Rhabdopelix

Rhabdopelix
Temporal range: Late Triassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Eolacertilia
Family: ?Kuehneosauridae
Genus: Rhabdopelix
Cope, 1870[1]
Species
  • R. longispinis Cope, 1870 (type)

Rhabdopelix (meaning "rod pelvis") is a genus of possible kuehneosaurid reptile, from the Late Triassic-age Lockatong Formation of Pennsylvania, USA. Based on partial, possibly chimeric remains,[2] it was described by American naturalist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope as an early pterosaur.[3] It held this status until the 1960s, when Ned Colbert reevaluated it for his description of Icarosaurus. He noted that the bones came from a block with the remains of other animals, and that Cope had misinterpreted some of the remains; for example, the rod-like "pubic bones" that had given it its name were actually much more like the bony structures used by Icarosaurus and related animals to glide. Additionally, he couldn't relocate the fossils, which are assumed to be lost. He recommended considering Rhabdopelix a dubious name.[2] Peter Wellnhofer retained it as a pterosaur of unknown affinities in his 1978 review,[4] but rejected this by 1991.[5]

References

  1. ↑ As noted by Colbert (1966), this name was published in the 1870 portion of a multi-year publication; references to 1899 are due to a typographical error in Wellnhofer (1991)
  2. 1 2 Colbert, Edwin H. (1966). "A gliding reptile from the Triassic of New Jersey" (pdf). American Museum Novitates 2246 (3282): 1–23. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
  3. ↑ Cope, Edward Drinker (1869–1870). "Synopsis of the extinct Batrachia, Reptilia and Aves of North America". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Philadelphia 14: 105–252 (1870). doi:10.2307/1005355.
  4. ↑ Wellnhofer, Peter (1978). Pterosauria. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie 19 (in German). Stuttgart: Fischer. p. 66. ISBN 3-437-30269-8.
  5. ↑ Wellnhofer, Peter (1996) [1991]. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. New York: Barnes and Noble Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-7607-0154-7.


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