In Depth
Podokesaurus is often spoken about as being a valid genus, yet the partial remains of the fossils attributed to this genus are considered to be near identical of another dinosaur named Coelophysis. In fact the genus is sometimes referenced as Coelophysis holyokensis, though the genus name Podokesaurus also still appears in use despite the first suggestion that the two genera are the same being made back in 1964 by Edwin H. Colbert. To add further confusion to which term is the more valid, the holotype of Podokesaurus was destroyed in a museum fire in the early 1920s. Casts of these fossils remain, but these are only of the outer impressions and do not contain the hidden details obscured from view that might have been revealed by a CAT scan of the original fossils.
Podokesaurus would have shared its habitat with the sauropodomorph Anchisaurus.
Further Reading
- Podokesaurus holyokensis, a new dinosaur of the Connecticut Valley, Mignon Talbot - 1911. - Coelurosaur bone casts from the Connecticut Valley Triassic, E. H. Colbert & D. Baird - 1958. - The Triassic dinosaur genera Podokesaurus and Coelophysis, E. H, Colbert - 1964.
