Rhabdopelix

Taxobox
name = "Rhabdopelix"
fossil_range = Late Triassic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Eolacertilia
familia = ?Kuehneosauridae
genus = "Rhabdopelix"
genus_authority = Cope, 1870 [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)]
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "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,cite journal |last=Colbert |first=Edwin H. |authorlink=Edwin Harris Colbert |year=1966 |title=A gliding reptile from the Triassic of New Jersey |journal=American Museum Novitates |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3282/1/N2246.pdf |accessdate=2007-08-01 |format=pdf |volume=2246 |pages=1–23 ] it was described by American naturalist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope as an early pterosaur.cite journal |last=Cope |first=Edward Drinker |authorlink=Edward Drinker Cope |year=1869-1870 |title=Synopsis of the extinct Batrachia, Reptilia and Aves of North America |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Philadelphia |volume=14 |pages=105–252 (1870) ] 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. Peter Wellnhofer retained it as a pterosaur of unknown affinities in his 1978 review,cite book |last=Wellnhofer |first=Peter |authorlink=Peter Wellnhofer |year=1978 |series=Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie 19 |title=Pterosauria |pages=66 |isbn=3437302698 |language=German ] but rejected this by 1991.cite book |last=Wellnhofer |first=Peter |authorlink=Peter Wellnhofer |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs |origyear=1991 |year=1996 |publisher=Barnes and Noble Books |location=New York |isbn=0-7607-0154-7 |pages=58 ]

References