Biology:Timeline of coelophysoid research

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Skeleton of Coelophysis bauri

The first scientifically documented coelophysoid taxon was Coelophysis bauri itself.[1] However, when the species was first described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1887, it was thought to belong to a genus of small carnivorous dinosaurs called Coelurus.[2] Later that same year Cope changed his mind and transferred it to the genus Tanystropheus. Tanystropheus turned out to be a long-necked reptile not regarded by scientists as a true dinosaur. As such, "Tanystrophaeus" bauri was soon given its own genus, Coelophysis in 1889.[3] Over the ensuing decades, many new coelophysoids would be discovered, like Podokesaurus, Procompsognathus, and Segisaurus.[1]


Prescientific

Skull of Coelophysis bauri
  • Navajo creation mythology tells stories about the Grey Monsters that populated the world during earth's early days. These monsters came in a variety of forms, including flying and four-footed creatures.[4] They used to terrorize early humans, capturing them and cooking them, in the process leaving behind burnt places in the rocks near Taos, New Mexico. The Navajo believe that the Grey Monsters were wiped out by heroic Monster Slayers and storms. The remains of these monsters can now be found in stones, under tree roots, and near bodies of water. These stories were likely inspired by local fossils, including those of nearby Triassic amphibians and reptiles like Coelophysis, as well as the dinosaurs of the Jurassic Morrison Formation.[5]

19th century

Skeletal mount of Coelophysis bauri

1880s

1884

1887

  • May 4th: Edward Drinker Cope described the new species Coelurus bauri.[2]
  • Cope transferred Coelurus bauri to Tanystropheus bauri.[8]

1889

  • Cope described the new genus Coelophysis to house the species Tanystropheus bauri.[8]

1890s

1895

  • The American Museum of Natural History bought Cope's fossil collection and acquired the original Coelophysis type specimen.[9]

20th century

1910s

Holotype specimen of Podokesaurus holyokensis

1911

  • Mignon Talbot described the new genus and species Podokesaurus holyokensis.[1]

1913

  • Fraas described the new genus and species Procompsognathus triassicus.[1]
Early illustration of type specimen of Segisaurus halli

1915

  • Von Huene published a detailed description and illustrated the fossils of Coelophysis for the first time in the scientific literature.[10]

1930s

1934

  • Huene described the new species Halticosaurus liliensternus.[1] He noted that at least two individuals of this species were preserved together.[11]

1936

  • Camp described the new genus and species Segisaurus halli.[1]

1940s

1947

  • While en route to collect fossils from Petrified Forest National Park, a team of paleontologists led by Edwin Colbert took a detour to Ghost Ranch, New Mexico where some interesting phytosaur remains had once been discovered.[12] While there they serendipitously discovered a bonebed preserving hundreds of Coelophysis, many of them complete and articulated.[13]

1960s

1969

  • Raath described the new genus and species Syntarsus rhodesiensis.[1]


1980s

Skeletal mount of Liliensternus liliensterni

1984

  • Welles described the new genus Liliensternus to house the species Halticosaurus liliensternus.[1]

1989

  • Rowe described the new species Syntarsus kayentakatae.[1] He reported that at least three individuals of this species were found preserved together in a single mass burial.[11]
  • Colbert published his findings after 22 years of research on the Ghost Ranch Coelophysis bonebed.[14]

1990s

Artistic restoration of Gojirasaurus quayi

1991

  • Hunt and Lucas described the new genus Rioarribasaurus to house the species Coelophysis bauri. They also described the species Rioarribasaurus colberti.

1993

  • Cuny and Galton informally named the new species Liliensternus airelensis.[1]

1994

  • Holtz named the Coelophysoidea. He defined them as all theropods more closely related to Coelophysis than to Ceratosaurus. Within the Coelophysoids he defined the Coelophysids as the descendants of the most recent common ancestor shared by Coelophysis and Syntarsus.[6]
Artistic restoration of Camposaurus arizonensis

1997

  • Carpenter described the new genus and species Gojirasaurus quayi.[1]

1998

  • Hunt and others described the new genus and species Camposaurus arizonensis.[1]
  • Sereno redefined Ceratosauria as all neotheropods closer to Coelophysis bauri than to birds. However, this definition never received broad acceptance by the scientific community because the Rowe had already defined the group in 1989, and therefore had priority. He also defined the Coelophysidae as the descendants of the most recent common ancestor shared by Coelophysis bauri and Procompsognathus triassicus. He further divided the family into two stem-based subfamilies; the Coelophysinae (all Coelophysids closer to Coelophysis than to Procompsognathus) and the Procompsognathinae (all coelophysids closer to Procompsognathus than Coelophysis).[6]
  • Tykoski observed that since three species of coelophysoid had been recovered from the Kayenta Formation, this stratigraphic unit preserved the most diverse ceratosaur fauna known to science.[11]

21st century

2000s

The juvenile holotype specimen of Tawa hallae with a human to scale. Larger silhouette represents the estimated size of an adult.

2001

  • Ivie, Slipinsky, and Wegriznowicz described the new genus Megapnosaurus to house the species Syntarsus rhodesiensis.[1]

2007

  • Ezcurra and Cuny described the new genus Lophostropheus airelensis.[15]

2009

  • Nesbitt and others described the new genus and species Tawa hallae.[16]

2010s

2014

  • You and others described the new genus and species Panguraptor lufengensis.[17]

2015

2017

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Tykoski and Rowe (2004); "Table 3.1: Ceratosauria", page 48.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Colbert (1995); "Bones and History," page 92.
  3. Colbert (1995); "Bones and History," pages 92–93.
  4. Mayor (2005); "The Monsters," pages 126–127.
  5. Mayor (2005); "The Monsters," page 127.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Tykoski and Rowe (2004); "Systematics and Evolution", page 64.
  7. eg. Tykoski and Rowe (2004); in passim.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Colbert (1995); "Bones and History," page 93.
  9. Colbert (1995); "Bones and History," pages 93–94.
  10. Colbert (1995); "Bones and History," page 95.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Tykoski and Rowe (2004); "Paleobiology", page 69.
  12. Colbert (1995); "The Discovery," pages 1–4.
  13. Colbert (1995); "The Discovery," pages 17–19.
  14. Colbert (1995); "Bones and History," pages 96–97.
  15. Ezcurra and Cuny (2007); "Abstract," page 73.
  16. Nesbitt et al. (2009); "Abstract," page 1530.
  17. You et al. (2014); "Abstract," page 233.
  18. Nesbitt and Ezcurra (2015); "Systematic paleontology," page 515.
  19. "A LATE NORIAN-RHAETIAN COELOPHYSID NEOTHEROPOD (DINOSAURIA, SAURISCHIA) FROM THE QUEBRADA DEL BARRO FORMATION, NORTHWESTERN ARGENTINA (PDF Download Available)" (in en). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316029275. 

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References

External links