''Macrodontophion'' (meaning "long-toothed

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

") is the name given to a dubious

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

lophotrochozoan Lophotrochozoa (, "crest/wheel animals") is a clade of protostome animals within the Spiralia. The taxon was established as a monophyletic group based on molecular evidence. The clade includes animals like annelids, molluscs, bryozoans, brachiopo ...

from the

Early Devonian The Early Devonian is the first of three epochs comprising the Devonian period, corresponding to the Lower Devonian series. It lasted from and began with the Lochkovian Stage , which was followed by the Pragian from and then by the Emsian, ...

Dniester Series The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It was described by Adalbert Zborzewsky in 1834, but was never given a species epithet, and is considered a '' nomen dubium'', because it is based only on fragments, such as the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

, a shell of . The known specimens of ''Macrodontophion'' are presumed lost. Several of the specimens Zborzewski described are listed as being in his private collection, while others were said to be held by his colleagues.

Taxonomy

''Macrodontophion'' was originally believed to have been a

tooth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...

that belonged to an animal similar to ''

Ophisaurus ''Ophisaurus'' (from the Greek 'snake-lizard') is a genus of superficially snake-like lizards in the family Anguidae. Known as joint snakes, glass snakes, or glass lizards, they are so-named because their tails are easily broken; like many liz ...

'', or the cephalopod '' Beloptera'', by Zborzewsky in 1834. Since ''

Megalosaurus ''Megalosaurus'' (meaning "great lizard", from Greek , ', meaning 'big', 'tall' or 'great' and , ', meaning 'lizard') is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic period (Bathonian stage, 166 million years ...

'' was mentioned in the same paragraph that the genus name ''Macrodontophion'' first appears, many palaeontologists, such as

Romer A Reference Card or "Romer" is a device for increasing the accuracy when reading a grid reference from a map. Made from transparent plastic, paper or other materials, they are also found on most baseplate compasses. Essentially, it is a speciall ...

in 1956, Steel in 1970 and Romer again in 1976, believed that ''Macrodontophion'' was a megalosaur.Romer, (1976). Osteology of the Reptiles. ''University of Chicago Press''. 772 pp. According to Weishampel (1990), ''Macrodontophion'' is a basal theropod. Zborzewsky (1834) tentatively referred ''Macrodontophion'' to the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

, while Molnar (1990) described its age as

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

Lev Nessov Lev may refer to: Common uses *Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah People and fictional characters *Lev (given name) * Lev (surname) Places *Lev, Azerbaijan, ...

suggested the age of the tooth was Early Devonian, belonging to the Dniester Series, of which is rich in '' Porolepis'' teeth, but this could not be completely confirmed at the time. Olshevsky (2000) noted that the holotype tooth of ''Macrodontophion'' is similar to those of a crocodile or a plesiosaur. Dumbrava and Blieck (2005) and Voichyshyn (2006)Voichyshyn, (2006). New osteostracans from the Lower Devonian terrigenous deposits of Podolia, Ukraine. ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica''. 51(1), 131-142. confidently referred ''Macrodontophion'' to the

Dneister Series The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

; they also confirmed that it was a

lophotrochozoa Lophotrochozoa (, "crest/wheel animals") is a clade of protostome animals within the Spiralia. The taxon was established as a monophyletic group based on molecular evidence. The clade includes animals like annelids, molluscs, bryozoans, brachi ...

References

{{Devonian-animal-stub Devonian animals of Europe Extinct animals of Europe Nomina dubia Lophotrochozoa genera Fossil taxa described in 1834