These small, fast running dinosaurs lived at the same time Coelurus was known to have been in North America. Compsognathus fossils have been found in Europe.

They are among the smallest dinosaurs known. The adults were no more than 2 feet long, about the size of a chicken. They had long necks and very long tails. The stiff tail helped them run very fast and gave them balance. Each hand had two fingers and each finger had a claw. Their legs, twice as long as their arms, had three toes on each foot.

Compsognathus means "pretty jaw." Its long, pointed head held two rows of sharp teeth, and it is known to have eaten meat. Each animal probably weighed less than 7 pounds. This little dinosaurs may have been an egg hunter. There would have been many eggs around in the dinosaur age. Some would have been large enough to provide a juicy meal for these nimble-footed animals.

It is hard to think of this little creature as a real dinosaur, yet he is as much a dinosaur as big Tyrannosaurs or giant Apatosaurus.

Location: France, Germany

Diet: Invertebrates, Lizards

Size: Length 70cm-1.4m

      Weight 3kg

Classification:

Family Compsognathidae

Infraorder Tetanurae

Suborder Theoropoda

Order Saurischia

Time (million years ago): 156-150