Syntarsus

Say it: sin-TAR-sus

Ate: MeatOther meat-eatersLate Triassic to Early Jurassic

Syntarsus was a fast, meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 200 million years ago. It was a relative of Coelophysis and used its sharp teeth and long legs to chase down small prey. Some fossils show that it might have lived in groups.2

Lived

206 to 184 million years ago2

Late Triassic to Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Arizona (USA) and South Africa2 2

Food

Meat2

Length

2.5 to 3 m2

estimated, based on related coelophysoids

Weight

10 kg to 30 kg2

Height

0.8 to 1 m2

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 1.5 bicycles in a rowas long as 17 bananas end to endas heavy as 8 house catsas heavy as 6 watermelonsup to the handle of a door

How big was Syntarsus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Syntarsus had a long, slim body and a tail that helped it keep balance while running fast.2

Fossils of Syntarsus have been found in Arizona in the Kayenta Formation and in South Africa in the Elliot Formation.2 2

The species Syntarsus kayentakatae was named by Timothy Rowe in 1989 from a partial skeleton found in Arizona.2 1

Syntarsus lived during the Early Jurassic, about 199 to 183 million years ago, in what is now the southwestern United States and southern Africa.2

Scientists think Syntarsus was a fast and agile hunter, using its long legs to chase after lizards and small dinosaurs.2

The name Syntarsus was first used by Michael Raath in 1969 for fossils found in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).2

AI-made picture of Syntarsus — An AI-made picture of how Syntarsus 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.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Syntarsus
Named by: Raath 19692
Group: Other meat-eaters
Family / clade: Coelophysoidea2
Classification: Theropoda > Coelophysoidea2
Age of the rocks: 206 to 184 million years (Rhaetian / Pliensbachian)2
Rock formations: Kayenta, Elliot, Moenave2
Countries: USA, South Africa2
Fossil records: 11 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: The first Syntarsus fossils were found in the Forest Sandstone of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and named by Michael Raath in 1969. Another species, Syntarsus kayentakatae, was named by Timothy Rowe in 1989 from the Kayenta Formation in Arizona.2 2 1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Syntarsus should be called a separate genus or classified as a type of Coelophysis. Some researchers suggest the name Megapnosaurus instead.2 2

Where the facts come from

: Rowe 1989 | Publication Details | MCZbase (mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu)
Syntarsus 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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