Open Paleo

Pendraig

Spiekman et al., 2021 pen-dry-guh

From Middle Welsh 'pen' meaning 'chief' or 'head' and 'draig' meaning 'dragon'; translates as 'chief dragon', a poetic reference to its discovery in Wales.

227.3–201.4 million years ago Norian–Rhaetian, Late Triassic
Late Triassic stages

Pendraig is a genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur from South Wales. It contains one species, Pendraig milnerae, named after Angela Milner. The specimen was discovered in the Pant-y-Ffynnon quarry. In life it would have measured 1 m (3.3 ft) in length.

Diagnosis

  1. Posteriormost dorsal vertebrae with strongly elongated centrum (ca 2.6x anterior height)
  2. Ilium with distinctly anteroventrally slanting dorsal margin of preacetabular process
  3. Postacetabular process posterodorsal margin curving abruptly posteroventrally (acute angle ~65° lateral view)
  4. Pubis with pubic fenestra
  5. Ischium with well-developed obturator plate but without posteroventral U or V-shaped notch
  6. Femur with fourth trochanter posteriorly developed to height similar to mid-shaft depth
  7. Absence of accessory hyposphene-hypantrum articulation in dorsal vertebrae
  8. Anteriorly expanded neural spine in referred middle-posterior dorsal vertebra

Species

Pendraig milnerae Spiekman et al., 2021

Type species

Named for Angela Milner, the paleontologist who rediscovered the lost holotype fossils in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London.

Holotype
NHMUK PV R 37591 , Natural History Museum
Material
Articulated vertebral series and pelvic girdle comprising dorsal vertebrae, sacral vertebrae, ilium, pubis, ischium; plus disarticulated left femur
Horizon
Norian–Rhaetian, Late Triassic , 227.3–201.4 million years ago
Locality
Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry, Bonvilston, Vale of Glamorgan, United Kingdom

References

  1. Spiekman, S. N. F.; Ezcurra, M. D.; Butler, R. J.; Fraser, N. C.; Maidment, S. C. R. (2021). Pendraig milnerae, a new small-sized coelophysoid theropod from the Late Triassic of Wales. Royal Society Open Science 8(10). The Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rsos.210915 spiekman2021a
  2. Galton, P. M.; Yates, A. M.; Kermack, D. (2007). Pantydraco n. gen. for Thecodontosaurus caducus Yates, 2003, a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Upper Triassic or Lower Jurassic of South Wales, UK. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 243(1): 119-125. Schweizerbart. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2007/0243-0119

    Source of the quarry's National Grid Reference, ST 047741, and of its county. Describes the same fissure fill in naming Pantydraco, which comes from this site.

    galton2007b
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates.

    jones2026c