Compsognathus

Compsognathus was a chicken-sized theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic Period in France and Germany. Cimpsognathus was about 1 meter long and about 3 kilos weight. Its long tail proves that it was a relatively fast runner. Compsognathus was a carnivore (a meat eater) that caught and ate small animals, including insects and lizards. John Ostrom found fossilized remains from a Compsognathus' stomach that contained the skeleton of the fast-running lizard Bavarisaurus.

Compsognathus was first discovered by Dr. Oberndorfer in limestone deposits in the Riedenburg-Kelheim region of Bavaria, southern Germany in the late 1850's. It was named by Johann A. Wagner in 1859. Only two Compsognathus fossils have been found; one in Germany and one in France. Compsognathus walked on two long, slender legs; it was a fast, agile dinosaur. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology (characteristics like leg length and estimated body mass) and fossilized trackways.