STL Science Center

STL Science Center

01 October 2016

Small Jurassic Carnivores

Relegated to the area that now makes up the majority of England, small carnivores roamed the lands of the Middle Jurassic and did not need to be enormous because sauropods of the time had reached considerable, but not gigantic, sizes. Even if they had, smaller theropods have been hypothesized to have hunted in packs from time to time. Such may have been the case for Proceratosaurus bradleyi. Originally described by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1910 (as Megalosaurus bradleyi) and von Heune in 1926 as an early ancestor to Ceratosuarus with both dinosaurs belonging to the coelurosaurian group of theropods. Proceratosaurus was kept in this group whereas Ceratosaurus was removed and placed within its own, ceratosaurid, group of theropods. Proceratosaurus, known from fragmentary cranial remains, has an estimated size of between 2 and 3 meters in length, making it small and almost pet-sized (by enormous dog standards).
©Conty

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