Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Compsognathus

Say it Komp-sog-NATH-us. The name means ‘pretty jaw’.

Compsognathus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 0.7 m
Weight: 3 kg
Diet: Meat-eatervertebrates
Walked: On 2 legs
When: Late Jurassic145 to 140 million years ago
Fossils found in: France, Germany
Named by: Wagner (1859)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Compsognathidae

Where Compsognathus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Other small theropods

Archaeopteryx Late Jurassic
Ornitholestes Late Jurassic
Juravenator Late Jurassic
Coelurus Late Jurassic
Guanlong Late Jurassic
Nqwebasaurus Mid Jurassic
Beipiaosaurus Early Cretaceous
Confuciusornis Early Cretaceous

Source: Compsognathus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.