Coelophysis << see loh FY sihs >> was one of the earliest known meat-eating dinosaurs. It lived about 220 million to 213 million years ago, during the Triassic Period. The name Coelophysis comes from the Greek words for hollow and form, referring to this animal’s hollow bones. Coelophysis belonged to a group of primitive dinosaurs called coelurosaurs. Coelurosaurs possess a distinctive bony notch in the upper jaw, just below the nostril.
Coelophysis had a slim body that weighed about 50 pounds (23 kilograms) and measured about 10 feet (3 meters) long. The animal could run quickly on its long, birdlike hind legs. When running, Coelophysis held out its long neck and tail horizontally for balance. The animal’s forelimbs ended in four-fingered hands, which it may have used to grasp prey. Its long, narrow head had strong jaws and many small, saw-edged teeth.
Coelophysis probably ate small plant-eating dinosaurs, small reptiles, and amphibians. Scientists found Coelophysis skeletons with bones of their young in their abdomens. The discovery suggested that this dinosaur was a cannibal—that is, it ate its own kind.
Coelophysis inhabited various parts of what is now the United States. Fossils of this dinosaur were first discovered in New Mexico in 1881. Scientists have found its remains in New England and other parts of the Southwest. New Mexico designated one species, Coelophysis bauri, as its official state fossil in 1981.
