A new carnivorous dinosaur from the Lance Formation of Montana
Author
Gilmore, Charles W.
text
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections
1946
106
1
19
journal article
31643
10.5281/zenodo.3239146
0ea7df0b-59a7-4c1d-8f3b-b1b06811206f
3239146
Family
DEINODONTIDAE Cope
The
Deinodontidae
includes all of the large Upper Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaurs such as
Deinodon
,
Tyrannosaurus
,
Gorgosaurus
, and
Albertosaurus
. The affinities of the present specimen appear to be in the genus
Gorgosaurus
, as shown by many close similarities to
G. libratus
and
G. sternbergi
, thus greatly extending the geologic range of
Gorgosaurus
from the Belly River into the Lance. On the basis of its geologic occurrence, smaller size, and slight differences in skull structure, it becomes necessary to describe it as a new species, for which the name
G. lancensis
is proposed. The specific name is in reference to the Lance formation in which the
type
specimen was found.
1 Published posthumously. Mr. Gilmore died September 27, 1945.
Although following
Matthew and Brown (1922)
in their conception of the availability and scope of the family
Deinodontidae
, it is well to point out that the genotype,
Deinodon horridus
, was founded by
Leidy (1856)
exclusively upon detached teeth, a fact well known to both of the above authorities, but who make the dogmatic statement that the family
Deinodontidae
was "based upon an unquestionably valid genus." With this conclusion I disagree for, with the accumulating evidence of later years, it becomes more and more apparent that genera of Upper Cretaceous carnivorous
Dinosauria
cannot be differentiated on tooth characters alone. It therefore appears highly probable that the use of the genus
Deinodon
may have to be abandoned and with it, following nomenclatural procedure, the family term
Deinodontidae
.