Procompsognathus
From Jurassic Park wiki
Procompsognathus (pronounced /ˌproʊkɒmpˈsɒɡnəθəs/) is a genus of small theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic Period, about 222 to 219 million years ago. Procompsognathus was named by Eberhard Fraas in 1913. He named the type species, P. triassicus, on the basis of a poorly-preserved skeleton found in Württemberg, Germany.
The name is derived from Compsognathus meaning 'elegant jaw' (Greek kompsos/κομψος meaning 'elegant', 'refined' or 'dainty' and gnathos/γναθος meaning 'jaw'), which was a later (Jurassic) dinosaur. The prefix προ/pro implies 'before' or 'ancestor of', although this direct lineage is not supported by subsequent research.
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[edit] Paleobiology
Procompsognathus may have been about 1.2 meters long (4 ft). A biped, it had long hind legs, short arms, large clawed hands, a long slender snout with many small teeth, and a stiff tail. It lived in a relatively dry, inland environment and may have eaten insects, lizards, and other small prey.
[edit] Classification
While it is undoubtedly a small, bipedal carnivore, the extremely poor preservation of the only known Procompsognathus fossil makes its exact identity difficult to determine. It has historically been considered a theropod dinosaur, though some, such as Allen (2004), have found Procompsognathus to be a primitive, non-dinosaurian ornithodiran. Sereno and Wild (1992) stated that the holotype specimen consisted of fossils from two separate animals. They referred the skull to the primitive crocodylomorph Saltoposuchus, and the remainder of the skeleton to a ceratosaur related to Segisaurus. Rauhut and Hungerbuhler (2000) noted features of the vertebrae which suggest that Procompsognathus may be a coelophysid or ceratosaur, and Carrano et al. (2005), in their re-study of the related genus Segisaurus, found both Segisaurus and Procompsognathus to belong to the Coelophysidae within Dinosauria.
[edit] In popular culture
In Michael Crichton's novels Jurassic Park and The Lost World, Procompsognathus (often referred to as "compys") are one of the extinct species recreated through genetic engineering. Crichton portrays these dinosaurs as being venomous, a characteristic invented for the novel and not supported by fossil evidence. He also portrays them as scavengers and coprophagists (eaters of feces), useful in keeping the park clean of sauropod excrement. In the film adaptation of The Lost World, Procompsognathus were replaced with the distantly related coelurosaur Compsognathus. However, in the second film, Robert Burke refers to them as Compsognathus triassicus (triassicus being the type species of Procompsognathus).
In Eric Garcia's trio of "Rex" novels, Procompsognathus is one of sixteen genera to survive into the present day. As in Jurassic Park, Garcia refers to them as "compys".
[edit] In Jurassic Park
Procompsognathus, like its larger coelophysoid relative Dilophosaurus, is venomous, although the compies are more mildly so. Their venom has a mild narcotic effect, making the victim feel sleepy and drowsy, and altogether content. There is no sign of this in the films' Compys. InGen had bred large numbers of them to deal with the large droppings of their sauropod dinosaurs, which, surprisingly, they readily consumed. They travel in large packs, and prefer to feed on crippled, dying, or dead animals when not feasting upon the copius amounts of feces left behind by InGen's larger creations.
Appearing only in the novels, the Procompsognathus (which shares the nickname "compy" with the movie Compsognathus) has the dubious distinction of being the one to eat John Hammond (again, only in the novel, as he survives the film). In The Lost World, a group of Compsognathus stalk Dieter Stark when he gets lost in the jungle. Though they were most likely hunting him because he was alone, it is ironic that he is killed by them, because he had treated at least two Compys cruelly earlier.
Procompsognathus also appeared in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game Jurassic Park.
