Dinosaurs A to Z
Metriacanthosauridae

Erectopus superbus

"upright foot"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Erectopus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Erectopus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (145–100 Mya)
Place
France
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Metriacanthosauridae

Erectopus (meaning “upright foot”) is an extinct genus of basal allosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous La Penthiève Beds Formation of France and also possibly the Cernavodă Formation of southern Romania. The type species is E. superbus, which was initially known as a species of Megalosaurus.

What we know

  • Named by (Sauvage, 1882) [originally Megalosaurus].
  • Fossils found in France.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Erectopus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.