Thecospondylus
| Thecospondylus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Thecospondylus neural canal cast | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Genus: | †Thecospondylus Seeley, 1882 |
| Species: | †T. horneri
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Thecospondylus horneri Seeley, 1882
| |
Thecospondylus (THEEK-o-SPON-di-lus, "sheath vertebra") is a
ornithischian
.
History
Dr. A.C. Horner, an amateur geologist living at
Harry Govier Seeley who in 1882 described and named it as the type species Thecospondylus horneri. The genus name is derived from Greek theke meaning 'sheath' and spondylos meaning 'vertebra', a reference to the "extremely thin" bone forming the vertebrae. The specific name honours Horner.[1]
The
cancellous bone
is still present to which the generic name is referring. It is the only known fossil that can be definitely assigned to this genus.
A second species, T. daviesi, was added by Seeley in 1888, but later given its own genus, Thecocoelurus. In 1926 Friedrich von Huene renamed T. horneri to Thecocoelurus horneri,[2] but this has not been commonly accepted, because Thecospondylus would have priority.
Classification
Based on such meagre material, the affinities of T. horneri have been hard to determine. Seeley himself merely assigned it to
theropod family Coeluridae. Recent authors[who?] conclude it is a nomen dubium, of which it is not even certain whether it is a saurischian or an ornithischian
.
References
- ^ *H.G. Seeley, 1882, "On Thecospondylus Horneri, a new dinosaur from the Hastings Sand, indicated by the sacrum and the neural canal of the sacral region", Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 38: 457-460
- ^ F. v. Huene, 1926, "The carnivorous Saurischia in the Jura and Cretaceous formations, principally in Europe", Revista del Museo de La Plata 29: 35-167
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