Open Paleo

Dryptosauroides

Huene & Matley, 1933 DRIP-toh-sawr-OY-deez Nomen dubium

From Dryptosaurus (Marsh's North American genus) and Greek -oides (resembling); meaning "Dryptosaurus-like", in reference to the perceived similarity in vertebral shape.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Dryptosauroides is a problematic large theropod from the Maastrichtian Lameta Group of central India, erected by Huene and Matley (1933) on a syntype series of six large vertebrae (GSI K20/334, K20/609, K27/549, K27/601, K27/602, K27/626) from the Carnosaur bed at Bara Simla, Jabalpur. Huene originally interpreted the type vertebrae as dorsals; the formal re-evaluation by Novas, Agnolín and Bandyopadhyay (2004) reinterprets them as anterior caudals, refers all the Carnosaur-bed theropod material to Abelisauroidea, and treats Dryptosauroides as a nomen dubium because the type material lacks unambiguous autapomorphies.

Under dispute

Dryptosauroides is based on caudal vertebrae and is generally regarded as a nomen dubium (Novas and colleagues, 2004); the material is now thought to represent an indeterminate abelisaurid.

Species

Dryptosauroides grandis Huene & Matley, 1933 Nomen dubium

Type species

Latin grandis ("large"), reflecting the size of the type vertebrae compared with other theropods of the type horizon.

Syntypes
GSI K20/334, GSI K20/609, GSI K27/549, GSI K27/601, GSI K27/602, GSI K27/626 , Geological Survey of India
Material
Six large vertebral centra (each 13-14 cm long); originally described as dorsal vertebrae but later reinterpreted as anterior caudals.
Horizon
Carnosaur Bed Bed, Lameta Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Bara Simla, Madhya Pradesh, India

References

  1. Huene, F. V.; Matley, C. A. (1933). The Cretaceous Saurischia and Ornithischia of the Central Provinces of India. Palaeontologica Indica (New Series), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India 21(1): 1-74.

    Erects Dryptosauroides grandis on a syntype series of six large vertebrae from the Carnosaur bed at Bara Simla, Jabalpur (Lameta Group); originally identified as dorsals.

    huene1933a
  2. Novas, F. E.; Agnolín, F. L.; Bandyopadhyay, S. (2004). Cretaceous theropods from India: A review of specimens described by Huene and Matley (1933). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 6(1): 67-103. doi:10.22179/REVMACN.6.74

    Formal review of the Huene and Matley (1933) Carnosaur-bed theropods; treats Dryptosauroides as a nomen dubium and reinterprets the syntype vertebrae as anterior caudals referable to Abelisauroidea.

    novas2004b
  3. Molina-Pérez, R.; Larramendi, A. (2019). Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Theropods and Other Dinosauriformes. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates.

    molina-pérez2019a