Genyodectes (meaning jaw biter) is a Primitive Ceratosaur from early Cretaceous Argentina. One of the first dinosaurs discovered in South America. It seems to be a close relative of Ceratosaurus, but it is known only from partial jaws.
Description[]
Genyodectes name translates as "jaw bite". The taxon has long been considered a nomen dubium, owing to its fragmentary nature and some doubt as to its origins However, recent redescription of the type material by Rauhut (2004) has shed some light on these questions and seems to establish the taxonomic validity of Genyodectes serus, the only species referred to the genus.
The holotype material (MLP 26–39) was collected from the Cerro Barcino Formation, Cañadón Grande, Departamento Paso de Indios in the Chubut Province of Argentina and consists of an incomplete snout, including the premaxillae, portions of both maxillas and many teeth. These elements are generally poorly preserved and some are in articulation. The premaxilla of Genyodectes possesses relatively large and protruding teeth, similar to those of Ceratosaurus.
The specific name, serus, means "late". In 2016 it was estimated to be 6.25 meters in length and 790 kg in weight. It is the second non-avian dinosaur described from the South American continent, and it remained the most completely known South American theropod until the 1970s.
Over the last decade, the holotype has been variously referred to as a megalosaurid, a tyrannosaurid, Theropoda incertae sedis, and a possible abelisaurid. Rauhut (2004) concluded that the specimen lacks important abelisaurid and tyrannosaurid synapomorphies, but found many neoceratosaurian traits. This would seem to imply Genyodectes was closer to Ceratosaurus than the more derived abelisaurs (that also descended from animals like Ceratosaurus).
References[]
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-is-genyodectes-144686459/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235907356_Provenance_and_anatomy_of_Genyodectes_serus_a_large-toothed_Ceratosaur_Dinosauria_Theropoda_from_Patagonia
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/4524783
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/20490962
- https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=dXYi6j7QQ-YC&pg=PA444&lpg=PA444&dq=Genyodectes&source=bl&ots=PdROuBiidC&sig=ACfU3U0C_DdWkWiL-g9S-GfF1ckuGsWPQQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-2bCOsLv1AhWWQfEDHacPCGQQ6AF6BAgqEAM#v=onepage&q=Genyodectes&f=false
- https://www.mindat.org/taxon-4822608.html
- https://kidadl.com/dinosaur-facts/genyodectes-facts
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