Dryosaurus

Dryosaurus was an African sprinter that lived during the Late Jurassic Period. Its contemporaries were Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Coelurus, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Ceratosaurus. Its name means "oak lizard". The name came from its vague oak shape cheek teeth. This fast-running dinosaur were 3 meters long and 90 kilos weight.

Dryosaurus speed was probably the only its weapon against such predator as Allosaurus or Ceratosaurus. It had pointed tail for balancing. Its back legs were long and thin. Dryosaurus was named by Othniel C. Marsh in 1894. Fossils have been found in western North America and Africa. The teeth of Dryosaurus were, according to museum curator John Foster, characterized by "a strong median ridge on the lateral surface." Dryosaurus subsisted primarily on low growing vegetation in the ancient floodplain.