Ancient Dinosaurs
        Ancient Dinosaurs
 
     

Ancient Dinosaurs


Eustreptospondylus

Eustreptospondylus 1Eustreptospondylus (Pronunciation: yoo-STREP-to-SPON-Di-lus) mean a well “curved vertebrae” or “well reversed vertebrae”. They were said to exist around 165 million in the late Jurassic period.  

Very little is know about the eustreptospondylus, because only one fossilized specimen has ever been found in the quarry north of Oxford, England.  The skeletal remains believed to be a sub-adult were found in marine clays so it was probably a carcass that had drifted out to sea. 

Eustreptospondylus 2From this skeleton, palaeontologists were able to put together that the eustreptospondylus was a bipedal predator with small arms, large, powerful jaws, sharp teeth, and a long, stiff tail.  It is believed that eustreptospondylus can roughly grow between 7-9 meters long, 3-3.7 meters tall at the hips and weight up to 500kg. 

This carnivore scavenger which feeds on jellyfish, sharks, turtles, and stranded reptiles could swim between islands to savage for food.