Prodeinodon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Early Cretaceous, {{fossilrange|Barremian|Aptian}} | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Prodeinodon | authority = Osborn, 1924 | type_species = †'''''Prodeinodon mongoliense''''' | type_species_authority = Osborn, 1924 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * {{extinct}}''P. kwangshiensis'' (?) Hou ''et al.'', 1975 * {{extinct}}''P. mongoliensis'' Osborn, 1924 | synonyms = * ''Prodeinodon mongoliense'' Osborn, 1924 }}

'''''Prodeinodon''''' (meaning "before ''Deinodon''") is a wastebasket taxon and a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian stages) from the Xinlong Formation in the Napai Basin of China and from the Oosh Formation of Mongolia.<ref>Lambert D (1993). ''The Ultimate Dinosaur Book''. Dorling Kindersley, New York, 180. {{ISBN|1-56458-304-X}}.</ref> Two species have been formally identified (with a third informal species), all three known only from tooth fragments, showing no diagnostic features, making them difficult to classify, though they may belong to a carnosaur. At least some of the referred species may represent basal carcharodontosaurid theropods similar to ''Acrocanthosaurus''.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Chan-gyu Yun |year=2020 |title=A Carcharodontosaurid tooth from the Hasandong Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of South Korea |journal=Mongolian Geoscientist |volume=50 |pages=2–10 |doi=10.5564/mgs.v50i0.1325 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The type species, ''P. mongoliensis'', was described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1924.<ref name=Osborn1924 /> A second species, ''P. kwangshiensis'', was named in 1975.<ref name=Hou1975 /> "P. tibetensis" has not been formally described, and it may have belonged to its own, separate genus.<ref name=Lou1986 />

==Species== *''P. mongoliensis'' (Osborn, 1924) is known from a single tooth, collected around 1923 and described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in a 1924 paper, where he also described several other theropods and sauropods discovered in Mongolia.<ref name=Osborn1924>Full reference: H. F. Osborn. 1924. Sauropoda and Theropoda from the Lower Cretaceous of Mongolia. ''American Museum Novitates'' 128:1-7</ref> The holotype of ''P. mongoliensis'', which is the holotype for the entire genus, is AMNH 6265, a single tooth collected from the Oosh Formation. Some scientists have considered ''P. mongoliensis'' to have been a carnosaur.<ref name=adad>{{cite web|title=''Prodeinodon mongoliensis'', ''P. kwangshiensis'', ''P. tibetensis''|work=Tumblr |url=https://a-dinosaur-a-day.com/post/161779848419/prodeinodon-mongoliensis-p-kwangshiensis-p|publisher=A Dinosaur a Day|accessdate=24 April 2020}}</ref>

*''P. kwangshiensis'' (Hou ''et al.'', 1975) is known from four incomplete teeth and a tibia, found in the Xinlong Formation, China.<ref name=Hou1975>L.-h. Hou, H.-k. Yeh, and X.-j. Zhao. 1975. Fossil reptiles from Fusui, Kwangshi. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 13(1):24-33</ref> It can confidently be identified to Theropoda but it was probably not the same type of theropod as ''P. mongoliense''.<ref name=adad /> It could represent a carcharodontosaurid closely related to ''Acrocanthosaurus.''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yun|first=Chan-gyu|date=2020-06-02|title=A Carcharodontosaurid tooth from the Hasandong Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of South Korea|url=https://www.mongoliajol.info/index.php/MGS/article/view/1325|journal=Mongolian Geoscientist|language=en|volume=50|pages=2–10|doi=10.5564/mgs.v50i0.1325|issn=2663-5151|doi-access=free}}</ref>

*"P. tibetensis" is an informal species of ''Prodeinodon'' that was briefly mentioned in 1986.<ref name=Lou1986>L. Ye, Y. Hao, H. Qi, Y. Li, and X. Zhao. 1986. [The southern Xinjiang–the Qinghui, Xizang region]. Ching-kuo Ti Pao o Hsi [The Cretaceous System of China. The Stratigraphy of China] 12:193-204</ref> Known from a single vertebra found in the Hettangian Daye Group in China, this species was probably a theropod but it most likely did not belong to the same animal as ''P. mongoliensis'' and it may have belonged to its own, entirely separate genus.<ref name=adad /> It is geographically present in Xizang Zizhiqu, China.<ref>Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Jurassic, Asia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): ''The Dinosauria'', 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 534–535. {{ISBN|0-520-24209-2}}.</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Theropoda Category:Dinosaur genera Category:Aptian dinosaurs Category:Taxa named by Henry Fairfield Osborn Category:Fossil taxa described in 1924 Category:Dinosaurs of China