Coelurus

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iCoelurus Fossil range: Late Jurassic
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Infraorder: Coelurosauria Family: Coeluridae Genus: Coelurus
Binomial name
Coelurus fragilis Marsh, 1879

Coelurus
Translation	hollow tail
Type	small theropod dinosaur
Length	6 ft 6 in (2 m)
Height	approx. 3 ft (90 cm)
Weight	approx. 20 kg
Movement	biped
Age	150-140 million years ago
Diet	carnivore
Distribution	USA

Coelurus (see-LOOR-us) was a coelurosaur dinosaur of the Late Jurassic period. The name means "hollow tail" because its tail vertebrae were hollow (Greek koilos = hollow + oura = tail).

It was considered by some scientists to be the same animal as Ornitholestes, but new studies show them to be rather different animals^[1]. Coelurus had more slender body proportions than Ornitholestes, with elongated vertebrae and hindlimbs. It was discovered in the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, USA, in 1879 and described by Othniel Marsh. It also starred a small role in the novelisation of the second episode of Walking with Dinosaurs

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