Procompsognathus /ˌproʊkɒmpˈsɒɡnəθəs/ is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 210 million years ago during the later part of the Triassic Period, in what is now Germany.

The fragmentary and poorly preserved skeleton of Procompsognathus was found in the Middle Stubensandstein member of the Löwenstein Formation at the Weiße Steinbruch, the quarry of Albert Burrer on the northern slopes of the Stromberg region near Pfaffenhofen in Württemberg, Germany.

[1][2] The discovery was made by Albert Burrer in the spring of 1909 in white sandstone and gray/blue marl sediments that were deposited during the Norian stage of the Triassic period, approximately 210 million years ago.

The holotype SMNS 12591, consisted of three blocks of sandstone: one showed a small, seven-centimetre-long, severely crushed skull with lower jaws.

The second and third contained the partly articulated remains of a postcranial skeleton, including twenty-nine vertebrae of the neck, back and tail; ribs; elements of the shoulder girdle and a forelimb; an ilium; both pubis and the hindlimbs.

In a lecture on 9 October 1911, Fraas referred to it by the name "Hallopus celerrimus", considering it a jumping form of dinosaur that was approximately 60 cm (2.0 ft) long, and was associated with the origin of birds.

The tibia is approximately 20% longer than the femur in Procompsognathus, an adaptation which has been strongly correlated with the development of cursorial habits in dinosaurs, suggesting that they were good runners.

While it is undoubtedly a small, bipedal carnivore, the extremely poor preservation of the only known Procompsognathus fossil makes its exact identity difficult to determine.

[13] However, in 1993 Sankar Chatterjee after further preparation refuted their assessment and regarded the skull as that of a theropod similar to Megapnosaurus, and demonstrated that it could not have been a crocodylomorph, as it lacks the landmark features of this group.