Genyodectes

Name: Genyodectes ‭(‬Jaw biter‭)‬.‭
Phonetic: Jen-yo-dek-teez.
Named By: Arthur S.‭ ‬Woodward‭ ‬-‭ ‬1901.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Ceratosauria,‭ ‬Ceratosauridae.
Species: G.‭ ‬serus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of fossil remains.
Known locations: Argentina‭ ‬-‭ ‬Cerro Barcino Formation,‭ ‬Cerro Casta�o Member‭?
Time period: Aptian/Albian‭? ‬of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skull including premaxilla and maxilla and partial dentary,‭ ‬including teeth.

       Genyodectes was first named in‭ ‬1901‭ ‬by A.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Woodward who described it upon the basis of partial premaxilla and maxilla bones as well as a dentary.‭ ‬Because of the lack of other fossils the genus languished in relative obscurity for over a hundred years,‭ ‬with occasional references citing Genyodectes as a nomen dubium.‭ ‬However thanks to a‭ ‬2004‭ ‬study of the type specimen by Oliver W.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Rauhut,‭ ‬the Genyodectes holotype is now actually considered to be diagnostic of a distinct‭ ‬genus.‭ ‬This is because the arrangement of the teeth in the premaxilla is only seen in one other theropod dinosaur genus,‭ ‬Ceratosaurus.‭ ‬At the same time however,‭ ‬Ceratosaurus only has three teeth in each premaxilla while Genyodectes has four teeth in each premaxilla indicating that while Genyodectes was probably very similar to Ceratosaurus,‭ ‬it was at the same time distinct.
       Returning again to the‭ ‬2004‭ ‬re-description by‭ ‬Rauhut,‭ ‬the Genyodectes holotype is thought to have come from the Cerro Casta�o Member of the Cerro Barcino Formation.‭ ‬This‭ ‬by‭ ‬itself indicates that Genyodectes lived on the same landscape as the possibly even larger Tyrannotitan.




Further reading
-‭ ‬On some extinct reptiles from Patagonia,‭ ‬of the genera Meiolania,‭ ‬Dinilysia,‭ ‬and Genyodectes.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London‭ ‬1901:169-184.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Arthur S.‭ ‬Woodward‭ ‬-‭ ‬1901.
-‭ ‬Provenance and anatomy of Genyodectes serus,‭ ‬a large-toothed ceratosaur‭ (‬Dinosauria:‭ ‬Theropoda‭) ‬from Patagonia.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬24‭(‬4‭)‬:894-902.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Oliver W.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Rauhut‭ ‬-‭ ‬2004.

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