Marmarospondylus

marble vertebra

• marmaros · Greek · marble
• spondylos · Greek · vertebra

The name combines the Greek word 'marmaros' (marble) and 'spondylos' (vertebra). It was chosen because the fossil vertebrae were found in the Jurassic limestones of England, whose pale, stony appearance evoked marble. The name essentially describes the rock-like quality of the preserved material. It was named by Richard Owen in 1875.

Named by

Owen

Year named

1875

Period

Middle to Late Jurassic

Stages

Callovian – Oxfordian

Found in

Oxford Clay Formation, England, UK

Marmarospondylus is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. It is based on fragmentary vertebrae from the Oxford Clay of England, and the material is too incomplete to reliably assign it to a more precisely defined genus or species. It has been tentatively associated with sauropod dinosaurs, but its exact classification remains uncertain. It is not a junior synonym of any well-established genus.