Coelophysis
Coelophysis (/sɛˈlɒfɪsɪs/ se-lOF-iss-iss traditionally; /ˌsɛloʊˈfaɪsɪs/ SEL-oh-FY-siss or /ˌsiːloʊˈfaɪsɪs/ SEE-loh-FY-siss, as heard more commonly in recent decades) is a genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 215 to 208.5 million years ago during the Late Triassic period from the middle to late Norian age in what is now the southwestern United States. Megapnosaurus was once considered to be a species within this genus, but this interpretation has been challenged since 2017 and the genus Megapnosaurus is now considered valid.
| Coelophysis Temporal range: Late Triassic (middle to late Norian), | |
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| Mounted skeleton at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Coelophysidae |
| Genus: | †Coelophysis Cope, 1889c |
| Type species | |
| †Coelurus bauri Cope, 1887a | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Genus synonymy
Synonyms of C. bauri
Dubious species designations
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Coelophysis was a small, slenderly-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore that could grow up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long. It is one of the earliest known dinosaur genera. Scattered material representing similar animals has been found worldwide in some Late Triassic and Early Jurassic formations.
The type species C. bauri, originally given to the genus Coelurus by Edward Drinker Cope in 1887, was described by the latter in 1889. The names Longosaurus and Rioarribasaurus are synonymous with Coelophysis. Coelophysis is one of the most specimen-rich dinosaur genera.