CMNH 10971, Coelophysis block

3D Model

Coelophysis is one of the earliest known meat-eating dinosaurs. This animal was an active and nimble predator with slender hind legs, a long counterbalancing tail, and pointed head with sharp, serrated teeth. Coelophysis may have preyed upon lizards, insects, and small plant-eating dinosaurs.

Hundreds of partial skeletons of Coelophysis were discovered in an extensive bone bed at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico in 1947. The cause of mass death is unknown, but the number of individuals preserved suggests that they lived together in herds much like modern flocking birds. A portion of the bone bed was carved into 500 pound blocks, one of which was prepared in the Museum’s laboratory. Most of the Ghost Ranch carcasses had at least partially decomposed and fallen apart before they were entombed in the sediments and later fossilized.

Scanner: Artec Leo

Image by Hailey Majewski, CMNH