Gojirasaurus quayi Carpenter, 1997

Rauhut, Oliver W. M., 2003, The interrelationships and evolution of basal theropod dinosaurs, Special papers in palaeontology 69, pp. 1-213 : 13

Gojirasaurus quayi Carpenter, 1997 ; metataxon

Age. Norian.

Occurrence. Cooper Canyon Formation of the Dockum Group, New Mexico, USA.

Diagnosis. Differs from Coelophysis and Lilienstemus in the greater relative height of the neural spines of the mid to posterior dorsals; from Eoraptor , Herrerasaurus , and Staurikosaurus in the elongation of the dorsal vertebrae and the presence of a small lateral projection on the distal end of the tibia; and from Procompsognathus in the significantly larger overall size. There are no elements that can be compared with known remains of Shuvosaurus (see comments below).

Remarks. The holotype material of Gojirasaurus was first described as ‘procompsognathid indet.’ by Parrish and Carpenter (1986), and only later designated as the holotype of a new taxon of theropod ( Carpenter 1997).

The presence of a premaxilla of the edentulous theropod Shuvosaurus in the same quarry as the type of Gojirasaurus is interesting (Parrish and Carpenter 1986, fig. 11.8; Carpenter 1997). The holotype skull of Shuvosaurus is approximately 17 cm long ( Chatterjee 1993), but represents a juvenile individual, indicating that adult Shuvosaurus would have been among the largest known Triassic theropods. Since the holotype of Gojirasaurus represents the largest theropod postcrania known from the Triassic of North America ( Carpenter 1997), it seems quite possible that Gojirasaurus quayi Carpenter, 1997 , might be a junior synonym of Shuvosaurus inexpectatus Chatterjee, 1993 . However, given the uncertain association of the remains, and the lack of comparable elements in the holotype specimens, both taxa are treated separately here.