The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs
Author
Rauhut, Oliver W. M.
text
Special papers in palaeontology
2003
2003-05-31
69
1
213
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.3382576
48817a66-49e4-4e6f-b6c6-879db64b9ec9
3382576
Coelurus fragilis
Marsh, 1879
Age
.
Kimmeridgian-Tithonian.
Occurrence.
Morrison Formation, Wyoming, Utah, USA.
Diagnosis.
Cervical vertebrae with one or two small, slit-like pneumatic foramina above the parapophyses; pubic boot almost half as long as pubic shafts and strongly convex ventrally.
Remarks.
The species
Coelurus fragilis
was first described by
Marsh (1879)
on the basis of several vertebrae from Quarry 13 of the Como Bluff outcrop area of the Morrison Formation of Wyoming. The same author later (1884) erected a new species,
Coelurus agilis
,
on the basis of mainly limb and girdle elements from the same quarry.
Marsh (1881
b
,
1896
) furthermore referred material from Quarries 9 and 12 to the same genus (see Ostrom 1980, pp. 255-256, for a list of the material).
Gilmore (1920
, pp. 127-129) revised the original material referred to
Coelurus fragilis
and
Coelurus agilis
by Marsh. He synonymized
Ornitholestes
with
Coelurus fragilis
,
which was subsequently accepted by many authors (e.g. Romer 1956, 1966;
Steel 1970
). The first detailed taxonomic review of
Coelurus
since Gilmore’ s (1920) paper was carried out by Ostrom (1980), who made a strong case that all the material from Quarry 13 represented a single individual, and thus that
Coelurus agilis
Marsh, 1884
is a junior objective synonym of
Coelurus fragilis
Marsh, 1879
b
. He furthermore showed that
Coelurus
is quite different from
Ornitholestes
and must thus be regarded as a valid taxon. This view has been widely accepted, and it is followed here.