Compsognathus

The smaller German specimen was about 0.7 to 0.9 m (2.3 to 3 ft) long and weighed around 0.3 to 0.6 kg (0.7 to 1.3 lb). The larger French specimen reached about 1.25 to 1.4 m (4.1 to 4.6 ft) and weighed up to 3.5 kg (7.7 lb).12

Yes, Compsognathus was a small, bipedal, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. It is one of the first theropod dinosaurs known from a nearly complete skeleton.1

Compsognathus was a carnivore that ate small vertebrates, especially lizards. Both known fossils have lizard remains preserved in their stomachs.12

Maybe up to about 64 km/h (40 mph), almost as fast as a galloping horse! A computer model of its legs and muscles worked this out, though some scientists think that is too fast. It was small, light and very quick.3

No direct feather fossils have been found with Compsognathus. It lived in the same environment as the feathered dinosaur Archaeopteryx, so some scientists think it may have had simple feathers, but there is no proof yet.1

The German specimen was roughly chicken-sized, about 0.7 m (2.3 ft) long. The French specimen was larger, about 1.25 to 1.4 m (4.1 to 4.6 ft).12

Compsognathus lived about 150 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period. Its fossils are from the Tithonian age.12

Two nearly complete fossils have been found: one in Bavaria, Germany, discovered in the 1850s, and one in Canjuers near Nice, France, discovered in the 1970s. Possible teeth have also been found in Portugal.12

There is no evidence that Compsognathus could swim, but it lived on tropical islands near lagoons and may have occasionally entered shallow water.1

Until the 1990s, it was the smallest known non-bird dinosaur, but later discoveries like Microraptor and Mahakala are even smaller.1