Outline: a typical theropod
Velocisaurus
"swift lizard"
- Lived
- 86 to 84 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Noasauridae
- Found in
- Argentina
- Named by
- Bonaparte 1991
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Field notes
About Velocisaurus
What it was like
Velocisaurus was a small predator from the noasaurid family. It is known mainly from a lower leg and foot. The long, slender foot bones suggest a fast runner, which is where its name comes from.
Its world
It lived about 86 to 84 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Argentina. Its bones come from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, where it lived alongside the small Alvarezsaurus and the titanosaur Neuquensaurus.
How it was found
Bonaparte named Velocisaurus in 1991.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Noasauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: J. F. Bonaparte. 1991. Los vertebrados fósiles de la Formación Rio Colorado, de la Ciudad de Neuquén y Cercanías, Cretácico Superior, Argentina [The vertebrate fossils of the Rio Colorado Formation, from the city of Neuquén and surrounding areas, Upper Cretaceous, Argentina]. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" e Instituto Nacional de Investigación de las Ciencias Naturales: Paleontología 4(3):17-123