compsognathus

Everyday

1. A small meat-eating dinosaur about the size of a chicken or turkey, which ran on two legs and lived about 150 million years ago in what is now Germany and France. tree →
2. Its name means «pretty jaw». tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about dinosaurs and fossils, Compsognathus is famous for being one of the smallest dinosaurs known for a long time; one fossil had a lizard in its stomach, showing what it ate. It is related to the ancestors of birds. Often shortened to «compy» in films.

Examples

• Compsognathus was only about the size of a turkey. tree →
• Scientists found a lizard inside a Compsognathus fossil. tree →
• Compsognathus ran fast on two thin legs. tree →
• Its name means «pretty jaw». tree →
• Compsognathus lived in the Jurassic period. tree →
• In the film, a pack of compies chased the boy. tree →

Note

Say «komp-sog-NAY-thus». Dinosaur names are usually written with a capital letter and in italics in science. Plural is often the same word. Not all dinosaurs were huge.