Elaphrosaurus sleeping

(pronounced EL-ah-fro-SAWR-us)
(nimble reptile)
Ceratosauria.
ERA: Late Jurassic ( Kimmeridgian 154.1 - 150.7 Ma ).
SIZE: Length 3.5 m (12 ft). Weight 200 Kg (440 lb).
LOCATION: Africa.
FOSSILS: Fragmentary postcrani a.
COMMENTS: Elaphrosaurus had rather shorter legs and arms and ran more slowly than later ostrich-like dinosaurs, and at one stage was proposed as their ancestor ( it lived 70 million years before other ornithomimids ) before being re-classified as a ceratosaur.
SPECIES LIST:
E. bambergi Janensch, 1920 (type) .
E. agilis Marsh, 1884 is a junior synonym of Coelurus fragilis.
E. gautieri de Lapparent, 1960 and E. iguidiensis de Lapparent, 1960 are nomina dubia , and are known only from isolated limb elements. Some consider these as Neotheropoda incertae sedis.

Drawn by Brian Roesch on 11-07-2005.