Fun Streptospondylus Facts For Kids

The Streptospondylus altdorfensis means reversed vertebra and it belonged to the genus of Tetanuran Theropod dinosaurs. Fossils of the dinosaur were found in France and it was concluded that this Theropod dinosaur belonged to the Late Jurassic period of France, which was 161 million years ago.

The Streptospondylus was a medium sized predator and was one of the first dinosaurs that was collected but not named until 2001.

Abbey Charles Bacheley, in the year 1778, found the presence of fossils in Callovo Oxfordian formations. Fossils that were found contained Theropod vertebrae and marine crocodilian remains.

After the death of Bacheley, his fossil cabinet was taken over by the Ecole Centrale de Rouen. Louis Benoit Guersent drew the attention of Cuvier to these fossil remains and sent the collection to the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

Cuvier made the mistake of misspelling the former owner Abbey Charles Bacheley's name to Bachelet.

Cuvier became aware of fossil remains being disparate from the work material of Henry De La Beche and declined to name them. Christian Erich Herman von Meyer, in 1832, split Ettiene Geoffrey Saint Hillaire's material, which included a skull, and the Steneosaurus rostrominor was renamed the Metriorhynchus geoffroyi, while the Steneosaurus rostromajor became the Streptospondylus altdorfensis.

Ronan Allain in 2001 pointed out that the skull von Meyer had based the Streptospondylus altdorfensis on was in fact a mixture of bones from two species, which were later named the Steneosaurus edwardsi Deslongchamps and the Metriorynchus superciliosum.

Scroll down to read about the Streptospondylus altdorfensis's life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Streptospondylus, take a look at the Magnosaurus and the Eustreptospondylus. 

Streptospondylus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Streptospondylus'?

The Tetanuran Theropod dinosaur Streptospondylus is pronounced as 'strep-toe-spon-dy-luss'.

What type of dinosaur was a Streptospondylus?

This species belonged to the genus of Tetanuran Theropod and was a medium sized predator. It was one of the first dinosaurs whose fossil remains were found, but not named until 2001 due to confusion.

In which geological period did Streptospondylus roam the Earth?

Fossil remains of the dinosaur species were found in France and it was concluded that this Theropod dinosaur belonged to the Late Jurassic period of France, which was 161 million years ago.

When did the Streptospondylus become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, after living on the Earth for about 165 million years. This species, however, belonged to the Late Jurassic period, which made it extinct long before dinosaurs in general became extinct.

Where did the Streptospondylus live?

Theropod species are mostly carnivores and feed on smaller dinosaurs, therefore this species stayed near forested floodplains, densely vegetated swamps, lakes, and streams.

What was the Streptospondylus' habitat?

Fossil remains of the dinosaur species were found in France in Callovo-Oxfordian formations, exposed at the foot of Vaches Noire cliffs, between Villers-sur-Mer and Houlgate. It can be concluded that the species habituated near forested areas of what is now France in the Late Jurassic period.

Who did the Streptospondylus live with?

Fossil evidence points out from both the bone bed and trackways that the Theropod genus was made up of gregarious animals who lived and moved in pairs or herds. It made it easier for the species to hunt down smaller dinosaurs.

How long did a Streptospondylus live?

There isn't a definite time frame of this species' life span, but most Theropods lived for almost 20-30 years and that is the only information on these dinosaurs. The Streptospondylus altdorfensis has very few fossils and therefore it is hard for researchers to find out the exact amount of time they lived for.

Until there is more research done, they can't make an estimation.

How did they reproduce?

These Theropod genus dinosaurs, much like other reptiles, mated with each other during the breeding season and in the case of this breed, the female dinosaur laid eggs. Eggs hatched after a certain period of time and newborn dinosaurs came out.

Adult dinosaurs took care of newborns until they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.

Streptospondylus Fun Facts

What did the Streptospondylus look like?

This species was assigned to the crocodilian clade, and in the 20th century, it was classified under the Megalosauridae genus. Fossils that were found made researchers analyze further and recent studies described that it belonged to the Tetanuran Theropod genus.

Bones were found at the coast in layers of Falaises des Vaches Noires near Calvados and consisted of several vertebrae series, a single vertebra, a partial left pubis, and limb parts. The longest vertebra that was found indicated the body length to be about 22.9 ft (7 m).

The Streptospondylus had ventrally flat, anterior dorsal vertebrae and a particular connection between the tibia and ribcage.

In short, the predator was almost 1,102 lb (500 kg) in weight and was 236 in (6 m) in height. It had sharp, recurved teeth useful for eating flesh, and claws that were present on the ends of all of the fingers and toes.

It also had reversed vertebrae and was therefore referred to as the Streptospondylus. It also had a bigger skull. This species was bipedal and could run on two hind legs, instead of using all four legs.

How many bones did a Streptospondylus have?

It's quite difficult to predict or even research the number of bones a dinosaur had until proper fossils are excavated. The Streptospondylus is one of those dinosaurs still being studied and has not been discovered fully, and therefore, finding the number of bones is difficult.

But in general, most Theropod dinosaurs that were carnivorous had stiff tails with bones and long legs.

How did they communicate?

There is no specific mention of how they communicated, but they definitely didn't have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, dinosaurs communicated by making sounds and using their body language.

They might have used hoots and hollers to communicate. Being ravenous predators this dinosaur species had a high pitched growl which it used to call for help during hunting.

How big was the Streptospondylus?

The Streptospondylus size was almost 236 in (6 m) in height. This makes it about three times bigger than the marine animal the spinner dolphin which is 62.4-81.6 in (1.6-2 m).

How fast could a Streptospondylus move?

Being bipedal, a dinosaur of this species could very easily run on its two hind legs and was quite fast in comparison to Sauropods. Being a predator, the Streptospondylus altdorfensis was quite fast and could run about 12 m/s. It wasn't as fast as the Tyrannosaurus but was quite fast for a smaller sprinter.

How much did a Streptospondylus weigh?

This dinosaur species weighed almost 1,102 lb (500 kg). It weighed almost two times less than a male hippo which weighs almost 3,300-4,000 lb (1,496-1,814 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name for male or female dinosaurs of this species. They are commonly known as the Streptospondylus or the Streptospondylus altdorfensis. Until there can be proper excavation of fossils, dinosaurs can't be named differently based on their sex.

What would you call a baby Streptospondylus?

A newborn dinosaur was known as a hatchling or a nestling. This was common for most dinosaur species. There is no specific information on names of newborns for this species as of now.

What did they eat?

Theropods that were carnivores fed on smaller dinosaurs and Pterosaurs like basal Pterosaurs. The Streptospondylus was a fast predator and being a Theropod, it mostly hunted Sauropods and smaller dinosaurs.

How aggressive were they?

The Streptospondylus was a Theropod dinosaur which means it was a predator. Even though it was smaller in size than other Theropod species, it can be described as having been quite aggressive.

Did you know...

Richard Owen, in the year 1842, found a fault in Von Meyer's work material of naming the specimen. Owen also named the correct combination of the Streptospondylus rostromajor and the Streptospondylus altdorfensis. At the same time, Owen described a second species, the Streptospondylus cuvieri, based on a single damaged vertebra specimen.

Owen, in the year 1861, referred the entire Cuvier material to S. cuvieri, despite the fact that if it were specific, the name S. rostromajor would have had priority. Owen also named two other species: the S. major and the S. meyeri. His S.

cuvieri, of which the type specimen is lost, is today considered and described as a doubtful application.

Why are they called Streptospondylus?

The generic name is derived from the Greek word 'streptos' meaning reversed, and 'spondylos' meaning vertebra, pointing to the fact that vertebrae were different from typical crocodile features like being convex in front and concave behind. von Meyer divided Saint-Hillaire's material and the Steneosaurus rostrominor was renamed the Metriorhynchus geoffroyi, while the Steneosaurus rostromajor became the Streptospondylus altdorfensis.

The specific name altdorfensis was named after Altdorf, where some Teleosaurids were found. Von Meyer had referred to the binomial name of the dinosaur.

Would the Streptospondylus bite?

Being predators, it is likely that these dinosaurs would have bitten humans and other animals as well.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Austroraptor facts, or Atrociraptor facts for kids pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Streptospondylus coloring pages.