Dilophosaurus wetherilli

Pronunciation: Die-lof-oh-sore-uss wea-ther-ill-eye
Meaning: Double-crested reptile
Period: Early Jurassic
Length: 6 m
Weight: 400-500 Kg

Fossil discoveries: USA (Arizona)
Diet: Small to mid-sized animals


Dilophosaurusis a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America and was one of the earliest large predatory dinosaurs, though it was smaller and is only distantly related to later large predators such as Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Coelophysis is probably the closest relative for which we have fossil evidence. It was slender and lightly built, and the skull was proportionally large, but delicate. The snout was narrow, and the upper jaw had a gap or kink below the nostril. It had a pair of longitudinal, plate-shaped crests on its skull, similar to a cassowary with two crests. The crests of Dilophosaurus may have been for sexual display, and may have been absent in females.