Elaphrosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids ElaphrosaurusTemporal range: 154 to 150 million years ago; Upper Jurassic
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| Restoration of an Elaphrosaurus skeleton with a reconstructed skull, Museum für Naturkunde | |
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Elaphrosauridae
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Elaphrosaurus
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E. bambergi
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Elaphrosaurus (pronounced E-laf-roh-SAWR-us) was a type of dinosaur that lived about 150 million years ago. This was during the Upper Jurassic period. Its name means "light-footed lizard," which fits it well!
This dinosaur was a theropod, meaning it was a meat-eater. It was quite long, about 15 feet (4.5 meters), but it was also very light, weighing around 450 pounds (200 kg). Elaphrosaurus was known for being slender, fast, and very agile. It probably hunted smaller plant-eating dinosaurs, like Dryosaurus.
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Discovering Elaphrosaurus
The first main fossil of Elaphrosaurus was found in Tanzania, a country in Africa. It was discovered in a place called the Tendaguru Formation. This fossil was almost a complete skeleton, which is very rare and exciting! However, it was missing its skull, which made it a bit tricky to figure out exactly what kind of dinosaur it was.
A Changing Identity
Because its body looked a lot like a group of dinosaurs called ornithomimids (which looked a bit like modern ostriches), scientists first thought Elaphrosaurus was an early member of that group. But after more studies, they realized it was actually a ceratosaur. Ceratosaurs are another group of meat-eating dinosaurs.
Where Else Did It Live?
So far, there is only one officially named species of this dinosaur, called Elaphrosaurus bambergi. But bones that look very similar to Elaphrosaurus have also been found far away. These bones were discovered in the Morrison Formation in the western United States. This suggests that Elaphrosaurus might have lived in a much larger area than scientists first thought!
Images for kids
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A drawing showing the bones of Elaphrosaurus found between 1920 and 1925.
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A picture comparing the size of Elaphrosaurus to a human.
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A close-up of the neck bones (cervical vertebrae) of the main Elaphrosaurus fossil.
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A close-up of the back leg bones (hind limbs) of the main Elaphrosaurus fossil.
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Berlín, Mitte, socha ještěra in Museum für Naturkunde.jpg
The main Elaphrosaurus skeleton on display at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.
See also
In Spanish: Elaphrosaurus bambergi para niños
