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sharp-clawed runner
Coelophysis
Say it like this: “SEE-low-FY-sis”
Coelophysis bauri
Coelophysis ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Triassic. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Triassic (Norian · Rhaetian) · roughly 227.3 to 201.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1889 · Cope, E. D.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1.5–3 m · 5–10 ft
- Weight
- 15–24 kg · 33–53 lb
- Found in
- the United States · Chinle
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Coelophysidae
The story in short
The genus Coelophysis dates to 1889, the year E. D. Cope described it.
Fossils referred to Coelophysis date to the Late Triassic (Norian · Rhaetian), roughly 227.3 to 201.4 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Chinle Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Coelophysis at a length near 1.5–3 m and a body mass around 15–24 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Coelophysidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Camposaurus
Camposaurus arizonensis
Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago
Lucianovenator
Lucianovenator bonoi
Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago
Megapnosaurus
Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis
Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago