Coelophysoids

Coelophysis.

Coelophysis

   Coelophysis is a small(ish) sized Theropod Dinosaur that is believed by many to have lived in the Late Triassic a little over 200 million years ago. Coelophysis was slim for a Theropod like many of the smaller kinds and likely never attempted to take down anything as large as a Sauropod or Stegosaur. Coelophysis means "Hollow Form",  reference to its light frame and hollow bones. Hollow bones in Dinosaurs have often been a point in the belief the Dinosaurs evolved into birds, however this has evolutionary link has been thoroughly refuted over the years, especially in recent times, by numerous new findings in the fields studying dinosaurs anatomy, bird anatomy, microbiology and other fields showing that Theropod dinosaurs could never have evolved into birds.

    The first fossil type specimen of Coelophysis was discovered in 1889 by Edward Drinker Cope. It is now known from several complete fossil skeletons. Coelophysis has long been portrayed as cannibalistic, citing fossil specimens from Ghost Ranch. However in 2002 Rob Gay showed that this was misinterpreted from the fossils and showed that the juvenile Coelophysis' "in the stomach" of older specimens was actually examples of other types of reptiles and other Coelophysis' being crushed together, sometimes on on top of the other and thereby giving a false impression. No pun intended.

    Coelophysis was a slender creature and is believed to have been a fast running and agile animal due to it's shape and features. Coelophysis also had large eyes which means it likely had good vision. It had a long, slender neck and long, light skull full of sharp, curved teeth which may mean it ate a lot of meat. It was long believed that Coelophysis were cannibalistic but this has recently been questioned. It has been suggested and portrayed that these animals traveled in packs but there is still no clear evidence of this since fossilized groups buried together only show that they were buried together and no living specimens have been observed.

    It is still unclear what Coelophysis ate but is is widely believed to have been a carnivore and that it ate mostly small animals. However this is of course based on the belief in Evolutionary history where only certain animals lived together in specific periods of history and never met other animals from other eras. So to an Evolutionist a Coelophysis could have never eaten a rabbit, but to a Bible believing Christian that goes by Biblical history, all organisms once lived together and it would have been no problem for a Tyrannosaurus to eat a Zebra, etc.

   It is now also believed that most Theropods were omnivores, eating both meat and vegetation, with only some species being solely carnivorous. So it is likely that Coelophysis was one of the many omnivorous species and ate whatever it would like many lizard species still alive today such as Tegus.

   According to Biblical history, all animals have lived at the same time in the past and alongside humans, this may be part of the explanation for supposed dragon encounters throughout history since many dragon encounters describe animals much like known Dinosaur species. In addition to this there have also been modern day sightings reported of creatures that resemble small Theropod Dinosaurs. Maybe somewhere Coelophysis is still alive in small populations.