Dilophosaurus Facts for Kids

A Picture of Dilophosaurus Wetherilli
  • Species Type: Dilophosaurus Wetherilli
  • Type of Dinosaur: Theropod
  • Period: Early Jurassic
  • Diet: Meat (carnivorous)
  • Lifespan: Unknown
  • Length: Up to 23 feet
  • Weight: Up to 880 pounds

16 Dilophosaurus Facts for Kids

  1. The Dilophosaurus was a medium-sized dinosaur and one of the first large predatory dinosaurs.
  2. The Dilophosaurus was discovered in 1940, by Jesse Williams in Navajo County, Arizona, USA.
  3. The Dilophosaurus got its scientific name Dilophosaurus wetherilli in 1954, from Samuel P. Wells.
  4. The name Dilophosaurus means: “Two-Crested Lizard”.
  5. The name Dilophosaurus is pronounced: “dye-LO-fuh-SAWR-us”.
  6. The Dilophosaurus was part of a group of dinosaurs known as Theropods.
  7. They lived in the Early Jurassic Period around 193 million years ago.
  8. The Dilophosaurus holotype specimen (UCMP 37302) weighed 624 pounds and was 19.8 feet in length.
  9. The largest Dilophosaurus specimen ever recovered weighed 880 pounds and was 23 in length.
  10. The Dilophosaurus was an active carnivore and paleontologists believe they may have hunted dinosaurs as large as prosauropods.
  11. The Dilophosaurus had a total of 33 teeth based on fossilized skull remains.
  12. The Dilophosaurus had 16 teeth in its upper jaw and 17 in its lower jaw.
  13. In 2017, American paleontologists Milner and James Kirkland suggested some of the features of the Dilophosaurus indicated that it could have eaten fish and other marine animals.
  14. In 2017, Connecticut designated the Dilophosaurus as their state dinosaur.
  15. The Dilophosaurus was featured in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park, a move adaption of Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel Jurassic Park.
  16. The Dilophosaurus featured in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park was shown to be able to spit venom and sporting a foldable frill around its neck. In real life, the Dilophosaurus did not have a neck frill and could not spit venom. This was done to make it easy for the audience to tell the difference between the Dilophosaurus and the Velociraptor.

Additional Resources on Dilophosaurus

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