Coelophysoidea

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.

History of Study

Under cladistic analysis, Coelophysidae was first defined by Paul Sereno in 1998 as the most recent common ancestor of Coelophysis bauri and Procompsognathus triassicus, and all of that common ancestor's descendants. Coelophysidae is part of the superfamily Coelophysoidea, which in turn is a subset of the larger Neotheropoda clade. ==Anatomy==

Anatomy

Despite their very early occurrence in the fossil record (early to middle Norian), Coelophysids are characterized by slender, skinny builds and long, narrow skulls with large fenestrae to allow for a lighter skull. They are fairly primitive theropods, and so have fairly basal characteristics, such as hollow air sacs in the cervical vertebrae and obligate bipedalism. ==Classification==

Classification

Coelophysoids are classified as basal neotheropods that lie outside of Averostra. Many taxa that have been historically considered coelophysoids or coelophysids, have also been found elsewhere around the early theropod stem. Below is the phylogenetic analysis of Stephan Spiekman and colleagues from 2021, with taxa sometimes recovered as coelophysoids illustrated. }} ==Paleoecology==

Paleoecology

Fossils of members of Coelophysidae have been found across many continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Powellvenator podocitus was discovered in Northwestern Argentina. Procompsognathus triassicus was discovered in Germany, and Camposaurus arizonensis is from Arizona in North America. No coelophysid fossils were known from Asia until the discovery of Panguraptor lufengensis in 2014 in the Yunnan Province of China. The genus Coelophysis has been found in North America, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. == See also ==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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