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sharp-clawed runner
Metriacanthosaurus
Say it like this: “met-ree-a-KAN-tho-SAWR-us”
Metriacanthosaurus parkeri
Metriacanthosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in the United Kingdom.
- When
- Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) · roughly 161.5 to 154.8 million years ago
- Named in
- 1964 · Walker, A. D.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 8 m · 26 ft
- Weight
- 1 tonnes
- Found in
- the United Kingdom · Oxford Clay
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Metriacanthosaurinae
The story in short
The genus Metriacanthosaurus dates to 1964, the year A. D. Walker described it. The name means “moderately-spined lizard.”
Fossils referred to Metriacanthosaurus date to the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian), roughly 161.5 to 154.8 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the Oxford Clay Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Metriacanthosaurus at a length near 8 m and a body mass around 1 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Metriacanthosaurinae, among the theropod dinosaurs.