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[[File:220px-Compy.jpg|right]]&nbsp
{{italictitle}}{{Taxobox
| name = ''Compsognathus''
| fossil_range = [[Late Jurassic]], {{fossil range|150}}
| image = Compy.jpg
| image_caption = Reconstruction of a skeleton, [[North American Museum of Ancient Life]]
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Reptile|Reptilia]]
| superordo = [[Dinosaur]]ia
| ordo = [[Saurischia]]
| subordo = [[Theropoda]]
| familia = [[Compsognathidae]]
| genus = '''''Compsognathus'''''
| genus_authority = [[Johann Andreas Wagner|Wagner]], 1861
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
'''''C. longipes''''' <small>Wagner, 1861 ([[Type species|type]])</small>
}}
'''''Compsognathus''''' ({{pron-en|kɒmpˈsɒɡnəθəs}},<ref>"Compsognathus", ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]],'' Second Edition</ref> [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''kompsos/κομψος''; "elegant", "refined" or "dainty", and ''gnathos/γναθος''; "jaw")<ref>{{cite book|author=Liddell & Scott|year=1980|title=Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged Edition |publisher=Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK|isbn=0-19-910207-4}}</ref> was a small,  [[bipedalism|bipedal]], [[carnivore|carnivorous]] [[theropoda|theropod]] [[dinosaur]]. The animal was the size of a [[turkey (bird)|turkey]] and lived around 150&nbsp;[[mya (unit)|million years ago]], the early [[Tithonian]] [[faunal stage|stage]] of the late [[Jurassic]] [[Period (geology)|Period]], in what is now [[Europe]]. Paleontologists have found two well-preserved fossils, one in [[Germany]] in the 1850s and the second in [[France]] more than a century later. Today, ''C. longipes'' is the only recognized species, although the larger specimen discovered in France in the 1970s was once thought to belong to a separate species, ''C. corallestris''.
Many presentations still describe ''Compsognathus'' as a "chicken-sized" dinosaur because of the small size of the German specimen, which is now believed to be a juvenile form of the larger French specimen. ''Compsognathus'' is one of the few dinosaurs for which the diet is known with certainty: the remains of small, agile lizards are preserved in the bellies of both specimens. Teeth discovered in [[Portugal]] may be further fossil remains of the genus.
Although not recognized as such at the time of its discovery, ''Compsognathus'' is the first dinosaur known from a reasonably complete skeleton. Until the 1980s and 1990s, ''Compsognathus'' was the smallest known dinosaur and the closest supposed relative of the early bird ''[[Archaeopteryx]]''. Thus, the genus is one of the few dinosaur genera to be well known outside of paleontological circles.
==Description==
[[File:Compysizes1.png|thumb|left|Size comparison of the French (orange) and German (green) specimens, with a human]]
For decades, ''Compsognathus'' was famed as the smallest dinosaur known; the specimens collected were around 1&nbsp;meter (3&nbsp;ft) in length. However, dinosaurs discovered later, such as ''[[Caenagnathasia]]'', ''[[Microraptor]]'' and ''[[Parvicursor]]'', were even smaller. The largest ''Compsognathus'' specimen is estimated to have weighed somewhere between 0.83 and 3.5&nbsp;kg (between 1.8 and 7.7&nbsp;lb).<ref name=TH07>{{cite journal |last=Therrien |first=F. |coauthors= and Henderson, D.M. |year=2007 |title=My theropod is bigger than yours...or not: estimating body size from skull length in theropods |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=108–115 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[108:MTIBTY]2.0.CO;2}}</ref><ref name="seebacher2001">Seebacher, F. (2001). "A new method to calculate allometric length-mass relationships of dinosaurs." ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', '''21'''(1): 51–60.</ref>
[[File:Compsognathus longipes head.jpg|thumb|This model at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]] shows the animal's narrow skull and long, tapered snout]]
''Compsognathus'' was a small, bipedal animal with long hind legs and a longer tail, which it used for balance during locomotion. The forelimbs were smaller than the hindlimbs and featured three digits equipped with solid claws suited for grasping prey. Its delicate skull was narrow and long, with a tapered snout. The skull had five pairs of [[fenestrae]] (skull openings), the largest of which was for the [[Orbit (anatomy)|orbit]] (eye socket).<ref name="Lambert">{{cite book| last = Lambert| first = David| authorlink =| coauthors =| title = The Ultimate Dinosaur Book| publisher = Dorling Kindersley| year = 1993| location = New York| pages = 38–81| url =| doi =| id =| isbn= 156458304X }}</ref> The eyes were large in proportion to the rest of the skull.
The lower jaw was slender and had no mandibular fenestra, a hole in the lower jawbone commonly seen in [[archosaur]]s. The teeth were small but sharp, suited for its diet of small vertebrates and possibly other small animals, such as insects. Its frontmost teeth (those on the [[premaxilla]]) were unserrated, unlike those further back in the jaw. Scientists have used these dental characteristics to identify ''Compsognathus'' and its closest relatives.<ref name="Chen">{{cite journal| last = Chen| first = P.| coauthors = Dong, Z. and Zhen, S.| title = An exceptionally well-preserved theropod dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of China| journal = Nature| volume = 391| issue =| pages = 147–152| publisher =| year = 1998| doi = 10.1038/34356}}</ref>
==Discovery and species==
[[File:Compsognathus longipes cast2.jpg|left|thumb|Joseph Oberndorfer discovered this fossil in Bavaria, Germany, in the 1850s. Shown here is a cast at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]].]]
''Compsognathus'' is known from two nearly complete skeletons, one from Germany that is 89&nbsp;cm long (35&nbsp;in) and another from France that is 125&nbsp;cm (49&nbsp;in).<ref name=GSP88>{{cite book |last=Paul |first=G.S. |title=Predatory Dinosaurs of the World |year=1988 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-671-61946-2 |chapter=Early Avetheropods |pages=297–300 }}</ref> The physician and fossil collector Joseph Oberndorfer discovered the German specimen (BSP AS I 563) in the [[Solnhofen]] lithographic [[limestone]] deposits in the Riedenburg-Kelheim region of [[Bavaria]] during the 1850s. The limestone of the Solnhofen area has also yielded such well-preserved fossils as ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' with feather impressions and some [[pterosaur]]s with imprints of their wing membranes that are dated to the lower [[Tithonian]] age. [[Johann Andreas Wagner|Johann A. Wagner]] discussed the specimen briefly in 1859, when he coined the name ''Compsognathus longipes'',<ref name=wagner1859>Wagner, J. A. (1859). "Über einige im lithographischen Schiefer neu aufgefundene Schildkröten und Saurier." ''Gelehrte Anzeigen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'', '''49''': 553.</ref> and described it in detail in 1861.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Wagner|first= A. |year=1861|title= Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis der urweltlichen Fauna des lithographischen Schiefers; V. ''Compsognathus longipes'' Wagner |journal=Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften |volume=9 |pages=30–38 }}</ref> In early 1868, [[Thomas Huxley]] compared the two species and concluded that, apart from its arms and feathers, the ''Archaeopteryx'' skeleton was closely similar to ''Compsognathus'', and that the proto-bird was related to the dinosaurs.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Huxley|first= T.H. |year=1868|title= On the animals which are most nearly intermediate between birds and reptiles |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London |volume=2 |pages=66–75}}</ref><ref>Foster, Michael; Lankester, E. Ray 1898&ndash;1903. ''The scientific memoirs of Thomas Henry Huxley''. 4 vols and supplement, London: Macmillan.</ref> In 1896, [[Othniel Charles Marsh|Othniel Marsh]] recognized the fossil as a true member of the Dinosauria.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Marsh|first= O.C. |year=1896|title= Classification of dinosaurs |journal=Geological Magazine |volume=3 |pages=388–400 |doi= 10.1017/S0016756800131826}}</ref> [[John Ostrom]] thoroughly redescribed the species in 1978, making it one of the best-known small theropods at that time.<ref name="Ostrom78"/> The German specimen is on display at the Bayerische Staatsammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie (Bavarian State Institute for Paleontology and Historical Geology) in [[Munich]], Germany.
[[File:Canjuers fossiles03.jpg|thumb|Cast of the fossil from Canjuers, France]]
The larger French specimen (MNHN CNJ 79) was discovered in 1972 in the [[Portland stone|Portlandian]] lithographic limestone of [[Canjuers]] near [[Nice]] in southeastern France. It dates to the lower Tithonian. Although Bidar originally described the specimen as a separate species called ''Compsognathus corallestris'',<ref name="Bidar72">{{cite journal |last= Bidar|first= A.|coauthors = Demay L., Thomel G. |year=1972|title= ''Compsognathus corallestris'', une nouvelle espèce de dinosaurien théropode du Portlandien de Canjuers (Sud-Est de la France) |journal=Annales du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Nice|volume=1 |pages=9–40}}</ref> Michard and others have since relabeled it as another example of ''Compsognathus longipes''.<ref name="Michard91">{{cite journal|last=Michard|first=J. G.|year=1991|title=Description du Compsognathus (Saurischia, Theropoda) de Canjuers (Jurassique supérieur du Sud-est de la France), position phylogénétique, relation avec Archaeopteryx et implications sur l’origine théropodienne des oiseaux,|journal= Ph.D. dissertation, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris}}</ref><ref name="Peyer06">{{cite journal |last= Peyer|first= K. |year=2006|title= A Reconsideration Of ''Compsognathus'' From The Upper Tithonian Of Canjuers, Southeastern France |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=879–896|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[879:AROCFT]2.0.CO;2|url = http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1671%2F0272-4634(2006)26%5B879%3AAROCFT%5D2.0.CO%3B2}}</ref> Quimby identified the smaller German specimen as a juvenile of the same species.<ref name="CallisonQuimby1984">{{cite journal|last=Callison|first=G.|coauthors=H. M. Quimby|year=1984|title= Tiny dinosaurs: Are they fully grown? |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=3 |pages=200–209|doi=10.1080/02724634.1984.10011975|url=}}</ref> In 1983, the [[Muséum national d'histoire naturelle]] in Paris acquired the French ''Compsognathus'' fossil; Michard thoroughly studied it there.<ref name="Michard91"/> Scientists originally identified a partial foot, also from Solnhofen, as belonging to a ''Compsognathus'', but later research has disproved this. Zinke has assigned teeth from the [[Kimmeridgian]] [[Guimarota]] formation of [[Portugal]] to the genus.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Zinke|first=J. |year=1998|title= Small theropod teeth from the Upper Jurassic coal mine of Guimarota (Portugal) |journal=Palaontologische Zeitschrift |volume=72 |issue=|pages=179–189|doi=|url=http://www.schweizerbart.de/pubs/journals/0031-0220/paper/72/179}}</ref>
==Classification==
[[File:Compsognathus longipes.jpg|thumb|Historical restoration of the skeleton by [[O.C. Marsh]]]]
''Compsognathus'' gives its name to the family [[Compsognathidae]], a group composed mostly of small dinosaurs from the late Jurassic and early [[Cretaceous]] periods of China, Europe and South America.<ref name="Peyer06"/> For many years it was the only member known; however in recent decades paleontologists have discovered several related genera. The [[clade]] includes ''[[Aristosuchus]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last= Seeley|first= H.G.|coauthors = |year=1887|title= On ''Aristosuchus pusillus'' (Owen), being further notes on the fossils described by Sir. R. Owen as ''Poikilopleuron pusillus'', Owen|journal=Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London|volume= 43|issue=|pages=221–228|doi=10.1144/GSL.JGS.1887.043.01-04.22|url=}}</ref> ''[[Huaxiagnathus]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last= Hwang|first= S.H. |coauthors = M. A. Norell, J. Qiang and G. Keqin |year=2004|title= A large compsognathid from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China |journal=Journal of Systematic Paleontology |volume= 2|issue=|pages=13–39  |doi=10.1017/S1477201903001081}}</ref> ''[[Mirischia]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last= Naish|first= D.|coauthors = Martill, D. M. and Frey, E. |year=2004|title= Ecology, systematics and biogeographical relationships of dinosaurs, including a new theropod, from the Santana Formation (?Albian, Early Cretaceous) of Brazil|journal=Historical Biology|volume=|issue=|pages=1–14|doi=|url=}}</ref> ''[[Sinosauropteryx]]'',<ref name="Currie2001">{{cite journal |last= Currie|first= P.J.|coauthors = P. Chen |year=2001|title= Anatomy of Sinosauropteryx prima from Liaoning, northeastern China|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences  |volume= 38|issue= 12|pages=1705–1727 |doi=10.1139/cjes-38-12-1705}}</ref><ref name="Ji1996">{{cite journal |last= Ji|first= Q. |coauthors = Ji S.A. |year=1996|title= On discovery of the earliest bird fossil in China and the origin of birds (in Chinese)|journal=Chinese Geology |volume= 233|issue=|pages=30–33|doi=|url=}}</ref>  and perhaps ''[[Juravenator]]''<ref>{{cite journal |last= Göhlich|first= U.|coauthors = L. M Chiappe|year=2006|title= A new carnivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen archipelago|journal=Nature|volume=440|issue=7082|pages=329–332 |doi=10.1038/nature04579 |pmid= 16541071 }}</ref> and ''[[Scipionyx]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Dal Sasso|first= C.|coauthors = M. Signore|year=1998|title= Exceptional soft-tissue preservation in a theropod dinosaur from Italy|journal=Nature|volume=392|issue=6674|pages=383–387 |doi=10.1038/32884 }}</ref> At one time, ''[[Mononykus]]'' was proposed as a member of the family, but this was rejected by Chen and coauthors in a 1998 paper; they considered the similarities between ''Mononykus'' and the compsognathids to be an example of [[convergent evolution]].<ref name ="Chen"/> The position of ''Compsognathus'' and its relatives within the [[Coelurosauria|coelurosaur]] group is uncertain. Some, such as theropod expert [[Thomas R. Holtz Jr.|Thomas Holtz Jr.]] and co-authors [[Ralph Molnar]] and [[Phil Currie]] in the landmark 2004 text ''Dinosauria'', hold the family as the basalmost of the coelurosaurs,<ref name ="dinosauria04">{{cite book|title=The Dinosauria (2nd Edition)|year=2004|chapter=Basal Tetanurae|editor=Weishampel DB, Osmólska H, Dodson P|author=Holtz TR, Molnar RE, Currie PJ|pages=105|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-24209-2}}</ref> while others as part of the [[Maniraptora]].<ref>{{cite journal |last= Gauthier|first= J.A.|coauthors = |year=1986|title= Saurischian monophyly and the origin of birds|journal=In Padian, K. (ed.) the Origin of Birds and the Evolution of Flight, Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences |volume=8|issue=|pages=1–55|doi=|url=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= Forster|first= C.A.|coauthors = Sampson, S.D., Chiappe, L.M. & Krause, D.W. |year=1998|title= The theropod ancestry of birds: new evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar|journal=Science|volume=279|issue=5358|pages=1915–1919 |doi=10.1126/science.279.5358.1915|pmid= 9506938  }}</ref>
==Paleoecology==
[[File:Canjuers Comboutaire.jpg|thumb|left|Quarry where the French specimen was found.]]
During the late Jurassic, Europe was a dry, tropical [[archipelago]] at the edge of the [[Tethys Ocean|Tethys Sea]]. The fine limestone in which the skeletons of ''Compsognathus'' have been found originated in [[calcite]] from the shells of marine organisms. Both the Solnhofen and Canjuers area where ''Compsognathus'' has been preserved were lagoons situated between the beaches and coral reefs of the Jurassic European islands in the Tethys Sea.<ref>{{cite book |last= Viohl|first= G.|year=1985|chapter= Geology of the Solnhofen lithographic limestone and the habitat of ''Archaeopteryx'' |editor= Hecht MK, Ostrom JH, Viohl G, Wellnhofer P, (eds.)|title=The Beginnings of Birds: Proceedings of the International ''Archaeopteryx'' Conference. |location=Eichstätt| publisher=Freunde des Jura-Museums |pages=31–44|id={{oclc|13213820}}}}</ref> Contemporaries of ''Compsognathus'' include the early bird ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' and the pterosaurs ''[[Rhamphorhynchus (animal)|Rhamphorhynchus]]'' and ''[[Pterodactylus]]''. The same sediments in which ''Compsognathus'' has been preserved also contain fossils of a number of marine animals such as fish, crustaceans, echinoderms and marine mollusks, confirming the coastal habitat of this theropod. No other dinosaur has been found in association with ''Compsognathus'', indicating that this little dinosaur might in fact have been the top land predator in these islands.
==Paleobiology==
===Hand===
The ''Compsognathus'' specimen discovered in Germany in the 19th century featured only two digits on each forelimb, leading scientists to conclude that this was how the creature appeared in life.<ref name="Ostrom78">{{cite journal |last= Ostrom|first= J.H. |year=1978|title= The osteology of ''Compsognathus longipes'' |journal=Zitteliana |volume=4 |issue=|pages=73–118|doi=|url=}}</ref> However, the fossil discovered later in France revealed the manus (hands) to have had three digits,<ref>{{cite journal |last= Gauthier|first= J.|coauthors = Gishlick A.D. |year=2000|title= Re-examination of the manus of ''Compsognathus'' and its relevance to the original morphology of the Coelurosaur manus |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology  |volume=20 |issue=3, Supplement|pages=43A|doi=|url=}}</ref> similar to other members of compsognathid genera. The fossilization of the German ''Compsognathus'' had simply failed to preserve the specimen's forefeet. Bidar supposed that the French specimen had webbed forefeet, which would look like flippers in life.<ref name="Bidar72"/> In the 1975 book ''The Evolution and Ecology of the Dinosaurs'', L. B. Halstead depicts the animal as an amphibious dinosaur capable of feeding on aquatic prey and swimming out of reach of larger predators.<ref>{{cite book|author=Halstead L.B.|year=1975|title=The evolution and ecology of the dinosaurs|publisher=Eurobook|id=|isbn =0856540188}}</ref> Ostrom debunked this [[hypothesis]]<ref name="Ostrom78"/> by showing conclusively that the French specimen was nearly identical to the German specimen in every aspect but its size. Peyer confirmed these conclusions.<ref name="Peyer06"/>
===Diet===
[[File:Compsognathus Nopsca 1903.jpg|thumb|This 1903 illustration by [[Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás]] shows the gastric content of the German specimen.]]
The remains of a lizard in the German specimen's thoracic cavity show that ''Compsognathus'' preyed on small vertebrates.<ref name="Chen"/> Marsh, who examined the specimen in 1881, thought that this small skeleton inside ''Compsognathus'' belly was an embryo, but in 1903, [[Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás|Franz Nopcsa]] concluded that it was a lizard.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Nopcsa|first= Baron F.|coauthors = |year=1903|title= Neues ueber ''Compsognathus'' |journal=Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaeontologie (Stuttgart) |volume=16 |issue=|pages=476–494|doi=|url=}}</ref> Ostrom identified the remains as belonging to a lizard of the genus ''[[Bavarisaurus]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last= Evans|first= S.E.|coauthors = |year=1994|title= The Solnhofen (Jurassic: Tithonian) lizard genus Bavarisaurus: new skull material and a reinterpretation |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Paläontologie und Geologie, Abhandlungen |volume=192 |issue=|pages=37–52|doi=|url=}}</ref> which he concluded was a fast and agile runner due to its long tail and limb proportions. This in turn led to the conclusion that its predator, ''Compsognathus'', must have had sharp vision and the ability to rapidly accelerate and outrun the lizard.<ref name="Ostrom78"/> The ''Bavarisaurus'' is in a single piece, indicating that ''Compsognathus'' must have swallowed its prey whole. The French specimen's gastric contents consist of unidentified lizards or [[Sphenodontia|sphenodontids]].<ref name="Peyer06"/>
===Possible eggs===
Excavators discovered eggs 10&nbsp;mm in diameter near the fossil remains of the German ''Compsognathus''. In 1901, [[Friedrich von Huene]] interpreted them as dermal ossifications.<ref name="Huene01">{{cite journal |last= von Huene|first= F.|coauthors = |year=1901|title= Der vermuthliche Hautpanzer des "Compsognathus longipes" Wagner |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie and Palaeontologie |volume= 1|issue=|pages=157–160|doi=|url=}}</ref> Griffiths redescribed them as immature eggs in 1993.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Griffiths|first= P.|coauthors = |year=1993|title= The question of ''Compsognathus'' eggs |journal=Revue de Paleobiologie Spec. |volume= 7|issue=|pages=85–94|doi=|url=}}</ref> However, later researchers have doubted their assignment to the genus because they were found outside the body cavity of the animal. A well-preserved fossil of ''[[Sinosauropteryx]]'', a genus related to ''Compsognathus'', shows two [[oviduct]]s bearing two unlaid eggs. These proportionally larger and less numerous eggs of ''Sinosauropteryx'' cast further doubt on the original identification of the ''Compsognathus'' eggs.<ref name="Chen"/>
===Skin and connection with birds===
[[File:Compsognathus BW.jpg|thumb|Evidence from related species suggest that the body might have been covered with feather-like structures]]
For nearly a century, ''Compsognathus'' was the only well-known small theropod. This led to  comparisons with ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'' and to suggestions of a relationship with birds. In fact, ''Compsognathus'', rather than ''Archaeopteryx'', piqued Huxley's interest in the origin of birds.<ref name = "FasWeis04">{{cite book|title=The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs (2nd Edition)|year=2005|chapter=Theropoda I:Nature red in tooth and claw|editor=Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB|author=Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB|pages=265&ndash;299|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-81172-4}}</ref> The two animals share many similarities in shape, size and proportions, so many in fact that a featherless skeleton of an ''Archaeopteryx'' was for many years misidentified as a ''Compsognathus''.<ref name="Lambert"/> Many other dinosaurs, including ''[[Deinonychus]]'', ''[[Oviraptor]]'' and ''[[Segnosaurus]]'', are now known to have been more closely related to birds.
Some relatives of ''Compsognathus'', namely ''[[Sinosauropteryx]]'' and ''[[Sinocalliopteryx]]'', have been preserved with the remains of simple feathers covering the body like fur,<ref name="Currie2001"/> promoting some scientists to suggest that ''Compsognathus'' might have been feathered in a similar way.<ref name="jietal2007">Ji, S., Ji, Q., Lu J., and Yuan, C. (2007). "A new giant compsognathid dinosaur with long filamentous integuments from Lower Cretaceous of Northeastern China." ''Acta Geologica Sinica'', '''81'''(1): 8–15.</ref> Consequently, many depictions of ''Compsognathus'' show it with a covering of downy proto-feathers. However, no feathers or feather-like covering have been preserved with ''Compsognathus'' fossils, in contrast to ''Archaeopteryx'', which was found in the same sediments. Karin Peyer, in 2006, reported skin impressions preserved on the side of the tail starting at the 13th tail vertebra. The impressions showed small bumpy tubercles, similar to the scales found on the tail and hind legs of ''[[Juravenator]]''.<ref name=peyer2006>Peyer, K. (2006). "A reconsideration of ''Compsognathus'' from the Upper Tithonian of Canjuers, southeastern France." ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', '''26'''(4): 879–896.</ref> Additional scales had earlier been reported by Von Huene, in the abdominal region of the German ''Compsognathus'', but Ostrom later disproved this interpretation.<ref name="Ostrom78"/><ref name="Huene01"/>
Like ''Compsognathus'', and unlike ''Sinosauropteryx'', a patch of fossilized skin from the tail and hindlimb of the possible relative ''[[Juravenator]]'' shows mainly scales, though there is some indication that simple feathers were also present in the preserved areas.<ref name=Goehlich2006>Goehlich, U.B., Tischlinger, H., and Chiappe, L.M. (2006). "''Juraventaor starki'' (Reptilia, Theropoda) ein nuer Raubdinosaurier aus dem Oberjura der Suedlichen Frankenalb (Sueddeutschland): Skelettanatomie und Wiechteilbefunde." ''Archaeopteryx'', '''24''': 1-26.</ref> This may mean that a feather covering was not ubiquitous in this group of dinosaurs.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Xu|first= Xing |coauthors = |year=2006|title= Palaeontology: Scales, feathers and dinosaurs |journal=Nature |volume= 440|issue=7082|pages=287 |doi=10.1038/440287a |pmid= 16541058 }}</ref>
==In popular culture==
Children's dinosaur books commonly feature ''Compsognathus''. For a long time it was unique in its small size, as most other small dinosaurs were discovered and described a century or more later.<ref name=RW86>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Ron |title=100 Dinosaurs from A to Z |year=1986 |publisher=Grosset & Dunlap |location=New York |isbn=0-448-18992-5 |pages=18}}</ref><ref name=SA88>{{cite book |last=Attmore |first=Stephen |title=Dinosaurs |year=1988 |publisher=Brimax Books |location=Newmarket, England |isbn=0-86112-460-X |pages=18 }}</ref>
The animal has appeared in the movies ''[[The Lost World: Jurassic Park]]'' and ''[[Jurassic Park III]]''. In ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', one of the characters incorrectly identifies the species as "''Compsognathus triassicus''", combining the genus name of ''Compsognathus'' with the species name of ''[[Procompsognathus]]'', a distantly related small carnivore featured in the ''Jurassic Park'' novels. The "compys" are depicted as social animals that hunt in packs which makes them capable of taking down human-sized prey through overwhelming numbers.  This behavior was invented by the creators of ''Jurassic Park'' as there is indeed no indication from the fossil record that ''Compsognathus'' (or ''Procompsognathus'') had such social behavior.
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{Wikispecies|Compsognathidae}}
{{Commons|Compsognathus}}
* [http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6193&Itemid=67  ''Compsognathus'' at DinoData]
* [http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/340Theropoda/340.500.html#Compsognathidae Compsognathidae at Palaeos.com]
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[[hu:Compsognathus]]
[[nl:Compsognathus]]
[[ja:コンプソグナトゥス]]
[[no:Compsognathus]]
[[pl:Kompsognat]]
[[pt:Compsognato]]
[[ro:Compsognathus]]
[[ru:Компсогнат]]
[[simple:Compsognathus]]
[[sk:Compsognathus]]
[[fi:Compsognathus]]
[[sv:Compsognathus]]
[[th:คอมซอกนาทัส]]
[[tr:Compsognathus]]
[[uk:Компсогнатус]]
[[vi:Compsognathus]]
[[zh:美颌龙]]