Pteropelyx

Say it like this: “teh-ROP-uh-liks”

Pteropelyx grallipes

Pteropelyx ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.

Quiz me on Pteropelyx

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 1889 · Cope, E. D.
Hip height: Not established
Length: Not established
Weight: Not established
Found in: the United States · Judith River
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two or four legs
Kind: beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
Family branch: Hadrosauridae

The story in short

In 1889, E. D. Cope published the name Pteropelyx. The name means “winged pelvis.”

Fossils referred to Pteropelyx date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Judith River Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.

The fossils of Pteropelyx are too incomplete for a responsible length, hip height, or weight, so those fields are left blank on purpose.

On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauridae, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Aquilarhinus

Aquilarhinus palimentus

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Arstanosaurus

Arstanosaurus akkurganensis

Late Cretaceous (Santonian · Campanian) · roughly 85.7 to 72.2 million years ago

Barsboldia

Barsboldia sicinskii

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago