Laelaps

hurricane (or whirlwind); also the name of a mythical hunting dog

• laelaps · Greek · hurricane, whirlwind (also the mythological dog Laelaps)

Laelaps comes from the Greek word for a hurricane or whirlwind. Edward Drinker Cope used it for the mythological dog Laelaps, which always caught its prey, suggesting a swift and relentless predator. The name was already in use for a mite, so it was replaced by Dryptosaurus.

Named by

Cope

Year named

1866

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Navesink Formation, New Jersey, USA

Laelaps (type species L. aquilunguis) is a theropod name that is invalid because it was preoccupied by Laelaps Koch, 1836, a genus of mite. Marsh renamed the dinosaur Dryptosaurus in 1877. Dryptosaurus is the valid name, and Laelaps is now only a historical name. The stage dating of the Navesink Formation is somewhat uncertain.