Sarcosaurus

[Sarcosaurus](https://www.google.com/search?q=sarcosaurus&kgmid=/m/0bvsf4) (meaning "flesh lizard") was a relatively small, early meat-eating dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic period, approximately 199 to 194 million years ago. Its fossil remains have been discovered in what is now England. ## Key Facts & Physical Characteristics * Size: It was a lightly built predator, reaching an estimated length of about 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) and weighing around 50 to 140 kilograms. * Diet & Behavior: As a bipedal theropod, it walked on two powerful hind legs, leaving its arms free to grasp prey. It was a fast, agile hunter that likely preyed on smaller dinosaurs, early mammals, and lizards. * Classification: It is classified as a basal neotheropod. Because the previous ones continuously incomplete—consisting mostly of a partial skeleton, pelvis, and vertebrae—its exact family tree is still debated. Some paleontologists believe it may have been a close relative of Coelophysis or an early relative of crested dinosaurs like Dilophosaurus. ## Discovery History The genus was named and described by British paleontologist Charles William Andrews in 1921. The partial remains of the type species, [Sarcosaurus](https://www.google.com/search?q=sarcosaurus&kgmid=/m/0bvsf4) woodi, were originally found by S. L. Wood in the Lower Lias formation of Leicestershire, England. Would you like to explore more about Sarcosaurus? We can look into: * How it compares to other Early Jurassic predators like Dilophosaurus or Dracoraptor * The common confusion between Sarcosaurus (the dinosaur) and Sarcosuchus (the giant prehistoric crocodile