'''''Megapnosaurus''''' (berarti "kadal mati yang besar", dari Yunani: μεγα = "besar", 'απνοος = "tidak bernafas", "mati", σαυρος = "kadal"<ref name=":6">{{cite journal|last1=Ivie|first1=M.A.|last2=Slipinski|first2=S.A.|last3=Wegrzynowicz|first3=P.|year=2001|title=Generic Homonyms in the Colydiinae (Coleoptera: Zopheridae)|url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1183&context=insectamundi|journal=Insecta Mundi|volume=15|issue=1|pages=184|author1-link=Ivie}}</ref>) adalah genus dari [[dinosaurus]] [[theropoda]] [[coeolphysidae]] yang hidup kurang lebih 188 juta tahun lalu pada periode [[Jura Awal]] pada wilayah yang sekarang merupakan [[Afrika]]. Spesiesnya merupakan sebuah [[karnivor]] bipedal terrestrial, dengan ukuran tubuh kecil hingga sedang yang ringan. ''Megapnosaurus'' dapat tumbuh hingga panjang 2.2 meter dan berat 13 kilogram. Awalnya genus ini diberi nama '''''SyntarsusSyntasus''''',<ref name="raath69">Raath, (1969). "A new Coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Forest Sandstone of Rhodesia." Arnoldia Rhodesia. 4 (28): 1-25.</ref> namun namanya belakangan ditentukan sudah dipakai untuk genus dari [[kumbang]]. Oleh karena itu, genusnya diberi nama baru, '''''Megapnosaurus''''', oleh Ivie, Węgrzynowicz & Ślipiński pada 2001. Beberapa studi mengklasifikasikannya sebagai sebuah spesies dari genus ''[[Coelophysis]]'',<ref name="Ezcurra11">{{cite journal|last1=Ezcurra|first1=M. D.|last2=Brusatte|first2=S. L.|year=2011|title=Taxonomic and phylogenetic reassessment of the early neotheropod dinosaur ''Camposaurus arizonensis'' from the Late Triassic of North America|journal=Palaeontology|volume=54|issue=4|pages=763–772|bibcode=2011Palgy..54..763E|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01069.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> namun interpretasi ini ditantang oleh studi-studi yang muncul selanjutnya, dan sekarang genus ini dianggap valid.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal|last1=Spiekman|first1=S.N.|last2=Ezcurra|first2=M.D.|last3=Butler|first3=R.J.|last4=Fraser|first4=N.C.|last5=Maidment|first5=S.C.|year=2021|title=''Pendraig milnerae'', a new small-sized coelophysoid theropod from the Late Triassic of Wales|journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=8|issue=10|pages=210915|bibcode=2021RSOS....810915S|doi=10.1098/rsos.210915|pmc=8493203|pmid=34754500|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Ezcurra|first1=Martín D|last2=Butler|first2=Richard J|last3=Maidment|first3=Susannah C R|last4=Sansom|first4=Ivan J|last5=Meade|first5=Luke E|last6=Radley|first6=Jonathan D|date=2021-01-01|title=A revision of the early neotheropod genus Sarcosaurus from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) of central England|url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/191/1/113/5861188|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=191|issue=1|pages=113–149|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa054|issn=0024-4082}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite journal|last1=Martínez|first1=R.N.|last2=Apaldetti|first2=C.|year=2017|title=A Late Norian—Rhaetian Coelophysid Neotheropod (Dinosauria, Saurischia) from the Quebrada Del Barro Formation, Northwestern Argentina|journal=Ameghiniana|volume=54|issue=5|pages=488–505|doi=10.5710/AMGH.09.04.2017.3065|s2cid=133341745}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite journal|last1=Barta|first1=D.E.|last2=Nesbitt|first2=S.J.|last3=Norell|first3=M.A.|year=2018|title=The evolution of the manus of early theropod dinosaurs is characterized by high inter‐and intraspecific variation|journal=Journal of Anatomy|volume=232|issue=1|pages=80–104|doi=10.1111/joa.12719|pmc=5735062|pmid=29114853|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tolchard|first1=F.|last2=Nesbitt|first2=S.J.|last3=Desojo|first3=J.B.|last4=Viglietti|first4=P.|last5=Butler|first5=R.J.|last6=Choiniere|first6=J.N.|year=2019|title='Rauisuchian' material from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho: Implications for Late Triassic biogeography and biostratigraphy|url=https://research.birmingham.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/rauisuchian-material-from-the-lower-elliot-formation-of-south-africa-and-lesotho(4a1536fc-d4b9-479e-9935-855ce84fbade).html|journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences|volume=160|pages=103610|bibcode=2019JAfES.16003610T|doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103610|s2cid=202902771}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=McDavid|first1=Skye N|last2=Bugos|first2=Jeb E|date=2022-08-02|title=Taxonomic notes on Megapnosaurus and 'Syntarsus' (Theropoda: Coelophysidae)|url=https://zenodo.org/record/7027378|journal=The Mosasaur|issue=12|pages=1–5|doi=10.5281/zenodo.7027378}}</ref>
