Velocisaurus

Velocisaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 85 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	†Noasauridae
Genus:	†Velocisaurus
Species:	†V. unicus
Binomial name
Velocisaurus unicus Bonaparte, 1991

Velocisaurus ("swift lizard") is a genus of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Argentina.

Velocisaurus was probably around 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) long, based on a tibia length of 14 centimetres (5.5 in). This makes it the smallest noasaurid. The foot is unique in that the middle (third) metatarsal has become the main weight-bearing element. Its upper end has thickened whereas the shafts of the adjoining second and fourth metatarsals have thinned considerably. Such a configuration is unknown for other theropods, including birds. Bonaparte explained it as an adaptation for a cursorial (running) lifestyle. The high speed would have been necessary to escape larger theropods; Bonaparte suggested that Velocisaurus was itself an omnivore, as indicated by the fact that the sole claw found, of the fourth toe, was not trenchant but relatively straight.

In 1985 Oscar de Ferrariis and Zulma Brandoni de Gasparini uncovered fossils at Boca del Sapo in Neuquén province of Patagonia from layers of the Bajo de la Carpa Formation, dating from the Santonian. Among them was the right lower hind limb of a small theropod. In 1991 this dinosaur was described and named by José Bonaparte as Velocisaurus unicus. The generic name is derived from Latin velox, "swift", a reference to the fact that the hind leg and foot show adaptations for running. The specific name means "unique" in Latin, referring to the exceptional build of the foot. The genus and species are based on the holotype MUCPv 41. It is part of the collection of the Museo de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue. A more complete leg was described in 2016.