🦎 DILOPHOSAURUS: SPITTING MYTH?
PAGE 1 OF 5 — THE REAL DILOPHOSAURUS
REAL DINOSAUR
MEET THE REAL ONE
Dilophosaurus wetherilli lived in North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Its fossils come from the Kayenta Formation in Arizona, a desert landscape that was once rivers and forests. Adults reached about 6 to 7 metres long, much bigger than the tiny movie version. It was one of the earliest large meat-eating dinosaurs on the continent. Two thin crests rose from its skull, making it one of the most unusual theropods ever found. Scientists still debate what those crests were for. No fossil evidence shows venom glands or a neck frill. This was a real predator, not a Hollywood monster.
🦎 DILOPH FACTS
📅 Early Jurassic (~193 Ma), Arizona
📏 ~6 to 7 m long, not movie-small
👑 Early large theropod predator
📏 ~6 to 7 m long, not movie-small
👑 Early large theropod predator
CREST!
SIZE
📏 Real Dilophosaurus stood about 6 to 7 metres long, taller than a giraffe and far bigger than the dog-sized movie creature.
🦖 Its slender build and long legs made it a fast hunter for its time, not a squat frilled lizard.
🦖 Its slender build and long legs made it a fast hunter for its time, not a squat frilled lizard.
MYSTERY
❓ The twin crests may have been for display, species recognition, or temperature control, but nobody knows for sure yet.
🔬 Thin and fragile, they were probably not used as weapons in fierce head-butting fights.
🔬 Thin and fragile, they were probably not used as weapons in fierce head-butting fights.