Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Procompsognathus

Say it pro-comp-sog-nay-thus. The name means ‘before Compsognathus’.

Procompsognathus 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: 1 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Late Triassic221 to 210 million years ago
Fossils found in: Germany
Named by: Fraas (1913)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Neotheropoda › Coelophysoidea

Where Procompsognathus 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

Coelophysis Late Triassic
Eoraptor Late Triassic
Liliensternus Late Triassic
Sarcosaurus Early Jurassic
Podokesaurus Mid Jurassic
Segisaurus Mid Jurassic
Gasosaurus Mid Jurassic
Proceratosaurus Mid Jurassic

Source: Procompsognathus 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.