Pterospondylus (meaning "winged vertebra") is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It was a coelophysid theropod which lived in what is now Germany (Trossingen Formation). The type species, Pterospondylus trielbae, (derived from "Tri", in reference to the Triassic period, and "Elba", for the Elbe River area), was described by Jaekel in 1913–14 for a single back vertebra found inside the shell of the Proganochelys turtle.Jaekel, O. (1913–14). Über die Wirbeltierefunde in der oberen Trias von Halberstadt. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 1:155-215. Sometimes, it is aligned with Procompsognathus,von Huene, F. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihte Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie 1(4). 361 p. or even considered to be synonymous with it,Steel, R. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie. Gustav Fischer Verlag:Stuttgart, 1–87. despite being based on a vertebra that is twice the size of the corresponding bone in Procompsognathus.Ostrom, J.H. (1981). Procompsognathus — theropod or thecodont? Palaeontographica Abstract A, 175(4-6):179-195. P. trielbae has no diagnostic features and is therefore considered a nomen dubium.Rauhut, O. W. M. & Hungerbuhler, A. ¨ 2000. A review of European Triassic theropods. GAIA, 15, 75–88.
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