Procompsognathus

*Procompsognathus triassicus*

* Jurassic Park Institute Artwork
* Robert F Walters Artwork

***Procompsognathus*** is a genus of small theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic Period, about 222 to 219 million years ago. *Procompsognathus* was named by Eberhard Fraas in 1913. He named the type species, *P. triassicus*, on the basis of a poorly-preserved skeleton found in Württemberg, Germany.
The name is derived from *Compsognathus* meaning 'elegant jaw' (Greek ***kompsos/κομψος*** meaning 'elegant', 'refined' or 'dainty' and ***gnathos/γναθος*** meaning 'jaw'), which was a later (Jurassic) dinosaur. The prefix ***προ/pro*** implies 'before' or 'ancestor of', although this direct lineage is not supported by subsequent research.

## Etymology

The genus name *Procompsognathus*, means "before elegant jaw", and is derived from the name of another dinosaur, *Compsognathus*. A later (Jurassic) small predatory dinosaur, *Compsognathus* means "elegant jaw", and is derived from the Greek word kompsos (κομψός) which can be rendered as "elegant", "refined" or "dainty" and the Greek word gnathos (γνάθος) which means "jaw". The prefix Pro (προ) implies "before" or "ancestor of", although this direct lineage was not supported by subsequent research. The specific name triassicus refers to the geologic time period to which this dinosaur belongs, the Triassic.

## Description

*Procompsognathus* may have been about one meter long (3.3 ft),[2] though Fraas in 1913 estimated a length of 75 cm (2.5 ft). In 2010 Gregory S. Paul gave an estimate of one kilogramme for the weight.[3] A biped, *Procompsognathus* had long hind legs, short arms, large clawed hands, a long slender snout with many small teeth, and a stiff tail. The femur discovered for the type specimen of this genus measures 93mm and the tibia, 112mm. The tibia is approximately 20% longer than the femur in *Procompsognathus*, an adaptation which has been strongly correlated with the development of cursorial habits in dinosaurs, suggesting that they were good runners.

## Paleobiology

*Procompsognathus* may have been about 1 meters long (3.3 feet). A biped, it had long hind legs, short arms, large clawed hands, a long slender snout with many small teeth, and a stiff tail. It lived in a relatively dry, inland environment and may have eaten insects, lizards, and other small prey.

## Classification

While it is undoubtedly a small, bipedal carnivore, the extremely poor preservation of the only known *Procompsognathus* fossil makes its exact identity difficult to determine. It has historically been considered a theropod dinosaur, though some, such as Allen (2004), have found *Procompsognathus* to be a primitive, non-dinosaurian ornithodiran. Sereno and Wild (1992) stated that the holotype specimen consisted of fossils from two separate animals. They referred the skull to the primitive crocodylomorph *Saltoposuchus*, and the remainder of the skeleton to a ceratosaur related to *Segisaurus*.
Rauhut and Hungerbuhler (2000) noted features of the vertebrae which suggest that *Procompsognathus* may be a coelophysid or ceratosaur, and Carrano *et al.* (2005), in their re-study of the related genus *Segisaurus*, found both *Segisaurus* and *Procompsognathus* to belong to the Coelophysidae within Dinosauria.

## JPInstitute.com Description

Procompsognathus is the ancestor of the more famous (thanks to "The Lost World: Jurassic Park") Compsognathus. It was about the same size but lighter. It was also very fast for such a small dinosaur - it could probably run at over 35 mph for a short distance! It also probably hunted in groups, running through the forest looking for small lizards, baby dinosaurs, little mammals and big bugs. It had lots of small, sharp teeth and could use its hands to grab its prey.

This little dinosaur was at the base of a successful family of creatures (theropoda). It had a long, thin neck that was most likely held in an "S" shape so it could swiftly move its head forward to bite. It had long, slender, almost straight-foot claws, which would have been good for digging or kicking straight out in front during an attack. It could also have used its tail as a weapon as it was very muscular at the base.

Procompsognathus shared the general body style of the Coelophysoidea - long tapering snout, small teeth, powerful legs, and the long neck. Its eyes were not forward facing and therefore it probably had poor depth perception - a liability for a hunter. It may have been a good tree climber.

## Dinosaur Field Guide Description

Procompsognathus (before Compsognathus") is a very small dinosaur from the Late Triassic Period. The only known skeleton of this dinosaur is incomplete but shows that it was less than 3 feet (90 cm) long. It is a small theropod, or " meat-eating dinosaur, and ran on long hind legs. The paleontologists who first discovered this fossil thought reminded them of Compsognathus, the little theropod from the Late Jurassic of Germany. More recent studies of this dinosaur show that it was more closely related to Coelophysis and Dilophosaurus than to Compsognathus. Also, these study is show that the skull that was origially thought to be from Procompsognathus was actually from an early land living crocodile relative. There is no evidence that Procompsognathus (or Compsognathus) ran around in packs, attacking much larger animals.

### Fun Facts

Procompsognathus was so small that a smail dog or a house cat would have been a danger to it. Good thing for Procompsognathus that dogs and cats did not evolve until 200 million years after it was gone!

### Trivia

Procompsognathus is one of the smallest dinosaurs known from the Triassic Period.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

In Michael Crichton's novels *Jurassic Park* and *The Lost World*, *Procompsognathus* (often referred to as "compys") are one of the extinct species recreated through genetic engineering. Crichton portrays these dinosaurs as being venomous, a characteristic invented for the novel and not supported by fossil evidence. He also portrays them as scavengers and coprophagists (eaters of feces), useful in keeping the park clean of sauropod excrement. In the film adaptation of *The Lost World*, *Procompsognathus* were replaced with the distantly related coelurosaur *Compsognathus*. However, in the second film, Robert Burke refers to them as *Compsognathus triassicus* (*triassicus* being the type species of *Procompsognathus*).

## Links

http://web.archive.org/web/20040214165036fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_proco.html#

## References

1. ↑ Allen (2004). "The phylogenetic status of *Procompsognathus* revisited." *Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology*, **24**(3)
2. ↑ Template:Cite journal
3. ↑ Rauhut and Hungerbuhler (2000). "A review of European Triassic theropods." *Gaia* **15**, 75-88.
4. ↑ Carrano, M.T, Hutchinson, J.R, Sampson, S.D. (2005). "New information on *Segisaurus halli*, a small theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Arizona." *Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology*. **25**(4):835-849.