Compsognathus longipes was a small late Jurassic theropod discovered in Europe and the first theropod known from mostly complete remains. For a time, it was also the smallest dinosaur ever discovered. Compsognathus doesn’t really need an introduction, however, we all know it from the Jurassic Park franchise.
Review and photos by James Burnside, edited by Suspsy
Though the Procompsognathus had already made its mark on the original Jurassic Park novel, the unassuming ‘Compy’ only truly first scampered into the public conscious in a big way in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park in which it is depicted as a deceptively cute, harmless, and even playful critter right up until it overwhelms its unsuspecting prey with sheer numbers.
I have a doozy for you today, a remarkable figure of C. corallestris, a semi-aquatic species of Compsognathus with fin-like hands. At least, that’s what palaeontologists thought when they described the type specimen in 1972. The interpretation didn’t last long though.
To get in the right state of mind for this model lets take a quick stroll down memory lane. While vacationing on the beach of Isla Sorna a young girl makes a startling discovery. Out of the foliage and onto the beach hops a cute, small, chirping, green dinosaur.Â
Cryolophosaurus is famous for its handsome crest and for being the largest known theropod from Antarctica, and the largest known one from the Early Jurassic period for that matter. Its classification has long been something of a puzzlement, but a 2020 study concluded that it was a derived neotheropod related to the famous Dilophosaurus.
Review and photographs by Stolpergeist, edited by Suspsy
Schleich had a strong release year in 2019 and the upcoming 2021 releases look quite promising. The 2020 releases, however, received a lot of criticism among collectors and thus didn’t get much attention. Today, I am taking a closer look at one of those releases, the Cryolophosaurus, and will examine it to find out where this flak came from.
