In defense of Megapnosaurus

The coelophysid theropod Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis has had a complex nomenclatural history over its 50 years of existence. It was originally named Syntarsus rhodesiensis by Raath (1969), but this generic name was found to be preoccupied by the beetle Syntarsus asperulus. Ivie et al. (2001) subsequently erected Megapnosaurus as a replacement. This renaming proved to be controversial among paleontologists for three main …

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