Scipionyx samniticus (Dal Sasso and Signore 1998; Dal Sasso and Maganuco 2011; SBA-SA 163760; 46.1cm; Early Cretaceous) was originally considered a compsognathid like Compsognathus. Here it is a late-surviving member of an Early Jurassic radiation that produced Spinosaurus, Deinocheirus and their kin, close to Proceratosaurus. The short rostrum and large orbit suggest a juvenile status, perhaps only a few days old. Internal organs were preserved along with the bones, but no outer integument was preserved. The feet and long tail are conjectural. The vertebrae of the back are not pneumatised. This taxon provides some clues to the post-crania of Proceratosaurus.

Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward 1910, originally Megalosaurus; von Huene 1926; Middle Jurassic) was first considered a coelurosaur, then a tyrannosaur. Here it nests as a basal theropod close to Deinocheirus on one branch and to Guanlong on the other. The transverse premaxilla and the down-tilted jugal are exaggerated in Deinocheirus.

Dal Sasso C and Signore M 1998. Exceptional soft tissue preservation in a theropod dinosaur from Italy. Nature, 392: 383–387.

Dal Sasso C and Maganuco S 2011. Scipionyx samniticus (Theropoda: Compsognathidae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Italy — Osteology, ontogenetic assessment, phylogeny, soft tissue anatomy, taphonomy and palaeobiology, Memorie della Società Italiana de Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano XXXVII(I): 1-281

Rauhut OW., Milner AC and Moore-Fay S. 2010. Cranial osteology and phylogenetic position of the theropod dinosaur Proceratosaurus bradleyi (Woodward, 1910) from the Middle Jurassic of England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, published online before print November 2009.

von Huene F 1926, 1932. Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie (Serie 1), 4: 1–361.

Woodward AS 1910. On a Skull of Megalosaurus from the Great Oolite of Minchinhampton (Gloucestershire). Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 66: 111–115.

wiki/Proceratosaurus
wiki/Scipionyx