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Compsognathus ("elegant jaw") was a small carniverous dinosaur whose remains are known from only two specimens. Reaching a maximum length of about 40 inches, Compsognathus is one of the smallest known dinosaurs. It fed on insects and small vertebrates. The remains of a small lizard, Bavarisaurus, can be seen in the stomach area of this specimen. Compsognathus was equipped with keen vision, a long neck, a long tail, and long legs for speed which made it an agile predator.

This specimen, the first Compsognathus discovered, was found in the Solnhofen Plattenkalk of southern Germany. The Solnhofen beds have long been mined for their fine grained limestone which is perfect for lithographic printing. These Late Jurassic beds are also renowned for producing marine and terrestrial animal and plant fossils of exquisite preservation. During the Late Jurassic, the Bavarian region of Germany was a series of islands and coastal lagoons. Any creature's remains that were washed into one of these lagoons would lay undisturbed and unscavanged. Layers of fine marine sediments would cover the remains, leading to nearly flawless preservation.

Discovered in the 1850's, this Compsognathus specimen was the first near complete dinosaur skeletion ever found. The neck is strongly arched back in a common death pose which occurs when the muscles and tendons of the neck dry out and contract. Because of the disarticulation of the skull in an otherwise well articulated skeleton, it can be inferred that this specimen was a subadult whose skull had not yet completely ossified. A noted anatomist and collaborator of Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley studied the specimen and noted its strong structural similarities to birds. The hollow bones and light build led Huxley to propose that birds and dinosaurs were related. This idea was dismissed for over a hundred years, but is now widely accepted.

There are only two specimens of Compsognathus which have been found and identified. If there are 12 Archaeopteryx and the Berlin Specimen is worth $16 million, what would one of these two be worth? This is the little dinosaur that was featured in the second "Jurassic Park" movie.


Compsognathus longipes
 
<i>Compsognathus longipes</i> Quantity in Basket: None
Code: DIN-100
Price: $191.00
Shipping Weight: 1.81 pounds
 
 
Quantity:
 
Time: Early Tithonian of the Late Jurassic Period approximately 150 million years ago.
Location: Solnhofen Plattenkalk, Bavaria, Germany
Dimensions: 15" x 11-1/2" x 1"

The rib cage of Bavarisaurus can be seen at the center of the image above. The skull is to the right. The vertebral column extends downward to the left from the ribs. You can see what appears to be the right femur below the vertebral column at the left of the rib cage.



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