Eustreptospondylus

well-curved vertebra (truly curved vertebra)

• eu · Greek · well, true
• streptos · Greek · curved, twisted
• spondylos · Greek · vertebra

The name means "well-curved vertebra", from Greek eu (well or true), streptos (curved) and spondylos (vertebra). It was coined by von Huene in 1932 to distinguish the animal from Streptospondylus, a different theropod from France, whose vertebrae were originally thought to be curved in an unusual way. The name therefore refers to a supposed feature of the backbone.

Named by

Walker

Year named

1964

Period

Middle Jurassic

Stages

Callovian – Oxfordian

Found in

Oxford Clay Formation, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Type species is E. oxoniensis, based on a fairly complete skeleton found near Oxford in 1871 and originally referred to Megalosaurus. The genus name was formally established by Walker in 1964. The etymology note about von Huene is uncertain: Huene (1923) proposed the name informally, and Walker's 1964 publication is the formal naming. Stage details are approximate (Callovian is the usual dating).