Pterospondylus (meaning "winged vertebra") is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It was a coelophysid theropod which lived in what is now Germany (Trossingen Formation). The type species, Pterospondylus trielbae, (derived from "Tri", in reference to the Triassic period, and "Elba", for the Elbe River area[1]), was described by Jaekel in 1913–14 for a single back vertebra found inside the shell of the Proganochelys turtle.[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] P. trielbae has no diagnostic features and is therefore considered a nomen dubium.[5]
| Pterospondylus Temporal range: Norian
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| Back vertebra in several views | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Coelophysidae |
| Genus: | †Pterospondylus Jaekel, 1913 |
| Species: | †P. trielbae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Pterospondylus trielbae Jaekel, 1913
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References
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- ^ a b Jaekel, O. (1913–14). Über die Wirbeltierefunde in der oberen Trias von Halberstadt. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 1:155-215.
- ^ von Huene, F. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie 1(4). 361 p.
- ^ Steel, R. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie. Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart, 1–87.
- ^ Ostrom, J.H. (1981). Procompsognathus — theropod or thecodont? Palaeontographica Abstract A, 175(4-6):179-195.
- ^ Rauhut, O. W. M. & Hungerbuhler, A. ¨ 2000. A review of European Triassic theropods. GAIA, 15, 75–88.
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