Pterospondylus

Pterospondylus trielbae Temporal range: Late Triassic, 216 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
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. 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.