Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserved were collected in 1942. The most complete specimen became the holotype of a new species in the genus Megalosaurus, named M. wetherilli by Samuel P. Welles in 1954. Another species, Dilophosaurus sinensis, was named in 1993, but was later found to belong to the genus Sinosaurus.
About Dilophosaurus in brief
Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserved were collected in 1942. The most complete specimen became the holotype of a new species in the genus Megalosaurus, named M. wetherilli by Samuel P. Welles in 1954. Another species, Dilophosaurus sinensis from China, was named in 1993, but was later found to belong to the genus Sinosaurus. It was featured in the novel Jurassic Park and its movie adaptation, wherein it was given the fictional abilities to spit venom and expand a neck frill, as well as being smaller than the real animal. It is a member of the family Dilophosauridae along with Dracovenator, a group placed between the Coelophysidae and later theropods. At about 7 m in length, with a weight of about 400 kg, it was one of the earliest large predatory dinosaurs and the largest known land-animal in North America at the time. It had a pair of longitudinal, arched crests on its skull; their complete shape is unknown, but they were probably enlarged by keratin. The hands had four fingers; the first was short but strong and bore a large claw, the two following fingers were longer and slenderer with smaller claws; the fourth was vestigial. The neck was long, and its vertebrae were hollow, and very light.
It may have grown rapidly, attaining a growth rate of 30 to 35 kg per year early in life. It would have been active and bipedal, and may have hunted large animals; it could also have fed on smaller animals and fish. The thigh bone was massive, the feet were stout and the toes bore large claws. The first skeleton was encased in a block of plaster, but after 10 days of work and loaded onto a truck, the second skeleton was almost entirely out of the ground. The third was so eroded that it consisted of only an articulated hand, and some limb bones, some vertebraes, some lower jaws, some pelvise, some bone fragments, and a few teeth. Three dinosaur skeletons were found in the Kayenta Formation, about 32km north of Cameron near Tuba City in the Navajo Indian Reservation, about 1 1/2 m long at one side. The holotype specimen had multiple paleopathologies, including healed injuries and signs of a developmental anomaly. The species name honors John Wetherill, a Navajo councilor. The function of the crests is unknown; they were too weak for battle, but may have been used in visual display, such as species recognition and sexual selection. The legs were powerful with a long and slender upper arm bone. Those in the lower jaw were much smaller than those of the upper jaw.
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This page is based on the article Dilophosaurus published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 02, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
