Zanclodon laevis (Plieninger, 1847 a)

Lectotype.

SMNS 6045, incomplete left maxilla with attached fragment of neural arch (designated by Wild 1973) (Fig. 13 A, B).

Type locality.

Former alum and coal mine Diedrich, Gaildorf, Schwäbisch Hall district, Baden-Württemberg.

Type horizon.

Mudstone below Hauptsandstein, Erfurt Formation, Lower Keuper Subgroup. Age: Middle Triassic (Ladinian: Longobardian).

Diagnosis.

Distinguished by the following combination of features: tooth crowns weakly recurved, oval in cross-section, and lacking carinae; and interdental plates absent (Schoch 2011).

Comments.

Originally reported under the preoccupied genus name Smilodon (Plieninger 1847 a), Zanclodon laevis is still known only from its lectotype and its phylogenetic relationships remain unresolved. Plieninger also referred (now lost) four vertebrae to this taxon but provided no evidence in support of the proposed association. During the nineteenth century, many other skeletal remains and teeth were assigned to Zanclodon laevis (e. g., E. Fraas 1896) but all have since been reassigned to other, primarily dinosaurian genera (F. Huene 1905 a, 1907–1908; Galton 2001 b). E. Fraas (1896) proposed a new species of Zanclodon, Z. plieningeri, for what is now the lectotype of Z. laevis.

References.

Plieninger (1847 a, b), E. Fraas (1896), F. Huene (1905 a, 1907–1908), Wild (1973), Galton (2001 b), Hungerbühler (2001), Schoch (2011).