Elaphrosaurus

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Elaphrosaurus
Fossil range: Late Jurassic

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Infraorder:	Ceratosauria
Genus:	Elaphrosaurus Janensch, 1920

Species

E. bambergi Janensch, 1920 (type)

Elaphrosaurus (meaning "lightweight lizard") is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the late Jurassic of Tanzania, 145 mya. Elaphrosaurus was probably a ceratosaur about 6 meters (20 ft) long. A skeleton was found in the Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania, which also yielded Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus, and Kentrosaurus. A related animal, perhaps the same species, was found in the Morrison Formation.^[1] Few theropod skeletons have been found, most discoveries being fragments. What is known about Elaphrosaurus mostly comes from a single nearly complete skeleton. No skull has been found.

It was long and slender, with a long neck, possibly for digging into carrion. It was about 6.2 meters (20 ft) long, 1.46 meters (4.79 ft) tall at the hip, and weighed about 210 kilograms (460 lb).^[1] It was fast, probably running down small prey on open plains. The long legs suggest it may have been one of the fastest Jurassic dinosaurs.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Paul, Gregory S. (1988). "Genus Elaphrosaurus", Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 265-266. ISBN 0-671-61946-2.