Rioarribasaurus
REE-oh ah-REE-bah-SORE-us /ˌriːoʊəˌriːbɑˈsɔːrəs/
Synonym of Coelophysis
Rio Arriba lizard
- Rio Arriba · Spanish · Rio Arriba County, New Mexico (literally 'upper river')
- sauros · Greek · lizard
The name combines Rio Arriba County in northern New Mexico, USA, where the Ghost Ranch fossil beds are located, with the Greek word for lizard. It was coined for the small theropod fossils from Ghost Ranch, which had been assigned to Coelophysis. The type species was Rioarribasaurus colberti.
- Named by
- Hunt and Lucas
- Year named
- 1991
- Period
- Late Triassic
- Stage
- Norian
- Found in
- Ghost Ranch, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, USA
Junior synonym of Coelophysis. Hunt and Lucas proposed it because they considered the original Coelophysis type material undiagnostic, so the Ghost Ranch skeletons needed a new name. The ICZN later conserved Coelophysis by designating a Ghost Ranch neotype (1996), so Rioarribasaurus is no longer used.