Genus
Valid Extinct

Zapsalis

Cope 1876
Etymology abrading

Zapsalis is a genus of dromaeosaurine theropod dinosaurs. It is a tooth taxon, often considered dubious because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, which include teeth but no other remains.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
7
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Zapsalis
click to enlarge
Tooth of cf. Zapsalis, with close up of denticles. Specimen UALVP 49582 from the Milk River Formation. © Derek W. Larson, Philip J. Currie · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
›
Theropoda Unranked clade
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Neotheropoda Unranked clade
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Averostra Unranked clade
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Tetanurae Unranked clade
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Coelurosauria Unranked clade
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Maniraptora Unranked clade
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Paraves Unranked clade
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Deinonychosauria Infraorder
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Dromaeosauridae Family
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Eudromaeosauria Unranked clade
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Dromaeosaurinae Subfamily
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Zapsalis Genus
Fossil sites 7 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇦 Canada
5
🇺🇸 United States
2
Geological formations
Milk River
5
Lance
1
Hell Creek
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
2
Santonian (85.7–83.6 Ma)
5
Species (1)
Zapsalis abradens
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
O. C. Marsh. 1877. Notice of new dinosaurian reptiles from the Jurassic formation. American Journal of Science and Arts 14:514-516 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
T. E. Williamson and S. L. Brusatte. 2014. Small theropod teeth from the Late Cretaceous of the San Juan Basin, northwestern New Mexico and their implications for understanding latest Cretaceous dinosaur evolution. PLoS ONE 9(4):e93190:1-23 DOI ↗
D. W. Larson and P. J. Currie. 2013. Multivariate analyses of small theropod dinosaur teeth and implications for paleoecological turnover through time. PLoS ONE 8(1):e54329:1-14 DOI ↗