TYPE SPECIES:
• C. longipes Wagner, 1859 "long-footed delicate jaw"
  
  MISASSIGNED SPECIES:
• C. corallestris Demay & Thomel, 1972 == C. longipes
• C. primus (Ji Q. & Ji S., 1996) (originally Sinosauropteryx) = Sinosauropteryx prima

Animalia
Vertebrata
Tetrapoda
Sauropsida
Archosauromorpha
Ornithodira
Dinosauria
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria

One of the very smallest non-avian dinosaurs.

There has been disagreement over the poorly preserved hand. One early restoration with a finned forelimb has been rejected. Usually it is depicted with two fingers, although it may well have had the usual theropod three, as its closest relative Sinosauropteryx did. Recently, a bone previously identified as left metacarpal I was re-diagnosed as the first phalanx of the first digit, bolstering this idea.

The type specimen of Compsognathus corallestris probably represents the adult form, while the type specimen of C. longipes is probably a juvenile. The adult was found with 10 eggs and a skeleton inside. At first it was thought that the skeleton was of a fetal Compsognathus, and that the animal gave live birth (ovoviviparity), but it turned out to be a lizard (Bavarisaurus). This is direct evidence of Compsognathus' predatory nature.

I.    Alvarezsaurus calvoi
II.   Coelophysis bauri
III.  Baryonyx walkeri
IV.   Oviraptor philoceratops
V.    Aublysodon mirandis
VI.   Anserimimus planinychus
VII.  Avimimus portentosus
VIII. Compsognathus longipes
IX.   Carnotaurus sastrei
X.    Ceratosaurus nasicornis