Page "Coelophysis" Paragraph 4

Coelophysis was very slim and it probably would have been a fast runner.

Despite being an early dinosaur, the evolution of the theropod body form had already advanced greatly from creatures like Herrerasaurus and Eoraptor.

The torso of Coelophysis conforms to the basic theropod body shape, but the pectoral girdle displays some interesting special characteristics: C. bauri had a furcula ( wishbone ), the earliest known example in a dinosaur.

Coelophysis also preserves the ancestral condition of possessing four digits on the hand ( manus ).

It had only three functional digits, the fourth embedded in the flesh of the hand.