And God made the beast of the earth after his kind... Genesis 1:25
"Dilophosaurus wetherilli was the largest animal known to have lived on land in North America during the Early Jurassic.
Despite its charismatic presence in pop culture, major aspects of Dilophosaurus wetherilli’s skeletal anatomy, taxonomy and evolutionary relationships were unknown until now.
"It’s pretty much the best, worst-known dinosaur. Until this study, nobody knew what Dilophosaurus wetherilli looked like...,” said study lead author Dr. Adam Marsh, a paleontologist in the Jackson School of Geosciences.
Early descriptions characterize Dilophosaurus wetherilli as having a fragile crest and weak jaws, a description that influenced the dinosaur’s depiction in the Jurassic Park book and movie as a svelte dinosaur that subdued its prey with venom.
But the study authors found the opposite. The jawbones show signs of serving as scaffolding for powerful muscles. They also found that some bones were mottled with air pockets, which would have helped reinforce the skeleton, including its dual crest.
“They’re kind of like bubble wrap — the bone is protected and strengthened,” Dr. Marsh said.
Skeletons of this species were collected from the middle and lower
part of the Kayenta Formation in the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. Redescription of the holotype, referred, and previously undescribed specimens of Dilophosaurus wetherilli supports the existence of a single species of crested, large-bodied theropod in the Kayenta Formation.
The parasagittal nasolacrimal crests are uniquely constructed by a small ridge on the nasal process of the premaxilla, dorsoventrally expanded nasal, and tall lacrimal that includes a posterior process behind the eye."
SciNews
"Dilophosaurus wetherilli was the largest animal known to have lived on land in North America during the Early Jurassic.
"It’s pretty much the best, worst-known dinosaur. Until this study, nobody knew what Dilophosaurus wetherilli looked like...,” said study lead author Dr. Adam Marsh, a paleontologist in the Jackson School of Geosciences.
Early descriptions characterize Dilophosaurus wetherilli as having a fragile crest and weak jaws, a description that influenced the dinosaur’s depiction in the Jurassic Park book and movie as a svelte dinosaur that subdued its prey with venom.
But the study authors found the opposite. The jawbones show signs of serving as scaffolding for powerful muscles. They also found that some bones were mottled with air pockets, which would have helped reinforce the skeleton, including its dual crest.
“They’re kind of like bubble wrap — the bone is protected and strengthened,” Dr. Marsh said.
Skeletons of this species were collected from the middle and lower
The parasagittal nasolacrimal crests are uniquely constructed by a small ridge on the nasal process of the premaxilla, dorsoventrally expanded nasal, and tall lacrimal that includes a posterior process behind the eye."
SciNews
