Gojirasaurus quayi
Gojirasaurus was a two-legged predatory dinosaur from the end of the Triassic and, at an estimated 5–5.5 metres long, one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs known from that period. Its build was typical of early theropods: a lightly constructed body balanced by a long, stiffened tail, powerful hind limbs, short grasping arms with clawed hands, and a narrow skull lined with thin, blade-like, serrated teeth.
Gojirasaurus
Gojirasaurus quayi
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Weight
150–200 kg
Length
5–5.5 m
Diet
Carnivore
Period
Triassic
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150–200 kg
5–5.5 m
Triassic
Bipedal
1.4–1.8 m
Carnivore
Regions where fossils have been found, shown by present-day continent.
The timeline shows the whole age of dinosaurs – and how much time has passed since. The glowing part is when Gojirasaurus lived.
million years ago
Lived 213–208 million years ago
If the whole age of dinosaurs were a single day, Gojirasaurus lived at 05:21.
Chapter • Meet the dinosaur
Gojirasaurus was a two-legged predatory dinosaur from the end of the Triassic and, at an estimated 5–5.5 metres long, one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs known from that period. Its build was typical of early theropods: a lightly constructed body balanced by a long, stiffened tail, powerful hind limbs, short grasping arms with clawed hands, and a narrow skull lined with thin, blade-like, serrated teeth. No skin or feather impressions are known for Gojirasaurus, and there is as yet no direct evidence of feathers in theropods this early, so reconstructions usually show a scaly animal — though simple filament-like feathers cannot be ruled out. Like all non-avian dinosaurs it walked with a horizontal back and carried its tail clear of the ground, never dragging it. Very little can be said about its behaviour, because only one incomplete skeleton is known. Comparison with close relatives such as Coelophysis suggests a fast-moving hunter of open floodplains, most likely active during the day. The serrated teeth and clawed hands fit a generalist predator that could tackle fairly large prey but would also have taken small reptiles and carrion. In the Norian ecosystems of North America, Gojirasaurus shared its world with phytosaurs, aetosaurs and large predatory pseudosuchians, so it was far from the only top carnivore around. The fossils come from the Bull Canyon Formation of Quay County, New Mexico, USA. The material was described in 1997 by American palaeontologist Kenneth Carpenter, who named the animal Gojirasaurus after Gojira, the Japanese name for the film monster Godzilla, in reference to its unusual size for a Triassic dinosaur. The species name quayi honours Quay County. The holotype consists of scattered elements: a tooth, vertebrae, ribs and belly ribs, a fragment of the shoulder blade, a pubis, and parts of the hind limb. Gojirasaurus is controversial today. Several researchers, notably Nesbitt and colleagues (2007), have pointed out that the pubis is essentially indistinguishable from that of Shuvosaurus — a pseudosuchian, not a dinosaur — and that the remaining bones lack clearly diagnostic features. Many workers therefore treat the name as a nomen dubium, and the specimen may in fact be an unusually large individual of Coelophysis. New and more complete material is needed to settle the question.
Chapter • Where it lived
Gojirasaurus lived about 213–208 million years ago, during the Norian stage of the Late Triassic. Its fossils come from the Bull Canyon Formation in Quay County, New Mexico, USA — sediments laid down on broad floodplains crossed by meandering rivers, with seasonal floods and periods of drought. The landscape was semi-arid and open in places, but conifers, ferns and horsetails grew along the watercourses. The same beds yield phytosaurs, aetosaurs, early turtles, lungfish and small dinosaurs.
Chapter • Wild behavior
Diurnal
There is no direct evidence for the social life of Gojirasaurus, since only one individual is known. In its close relative Coelophysis, mass accumulations of many individuals have been found at Ghost Ranch, interpreted either as group living or as animals gathering and dying at a drying waterhole. Whether Gojirasaurus lived alone or in groups therefore remains unknown.
The name means roughly "Gojira lizard" and honours Godzilla, whose Japanese name is Gojira.
The species name quayi comes from Quay County, New Mexico, where the skeleton was found.
At around 5–5.5 metres it was one of the largest known predatory dinosaurs of the Triassic.
Only a single incomplete skeleton is known — no skull has ever been found.
Kenneth Carpenter described and named the animal in 1997.
Several researchers suspect the specimen is simply a very large Coelophysis, which would invalidate the name.
One bone, the pubis, resembles that of Shuvosaurus so closely that it may not belong to a dinosaur at all.
It lived in a world where crocodile relatives such as phytosaurs were often bigger predators than the dinosaurs.
Chapter • Scientific place
Journal of Paleontology (Cambridge University Press / The Paleontological Society)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
Peer-reviewed re-analysis of the Gojirasaurus quayi holotype that establishes its placement within Dinosauria: Saurischia: Theropoda: Neotheropoda near Coelophysoidea/Coelophysidae.
Open sourceJournal of Paleontology / GeoScienceWorld
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
Documents the provenance of the only known Gojirasaurus material (holotype UCM 47221) from the Bull Canyon Formation of Quay County, New Mexico, USA, and its stratigraphic position.
Open sourceNew Mexico Geological Society (Guidebook 52)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
Describes the fluvial–floodplain depositional setting and associated vertebrate assemblage (phytosaurs, aetosaurs, fishes) of the Bull Canyon Formation in which Gojirasaurus was buried.
Open sourceJournal of Paleontology (Cambridge Core)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
Treats Gojirasaurus as one of the largest Late Triassic predatory neotheropods, with the serrated, recurved theropod dentition and carnivorous ecology characteristic of the group.
Open sourceNew Mexico Geological Society / National Park Service History Collection
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
Extinct taxon; conservation status NE
Open sourceNeues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen (Carpenter, 1997)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
The original species description of Gojirasaurus quayi, giving the holotype material, size estimate, anatomy and Late Triassic occurrence — used as the general overview source for all language descriptions.
Open sourceNeues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen (Carpenter, 1997)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
The original species description of Gojirasaurus quayi, giving the holotype material, size estimate, anatomy and Late Triassic occurrence — used as the general overview source for all language descriptions.
Open sourceNeues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen (Carpenter, 1997)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
The original species description of Gojirasaurus quayi, giving the holotype material, size estimate, anatomy and Late Triassic occurrence — used as the general overview source for all language descriptions.
Open sourceNeues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen (Carpenter, 1997)
Reviewed: 9/6/2026
The original species description of Gojirasaurus quayi, giving the holotype material, size estimate, anatomy and Late Triassic occurrence — used as the general overview source for all language descriptions.
Open source