Not to be confused with Compsosaurus, Compsosuchus, or Procompsognathus.
Compsognathus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 150.8–145 Ma
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Reconstructed skeleton at the Museum of Ancient Life
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
Theropoda
Family:
†Compsognathidae
Subfamily:
†Compsognathinae Cope, 1875
Genus:
†Compsognathus Wagner, 1859
Type species
†Compsognathus longipes
Wagner, 1859
Synonyms
Compsognathus corallestris Bidar et al., 1972
Compsognathus (/kɒmpˈsɒɡnəθəs/;[1] Greek kompsos/κομψός; "elegant", "refined" or "dainty", and gnathos/γνάθος; "jaw")[2] is a genus of small, bipedal, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Members of its single species Compsognathus longipes could grow to around the size of a chicken. They lived about 150 million years ago, during the Tithonian age of the late Jurassic period, in what is now Europe. Paleontologists have found two well-preserved fossils, one in Germany in the 1850s and the second in France more than a century later. Today, C. longipes is the only recognized species, although the larger specimen discovered in France in the 1970s was once thought to belong to a separate species and named C. corallestris.
Many presentations still describe Compsognathus as "chicken-sized" dinosaurs because of the size of the German specimen, which is now believed to be a juvenile. Compsognathus longipes is one of the few dinosaur species whose diet is known with certainty: the remains of small, agile lizards are preserved in the bellies of both specimens. Teeth discovered in Portugal may be further fossil remains of the genus.
Although not recognized as such at the time of its discovery, Compsognathus is the first theropod dinosaur known from a reasonably complete fossil skeleton. Until the 1990s, it was the smallest-known non-avialan dinosaur, with the preceding centuries incorrectly labelling them as the closest relative of Archaeopteryx.
^"Compsognathus". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1980) [1871]. A Greek-English Lexicon (abridged ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-910207-5.
describe Compsognathus as "chicken-sized" dinosaurs because of the size of the German specimen, which is now believed to be a juvenile. Compsognathus longipes...
impressions are known from four genera commonly placed in the group, Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx, and Juravenator. While the latter...
Sinosauropteryx (which he considered at the time to be a synonym of Compsognathus, as Compsognathus prima) were stiffening structures from a frill running along...
identifies the dinosaur as Compsognathus triassicus, which in reality is a non-existent species; the film combined the names of Compsognathus longipes and Procompsognathus...
carnivore from Africa Ornitholestes, a small theropod from North America Compsognathus, a small theropod from Europe Tuojiangosaurus, a thyreophoran from Asia...
ueber Compsognathus". Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie. 16: 476–494. Ostrom, J.H. (1978). "The osteology of Compsognathus longipes"...
that can be unlocked during the game's progression. Enemies include Compsognathus, Dilophosaurus, Troodon and Velociraptor. The 3DS version excludes the...
ueber Compsognathus". Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie. 16: 476–494. Ostrom J. (1978). The osteology of Compsognathus longipes...
as a pair of attachment points for tendons, as identified in 2006 in Compsognathus. Exceptionally, with the thirteenth vertebra the two rib joint processes...
played Cathy Bowman, a young wealthy British girl attacked by a pack of Compsognathus. In 1998, she played Aubrey Shepard on the Focus on the Family radio...
There's a Compsognathus Under My Bed/Art for Pterosaurs' Sake Oct. 27, 2010 Jan. 25, 2010 Compsognathus/Quetzalcoatlus There's a Compsognathus Under My...
were descendants of dinosaurs. He compared the skeletal structure of Compsognathus, a small theropod dinosaur, and the "first bird" Archaeopteryx lithographica...
specimens even showed direct evidence of predatory behavior. For example, a Compsognathus longipes fossil was found with a lizard in its stomach, and a Velociraptor...
derived from the name of another dinosaur, Compsognathus. A later (Jurassic) small predatory dinosaur, Compsognathus takes its name from the Greek word kompsos...
clips of dinosaurs and other creatures are shown including a pack of Compsognathus chasing after a scared little girl, a Stegosaurus causing a car to swerve...
Bürgermeister-Müller-Museum in Solnhofen, it originally was classified as Compsognathus by an amateur collector, the same mayor Friedrich Müller after which...
surrounding rock, at least one specimen was mistaken for the small theropod Compsognathus. Since the 1990s, a number of additional feathered dinosaurs have been...
sneak out after curfew to visit an enclosure containing his favorite Compsognathus ("Compy") which he and the group met earlier. He is followed by Kenji...
She has pet rock named Herb. Junktools are Toolcreatures who are half Compsognathus and half pliers. They are nomads who collect scrap, who then is used...
Jurassic, North America), Compsognathus (Late Jurassic, Europe), Sinosauropteryx (Early Cretaceous, Asia) and an unnamed Compsognathus-like form (Early Cretaceous...
relationship between apes and humans. After comparing Archaeopteryx with Compsognathus, he concluded that birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs, a...
(also found in Eoraptor, coelophysids, Masiakasaurus, Marshosaurus, and Compsognathus). A pronounced ventral keel on the anterior dorsal vertebrae (also found...
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