Gojirasaurus quayi was described and named by Kenneth Carpenter in 1997 based on a partial skeleton, the holotype specimen UCM 47221, from Quay County, New Mexico.

[3] The Revueltian is a biostratigraphic unit roughly equivalent to the mid-late Norian stage of the Triassic Period, approximately 215–207 million years ago.

Hunt's conception of the species included not just UCM 47221, but also numerous theropod-like fossils stored at the NMMNH (New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science).

[1] Gojirasaurus is one of the largest theropods known from the Triassic Period, with an estimate total length of 5.5–6 metres (18–20 ft) long and a weight of at least 150 kilograms (330 lb).

Rauhut (2003) attempted to diagnose this genus based on the fact that the mid/posterior dorsal vertebrae had taller neural spines than those observed in other coelophysoids.

[13] Griffin (2019) followed Nesbitt (2007)'s diagnosis on Gojirasaurus and distinguishes it from Megapnosaurus and Dilophosaurus based on several characteristics of metatarsal V.[2] Parrish and Carpenter (1986) drew similarities between UCM 47221 and "Halticosaurus liliensterni", a large German theropod now known as Liliensternus.

Starting with Yates (2005), the monophyly of Coelophysoidea has been brought into question, with Dilophosaurus resolving as more closely related to averostrans (non-coelophysoid theropods).

Though previously regarded as an aberrant dinosaur, by 2007 most specialists agreed that Shuvosaurus was actually more closely related to crocodilians, and that its dinosaur-like traits are merely convergent.

For example, the robust tibia is similar to Coelophysis-like fossils which Padian (1986) described from Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, only differing in size.

[6][8][7][26] On land, herbivorous pseudosuchians are quite common, including the shuvosaurid Shuvosaurus inexpectatus,[26] the aetosaurs Typothorax coccinarum,[7][26] Paratypothorax,[7] and Rioarribasuchus,[27] and the small aetosauriform Revueltosaurus callenderi.

Bull Canyon dinosaur fragments are sometimes identified as coelophysids, herrerasaurids,[26] and/or Chindesaurus,[7] but most are too fragmentary to assess in great detail.