Type Species: Procompsognathus triassicus
Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Theropoda - Coelophysoidea - Coelophysidae
Time Period: Late Triassic
Location: Germany
Diet: Carnivore
Procompsognathus lived 210 million years ago during the Norian stage of the Late Triassic. Its remains were found in Germany, and it lived in a dry, inland environment. Other dinosaur contemporaries included dubious coelophysoids and the prosauropods Plateosaurus and Efraasia. Procompsognathus was a chicken-sized, lightly-built, bipedal predator that likely fed on insects, lizards, and other small prey. It had long hind legs, short arms, large clawed hands, a stiff tail, and a long, slender snout filled with many small teeth. It grew between 2.5 to 3.5 feet in length and likely weighed just over two pounds. Its tibia was about twenty percent longer than its femur, indicating that it was a fast runner.
The screenshot above is a cinematic representation of Procompsognathus from the movie The Lost World. In the novels from which the movie was adapted, Procompsognathus carried a sleep-inducing toxin in its saliva. This has no basis in reality, for we cannot uncover any such evidences in fossil remains. However, many reptiles had such weapons, so the hypothetical presence of such abilities isn't without merit in the natural world.
Procompsognathus shouldn’t be confused with Compsognathus: the former lived during the Late Triassic whereas the latter lived during the Late Jurassic. Though they were about the same size, a larger turkey-sized species of Compsognathus has been discovered. The similarity in their names may imply some sort of relationship - "Did the Triassic dinosaur eventually lead to the Jurassic dinosaur?" - but the similarities are symbolic. There's no evidence that Procompsognathus was the genetic forerunner of the later and larger-sized Compsognathus.
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