New Mexico Symbols, Fossil: Coelophysis Dinosaur

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Coelophysis Dinosaur

Adopted on March 17, 1981.

Dinosaurs lived in New Mexico between 220 and 66 million years ago. These 154 million years encompass the Late Triassic Period and the entire Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of geologic history.

They also represent nearly the entire timespan of the dinosaurs, from their first appearance during the Late Triassic until their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.

Dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the San Juan Basin were some of the last to have lived on Earth. They are world famous because of the information they provide scientists about the cause of dinosaur extinction.

Due to New Mexico's archaeological findings, such as the Folsom Culture and the Clovis Point, it is no wonder citizens working to establish the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, felt recognition was required for these contributions. It was decided that New Mexico should join a handful of other states that had designated an official fossil to represent the earliest days on this continent, and to honor continuing research in this field.

Hundreds of skeletons of Coelophysis were discovered at Ghost Ranch (Rio Arriba County) during the 1940s. This three- to four-meter-long, meat-eating dinosaur was one of the first dinosaurs on Earth and is the best known Late Triassic dinosaur.

Led by Dr. Edwin Colbert in 1947, a team of paleontologists discovered a remarkable example of the Coelophysis (see-LA-fisis) in the Triassic Chinle Formation near Ghost Ranch, north of Santa Fe.

Ceolophysis reached about 6 feet in length and weighed about 50 pounds due to hollow bones, and could probably run at fairly high speeds. It is considered to have been an carnivore, preying on small reptiles, amphibians and early Triassic mammals. It is also thought to have been warm blooded.

In 1988, scientists at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science discovered a new Late Triassic dinosaur near Tucumcari. They named this two-meter-long, plant-eating dinosaur Revueltosaurus, after Revuelto Creek in Quay County.

Other Late Triassic dinosaurs known from New Mexico are only represented by isolated bones and teeth. Much more study and scientific collecting of New Mexico's Triassic dinosaurs remains to be done!