COELOPHYSIS
Coelophysis bauri
Meaning: "Hollow Form"
📊 STATS
Size comparison:
About as long as a bicycle!
📖 ABOUT COELOPHYSIS
Meet Coelophysis, the 'Hollow Form'! This speedy dinosaur was a Triassic terror, hunting across ancient lands. Get ready to learn all about this fascinating dino!
Coelophysis (say: SEE-low-FY-sis) was a small but speedy dinosaur that lived a long, long time ago, during the Triassic period. Its name means 'Hollow Form' because its bones were light and hollow, like a bird's! This helped it run super fast, maybe even up to 40 kilometers per hour! Imagine trying to catch this dino!
Coelophysis was a carnivore, which means it ate meat. Scientists think it probably hunted small animals like lizards, insects, and maybe even baby dinosaurs. It had sharp teeth and claws to help it catch and eat its prey.
One of the coolest things about Coelophysis is that many fossils of this dinosaur have been found together in one place. This suggests that they might have lived in groups or packs, working together to find food and protect themselves. These 'bone beds' have helped scientists learn a lot about how Coelophysis lived and behaved.
🔬 CLASSIFICATION
- Group
- Theropoda
- Family
- Coelophysidae
- Period
- Triassic (252-201 Ma)
- Era
- 225.0 - 190.0 million years ago
🗺️ DISCOVERY
- Year
- 1889
- Discovered by
- Edward Drinker Cope
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Fossils found in
- USA (New Mexico, Arizona), Zimbabwe
🎨 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION
Artistic reconstruction of Coelophysis based on fossil evidence
🗺️ WHERE FOSSILS WERE FOUND
USA (New Mexico, Arizona), Zimbabwe
🤓 FUN FACTS
- ✨ Coelophysis was one of the earliest known theropod dinosaurs, which is a group that includes the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex!
- ✨ Its hollow bones weren't just light; they also made it easier for Coelophysis to move quickly and gracefully.
- ✨ Scientists found many Coelophysis skeletons in a 'bone bed' in New Mexico, which is like a dinosaur graveyard!
- ✨ Coelophysis lived during the Triassic Period, which was before the Jurassic Period when many famous dinosaurs roamed.
- ✨ This dinosaur was only about as tall as a large dog!
💡 DID YOU KNOW?
Get this! Some scientists used to think that Coelophysis ate its own babies because they found small bones inside some adult skeletons. But now they think those bones belonged to small lizards or other prey!
