Coelophysis Fossil range: Late Triassic
Profile of Coelophysis bauri.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Family: Coelophysidae Genus: Coelophysis Cope, 1889
Species
C. bauri (Cope, 1887) (type) The Late Triassic (also known as Upper Triassic, or Keuper) is the third and final of three epochs of the Triassic period. ... Image File history File links Coelophysis-bauri_head. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Reptilia redirects here. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Groups Sauropodomorpha    Saturnalia    Prosauropoda    Sauropoda Theropoda    Eoraptor    Herrerasauridae    Ceratosauria    Tetanurae       Aves(extant) Saurischians (from the Greek Saurischia meaning lizard hip) are one of the two orders/branches of dinosaurs. ... Subdivisions ?Eoraptor Herrerasauria Coelophysoidea Ceratosauria Cryolophosaurus Spinosauridae Carnosauria Coelurosauria Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. ... Genera Coelophysis Procompsognathus Podokesaurus Segisaurus Coelophysids were a family of primitive carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. ... Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840–April 12, 1897) was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification. ... In biology, a type is that which fixes a name to a taxon. ...
Synonyms
Rioarribasaurus Hunt & Lucas, 1991 ?Megapnosaurus Ivie, Slipinski, & Wegrzynowicz, 2001 In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. ... Species (type) Synonyms Syntarsus Raath, 1969 Megapnosaurus (big dead lizard) was a dinosaur of the theropod family coelophysidae, formerly called Syntarsus (named by Raath, 1969). ...

One of the earliest known dinosaurs, Coelophysis (see-low-FYS-iss) meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones (Greek κοιλος/koilos meaning 'hollow' and φυσις/physis meaning 'form') is a small, carnivorous biped from North America. It first appeared in the Mid Triassic Period, around 228 million years ago. Orders Saurischia    Sauropodomorpha    Theropoda Ornithischia Dinosaurs are giant reptiles that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for most of their 165-million year existence. ... The term body form is used to describe a design of the animal form, a blueprint of life. ... This article is about the skeletal organs. ... The word morpheme -physis occurs at the ends of some anatomical names, usually of projecting parts of bones, and in some names of animals (e. ... This tigers sharp teeth and strong jaws are the classical physical traits expected from carnivorous mammalian predators A carnivore (IPA: ), meaning meat eater (Latin carne meaning flesh and vorare meaning to devour), is an animal that eats a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from live animals... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 251 ± 0. ... A geologic period is a subdivision of geologic time that divides an era into smaller timeframes. ... Mega-annum, usually abbreviated as Ma, is a unit of time equal to one million years. ...

Description

Coelophysis bauri is the earliest dinosaur known from a number of complete fossil skeletons. C. bauri was a lightly built dinosaur, between two to three meters in length, and less than a meter tall at the hips. The name Coelophysis means "hollow form" or "hollow process", so named because of its hollow limb bones. Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... In anatomy, a process (Latin: processus) is a projection or outgrowth of tissue from a larger body. ...

Despite being an early dinosaur, the evolution of the theropod body form had already advanced greatly from creatures like Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor. Coelophysis had an elongated snout with large fenestrae which helped to reduce skull weight, while narrow struts of bones preserved the structural integrity of the skull. The neck had a pronounced sigmoid curve. Families See text Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal, primarily carnivorous dinosaurs, belonging to the saurischian (lizard-hip) family. ... The term body form is used to describe a design of the animal form, a blueprint of life. ... Species (type) Reig, 1963 Synonyms Ischisaurus Reig, 1963 Frenguellisaurus Novas, 1986 Herrerasaurus (meaning Herreras lizard, after the name of the rancher who discovered the first fossil of the animal) was one of the earliest carnivorous dinosaurs. ... Binomial name Sereno et al, 1993 Eoraptor was one of the worlds earliest dinosaurs. ... Are small pores in epithelial cells to allow for rapid exchange of molecules between blood vessels and surrounding tissue. ... Sigmoid generally means resembling the letter S or the lower-case Greek letter sigma (ς). Specific uses include: In mathematics, either a specific function — the logistic curve — or any real function whose graph has a sigmoid shape: see sigmoid function. ...

The torso of Coelophysis conforms to the basic theropod body shape, but the pectoral girdle displays some interesting special characteristics: C. bauri had a furcula (wishbone), the earliest known example in a dinosaur. Coelophysis also preserves the ancestral condition of possessing four digits on the hand (manus). It had only three functional digits, the fourth embedded in the flesh of the hand. The pectoral girdle is the set of bones which connect the upper limb to the axial skeleton on each side. ... Bronze cast of a Tyrannosaurus furcula. ...

Coelophysis skeletal diagram.

The pelvis and hindlimbs of C. bauri are also slight variations on the theropod body plan. It has the open acetabulum and straight ankle hinge that define the Dinosauria. The hindlimb ended in a three-toed foot (pes), with a raised hallux. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1054x335, 30 KB) Summary Coelophysis drawn by Frederik Spindler. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1054x335, 30 KB) Summary Coelophysis drawn by Frederik Spindler. ... The pelvis (pl. ... Categories: Anatomy stubs | Skeletal system ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Toes on foot. ...

The tail of Coelophysis had an unusual structure within its interlocking prezygapophysis of its vertebrae, which formed a semi-rigid lattice, apparently to stop the tail from moving up and down.^[1] This may have let the tail act as a rudder or counterweight when the animal was maneuvering at high speeds. A zygapophysis is process which sticks out of an end of a vertebra to lock with a zygapophysis on the next vertebra, to make the backbone more stable. ... Stern-mounted steering oar of an Egyptian riverboat depicted in the Tomb of Menna (c. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Coelophysis was very slim and it could have run either on two or four legs. The neck and tail were long. The hands had only three fingers, but they were strong. Coelophysis had a long narrow head, and its sharp, jagged teeth show that it ate meat - probably the small, lizardlike animals that were found with it. ^[2]

Paleobiology

Coelophysis Animatronics model, Natural History Museum, London displaying supposed canibalistic behaviour.

Coelophysis was probably opportunistic, catching live prey and scavenging.^{[citation needed]} The teeth were typical of predatory dinosaurs, blade-like and recurved with fine serrations on both anterior and posterior edges. They were rooted in the jaws in sockets, and were continually replaced throughout the animal's life.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1912x1220, 1691 KB) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1912x1220, 1691 KB) Other versions Originally from en. ... Audio-Animatronics or just animatronics is a form of robotics created by Disneys Imagineers for several shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. ... For other similarly-named museums see Museum of Natural History. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... In zootomy, several terms are used to describe the location of organs and other structures in the body of bilateral animals. ... The English word POSTERIOR is identical to the original Latin adjective, and has two different uses : as an ADJECTIVE, it indicates that someone or something is behind another, either spatially or chronologically it also became a SUBSTANTIVE, indicating the rear-end, especially of a person, i. ...

Since our knowledge of Coelophysis comes mainly from the specimens excavated at Ghost Ranch, there is a tendency to see this massive congregation of animals as evidence for huge packs of Coelophysis roaming the land (as seen in the television series Walking with Dinosaurs). There is no evidence for this. What the deposit does tell us is that large numbers of Coelophysis, along with other Triassic animals, were buried together. Some of the evidence from the taphonomy of the site indicates that these animals may have been gathered together to feed or drink from a depleted water hole or to feed on a spawning run of fish, then became buried in a catastrophic flash flood. The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. ... The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 251 ± 0. ... Taphonomy is the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after they die. ... Frog spawn Spawning is the production or depositing of eggs in large numbers by aquatic animals. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone by flash floods A Flash Flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas (washes), rivers and streams, caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ...

It has been suggested that C. bauri was a cannibal, based on juvenile specimens found "within" the abdominal cavities of some Ghost Ranch specimens. However, Rob Gay showed in 2002 that these specimens were misinterpreted (several specimens of "juvenile coelophysids" were actually small crurotarsan reptiles such as Hesperosuchus), and there is no longer any evidence to support cannibalistic behavior in Coelophysis.^[3] Gay's study was corroborated in 2006 in a subsequent study by Nesbitt et al.^[4] There may be other evidence coming to light that may show stomach contents from some of these specimens, which might bring greater resolution to the subject.^[5] Cannibalism is the act or practice of eating members of the same species, e. ... Subtaxa Phytosauridae Prestosuchidae Ornithosuchidae Stagonolepididae Rauisuchidae Poposauridae Crocodylomorpha     Sphenosuchia     Crocodilia Crurotarsi (cross-ankles) is a node-based taxon created by Paul Sereno in 1991 to supplant the old term Pseudosuchia. ... Binomial name Hesperosuchus is an extinct genus of crocodylomorph reptile that contains a single species, Hesperosuchus agilis. ...

Two forms of Coelophysis have been found, a more gracile form and a slightly more robust form. Opinion among paleontologists is now that these were female and male variants (see: sexual dimorphism).^[6][7][8][9] This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary using the Transwiki process. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... Female (left) and male Common Pheasant, illustrating the dramatic difference in both color and size, between the sexes Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. ...

History of discovery

Edward Drinker Cope first named Coelophysis in 1889^[10] during his competition to name species with Othniel Charles Marsh, known as the "Bone Wars". An amateur fossil collector, David Baldwin, had found the first remains of the dinosaur in 1881. The type species, C. bauri was named for Baur, one of the many fossil collectors who supplied Cope. However, these first finds were too poorly preserved to give a complete picture of this new dinosaur. Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840–April 12, 1897) was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. ... Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 - March 18, 1899) was one of the pre-eminent paleontologists of the 19th century, who discovered and named many fossils found in the American West. ... Bone Wars - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... For other uses, see Fossil (disambiguation). ... A type species fixes the name of a genus (or of a taxon in a rank lower than genus). ...

In 1947, a substantial 'graveyard' of Coelophysis fossils was found in New Mexico, at the Ghost Ranch, close to the original find. So many fossils together were probably the result of a flash flood, which swept away a large number of Coelophysis and buried them quickly and simultaneously. In fact, it seems such flooding was commonplace during this period of the Earth's history and, indeed, the Petrified Forest of nearby Arizona is caused by a preserved log jam of tree trunks that were caught in one such flood. Edwin H. Colbert made a comprehensive study^[6] of all the fossils found up to that date, and it is from him that we take most of our information about Coelophysis. The Ghost Ranch specimens were so numerous, including many well-preserved specimens, that one of them has since become the diagnostic, or type specimen, for the entire genus, replacing the original, poorly preserved specimen (see Classification below). Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... The Ghost Ranch is a 21,000-acre retreat and education center run by the Presbyterian church, close to the village of Abiquiu in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. ... Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of sandstone by flash floods A Flash Flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas (washes), rivers and streams, caused by the intense rainfall associated with a thunderstorm, or multiple training thunderstorms. ... The Earth, photographed from Apollo 17 in 1972. ... Petrified Forest National Park is located in northeastern Arizona, along Interstate 40 between Holbrook and Navajo. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... Edwin H. Colbert (1905 – 2001) was a distinguished vertebrate paleontologist and prolific researcher and author. ... Type specimens When a new species is discovered, more important than creating a new and unique name for the species is developing a reasonably detailed description. ...

Since the Ghost Ranch specimens were discovered, more skeletons have been found in Arizona, New Mexico and an as-yet unconfirmed specimen from Utah, including both adults and juveniles. The deposits where Coelophysis has been discovered date from the late Carnian to the early Norian faunal stages of the Triassic Period. This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses, see strata (novel) and strata title. ... The Carnian is a stage on the geologic time scale occuring from 228 +/- 2 to 216. ... The Norian Stage was a portion of the Triassic geological period. ... Faunal stages are a subdivision of geologic time used primarily by paleontologists who study fossils rather than by geologists who study rock formations. ... The Triassic is a geologic period that extends from about 251 ± 0. ...

Classification

Coelophysis mount in the Natural History Museum, London.

Coelophysis is a distinct taxonomic unit (genus), composed of a single species, C. bauri. Two additional species were originally described in addition to C. bauri, C. longicollis, and C. willistoni, however they are not diagnostic and are considered synonymous with C. bauri. C. rhodesiensis is probably part of this generic complex, and is known from the Jurassic of southern Africa (see below for more). In phylogenetic taxonomy, Coelophysis is treated as a clade within the Coelophysidae. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1256x784, 1072 KB) Photo taken by User:Ballista Image edited in Adobe PhotoShop by User:Firsfron I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1256x784, 1072 KB) Photo taken by User:Ballista Image edited in Adobe PhotoShop by User:Firsfron I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free... For other similarly-named museums see Museum of Natural History. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... In biology, phylogenetics (Greek: phylon = tribe, race and genetikos = relative to birth, from genesis = birth) is the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms (e. ... A clade is a term belonging to the discipline of cladistics. ... Genera Coelophysis Procompsognathus Podokesaurus Segisaurus Coelophysids were a family of primitive carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. ...

In the early 1990s, there was debate over the diagnostic characteristics of the first specimens collected, compared to the material excavated at the Ghost Ranch Coelophysis quarry. Some paleontologists were of the opinion that the original specimens were not diagnostic beyond themselves and, therefore, that the name C. bauri could not be applied to any additional specimens. They therefore applied a different name, Rioarribasaurus,^[11] to the Ghost Ranch quarry specimens.

Since the numerous well-preserved Ghost Ranch specimes were used as Coelophysis in most of the scientific literature, the use of Rioarribasaurus would have been very inconvenient for researchers, so a petition was given to have the type specimen of Coelophysis transferred from the poorly-preserved original specimen to one of the well-preserved Ghost ranch specimens^[12]. In the end, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) voted to make one of the Ghost Ranch samples the actual type specimen for Coelophysis and dispose of the name Rioarribasaurus altogether (declaring it a nomen rejectum, or "rejected name"), thus resolving the confusion. The name Coelophysis therefore became a nomen conservandum ("conserved name")^[13]. Type specimens When a new species is discovered, more important than creating a new and unique name for the species is developing a reasonably detailed description. ... The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a set of rules in zoology that have one fundamental aim: to provide the maximum universality and continuity in classifying all animals according to taxonomic judgment. ...

Sullivan & Lucas (1999) referred one specimen from Cope's original material of Coelophysis (AMNH 2706) to what they thought was a newly discovered theropod, Eucoelophysis.^[14] However, subsequent studies have shown that Eucoelophysis was misidentified, and is actually a primitive, non-dinosaurian ornithodiran closely related to Silesaurus.^[15] Eucoelophysis (True hollowed tail) was a relative of coelophysis from the Triassic period of North America. ... Superorders Dinosauromorpha    Lagosuchians    Dinosauria Pterosauromorpha    Pterosauria    Scleromochlus    Sharovipteryx Ornithodira is a division of the Archosauromorpha (and perhaps Archosauria) clade. ... Silesaurus is the name given to an enigmatic genus of basal dinosaur (or dinosauromorph) from the Late Triassic. ...

In addition to all of this, there is a competing controversy with another coelophysoid, Megapnosaurus, which many regard to be congeneric with Coelophysis.^[16][8] To make matters more confusing, Paul^[17] suggested that Coelophysis should be placed in Megapnosaurus (then known as Syntarsus) to get around the above-mentioned taxonomic confusion. Species (type) Synonyms Syntarsus Raath, 1969 Megapnosaurus (big dead lizard) was a dinosaur of the theropod family coelophysidae, formerly called Syntarsus (named by Raath, 1969). ... Look up taxonomy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In a situation affecting many dinosaur genera, many specimens were originally classified as new species but were in fact species of Coelophysis. For example, Prof. Mignon Talbot's 1911 discovery^[18] which she labeled Podokesaurus holyokensis, may be related to (or is) Coelophysis. In addition, C. posthumus, named by Friedrich von Huene in 1908, also needs reclassification and is tentatively titled Halticosaurus longotarsus at the moment. Mignon Talbot was an American paleontologist who in 1911 recovered the only fossils of the dinosaur, Podokesaurus holyokensis. ... Species (type) Podokesaurus (swift-footed lizard) was a small carnivorous dinosaur of the Early Jurassic, and as such is one of the earliest known dinosaurs to inhabit the eastern United States. ... Friedrich von Huene (March 22, 1875 – April 4, 1969) was a German paleontologist who named more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe. ... Halticosaurus (nimble lizard) was a dinosaur from the Late Triassic period. ...

Trivia

Coelophysis was the second dinosaur in space. Although Maiasaura had been taken into space three years earlier, a Coelophysis skull from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-89 when it left the atmosphere on January 22, 1998. It was also taken onto the space station Mir before being returned to Earth. Space has been an interest for philosophers and scientists for much of human history. ... Binomial name Maiasaura peeblesorum Horner & Makela, 1979 Maiasaura (good mother lizard) is a large duck-billed dinosaur species that lived in Montana in the Upper Cretaceous Period (Campanian), about 74 million years ago. ... The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are operated by the Carnegie Institute and located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105), is the fifth and final operational NASA space shuttle. ... This is a mission of the United States Space Shuttle // Crew Terrence W. Wilcutt (3), Commander Joe F. Edwards, Jr. ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Mir (Russian: ; lit. ...

Coelophysis is also the state fossil of New Mexico. It has been suggested that List of U.S. state dinosaurs be merged into this article or section. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ...

In popular culture

Coelophysis were featured in the BBC television series Walking with Dinosaurs, and in When Dinosaurs Roamed America, in which they are depicted hunting insects. The 1974 children's television series Land of the Lost also featured a Coelophysis, nicknamed "Spot". The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. ... When Dinosaurs Roamed America is a two-hour American nature documentary first aired on Discovery Channel in 2001. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (Probably paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera (webspinners) Zoraptera (angel insects) Dermaptera (earwigs) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc) Phasmatodea (stick insects) Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Psocoptera... Land of the Lost (1974–1976) is one in a variety of popular, uniquely produced childrens television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. ...

References

Species  ? Dilophosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Period. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Coelophysis

Wikispecies has information related to:

Coelophysis

• Coelophysis in the Dino Directory
• Coelophysis at DinoData

Dinosaurs Portal