Eustreptospondylus

Taxobox|
name = "Eustreptospondylus"
fossil_range = Middle Jurassic

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image_size = 200px
image_caption = "Eustreptospondylus" head in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Megalosauridae
subfamilia = Eustreptospondylinae
genus = "Eustreptospondylus"
species = "E. oxoniensis"
binomial = "Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis"
binomial_authority = Walker, 1964

"Eustreptospondylus" ("well-curved vertebra", in reference to the arrangement of the spine in the original fossil) was a genus of megalosaurid dinosaurs from the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic period (164.7-161.2 million years ago) in southern England, at a time when Europe was a series of scattered islands (due to tectonic movement at the time which raised the sea-bed and flooded the lowland). "Eustreptospondylus" is thought to have been between 5-7 meters long (17-23 feet) and around 2 meters tall (6 ft 6 in). It was carnivorous, bipedal and had a stiffened tail. It was a typical theropod, with powerful hind limbs, erect posture and small forelimbs.

History

" and, in 2003, he proposed that they should be the same genus (which would make the full species name "Magnosaurus oxoniensis").

In popular culture

"Eustreptospondylus" was featured in episode 3 of BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs", "Cruel Sea". One is eaten by a "Liopleurodon" while fishing. At the end of the episode, two adult "Eustreptospondylus" eat a beached and dying "Liopleurodon".

References

* cite journal
last = Walker
year = 1964
title = Triassic reptiles from the Elgin area: "Ornithosuchus" and the origin of carnosaurs
journal = Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London
volume = B 248
pages = 53–134
* cite journal
last = Rauhut
year = 2000
title = The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropods (Dinosauria, Saurischia)
journal = Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. Bristol [U.K.]
pages = 1–440
* cite journal
last = Rauhut
year = 2003
title = The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs
journal = Special Papers in Palaeontology
volume = 69
pages = 1–213
*Haines, Tim & Chambers, Paul. (2006) The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. Canada: Firefly Books Ltd.