Page 43 - Prehistoric Animals
P. 43
Dil-O-FO-SO-Rus
Dilophosaurus
What is a Dinosaur ?
Known as a Dinosaur
Dilophosaurus (two crested lizard), is
a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in the Ear-
ly Jurassic, about 186 million years ago. It was
about 7 metres in length, and weighed in around
400 kg. Its most distinguishing feature, were two
arched crests on its skull. Its head was large with a
long pointed snout and its jaws were lined with
sharp serrated teeth. Its neck was long. Its fore-
limbs were short with four clawed fingers on each
hand. Its hind limbs were long and sturdy, with
large sturdy feet with clawed toes.
It was first discovered in 1954, by Samuel
Welles, who named it, Megalosaurus wetherilli,
believing it to be of the genus Megalosaurus. How-
ever, after another find, (it was of the same species
as the first) in 1964 he discovered he’d made a mis-
take and it was a total new genus. He subsequently
renamed his first find Dilophosaurus wetherilli.
NOTE
Often portrayed in films with a large Initial studies of Dilophosaurus came to the
retractable fan protruding from its neck. conclusion that it was something of a weakling. Its
The Dilophosaurus does not have this fea- bones were deemed, too thin to support a heavy
ture. It’s a figment of someone’s imagina- muscle structure. As a carnivore, its jaws, thin
tion. boned and narrow, would restrict it to hunting only
small mammals; they lacked the crushing power
needed to handle large boned mammals.
Later finds however, overturned these initial
conclusions. They showed Dilophosaurus to have a
very substantial bone structure capable of support-
ing large, heavy muscles. Its jaws were also found to
be much larger, and were clearly capable of crush-
ing the largest bone. Far from being a weakling,
these later finds show that Dilophosaurus was likely
a ferocious predator capable of handling anything
that happened to get in its way.
For millions of years Dilophosaurus was very
successful, but for some unknown reason around
160 million years ago it just disappears. It's
thought, but there is no proof, that climate change
drove it into extinction.
