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Eustreptospondylus

Say it: yoo-STREPT-oh-spon-DYE-lus

Name means: “true Streptospondylus, meaning 'well twisted vertebra'”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosMiddle Jurassic

Eustreptospondylus was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived on islands in the Jurassic sea. It was about as long as a small car and probably hunted small animals or ate dead ones washed up on the beach.1

Lived

165 to 162 million years ago3

Middle Jurassic

Fossils found in

Summertown Brick Pit near Oxford, England, United Kingdom1 3

Food

Meat1

Length

4.63 to 6 m1

The known skeleton is a subadult, about 4.63 metres long. Adults may have reached about 6 metres.

Weight

218 kg to 500 kg1

Height

3 to 3.7 m2

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 17 big dogs

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to endas heavy as 100 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Eustreptospondylus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

The first skeleton found was the most complete large meat-eating dinosaur skeleton known at the time, and it is still the most complete large Jurassic European theropod.1

It lived on islands, because Europe was a group of islands back then. Some scientists think it could swim short distances between islands, like a Komodo dragon.1

Its skull had a pointed snout and a large horizontal nostril. It did not have a horn on its face.1

Grooves in its jaw joints let it open its mouth extra wide when it lowered its lower jaws.1

No teeth were found with the skeleton, but the size of the tooth sockets shows that the third tooth in the lower jaw was extra big.1

The known fossil was found in a marine layer, which means it ended up in the sea. That is why some scientists think it could swim, but others think it just washed out to sea after dying.1

AI-made picture of Eustreptospondylus — An AI-made picture of how Eustreptospondylus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Eustreptospondylus

?How big was Eustreptospondylus?

The known skeleton was from a subadult about 4.63 metres (15.2 ft) long and weighed about 218 kilograms (481 lb). A full-grown adult may have reached around 6 metres (20 ft) and weighed 0.5 tonnes.1

?What did Eustreptospondylus eat?

It was a carnivore that ate smaller dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and may have scavenged dead fish, marine reptiles, and other dinosaurs.1

?Could Eustreptospondylus swim?

Some scientists think it could swim short distances between islands, like a Komodo dragon, because its fossil was found on what was an island. Others think it just washed out to sea after dying.1

?When did Eustreptospondylus live?

It lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic period, about 166 to 154 million years ago.1

?Where was Eustreptospondylus found?

Its fossils were found in southern England, near Oxford, in a marine clay layer.1

?Is Eustreptospondylus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a theropod dinosaur, a meat-eating dinosaur that walked on two legs.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Eustreptospondylus was a slow, clumsy scavenger that only ate dead animals.

Truth: It was a meat-eater that probably hunted small animals and also scavenged. Its body shows it was an active predator, and it may have foraged on shorelines.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Eustreptospondylus
Named by: Walker 19643
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Megalosauridae3
Classification: Theropoda3
Age of the rocks: 165 to 162 million years (Callovian)3
Rock formations: Oxford Clay3
Countries: United Kingdom3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Workers found the skeleton in 1870 at Summertown Brick Pit near Oxford, England. It was described in 1871 by John Phillips, but it got its own name, Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis, from Alick Walker in 1964.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Eustreptospondylus could swim between islands or if its body just washed out to sea after death.1

Where the facts come from

Eustreptospondylus (en.wikipedia.org)
enchantedlearning.com (enchantedlearning.com)
Eustreptospondylus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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