Hadrosaurus tripos Cope, 1869

Prieto-Márquez, Albert, Weishampel, David B. & Horner, John R., 2006, The dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii, from the Campanian of the East Coast of North America, with a reevaluation of the genus, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51 (1), pp. 77-98 : 91

Hadrosaurus tripos Cope, 1869 .

Holotype: USNM 7190 , 7093 , 7094 and 7095, four caudal centra.

Type locality: Marl pit of W.J. Thompson, Sampson County, North Carolina. Baird and Horner (1979) pointed out that the specimens actually came from the Tertiary Duplin Marl .

Type horizon: The age for the Duplin Marl is Pliocene (Baum and Wheeler 1977; Baird and Horner 1979).

Comments.—A complete description of H. tripos is found in Baird and Horner (1979) who regarded these caudal vertebrae as belonging to a balaeonopterid whale. Lull and Wright (1942) also described this specimen and suggested it to be considered a nomen dubium. We did not reexamine these specimens, but found no reason to doubt Baird and Horner’s conclusions.

Conclusion.— H. tripos is a nomen dubium. Not a dinosaur, but a balaeonopterid whale