Open Paleo

Gojirasaurus

Carpenter, 1997 go-JEER-a-SAWR-us Nomen dubium

Godzilla lizard; named after the giant monster movie character Godzilla (known as Gojira in Japanese), combined with Greek sauros (lizard)

227.3–205.7 million years ago Norian, Late Triassic
Late Triassic stages

Gojirasaurus is a genus of coelophysoid theropod dinosaur named after the giant monster movie character Godzilla. It lived in the Late Triassic Period, containing a single known species, Gojirasaurus quayi.

Under dispute

Originally described as a large coelophysoid (Carpenter, 1997), Gojirasaurus quayi rests on a composite holotype (UCM 47221) of fragmentary, largely non-diagnostic elements. Nesbitt and colleagues (2007) found that only some components — the tibia and pubis — are clearly coelophysoid and distinct from the co-occurring pseudosuchian Shuvosaurus, whereas others (the scapula and vertebrae) are indistinguishable from it and the serrated tooth could belong to any large carnivorous archosaur. Even the coelophysoid elements lack unambiguous autapomorphies — the robust tibia matches Coelophysis-like material apart from its larger size — so the taxon is widely treated as a metataxon and nomen dubium. Ezcurra and colleagues (2020) recovered it on the stem lineage to Averostra; it is placed conservatively at Neotheropoda incertae sedis.

Species

Gojirasaurus quayi Carpenter, 1997 Nomen dubium

Type species

Named for Quay County, New Mexico, where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
UCM 47221 , University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
Material
Lateral tooth, cervical rib, two anterior dorsal ribs, one posterior dorsal rib, four mid-dorsal centra, one mid-dorsal neural arch, one anterior chevron, two gastralia (?), right scapula, right pubis, left tibia, and one metatarsal.
Horizon
Bull Canyon Formation, Norian, Late Triassic , 227.3–205.7 million years ago
Locality
UCM Loc. 82021, New Mexico, United States Carpenter (1997) assigns the holotype to the Cooper Canyon Formation and Nesbitt and colleagues (2007) to the Bull Canyon. The two are not synonyms. Martz and colleagues (2013) showed that the correlation equating them rested on a misidentified sandstone, and current usage is geographic, Cooper Canyon naming the western Texas unit and Bull Canyon its New Mexico counterpart, which matches only the upper third of it. UCM Loc. 82021 sits on the eastern side of the Revuelto Creek drainage.

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Godzillasaurus nomen nudum Informal name used for material now considered referable to Gojirasaurus.
Revueltoraptor nomen ex dissertatione Name appears in a dissertation, which does not meet ICZN publication requirements; referable to Gojirasaurus. Per Olshevsky's Dinosaur Genera List.

References

  1. Carpenter, K. (1997). A Giant Coelophysoid (Ceratosauria) Theropod from the Upper Triassic of New Mexico, USA. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 205(2): 189-208. Schweizerbart. doi:10.1127/njgpa/205/1997/189 carpenter1997a
  2. Nesbitt, S. J.; Irmis, R. B.; Parker, W. G. (2007). A critical re-evaluation of the Late Triassic dinosaur taxa of North America. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5(2): 209-243. Taylor & Francis. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002040

    Re-evaluated the holotype as a metataxon and probable nomen dubium; found the scapula and vertebrae indistinguishable from Shuvosaurus and only the tibia and pubis clearly coelophysoid.

    nesbitt2007a
  3. Ezcurra, M. D.; Butler, R. J.; Maidment, S. C. R.; Sansom, I. J.; Meade, L. E.; Radley, J. D. (2020). A revision of the early neotheropod genus Sarcosaurus from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian) of central England. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191: 113-149. Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa054

    Neotheropod phylogenetic analysis (revising Sarcosaurus) that recovered Gojirasaurus on the stem lineage to Averostra.

    ezcurra2020a
  4. Martz, J. W.; Mueller, B.; Nesbitt, S. J.; Stocker, M. R.; Parker, W. G.; Atanassov, M.; Fraser, N.; Weinbaum, J.; Lehane, J. R. (2013). A taxonomic and biostratigraphic re-evaluation of the Post Quarry vertebrate assemblage from the Cooper Canyon Formation (Dockum Group, Upper Triassic) of southern Garza County, western Texas. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 103(3-4): 339-364. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/s1755691013000376

    Shows that the correlation equating the Cooper Canyon and Bull Canyon formations rested on a misidentified sandstone, and restricts Cooper Canyon to western Texas.

    martz2013a
  5. Cather, S. M.; Zeigler, K. E.; Mack, G. H.; Kelley, S. A. (2013). Toward standardization of Phanerozoic stratigraphic nomenclature in New Mexico. Rocky Mountain Geology 48(2): 101-124. Geological Society of America. doi:10.2113/gsrocky.48.2.101

    Endorses the Cooper Canyon and Bull Canyon distinction from outside the authors' own circle, recording that Lehman conceded the miscorrelation.

    cather2013a