Calamospondylus

reed vertebra

• kalamos · Greek · reed or hollow tube
• spondylos · Greek · vertebra

The name Calamospondylus combines the Greek word 'kalamos' (κάλαμος), meaning a reed or hollow tube, with 'spondylos' (σπόνδυλος), meaning vertebra. It was chosen to describe the hollow, reed-like vertebrae of the animal. This feature — highly pneumatised, lightweight vertebrae — is characteristic of theropod dinosaurs, particularly the coelurosaurs and their kin.

Named by

Fox

Year named

1866

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Barremian

Found in

Wessex Formation, Isle of Wight, England, UK

Calamospondylus is a nomen dubium. It was named by the Reverend William Fox in 1866 on the basis of fragmentary material — mainly vertebrae and partial postcranial remains — from the Isle of Wight. The material is too incomplete to diagnose confidently. Calamospondylus oweni, the type species, is generally considered indeterminate. It has sometimes been confused with or compared to Calamosaurus (a separate, also dubious genus). The animal is thought to have been a small theropod dinosaur, possibly a coelurosaur.