Description
Dilophosaurus was a lightly built meat-eating dinosaur with a distinctive twin-crest on its head. It was the first theropod dinosaur found with such flashy ornaments on the top of its skull. It lived in the Early Jurassic about 195 million years ago and was the largest predator at the time.
- Scientific Name: Dilophosaurus wetherilli
- Characteristics: Dilophosaurus is a medium sized two-legged carnivorous dinosaur about the size of a van. It has a long tail and long arms with three-fingered hands and sharp claws. It has a noticeable notch in the tooth row of the upper jaw, and a striking pair of decorative crests run along the top of its head.
- Size and Color: This delicate model is 5.27 inches long and 4.29 inches high. It has gray skin but a colorful head with an impressive red crest.
- The Dilophosaurus is part of the Wild Safari® Prehistoric World collection
- All of our products are Non-toxic and BPA free
History
The first Dilophosaurus skeleton was discovered in Tuba City, Northern Arizona, USA, in 1942. It was excavated by the University of California Museum of Paleontology and named as a new species of Megalosaurus (M. wetherilli) by paleontologist Samuel Welles in 1954. The skeleton of a larger and more complete individual was discovered in 1964. The new material included a complete skull that showed that the dinosaur had a pair of crests on its head – these were broken off and missing from the original 1942 skeleton. This led to M. wetherilli being described more thoroughly in 1970 and given a new name: Dilophosaurus. This means ‘double-crested lizard’ in reference to the stunning ornaments atop its head.
Dilophosaurus was the first meat-eating dinosaur found with flashy skull crests. These semi-circular bony plates project upwards and outwards, creating a ‘V’ shape when viewed from the front. The function of the delicate crests is unknown, but they were probably used for sexual display. If so, they may also have been brightly colored.
Dilophosaurus is possibly best known for its appearance in the movie Jurassic Park, where it was depicted with a speculative frill around its neck. In the movie it also spits poison! However, this was invented by the movie makers - there is no scientific evidence for a neck frill or spitting behavior in Dilophosaurus.
Dilophosaurus is one of the best known Early Jurassic theropod dinosaurs and was the largest hunter at that time. It probably stalked or scavenged smaller dinosaurs.
- Size in cm: 13.5 L x
- Size in inches: 5.31 L x
- UPC: 095866287801
