Coelophysis was a small, bipedal carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaur that lived during the late Triassic Period (230 to 195 million years ago). It was one of the earliest known dinosaurs.
Coelophysis had lightly-built bones, and Edward Drinker Cope gave the species the name Coelophysis, meaning "hollow form" in 1889. It probably weighed less than 50 pounds (23 kg), and was likely a fast and ferocious hunter of small animals, including the early mammals that appeared at the end of the Triassic Period. Coelophysis was a theropod ("beast foot") dinosaur, a member of the Saurischian or "lizard hipped" dinosaurs. (Be sure to read my article "Dinosaur Primer" for more information about dinosaur hip structure.)
Coelophysis is scientifically well-known because of the great number of specimens that have been found at the Ghost Ranch site in New Mexico. Many Coelophysis skeletons of different sizes (indicating different ages) were found in what is called a "bone bed." The skeletons range from very young (possibly recently hatched) individuals, through juveniles, to adult animals. The fact that the different ages were found together indicate that the animals lived together as a group, and that they died at the same time.
Two of the adult skeletons that were found in the Ghost Ranch bone bed contained the tiny skeletons of Coelophysis in their abdominal cavities. It was postulated that Coelophysis may have given birth to live young, rather than laying eggs. Measurements of the "babies" and the pelvises of the adults revealed, however, that it would not have been possible for animals the size of the adults to give birth to animals the size of the "babies". This tells us that Coelophysis had no qualms about eating other members of its species. This is not unusual, many extant (still living) animals will kill and eat other members of their own species if given the opportunity.
The idea of dinosaurs giving birth to live young instead of laying eggs is not a far-fetched idea either. Some of our modern snakes and lizards give birth to live young, and many paleontologists believe that at least some of the dinosaur species may have also given birth to live young. Maybe some day we will find conclusive evidence of this.
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