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sharp-clawed runner
Aristosuchus
Say it like this: “ah-RIS-toe-SOOK-us”
Aristosuchus pusillus
Aristosuchus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United Kingdom.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1887 · Seeley, H. G.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 2 m · 7 ft
- Weight
- 7–30 kg · 15–66 lb
- Found in
- the United Kingdom · Wessex
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Compsognathidae
The story in short
In 1887, H. G. Seeley published the name Aristosuchus. The name means “best/noblest Sobek.”
It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the Wessex Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Aristosuchus at a length near 2 m and a body mass around 7–30 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Compsognathidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Beipiaognathus
Beipiaognathus jii
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Compsognathus
Compsognathus longipes
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
Huadanosaurus
Huadanosaurus sinensis
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago