Table Of Content276 BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature49(4)December1992
Case2840
CoelurusbauriCope, 1887(currently Coelophysisbauri; Reptilia,
Saurischia): proposedreplacementofthelectotypeby aneotype
EdwinH. Colbert
MuseumofNorthernArizona, Route4, Box 720,Flagstaff, Arizona86001,
U.S.A.
AlanJ. Charig
DepartmentofPalaeontology, TheNaturalHistoryMuseum, CromwellRoad,
London SW75BD, U.K.
PeterDodson
SchoolofVeterinaryMedicine, UniversityofPennsylvania, 3800Spruce
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, U.S.A.
DavidD. Gillette
—
DivisionofStateHistory Antiquities,300RioGrande, SaltLake City,
Utah84101-1182, U.S.A.
JohnH. Ostrom
PeabodyMuseum, Yale University, NewHaven, Connecticut06520, U.S.A.
DavidWeishampel
SchoolofMedicine,JohnsHopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland21205,
U.S.A.
Abstract. Thepurpose ofthisapplication is to propose a neotype forthewell-known-
Triassic dinosaur Coelurus bauri Cope, 1887, the type species of Coelophysis Cope,
1889. Hunt & Lucas (1991) have suggested that Cope's name is a nomen dubium
because ofthe fragmentary nature ofthe original type material; they erected a new
nominaltaxonRioarribasauruscolbertiHunt&Lucas, 1991.Thisactionisunnecessary
andconfusing.Extraordinarilyabundantremainsofthisdinosaurareknownfromthe
general locality and the horizon where Cope's specimens were found. It is proposed
thatacomplete skeleton, the holotype ofR. colberti, be designated asthe neotype of
CoelurusbauriCope, 1887 thereby rendering C. bauria senior objective synonym of
R. colbertiandprovidingamuchmoreinformativetypespecimen.
1. Cope (1887a, p. 368) named two dinosaur species, Coelurusbauriand C. longi-
collis,baseduponfragmentaryfossilscollectedbyDavidBaldwinin 1881 fromUpper
Triassic sediments at two localities in northern New Mexico (Rio Arriba County),
BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature49(4)December1992 277
namelyArroyoSeconearitsconfluencewiththeChamaRiverandnearCerroBlanco.
No holotypes were designated and there were no illustrations. Cope subsequently
(1887b,pp. 221-227)transferredthetwonominalspeciestothegenus Tanystrophaeus
andaddedanewspecies, T. willistoni.
2. In 1889Cope(p. 626)establishedthenewgenusCoelophysisforthethreespecies
he had described, but none was designated as the type species. Cope's specimens
(isolated fragmentaryskeletalelementswith noskull bonesorteeth)andspecieswere
redescribed by von Huene (1915, pp. 500-507), who provided the first illustrations.
American Museum ofNatural History numbers were given to 38 specimens by von
Huene; several werelistedas'types' ofeachofthethreespeciesbut thisaction hasno
validityundertheCode.
3. Hay(1930, p. 186)designated Coelophysishaurias thetypespeciesofthegenus.
Welles (1984, pp. 159-160) selected as 'lectotype' for C. bauri a fragmentary ilium
(specimen AMNH 2708) from among the Cope fossils. This designation is however
invalid: thespecimenhadbeenplacedbyCope(1887b)in Coeluruslongicollisandwas
assignedtoC.baurionlybyvonHuene(1915).
4. In 1947a prolificdepositofTriassicdinosaurskeletonswasdiscoveredatGhost
Ranch, New Mexico, by a party from the American Museum of Natural History
(Colbert, 1947, pp. 392-399). Blocks offossil bones were obtainedcomposed almost
entirelyofdinosaurskeletons,identifiedbyColbert(1947)asC.bauri.Thequarryfrom
which they were recovered isprobably within 2 km ofthe Arroyo Seco locality from
which BaldwinhadcollectedmanyofthefossilsdescribedbyCope(seepara. 1)andis
approximately at the same stratigraphic level (in Baldwin's words 'fourhundred feet
belowgypsumstratum'; seealso Schwartz&Gillette,inpress). Additionalcollections
from this quarry were made by several museums in 1948, 1981, 1982 and 1985, and
particularly important cooperative excavations were made in 1981 and 1982 by the
Carnegie Museum, the New Mexico Natural History Museum, the Museum of
NorthernArizona,andthePeabodyMuseumofYaleUniversity.
5. ForthebetterpartofacenturythegenericnameCoelophysishasbeenwidelyused
asrepresentingan ancestral theropod dinosaur. Since 1948 this usagehasbeen based
onfullknowledgeoftheskeletonasexemplifiedbythenumerouscompletespecimens
fromtheGhost Ranchquarry.
6. Padian (1986, pp. 45-60) reviewed Cope's material, listing the 38 specimens
figuredbyvonHuene(seepara.2)andsevenfurtheroriginalspecimens.Inanextensive
reviewColbert(1989)includedtheseandabout 100subsequentlyexcavatedspecimens
(which represent only a fraction ofthose now prepared or being prepared) from six
major North American museums and concluded that all the Coelophysis specimens
are properly included in the single species C. bauri, ofwhich they represent various
ontogenetic stages. Colbert (p. 33), at that time unaware ofthe invalid selection by
AMNH
Wellesmentionedinpara. 3,designatedspecimen 2722,aseriesoffoursacral
vertebrae,asthelectotypeofCoelurusbauriCope, 1887.
7. Rowe& Gauthier(1990, pp. 152-153, 165-168) presented a study oftheropods
thatidentifiesanearlyradiationofformsthattheseauthorstermedCeratosauria.They
explicitly, and independently of Colbert (1989), accepted Coelophysis bauri as the
propernamefortheGhostRanchmaterialandusedthecharactersinthismaterialfor
theiranalyses.Thisisconsistentwiththehistoricalusageofthenameandillustratesthe
importanceofthistaxontotheunderstandingoftheevolutionofTheropoda.
278 BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature49(4)December1992
8. Hunt & Lucas (1991, p. 191) erected a new nominal taxon, Rioarribasaurus
colberti, forthefossilsfromtheGhostRanchQuarry,claimingthatCoelophysisbauri
(Cope, 1887) isa nomendubium. This actionwas based on theircontention thatthe
lectotypedesignatedbyColbert (seepara. 6)isnotdiagnostic; theycorrectly pointed
outthattheearlierselectionbyWelleswasinvalid. Hunt&Lucasmaintainedthatthe
Ghost Ranch quarry is at adifferent horizon from that ofthe sediments from which
BaldwinhadcollectedthefossilsforCope,anargumentstronglydisputedbySchwartz
& Gillette (in press; see also para. 4 above). The establishment ofnew generic and
specific names is unnecessary because individual bones from Ghost Ranch are
obviously identical to correspondingelements in the Cope fossils. Hunt & Lucasdid
not dispute the synonymy ofC. bauri(as always understood) and R. colbertiso their
nameshouldnotbeusedasvalid.
9. ThenameCoelophysisbauriismorethan100yearsoldandissolidlyentrenchedin
theliterature, bothtechnicalandpopular. C. bauriisnowknownfrommanyhundred
specimens ofwhich a large proportion consists ofarticulated skeletons. It has been
designated as the official State Fossil ofNew Mexico and it is the logo ofthe New
MexicoMuseumofNaturalHistory.
10. AlthoughthespecimendesignatedbyColbert(1989;seepara.6)asthelectotype
ofC. bauri is in our opinion undoubtedly conspecific with the complete articulated
skeleton (AMNH 7224.in the American Museum ofNatural History) which is the
holotypeofRioarribasauruscolberti, it isdesirable tomake the synonymyofthe two
nominal species objective and to have a much more informative type specimen of
C. bauri. NoneofCope'soriginalmaterialissuitableforthelatterpurpose. Wethere-
AMNH
foreproposethatspecimen 7224bedesignatedtheneotypeofC.bauri,thereby
renderingbauriaseniorobjectivesynonymofR. colberti.ThegenericnamesCoelurus
andRioarribasaurusalsobecomeobjectivesynonyms.
11. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is accordingly
asked:
(1) touseitsplenarypowerstosetasideallpreviousfixationsoftypespecimensfor
thenominalspeciesCoelurusbauriCope, 1887;
(2) todesignatethearticulatedskeletonAMNH 7224intheAmerican Museumof
Natural History as the neotype of the nominal species Coelurus bauri Cope,
1887;
(3) toplaceontheOfficialListofGenericNamesinZoologythenameCoelophysis
Cope, 1889 (gender: feminine), type species by subsequent designation by Hay
(1930) CoelurusbauriCo^Q, 1887;
(4) toplaceontheOfficialListofSpecificNamesinZoologythenamebauriCope,
1887,aspublishedinthebinomenCoelurusbauriandasdefinedbytheneotype
designated in (2) above(specificnameofthe typespecies ofCoelophysisCope,
1889);
(5) toplaceontheOfficialIndexofRejectedandInvalidGenericNamesinZoology
the name Rioarribasaurus Hunt & Lucas, 1991 (ajunior objective synonym of
CoelophysisCo^t, 1889);
(6) to place on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Specific Names in
Zoology the name colberti Hunt & Lucas, 1991, as published in the binomen
Rioarribasaurus colberti (ajunior objective synonym of Coelurus bauri Cope,
1887).
BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature49(4)December1992 279
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