DID YOU KNOW? Theropods were ancestrally carnivorous
Compsognathus
(‘Elegant jaw’)
Carnivore
Late Jurassic, 155-145 MYA
Found in: Germany and France
Lived in: Lagoons
Dino skill
Compsognathus may have been small, but
they were incredibly fast, able to run at
60km/h – that’s half as fast as cheetahs – to
escape predators and to catch small prey.
Killer rating: 2/5
Speed: 4/5
Defence: 1/5
Compsognathus
Compsognathus had no
time for chewing its food
- a whole Bavarisaurus
has been found in
Compsognathus
fossils
Fact
Complete skeleton
Compsognathus skeletons
might have looked like this
Pointed teeth
It had a small pointed head
with sharp teeth
Equilibrium
To help it run fast, its long tail
helped to give the
Compsognathus balance
Deadly
Sharp claws made
Compsognathus a
deadly dinosaur
Sharp sight
Large eyes with binocular
vision aided hunting
Short arms
Compsognathus had short
arms with two clawed fi ngers
on each hand