Zapsalis

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. Etymology The generic name is derived from Greek za~, "thorough", and psalis, "pair of scissors". The specific name means "abrading" in Latin. History and classification Fossils of Zapsalis were first described by American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1876 but as species of the large carnivorous theropod Laelaps (now Dryptosaurus). Cope erected 2 species, Laelaps explanatus and L. laevifrons, the former based on a collection of 27 teeth and the latter based on a single tooth. It wasn't until later in 1876 that Cope made the genus Zapsalis, with Z. abradens as the type, based on a second premaxillary tooth. All of the fossils were collected from the Campanian age strata of the Judith River Formation in Montana, USA. Cope named Zapsalis during the Bone Wars, his competition with Yale paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, to collect and describe as many fossil taxa as possible.