Elaphrosaurus
Elaphrosaurus was a long, slender dinosaur that ran fast on short legs. It lived in what is now Africa during the Late Jurassic Period, about 155 to 145 million years ago. Scientists think it might have eaten plants or small animals, not big prey.1
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Fun facts
Elaphrosaurus had very short legs for its body length, which is unusual for a meat-eating dinosaur.1
Its shin bone was longer than its thigh bone, which helped it run fast.1
No skull of Elaphrosaurus has ever been found, so scientists are not sure what its head looked like.1
Elaphrosaurus had a long tail that bent downward at the tip, a rare feature among theropods.1
It was once thought to be an ornithomimid (ostrich dinosaur), but now scientists place it in the group Ceratosauria.1
Elaphrosaurus was about 6.2 metres (20 feet) long but only weighed around 200 kilograms (440 pounds), making it lightly built.1
Fossils of Elaphrosaurus have also been found in the Morrison Formation of the United States, but those are fragmentary.1
Most asked questions about Elaphrosaurus
?How big was Elaphrosaurus?
About 6.2 metres (20 feet) long and 1.46 metres (4.8 feet) tall at the hip. It weighed around 200 to 210 kilograms (440 to 460 pounds).1
?What did Elaphrosaurus eat?
Scientists are not sure. It may have eaten plants or small animals, because its neck was not flexible enough to catch large prey.1
?Did Elaphrosaurus have feathers?
No fossil feathers have been found with Elaphrosaurus, so scientists do not know for sure. Many theropod dinosaurs are thought to have had feathers, but no direct evidence exists for this species.1
?How fast could Elaphrosaurus run?
Its long shin bone and light build suggest it was a fast runner, but no exact speed is known.1
?Where was Elaphrosaurus found?
Its fossils were discovered in Tanzania, Africa, in the Tendaguru Formation.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Elaphrosaurus was a fast predator that hunted large dinosaurs.
Truth: Its short legs and inflexible neck suggest it could not catch big prey. It may have eaten small animals or plants instead.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Elaphrosaurus
- Named by
- Janensch 19203
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Noasauridae3
- Classification
- Theropoda > Ceratosauria3
- Age of the rocks
- 155 to 94 million years (Kimmeridgian / Cenomanian)3
- Rock formations
- Tendaguru, Morrison3
- Countries
- Tanzania, USA, Morocco3
- Fossil records
- 4 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Elaphrosaurus was named by German paleontologist Werner Janensch in 1920. The first nearly complete skeleton was found in 1910 in Tanzania during an expedition to the Tendaguru Formation.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating whether Elaphrosaurus was a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore, because its skull is unknown and its neck was not built for hunting.1
Where the facts come from
- Elaphrosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Elaphrosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Elaphrosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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