Coelophysidae

Coelophysoidea is an extinct clade of theropod dinosaurs common during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic periods. They were widespread geographically, probably living on all continents. Coelophysoids were all slender, carnivorous forms with a superficial similarity to the coelurosaurs, with which they were formerly classified, and some species had delicate cranial crests. Sizes range from about 1 to 6 m in length. It is unknown what kind of external covering coelophysoids had, and various artists have portrayed them as either scaly or feathered. Some species may have lived in packs, as inferred from sites where numerous individuals have been found together.

Coelophysidae

James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CoelophysoideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Theropoda
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 18 million years on record.

The record covers at least 211.18 Mya to 192.9 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 237 Mya to 174.7 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 0 of 46 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 33 of 46 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 13 of 46 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 0 of 46 occurrences238–236 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences236–234 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences234–232 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences232–230 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences230–227 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences227–225 Mya — about 3 occurrences225–223 Mya — about 3 occurrences223–221 Mya — about 3 occurrences221–219 Mya — about 3 occurrences219–217 Mya — about 3 occurrences217–214 Mya — about 3 occurrences214–212 Mya — about 3 occurrences212–210 Mya — about 3 occurrences210–208 Mya — about 3 occurrences208–206 Mya — about 3 occurrences206–204 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences204–202 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences202–199 Mya — about 5 occurrences199–197 Mya — about 2 occurrences197–195 Mya — about 2 occurrences195–193 Mya — about 2 occurrences193–191 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences191–189 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences189–186 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences186–184 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences184–182 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences182–180 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences180–178 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences178–176 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences176–173 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences211.18 Mya192.9 Mya238 Mya173 Mya

46 occurrences of Coelophysidae on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

46 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

18 formations

Chinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 36.33°N, 106.47°WChinle — 35.03°N, 109.83°WChinle — 36.21°N, 106.34°WChinle — 36.34°N, 106.87°WChinle — 35.11°N, 109.83°WChinle — 34.68°N, 109.58°WPetrified Forest — 36.31°N, 106.45°WForest Sandstone — 16.22°S, 30.10°EForest Sandstone — 19.97°S, 28.41°EForest Sandstone — 16.12°S, 29.50°ENavajo Sandstone — 36.78°N, 110.53°WNavajo Sandstone — 36.64°N, 111.45°WElliot — 28.35°S, 25.68°EElliot — 28.47°S, 27.82°ELufeng — 25.17°N, 102.11°ETecovas — 33.61°N, 101.14°WTecovas — 33.58°N, 101.17°WPortland — 42.26°N, 72.57°WNyamandhlovu Sandstones — 19.80°S, 28.58°EShuttle Meadow — 41.40°N, 72.77°WDockum — 33.50°N, 101.13°WCooper Canyon — 33.01°N, 101.35°WLöwenstein — 49.06°N, 8.98°EBull Canyon — 34.98°N, 104.15°WMoenave — 37.10°N, 113.54°WRock Point — 38.29°N, 108.91°WQuebrada del Barro — 31.63°S, 67.27°WLos Colorados — 29.85°S, 68.15°W

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The named rock units Coelophysidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Coelophysidae and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Coelophysidae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

184 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 43 sites for Coelophysidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

36 references

Each of the 46 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 24 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Coelophysidae

Credit
James St. John
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
No Copyright (US)
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Coelophysidae indet. · pefo:44473

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCoelophysoidea through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Paul 1988