Papo Dinosaurs Compsognathus 55072

The first fossil of Compsognathus was found in Germany in 1859. That same year, the genus got its name meaning "graceful jaw" when the type species Compsognathus longipes was named. In 1972 a second species was named: Compsognathus corallestris, after a fossil was found in France. It was later understood that this was only a larger specimen of C. longipes. Both fossils together are all that has ever been recovered of Compsognathus. However, they are so complete that the scientists still got a good picture of the structure of the animal. In fact, in 1859, the German fossil was the only dinosaur skeleton found that was almost completely preserved.