NAME

Meaning - Elaphrosaurus means “nimble lizard”
Pronounced - EL-ah-fro-SAWR-us
Named By - Werner Janensch
When Named - 1920
DIET

Carnivore (meat-eater)
SIZE

Length - 17-20.5 ft (5-6.2 m) long
Height - 5 ft (1.5 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 460 pounds (210 kg)
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Jurassic period, about 155 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in the Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania, East Africa.
FOSSILS

Only a few bones of Elaphrosaurus have been found. A skull has not been found.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
  • Genus Elaphrosaurus
  • Species E. bambergi (type species named by Janensch, 1920)
INTERESTING FACTS

Elaphrosaurus was a fast, bipedal (walked on two legs), meat-eating dinosaur. This dinosaur had short, thin arms with 3-fingered hands, strong, long-shinned legs, 3-toed feet, a long thin neck and a stiff tail.