Critter of the Day, 5/5/09: Gojirasaurus

No, this dinosaur has never been known to raid Tokyo. No, it probably would not take an Oxygen Destroyer to kill. But that certainly is the image that Kenneth Carpenter wanted to elicit when he named this dinosaur in 1997; Gojirasaurus quayi named for the big G himself, is the largest coelophysid (early, primitive theropod) currently known to science (don't confuse with largest coelophysoid, Dilophosaurus). This 18-foot dinosaur probably wasn't as fast as its smaller cousin Coelophysis, but it was still probably a rather fast, formidable hunter.... No, no atomic beams, either.