Saltopus
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Saltopus elginensis von Huene, 1910 |
Saltopus was a very small bipedal dinosauriform, roughly 23 inches (60 centimeters) long, not much bigger than a rabbit, that was discovered in Scotland. It was a late Triassic carnivore. Probably the size of a small cat, with hollow bones like those of a bird, it may have weighed in at around two pounds (one kilogram), and had five-fingered hands and a long head with dozens of sharp teeth. None of this can be known for certain, as Saltopus is known only from very poor material (mostly hind limb fragments).
As small as it was, its carnivorous diet must have consisted primarily of scavenged carcasses or insects. It has been variously identified as a saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaur, a more advanced theropod, and a close relative of the herrerasaurs, but its taxonomy is in dispute because only fragmentary remains have been recovered. Some researchers, such as Paul (1988), have suggested it may represent a juvenile specimen of a coelophysid theropod such as Coelophysis or Procompsognathus. Rauhut and Hungerbühler (2000) suggest it is a primitive dinosauriform, not a true dinosaur, closely related to Lagosuchus.
[edit] References
- von Huene, F.R. (1910). "Ein primitiver Dinosaurier aus der mittleren Trias von Elgin." Geol. Pal. Abh. n. s., 8:315-322.
- Paul, G.S. (1988). Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon and Schuster. 464 pp.
- Rauhut, O.M.W. and A. Hungerbühler. (2000). "A review of European Triassic theropods." Gaia 15. 75-88.
