Pterospondylus

Pterospondylus trielbae
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 216 Ma
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Back vertebra in several views
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Family: †Coelophysidae
Genus: †Pterospondylus
Jaekel, 1913
Species: †P. trielbae
Binomial name
Pterospondylus trielbae
Jaekel, 1913
Restoration

Pterospondylus (meaning "winged vertebra") is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It was a coelophysoid theropod which lived in what is now Germany (Trossingen Formation). The type species, Pterospondylus trielbae, was described by Jaekel in 1913-14 for a single back vertebra.[1] Sometimes, it is aligned with Procompsognathus,[2] or even considered to be synonymous with it,[3] despite being based on a vertebra that is twice the size of the corresponding bone in Procompsognathus.[4]

The specific name trielbae is derived from "Tri", in reference to the Triassic period, and "Elba", which points to the Elbe River area.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Jaekel, O. (1913-14). Über die Wirbeltierefunde in der oberen Trias von Halberstadt. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 1:155-215.
  2. ↑ von Huene, F. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie 1(4). 361 p. [German]
  3. ↑ Steel, R. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie. Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart, 1-87.
  4. ↑ Ostrom, J.H. (1981). Procompsognathus  — theropod or thecodont? Palaeontographica Abstract A, 175(4-6):179-195.


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