Velocipes is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, about 221 to 206 million years ago. Its fossils were found in Poland.
The name Velocipes means “quick foot.” It is thought to belong to a group called theropods, which were mostly meat-eating dinosaurs.
The only known species of Velocipes is called Velocipes guerichi. It was first described in 1932 by a scientist named Ernst von Huene. The fossil they used to identify this dinosaur was a piece of a bone called a fibula. This particular bone was found in southern Poland.
For many years, scientists debated what type of dinosaur Velocipes really was. At first, it was seen as a coelurosaur, which is a smaller dinosaur. But later studies suggested it might actually be a more primitive type of theropod.
The fibula that was found is about 16.4 centimeters long. Scientists think if we had the whole bone, it would have been around 30 to 35 centimeters long. Based on this size, Velocipes might have been around 3 meters long and weighed around 50 kilograms, about as heavy as a large dog.
At the same time Velocipes was alive, there were other creatures like Kocurypelta, a type of armored reptile, and some early turtles and fish.
Overall, Velocipes gives us a glimpse into the variety of life that existed during the Triassic period, showcasing how some dinosaurs were already evolving into the groups we know today.