''Pterospondylus'' (meaning "winged vertebra") is a dubious

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of theropod

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

from the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch ...

. It was a

coelophysid Coelophysidae is a family of primitive carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. Most species were relatively small in size. The family flourished in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods, and has been found on numerous continents. Many members of C ...

theropod which lived in what is now

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(

Trossingen Formation The Trossingen Formation, formerly the Knollenmergel, is a geological formation in Germany and Switzerland. It dates back to the late Norian-Rhaetian.Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.521–525 Vertebrate paleofauna See also * List of dinosaur- ...

). The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

, ''Pterospondylus trielbae'', (derived from "Tri", in reference to the Triassic period, and "Elba", for the Elbe River area), was described by Jaekel in 1913-14 for a single back

vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...

found inside the shell of the ''

Proganochelys ''Proganochelys'' is an extinct, primitive stem-turtle that has been hypothesized to be the sister taxon to all other turtles creating a monophyletic group, the ''Casichelydia''. ''Proganochelys'' was named by Georg Baur in 1887 as the oldest tur ...

'' turtle. Jaekel, O. (1913-14). Über die Wirbeltierefunde in der oberen Trias von Halberstadt. ''Paläontologische Zeitschrift'' 1:155-215. Sometimes, it is aligned with ''

Procompsognathus ''Procompsognathus'' is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 210 million years ago during the later part of the Triassic Period, in what is now Germany. ''Procompsognathus'' was a small-sized, lightly built, ...

'',von Huene, F. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. ''Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie'' 1(4). 361 p. or even considered to be synonymous with it,Steel, R. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. ''Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie''. Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart, 1-87. despite being based on a vertebra that is twice the size of the corresponding bone in ''Procompsognathus''.Ostrom, J.H. (1981). ''Procompsognathus'' — theropod or thecodont? ''Palaeontographica'' Abstract A, 175(4-6):179-195. ''P. trielbae'' has no diagnostic features and is therefore considered a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium'' it may be impossible to determine whether a s ...

''.Rauhut, O. W. M. & Hungerbuhler, A. ¨ 2000. A review of European Triassic theropods. GAIA, 15, 75–88.

References

Coelophysoids Norian life Late Triassic dinosaurs of Europe Triassic Germany Fossils of Germany Fossil taxa described in 1913 Taxa named by Otto Jaekel Nomina dubia {{theropod-stub