Deinodon Leidy ., 1856

Osborn, H. F., 1905, Tyrannosaurus and other Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaurs, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 21, pp. 259-265 : 261

2. From the Ft. Pierre (Judith River) Beds of Montana and Belly

River, Alberta.

Genus Deinodon Leidy.

Synonym: Aublysodon Leidy.

Type. — Twelve isolated and fragmentary teeth in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy .

Probable characters. — The anterior (premaxillary and premandibular) teeth large and truncate posteriorly. The posterior teeth recurved, of sharply defined lenticular section from crown to base, edges strongly serrate anteriorly and posteriorly. Number of teeth unknown, probably equalling or exceeding fifteen in each series.

Leidy’s characterization of the type in his memoir ( 1859 ) is as follows, the insertions in square brackets indicating the present writer’s references to the generic terms which Leidy had in mind:

“ The specimens upon which the latter genus [ Deinodon ] is based, consist of fragments of about a dozen teeth, of which three-fourths [types of Deinodon ] are nearly identical in form with those of Megalosaurus , while the others [types of Aublysodon ] are more of less peculiar. The uniformity in shape of the teeth of Megalosaurus would appear to indicate that the three-fourths of the specimens alluded to, belonged to, at most, another species of the same genus [ Deinodon ], while the remaining specimens would typify a distinct genus [ Aublysodon ]. However, from the variety in form of the latter specimens, together with the fact that all the specimens present the same general appearance, as regards colour, texture, and constitution, I have been induced to regard them as belonging to a single animal [ Deinodon ], and feel that it must be left for further discovery to ascertain whether such a view is correct.” Comparison with the teeth of Allosaurus convinces me that Leidy’s last expressed view is correct.