Dilophosaurus

“double-crested lizard”

CLASSIFICATION

Dilophosaurus  Welles, 1970TYPE SPECIES: D. wetherilli (Welles, 1954) (originally Megalosaurus) OTHER SPECIES: D. breedorum Welles, 1995 vide Welles & Pickering, 1999 “The Breeds’ (including William J.)  double-crested lizard” ?D. sinensis Hu, 1993 “double-crested lizard from China”

Animalia Vertebrata Tetrapoda Sauropsida Archosauromorpha Ornithodira Dinosauria Sauropodomorpha

see also: Genus Index, Classification

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MEASUREMENTS

LENGTH: 6 m to 7 m

see also: World Records

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TIME

late Sinemurian to Pliensbachian

see also: Ages of the Mesozoic

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PLACE

D. wetherilli: Arizona

D. breedorum: Arizona

D. sinensis: China

see also: Paleo-Maps

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REMAINS

• D.wetherilli
• D.breedorum
  • UCMP 77270:
• D.sinensis

see also: Anatomy

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ESSAY

Dilophosaurus sported a pair of thin crests running from above the nostrils to the back of the head. (At least, D. breedorum [which may very well be a junior synonym of D. wetherilli] and D. sinensis did — that part of the skull is unknown for D. wetherilli sensu stricto.) These frills were probably ornamental in nature. Dilophosaurus was featured in the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park. Considerable liberties were taken with the restoration. Real Dilophosaurus were much larger than their Jurassic Park counterparts. There is no evidence that they had neck frills or poison glands. In fact, Dilophosaurus was the largest predator in its environment and had no need to be poisonous. Furthermore, Jurassic Park’s dilophosaurs had jaws simplified beyond recognition (the cool kink was utterly smoothed out). D. sinensis had taller, more robust crests. It may not belong to this genus.

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IMAGES

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