Dilophosaurus wetherilli

Dilophosaurus is the double-crested lizard brought to fame by its depiction in Jurassic Park as a venom spitting collared dinosaur. There is however no evidence of it having a frill nor that it was spitting venom. The Jurassic Park movie also depicted it way too small.

Name

Dilophosaurus wetherilli

Authority

(Welles, 1954) Welles, 1970

Meaning of generic name

"Two-crested lizard"

Size

Length: 6 m, Skull length: [not given]

Remains

Holotype (UCMP 37302): nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile

Referred specimens: UCMP 37303 (premaxillae, maxillae, and lower jaws, several vertebrae and other parts of the skeleton); UCMP 77270 (nearly complete skeleton of an adult).

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Kayenta Formation. Lower Jurassic (Sinemurian-Plienbaschian)

Locality: near Tuba City, Arizona, US.

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Dilophosauridae

Further Reading

S. P. Welles. 1954. New Jurassic dinosaur from the Kayenta Formation of Arizona. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 65:591-598

S. P. Welles. 1970. Dilophosaurus (Reptilia: Saurischia), a new name for a dinosaur. Journal of Paleontology 44:989

Synonyms

Megalosaurus wetherilli Welles, 1954; Dilophosaurus breedorum Welles & Pickering, 1999 (nomen nudum)

Image by Nobu Tamura (click to enlarge)

Dilophosaurus wetherilli: