| "Laelaps" | |
|---|---|
|
Synonym Of... |
Dryptosaurus, possibly Allosaurus |
|
Assigned By... |
Edward Drinker Cope, 1866 |
|
Renamed By... |
Othniel Charles Marsh |
|
Species Assigned |
|
An inaccurate life restoration of "Laelaps" by Edward Drinker Cope
"Laelaps" is an informal genus of tyrannosaur. The name was coined by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866. However a genus of mite was named before the dinosaur was, so the mite took the name and the dinosaur needed a new one. Cope's competitor at the time then gave it a new name, Dryptosaurus.
Other Species[]
During the "Bone Wars", a battle between Edward Drinker Cope and O.C. Marsh (world-reknowned paleontologists) over who could find and name the most new prehistoric species, many species of completely different theropods were attributed to "Laelaps".
One of which is "Laelaps trihedrodon", this species, though, is considered to be a synonym of Allosaurus fragilis.
