Calamospondylus


Calamospondylus was a theropod dinosaur genus. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England.

Taxonomy

The type species, Calamospondylus oweni, was described anonymously by amateur paleontologist William D. Fox in 1866 on the basis of a sacrum and associated pelvic elements found on the Isle of Wight in the layers of the Wessex Formation. Several authors regarded Calamospondylus as a nomen nudum for Aristosuchus and therefore based on the same specimen as the Aristosuchus holotype. However, as noted by Naish, size discrepancies between the holotypes of Calamospondylus oweni and Aristosuchus pusillus as well as letters of correspondence between Richard Owen and Reverend William Fox demonstrate that C. oweni is based on a different specimen than Aristosuchus.