Dilophosaurus was a meat-eating therapod dinosaur that lived
about 195-190 million years ago, which was in the early Jurassic period. It was
one of the earliest large predatory dinosaurs that is known about from the
fossil evidence.
Dilophosaurus was about six or seven metres in length,
including its long tail. It probably weighed in excess of 500 kilograms (1100
pounds) which places it in the same weight category as the polar bear.
The name means “two ridged reptile”, which refers to the
parallel plate-like ridges on the animal’s head. Given that these do not look
to have been strong enough to be used as weapons, it is possible that they were
covered in brightly coloured skin and used to warn off rivals or enemies, or as
part of a mating ritual.
Fossils of dilophosaurus were found in 1942 in Arizona, USA,
but the creatures may well have lived in other places. The species was only
designated and named in 1970, due to difficulties posed by the fragmented
nature of the fossils.
© John Welford
No comments:
Post a Comment