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sharp-clawed runner · Doubtful name
Pterospondylus
Say it like this: “terr-oh-SPON-dih-lus”
Pterospondylus trielbae
Pterospondylus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Triassic. Bones have been found in Germany.
- When
- Late Triassic (Rhaetian) · roughly 205.7 to 201.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1914 · Jaekel, O.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- Not established
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- Germany · Arnstadt
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Coelophysoidea
The story in short
In 1914, O. Jaekel published the name Pterospondylus. The name means “winged vertebra.”
It lived in the Late Triassic (Rhaetian), roughly 205.7 to 201.4 million years ago. Finds come from Germany, including the Arnstadt Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
The fossils of Pterospondylus 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 Coelophysoidea, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Dracoraptor
Dracoraptor hanigani
Early Jurassic (Hettangian) · roughly 201.4 to 199.5 million years ago
Lophostropheus
Lophostropheus airelensis
Late Triassic · Early Jurassic (Rhaetian · Hettangian) · roughly 205.7 to 199.5 million years ago
Panguraptor
Panguraptor lufengensis
Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago