The Lophostropheus name means crest vertebrae. This carnivore was found at the Moon-Airel Formation of Normandy, France. In 1966 it was first thought to be a Halticosaurus but after a careful examination in 1993 by Martin Ezcurra and Gilles Cuny is was true to be a new species so they named it Lophostropheus.

Even though it is a Theropod its different in may ways. There were body featured it has that was much more advanced than its close ancestors. The dinosaur had a ball connection to the front of its neck vertebrae, a socket connection to the front of its tail vertebrae, and a vertical ridge on the ilium. This was a matter of major evolution as opposed to Liliensternus (its ancestor). It became obvious that now the Lophostropheus was more closely related to Coelophysis and Syntarsus than its original ancestor.