Calamospondylus
From Greek kalamos (reed) and spondylos (vertebra), in reference to the hollow, reed-like nature of the vertebrae.
Calamospondylus is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The type species is C. oweni, named in 1866 in an anonymous publication written largely by its discoverer, the Reverend William Fox. The description given by Fox was brief and listed no unique diagnostic characteristics; between this and the fact that the specimen has been lost, C. oweni is now considered a nomen dubium. The presence of expansive hollows in the bone led Fox to speculate that it was arboreal, leaping from tree to tree, or alternatively that it was a hopping animal.
Under dispute
Calamospondylus oweni is a nomen dubium. Although the name is validly published, the type material (a now-lost sacrum and pelvic remains from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight) preserves no diagnostic characters, and Naish (2002) showed it is based on a different specimen from Aristosuchus, with which it had long been synonymized. It can be identified only as a small coelurosaurian theropod.
Species
Calamospondylus oweni Fox, 1866 Nomen dubium
Type species
Named in honor of Sir Richard Owen, who examined the holotype.
- Holotype
- Not catalogued (lost)
- Material
- Sacrum of five fused vertebrae with sacral ribs and portions of the iliac bones.
- Horizon
- Wessex Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
- Locality
- Brook, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
References
-
Fox, W. (1866). Another new Wealden reptile. The Geologist 9: 383.
Brief one-paragraph note erecting Calamospondylus oweni on a sacrum and partial ilia from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight; the type material is now lost.
fox1866b -
Naish, D. (2002). The historical taxonomy of the Lower Cretaceous theropods (Dinosauria) Calamospondylus and Aristosuchus from the Isle of Wight. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 113(2): 153-163. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(02)80017-7
Historical taxonomic review of the Isle of Wight theropod Calamospondylus.
naish2002a