
Extinct genus of reptiles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zanclodon ("scythe tooth") is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Erfurt Formation[1] in southern Germany.[2] It was once a wastebasket taxon until a taxonomic revision by Schoch (2011) left only the paratype (SMNS 6045) within Zanclodon laevis proper.[3] The type species is Z. laevis.
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| Zanclodon Temporal range: Middle Triassic, | |
|---|---|
| |
| Holotype of Z. laevis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Zanclodon Plieninger, 1847 |
| Type species | |
| †Zanclodon laevis (Plieninger, 1846) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Discovery and naming
The paratype, SMNS 56045, a maxilla with teeth, was discovered in the Gaildorf Alumn Mine in southern Germany.[3] Zanclodon was originally named Smilodon by Plieninger (1846), but this name had previously been used for the saber-toothed cat (a preoccupied name), prompting Plieninger to erect the replacement name Zanclodon in 1847.[4] A paralectotype was also assigned to Z. laevis: SMNS 6045a, a loose germ tooth.[3]
Z. plieningeri was named by Fraas in 1896,[5] but it became a junior synonym of Z. laevis shortly after publication as they are both based on the same specimen, SMNS 6045.[6]
Many species were previously lumped under the Zanclodon genus, but currently only the type species, Z. laevis, is accepted to belong to the genus.[3]
Classification
Zanclodon was formerly placed in the Teratosauridae,[7] within the Theropoda, and at times, plateosaurid material was mistakenly referred to Zanclodon.[6] It is now considered to have been an indeterminate archosauriform.[6]
Species
- Z. laevis (Plieninger, 1846) [originally "Smilodon"] (type)
- Z. crenatus (Plieninger, 1846) [originally "Smilodon"] = nomen dubium at Archosauromorpha indeterminate[8][9]
- Z. bavaricus (Fraas, 1894 vide Sandberger, 1894) = Sauropodomorpha incertae sedis[6]
- Z. plieningeri (Fraas, 1896) = junior synonym of Z. laevis[6]
- Z. arenaceus (Fraas, 1896) = Calamosuchus arenaceus, a probable early-diverging phytosaur[10][11][12]
- Z. cambrensis (Newton, 1899) = Newtonsaurus cambrensis, a large possibly coelophysoid theropod dinosaur[13]
- Z. schutzii (Fraas, 1900) = Batrachotomus[14]
- Z. silesiacus (Jaekel, 1910) = nomen dubium classified as Archosauromorpha indet.[8][9]
