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Dryptosaurus
Dryptosaurus ( ; meaning "tearing lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in the present-day East Coast of the United States during the Late Cretaceous period. The type, and only, species, D. aquilunguis was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 as Laelaps aquilunguis, however the genus name was preoccupied by a mite. As a result, Cope's rival in the Bone Wars, Othniel Marsh, replaced the genus name with Dryptosaurus. Dryptosaurus is known from a single, fragmentary skeleton including parts of the mandible (lower jaw), limbs, and vertebrae. These fossils were unearthed by fertilizer miners in New Jersey in rock layers of the New Egypt Formation. This formation dates to the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 67 to 66 million years ago. Several other fragmentary remains have been assigned to Dryptosaurus, however their referral is uncertain. Like other tyrannosaurs, Dryptosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a long tail and elongated skull. Unlike other tyrannosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus, Dryptosaurus possessed large forelimbs ending in large claws and lithe hindlimbs. Size estimates place it at in length and in mass. The genus had ziphodont (sharp, blade-like, laterally compressed) dentition, dissimilar to that of larger tyrannosaurs.…
Article summary
Dryptosaurus ( ; meaning "tearing lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in the present-day East Coast of the United States during the Late Cretaceous period. The type, and only, species, D. aquilunguis was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 as Laelaps aquilunguis, however the genus name was preoccupied by a mite. As a result, Cope's rival in the Bone Wars, Othniel Marsh, replaced the genus name with Dryptosaurus. Dryptosaurus is known from a single, fragmentary skeleton including parts of the mandible (lower jaw), limbs, and vertebrae. These fossils were unearthed by fertilizer miners in New Jersey in rock layers of the New Egypt Formation. This formation dates to the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, around 67 to 66 million years ago. Several other fragmentary remains have been assigned to Dryptosaurus, however their referral is uncertain. Like other tyrannosaurs, Dryptosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a long tail and elongated skull. Unlike other tyrannosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus, Dryptosaurus possessed large forelimbs ending in large claws and lithe hindlimbs. Size estimates place it at in length and in mass. The genus had ziphodont (sharp, blade-like, laterally compressed) dentition, dissimilar to that of larger tyrannosaurs.…
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
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