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Aristosuchus was a small coelurosaurian dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
, whose name was derived from the Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 a??st?? (bravest, best, noblest) and s?????, the Ancient Greek corruption of the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed god). It shared many characteristics with birds.

Aristosuchus was a biped
Biped

Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism Motion by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet" ....
al, meat-eating (carnivorous
Carnivore

A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is any animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from animals living or dead .In a more general sense, an animal may be considered a carnivore if it prefers feeding on animal matter over plant matter....
) theropod dinosaur. This predator is thought to have been about 2 meters in length (about 6.5 feet) and is estimated to have weighed about 30 kg (about 65 lbs). It was found in deposits from the Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous Period . It began about 146 million years ago....
 of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an England island and county, located 3-8 km from the south coast of the mainland, in the English Channel. It is situated south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent....
, i.e.






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Aristosuchus was a small coelurosaurian dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
, whose name was derived from the Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 a??st?? (bravest, best, noblest) and s?????, the Ancient Greek corruption of the name of the Egyptian crocodile-headed god). It shared many characteristics with birds.

Aristosuchus was a biped
Biped

Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism Motion by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet" ....
al, meat-eating (carnivorous
Carnivore

A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is any animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from animals living or dead .In a more general sense, an animal may be considered a carnivore if it prefers feeding on animal matter over plant matter....
) theropod dinosaur. This predator is thought to have been about 2 meters in length (about 6.5 feet) and is estimated to have weighed about 30 kg (about 65 lbs). It was found in deposits from the Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous Period . It began about 146 million years ago....
 of England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an England island and county, located 3-8 km from the south coast of the mainland, in the English Channel. It is situated south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent....
, i.e. from about 125 million years ago.

It was similar to its close relative Compsognathus
Compsognathus

Compsognathus was a small, bipedalism, carnivore theropoda dinosaur. The animal was the size of a turkey and lived around 150 mya , the early Tithonian faunal stage of the late Jurassic Period , in what is now Europe....
 in appearance and size and some authors have argued that it belongs to that genus. It has also been confused with Calamospondylus
Calamospondylus

Calamospondylus was a theropod dinosaur genus. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, and its fossils were found in England. The type species, Calamospondylus oweni, was described by amateur paleontology Reverend William Darwin Fox in 1866, but is based on fragmentary material....
 (e.g. Reverend William Darwin Fox
William Darwin Fox

The Reverend William Darwin Fox was an English clergyman, naturalist, and a 2nd cousin of Charles Robert Darwin....
 (1805-1881), in 1866) but, on the basis of the pubis
Pubis (bone)

The android pubic bone is the ventral and anterior of the three principal bones composing either half of the pelvis.It is covered by a layer of fat, which is covered by the mons pubis....
, it is considered to be a valid compsognathid
Compsognathidae

Compsognathidae is a family of small Carnivore dinosaurs, generally conservative in form, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Period . Compsognathids lie at or near the origin of feathers--skin impressions are known from three genera, Sinosauropteryx, Sinocalliopteryx, and Juravenator....
. Since some species are only represented by a few skeletal fragments, this sort of discussion is not uncommon in dinosaur palaeontology. Aristosuchus is known from a sacrum
Sacrum

The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the vertebral column and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones....
, a pubis, a femur
Femur

The femur, or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs....
 and a few vertebrae
Vertebra

A vertebra is an individual bone in the flexible column that defines vertebrate animals. The vertebral column encases and protects the spinal cord, which runs from the base of the cranium down the dorsal side of the animal until reaching the pelvis....
. The femur of Aristosuchus has a wing-like anterior trochanter
Trochanter

Trochanter is a part of the thigh bone. It can refer to:* Greater trochanter* Lesser trochanter* Third trochanter*Fourth trochanter...
 and a markedly reduced fourth trochanter. Two ungual phalanges
Phalanx bones

The name Phalanx is commonly given to the bones that form fingers and toes. In primates such as humans and monkeys, the thumb and big toe have two phalanges, while the other fingers and toes consist of three....
 were found nearby, which may have been from the same animal and would suggest long claws.

The type species, Aristosuchus pusillis, was described in 1876, by Richard Owen
Richard Owen

Sir Richard Owen Order of the Bath was an English people biologist, comparative anatomy and paleontology.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection....
 and named Poekilopleuron pusillus. Harry Govier Seeley
Harry Seeley

Harry Govier Seeley was a UK paleontologist who determined that dinosaurs fell into two great groups, the Saurischians and the Ornithischians, based on the nature of their pelvis....
 (1839-1909) gave it the name Aristosuchus, in 1887.