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sharp-clawed runner
Ceratosaurus
Say it like this: “SERR-ah-toe-SOR-uhs”
Ceratosaurus nasicornis
Ceratosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
- Named in
- 1884 · Marsh, O. C.
- Hip height
- 1.5 m · 5 ft
- Length
- 5.1–5.5 m · 17–18 ft
- Weight
- 0.5–1 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Morrison
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Ceratosauridae
The story in short
The genus Ceratosaurus dates to 1884, the year O. C. Marsh described it. The name means “horn lizard.”
It lived in the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian), roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Morrison Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Ceratosaurus at a length near 5.1–5.5 m, hips about 1.5 m high, and a body mass around 0.5–1 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Ceratosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.