Compsognathus

Compsognathus (pronounced "Kckckhommp-sogg-NAY-Thussssssssss" and meaning "elegant jaw") was a small, bipedal dinosaur that roamed (or more accurately 'skittered about') the Earth during the late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago, give or take a few hours. Despite its somewhat unwieldy name compsognathus is one of the most well known dinosaurs, possibly due to its small size which contrasts greatly with that of its larger cousins, such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Megalosaurus and Gamera. Compsognathus was so small in fact, that a fully grown human being would have had little problem viciously kicking one to death, and indeed could have done so without interference from animal rights organisations as compsognathus isn't on the endangered species list and never was!

Due to its popularity and familiarity to the general public, compsognathus has been depicted many times in film, television and literature - often as a vicious little pack hunter. While there is no real evidence to suggest such social behaviour was prevalent in compys, it is far more interesting to believe that they ran in large herds and could have brought down a cow if they'd wanted to. However, as much this may be wishful thinking - no cow meat has ever been found in the fossilised stomachs of long dead compys, just bugs and lizards and boring stuff like that - it is nonetheless going to be presented as fact in this article.

Brat Pack

Compsognathus was a vicious pack hunter that could have brought down a cow if it had wanted to. Individually, compsognathus stood about one to one and a half feet high and was roughly three feet in length. It had a smallish (obviously) pair of forelimbs which ended in three clawed digits for clasping its prey (cows). The hindlimbs, which were markedly bigger than the forelimbs but still nothing to write home about really, had backward facing joints just like other therapods, which would have allowed compsognathus to move rather quickly. Very likely quicker than a moderately fast cow, or roughly three times faster than a creature that could only travel at two-sixths "compy-speed". Perhaps its most remarkable feature (that we know of, anyway... for example if it could breathe fire or something that would be much more remarkable) was its delicate, narrow skull. Compsognathus' jaw was slender and filled with small, sharp teeth which were serrated towards the back of the skull and less so towards the front. It is because of this pretty little mouth that it gained the less-than-intimidating moniker "elegant jaw". Small, light and fast - compsognathuseses were not to be trifled with if you were to encounter them en masse!

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