Calamospondylus
Dubious Early Cretaceous theropod from the Isle of Wight.
Calamospondylus is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of southern England. Its fossils were discovered on the Isle of Wight, and the type species is C. oweni. The genus is notable for being one of the earliest named small theropods from the Wealden Group, though it is now considered a nomen dubium due to a brief description and the loss of the specimen.
Quick Facts
- Species
- oweni
Facts from the source article.
Taxonomy
The type specimen of Calamospondylus, a 15.2 cm long sacrum with five vertebrae and associated iliac bones, was collected by the Reverend William Fox in 1865 from the Wessex Formation on the Isle of Wight. Fox described it anonymously the following year, making it the earliest named small theropod from the Wealden Group. The genus name, from Greek kalamos (reed) and spondylus (vertebra), refers to the hollow, smooth, reed-like backbones. The species name honors Sir Richard Owen. Although once considered a nomen nudum due to publication in The Athenaeum, the name satisfies ICZN criteria as it was accompanied by a description. That description, however, is terse and lacks figures, and the specimen has since been lost. The text was likely written by an editor, referring to Fox in the third person. In his own section, Fox speculated that the hollow, pneumatised bones indicated an arboreal or saltatorial lifestyle, leaping between trees or bounding like a grasshopper—an early suggestion of arboreal habits in non-avian dinosaurs.
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