Zanclodon Explained

Zanclodon ("scythe tooth") is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Erfurt Formation^[1] in southern Germany.^[2] It was once a wastebasket taxon until a taxonomic revision by Schoch (2011) left only the paratype (SMNS 6045) within Zanclodon laevis proper.^[3] The type species is Z. laevis.

Discovery and naming

The paratype, SMNS 56045, a maxilla with teeth, was discovered in the Gaildorf Alumn Mine in southern Germany. Zanclodon was originally named Smilodon by Plieninger (1846), but this name had previously been used for the saber-toothed cat (a preoccupied name), prompting Plieninger to erect the replacement name Zanclodon in 1847.^[4] A paralectotype was also assigned to Z. laevis: SMNS 6045a, a loose germ tooth.

Z. plieningeri was named by Fraas in 1896,^[5] but it became a junior synonym of Z. laevis shortly after publication as they are both based on the same specimen, SMNS 6045.

Many species were previously lumped under the Zanclodon genus, but currently only the type species, Z. laevis, is accepted to belong to the genus.

Classification

Zanclodon was formerly placed in the Teratosauridae,^[6] within the Theropoda, and at times, plateosaurid material was mistakenly referred to Zanclodon. It is now considered to have been an indeterminate archosauriform.^[7]

Species

• Z. laevis (Plieninger, 1846) [originally "Smilodon"] (type)
• Z. crenatus (Plieninger, 1846) [originally "Smilodon"] = nomen dubium at Archosauromorpha indeterminate
• Z. bavaricus (Fraas, 1894 vide Sandberger, 1894) = Sauropodomorpha incertae sedis^[7]
• Z. plieningeri (Fraas, 1896) = junior synonym of Z. laevis^[7]
• Z. arenaceus (Fraas, 1896) = Calamosuchus arenaceus, a probable early-diverging phytosaur^{[8] [9] [10]}
• Z. cambrensis (Newton, 1899) = Newtonsaurus cambrensis, a large possibly coelophysoid theropod dinosaur^[11]
• Z. schutzii (Fraas, 1900) = Batrachotomus^[12]
• Z. silesiacus (Jaekel, 1910) = nomen dubium classified as Archosauromorpha indet.^{[13] [14]}

Notes and References

1. Hagdorn, H. & Mutter, R.J. (2011). The vertebrate fauna of the Lower Keuper Albertibank (Erfurt Formation, Middle Triassic) in the vicinity of Schwäbisch Hall (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Palaeodiversity 4: 223–243.
2. https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=53024 PaleoBiology Database: Zanclodon, basic info
3. Schoch, R.R. (2011). New archosauriform remains from the German Lower Keuper. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 260: 87–100. .
4. Plieninger, T. (1846). Über ein neues Sauriergenus und die Einreihung der Saurier mit flachen, schneidenden Zähnen in Eine Familie [On a new saurian genus and incorporating the saurian with flat, cutting teeth into a family]. Jahreshefte des Vereins für Vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 2: 148-154.
5. Fraas, E. (1896). Die Schwäbischen Trias-Saurier nach dem Material der Kgl. Naturalien-Sammlung in Stuttgart zusammengestellt [Swabian Triassic dinosaurs based on the material in the Royal Natural History Collection compiled in Stuttgart]. Festgabe des Königlichen Naturalien-Cabinets In Stuttgart zur 42 Versammlung der Deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft in Stuttgart, August 1896. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlag-handlung (E. Koch), Stuttgart 1-18
6. Fraas, E. (1900). Zanclodon schützii n. sp. aus dem Trigonodusdolomit von Hall [''Zanclodon schützii'' n. sp. from the Trigonodus-dolomite of Halle]. Jahreshefte des Vereins für Vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 56: 510–513.
7. Galton, P.M. (2001). The prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus Meyer, 1837 (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha; Upper Triassic). II. Notes on the referred species. Revue de Paléobiologie, Genève 20(2): 435–502.
8. Hungerbühler, A. (2001). The status and phylogenetic relationships "Zanclodon" arenaceus: the earliest known phytosaur? Paläontologische Zeitschrift 75(1): 97–112.
9. Schoch, R.R. (2002). Stratigraphie und Taphonomie wirbeltierreicher Schichten im Unterkeuper (Mitteltrias) von Vellberg (SW-Deutschland). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde (B) 318: 1–30.
10. Sues . Hans-Dieter . Schoch . Rainer R. . 2025-12-04 . Synopsis of the Triassic reptiles from Germany . Fossil Record . en . 28 . 2 . 411–483 . 10.3897/fr.28.164405 . free . 2193-0074.
11. Evans . Owain . Howells . Cindy . Wintle . Nathan . Benton . Michael J. . 2025-09-11 . Re-assessment of a large archosaur dentary from the Late Triassic of South Wales, United Kingdom . Proceedings of the Geologists' Association . 101142 . 10.1016/j.pgeola.2025.101142 . 0016-7878. free .
12. Jaekel, O. (1910). Ueber einen neuen Belodonten aus dem Buntsandstein von Bernburg [On a new belodontid from the Buntsandstein of Bernburg]. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1910 (5): 197-229
13. Carrano, M.T.; Benson, R.B.J.; & Sampson, S.D. (2012). "The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 10(2): 211–300
14. Skawiński, T. . Ziegler, M. . Czepiński, Ł. . Szermański, M. . Tałanda, M. . Surmik, D. . Niedźwiedzki, G. . 2017 . A re-evaluation of the historical 'dinosaur' remains from the Middle-Upper Triassic of Poland . Historical Biology . 27 . 4 . 442–472. 10.1080/08912963.2016.1188385. 133166493 .