Streptospondylus
Streptospondylus was a medium-sized meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now France, about 161 million years ago. It had a long tail and sharp teeth, and it probably hunted other animals in its Jurassic home.1
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as long as 7 dogs nose to tail🍌as long as 39 bananas end to end🍉as heavy as 100 watermelons🧸as heavy as 26 kindergarten kids🎒as heavy as 16 school kids🏃could run 100 metres in 8.6 seconds (the fastest human needs 9.6)How big was Streptospondylus compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Streptospondylus was one of the first dinosaurs ever collected and described by scientists, back in 1808.1
Its name means 'twisted vertebra' because the vertebrae are shaped differently from those of crocodiles.1
The fossils were first thought to belong to a crocodile, not a dinosaur.1
For a long time, scientists argued about what name to give this dinosaur. It was called Laelaps gallicus and Megalosaurus cuvieri in the past.1
The bones of Streptospondylus were found near the coast of France, in the Vaches Noires cliffs by a Norman naturalist in 1778.1
Most asked questions about Streptospondylus
?How big was Streptospondylus?
It was a medium-sized predator, about 6 metres (19.5 feet) long and weighing around 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds).1
?What did Streptospondylus eat?
It was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat. It probably hunted other animals in its Jurassic home.2
?When did Streptospondylus live?
It lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 161 million years ago.1
?Where was Streptospondylus found?
Its fossils were found near the coast of France, in the Vaches Noires cliffs in Normandy.1
?Is Streptospondylus a dinosaur?
Yes, it is a theropod dinosaur, a meat-eating dinosaur that walked on two legs.1
?Why is it called Streptospondylus?
Its name means 'twisted vertebra' because its vertebrae are shaped differently from those of crocodiles.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Streptospondylus
- Named by
- Meyer 18322
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Megalosauria2
- Classification
- Theropoda2
- Age of the rocks
- 165 to 159 million years (Callovian / Oxfordian)2
- Countries
- France2
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
- Discovery
- In 1778, naturalist Charles Bacheley found the bones in France. The scientist Georges Cuvier first described the dinosaur vertebrae in 1808, but he thought they were from a crocodile. The name Streptospondylus was given by German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1832.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly where Streptospondylus fits in the dinosaur family tree. Some think it is related to Megalosaurus, but the bones are too fragmentary to be certain.1
Where the facts come from
- Streptospondylus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Streptospondylus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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