Pterospondylus

winged vertebra

• ptero- · Greek · wing / winged
• spondylos · Greek · vertebra

The name combines the Greek "pteron" (wing) and "spondylos" (vertebra), referring to the wing-like transverse processes observed on the vertebrae of the specimen. It was coined to describe what were interpreted as distinctively "winged" or laterally projecting vertebral elements. The name thus reflects a morphological feature of the fossil material rather than a place or person.

Named by

Jaekel

Year named

1914

Period

Late Triassic

Stage

Norian

Found in

Halberstadt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Pterospondylus is generally regarded as a nomen dubium. It was named by Jaekel in 1914 on the basis of fragmentary vertebral material from the Late Triassic of Germany. The remains are too incomplete to be reliably diagnosed or confidently assigned to any particular dinosaur lineage, and it has not been accepted as a valid genus by most subsequent workers.