Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Coelophysis

Say it seel-OH-fie-sis. The name means ‘hollow form’.

Coelophysis beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 2 m
Weight: 27 kg
Diet: Meat-eatervertebrates
Walked: On 2 legs
When: Late Triassic225 to 190 million years ago
Fossils found in: South Africa, USA, Zimbabwe
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Neotheropoda › Coelophysoidea › Coelophysidae

Where Coelophysis sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Chindesaurus · same country
Aardonyx · same country
Lycorhinus · same country
Ammosaurus · same country
Podokesaurus · same country
Segisaurus · same country
Massospondylus · same country
Melanorosaurus · same country

Other small theropods

Eoraptor Late Triassic
Procompsognathus Late Triassic
Liliensternus Late Triassic
Sarcosaurus Early Jurassic
Podokesaurus Mid Jurassic
Segisaurus Mid Jurassic
Gasosaurus Mid Jurassic
Proceratosaurus Mid Jurassic

Source: Coelophysis in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.