Procompsognathus
pro-komp-SOG-nuh-thus
"before Compsognathus"
Type species Procompsognathus triassicus
- Lived
- 215 to 211 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Length
- about 1 m (3 ft)
- Group
- Theropods, Coelophysidae
- Found in
- Germany
- Named by
- Fraas 1913
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in meters
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
210 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in the terrestrial landscape of the Löwenstein Formation in Germany, where sandstone and marl record sediment deposition. Regional dinosaurs included Plateosaurus, Efraasia and Liliensternus.
Field notes
About Procompsognathus
What it was like
Procompsognathus was a small, lightly built theropod that ran on two legs. It grew to about 1 meter (3.3 feet) long, with a long tail that balanced a slender body built for speed. As a member of Coelophysidae, it was probably a swift hunter of small prey such as insects and other small animals, gripping its catch with narrow, pointed teeth.
Its fossil remains are incomplete, so many details of its skull and limbs are still uncertain.
Its world
Procompsognathus lived in what is now Germany during the Late Triassic, between about 215 and 211 million years ago. Its bones come from the Löwenstein Formation, a single find that gives paleontologists their only look at the animal.
It shared its habitat with the plant-eating Plateosaurus and Efraasia, the predator Liliensternus, and the little-known Tuebingosaurus.
How it was found
Fraas named Procompsognathus in 1913, giving it the type species Procompsognathus triassicus. It belongs to Coelophysidae, a family of early theropods that also includes Coelophysis and Megapnosaurus. With only a single find known, much about Procompsognathus remains uncertain, including exactly how it relates to its close relatives.
Field gallery
More views of Procompsognathus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Procompsognathus.
The evidence
The science behind Procompsognathus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The incomplete body skeleton shows a small, slender theropod with long hindlimbs.
- Parts of the backbone, hips and limbs form the basis for recognizing Procompsognathus.
Borrowed from relatives
- Coelophysis and Segisaurus provide comparisons for the missing parts of the body.
- A long balancing tail and inward-facing palms follow the body plan of early theropods.
Still unknown
- Which skull pieces historically assigned to it, if any, belong with its body skeleton.
- Its true head shape, skin covering and color.
- What prey it ate and how it hunted.
Often drawn wrong
- A confident, detailed face treats disputed skull pieces as an established part of the animal.
- Hands turned palm down give it a wrist position theropods could not use.
Discovery timeline
- 1913Named itFraas
- 1992RedescriptionSereno & Wild
- 2008Family treeKnoll
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Procompsognathus
Named it
Named Procompsognathus from small, incomplete remains found in Germany.
Die neuesten Dinosaurierfunde in der schw�bischen Trias. Die Naturwissenschaften 1: 1097-1100
Read the paper : Die neuesten Dinosaurierfunde in der schw�bischen Trias (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Argued that the body skeleton was a theropod but that the skull assigned to it belonged to an early crocodile relative.
Procompsognathus: theropod, “thecodont” or both? Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 12: 435-458
Read the paper : Procompsognathus: theropod, “thecodont” or both? (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Placed the body skeleton near Coelophysis and Segisaurus and argued that the historically assigned remains included several different animals.
On the Procompsognathus postcranium (Late Triassic, Germany). Geobios 41: 779-786
Read the paper : On the Procompsognathus postcranium (Late Triassic, Germany) (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Coelophysidae
Sources: Wikidata