羅伯特·巴克
The idea of the Ceratosauria would regain some support more than thirty years later when Gilmore argued in its favor in 1920. Nevertheless, the validity of Ceratosauria was disputed throughout much of the by researchers like Romer, Lapparent, Lavocat, Colbert, and Charig. However, in 1986, more than a century after Marsh first coined the name, Jacques Gauthier revived the idea. Three years later, Rowe published a new definition of Ceratosauria, all taxa more closely related to "Ceratosaurus" than to birds, based on Gauthier's use of the term. This modern use of the term was thought to include the many theropods discovered since the known as coelophysoids. "Ceratosaurus" itself had loose joints between bones in the skull whose interpretation has been controversial. Paleontologist Robert T. Bakker has interpreted this condition as an adaptation to swallow prey larger than it would otherwise be able to fit through its jaws.