ExtinctZoo - The Only Dinosaur More Terrifying In Real Life Than In Movies

Episode Date: February 20, 2024

To many people, the Dilophosaurus is a small, venom spitting dinosaur that played a minor role in Jurassic Park. However, in reality the Dilophosaurus was actually much more impressive, as it wasn't just one of the first dinosaurs to become an apex predator, but it was also the largest dinosaur and animal on land in North America during the Early Jurassic.

Hollywood and movies in general are well known for exaggerating things for dramatic effect. And dinosaurs, as well as other prehistoric animals, are no exception to this. Throughout their history of being featured in films, the vast majority have been altered in ways aimed at making them more intimidating than they were in life. For example, be it through an accurate size increase or durability buff. However, there is one dinosaur that is an exception to this. Despite being altered in movies, it was actually even more terrifying in real life than on the big screen. It is a dinosaur that was one of the first kings of the Jurassic and the largest animal in its ecosystem during its heyday.

This is the Dilaphasaurus. Despite only gaining worldwide recognition after the release of the iconic Jurassic Park, the Dilophosaurus has been known to paleontologists for over 80 years, with the first remains being discovered in 1940 when three specimens, of mixed sizes were found in the early Jurassic-dated Kayenta formation of northern Arizona. The find was remarkable, as it included a nearly complete individual, which led it to being one of the best known preserved theropods at the time.

However, because paleontology wasn't well developed at that point, many new theropods were misclassified, including the Dilophosaurus, which scientists initially believed to be a new species of megalosaurus, another Jurassic theropod. This belief of it being a megalosaurus, quickly stuck, and for two decades it went unchallenged. That is, until another specimen was located in the same area of the first three, that was an even better condition.

The skull in particular was more complete, and this revealed the presence of a crest which had previously been missed. The crest was located to the right of the midline, indicating that in life this dinosaur actually had two distinct crests, making it clear that this theropod was no megalosaurus, and thus it was aptly renamed to Dilophysaurus. meaning the two-crested lizard and moved into a new family named after it the Dilophisoridae which contains just one other member the drake of ainator not only was this new find important as it led to the discovery of the crests this newer

dilaphasaurus specimen was also the largest individual ever found and has remained the largest to date it is thought to have been a fully matured adult that measured 7 meters or 23 feet from snout to tail making it roughly the same length as the Saratosaurus. Despite being the same length, the Dilophosaurus did sport a more hollow skeleton and agile build, resulting in it being lighter, with paleontologists believing it to have weighed about 400 kilograms or 880 pounds, which is comparable to the weight of a brown bear. While this doesn't make the Dilophosaurus as large as later theropods, it does still make it the largest known North American land animal during the early Jurassic, and many times larger than

the De Lafeasaurus featured in the Jurassic Park movies, which were downsized in order to avoid confusion with the velociraptor. This has unfortunately led to many people, assuming that the De Lausaurus was a smaller predator, when in reality it was the biggest animal of its time. Another peculiar change made in the iconic franchise was the addition of a neck frill, which was possibly inspired by the modern-day frilled lizard, which uses its distinctive display to scare and ward off various predators. And while a frill would admittedly be interesting,

the real Dilophisaurus likely didn't possess one. But it still had, as mentioned, the two prominent crests that aided the Dilophosaurus in their own ways. These relatively big crusts were composed of very thin bones that ran from its snout to behind its eye socket. In life, it's thought there would have been a layer of keratin as well, meaning paleontologists are not entirely sure what the true shape of these crusts were. Originally, it was thought these crests would have been used for thermoregulation due to their size

and the dilaphasaurus's hot environment. However, now most agree that these crests' true purpose was likely for individual recognition or sexual selection, as the crests appeared to have been highly varied in appearance and size between each individual dilophisaurus. For some time, the idea of the dilophisaurus using its crest as a battering ramp against prey and competitors was also considered. But this conjecture is today widely unsupported as the crests were extremely fragile in nature. Although, thankfully for the Dilophosaurus, it had an array of other features that allowed it to deal with prey and competitors, with perhaps the most important weapon being its vicious jaws. The jaw and subsequently the skull were both proportionally large for its body,

sometimes accounting for 10% of its entire length, which allowed enough space for its roughly 30 teeth, which were all long, curved, thin, and compressed sideways. Additionally, each tooth possessed numerous serrations, with sometimes over 70 serrations being split amongst the front and back of the tooth. These serrations allowed the Dilophosaurus to easily cut through flesh, incurring rapid blood loss and death to the unfortunate animals it preyed upon. But exactly what animals were its victims is a question that's been up to debate for a long time. One reason for this is its unique gap located at the first.

the front of its skull, which made paleontologists first believe that the dilaphasaurus had a weakly built skull that would crack under high pressure, thus leading to the idea that it was a scavenger that used a weak bite to carefully dissect carry on, or would rather only hunt small creatures in its habitat. The belief that the dilaphasaurus being a weak biter also helped to create the later notion that it was actually a paciferous hunter. Other evidence of it being a fish specialist included its teeth forming an interlocking rosette shape towards the end of the jaws, which is similar to the patterns seen in the Spina Soros, which are known to have preyed on fish, as well as the gharial, a living

crocodile that is known to eat the most fish out of any crock. However, despite all the evidence, the belief that the Dilophosaurus specialized in fish and had a weak bite are now both considered likely debunked, as new research has shown that the gap that was once thought to be weak was actually immobile and extremely robust in life. allowing the Dilophosaurus to endure high forces while clamping down into struggling prey. Its size was another indication that it hunted larger terrestrial animals as it was by far the largest predator around at the time, leading paleontologists to suspect that it grew larger than others as an adaptation specifically designed for killing big animals. And some very strong evidence

of this comes from the co-existing sarasaurus. This was a basal sarapotomorph that was about half the size of the De Lafeosaurus, and has shown signs of being preyed upon by this vicious theropod. Specifically, the holotype, located in 2018, bore various bite marks all across the body that matched those of the De Laosaurus, and were far too large should have come from any other known predator in the area. And because Sarasaurus was one of the biggest animals in its environment, paleontologists now believe this nightmare was an expert of taking down large animals, but still would have likely preyed upon smaller creatures and fish if the chance arose, which is to say that absolutely nothing was safe.

And its bite wasn't the only weapon to be feared, as the Dilophosaurus also had potent arms that were just as deadly as its jaws. Studies on its arms show that they were relatively long, yet still surprisingly strong thanks to deep pits that allowed for muscle and ligament attachment. Along with its strength, the arms were also highly flexible and equipped with three well-developed claws each, with the first one being much larger than the other two. These claws, combined with its strength, allowed the Deilophosaurus use its arms to prevent prey from escaping and inflict further damage through various slashing motions, which is one

more reason for wanting to avoid the Dilophosaurus during the early Jurassic. And again to the dismay of co-existing creatures, the Deleophosaurus' toolbox doesn't just end with its claws, as it also had another quite foolproof one. way of capturing prey despite being on the heavier side. And no, unfortunately, this technique of catching prey did not involve spitting venom to blind them as seen in Jurassic Park. Rather, it was simply a speed demon that would run prey down. The agileness of this theropod was demonstrated by its highly developed legs, lighter frame, and the presence of fleshy air sacs. These air sacs grew in its vertebrae and created unidirectional breathing, a trait seen in birds and crocodiles.

This indicates that it likely had a high metabolic rate and level of activity, hinting that it was a swift hunter. And if its agility, bite, jaws, and size were not enough to completely dominate its ecosystem, there is also a chance that the Delophisaurus was a pack hunter. This stems from the original find of its bones, as the three specimens were all found right next to each other, leading some to believe that they lived in hunted in packs. But if this was the case, paleontologists think that three individuals may have been the limit, which is due to this theropod being the giant of its homeland, hence it would be quite difficult

to sustain more than three individuals. Even with all the advantages that Elophosaurus had going for it, it turns out that life as a king is not an easy one, as that Elophosaurus are notorious for bearing signs of wounds and disease. In fact, the holotype is known for having the highest number of damaged bones out of any theropod. with eight being affected, while the theropod with the next highest number of damaged bones is just half at that at four. The injuries seen in this dilophisaurus seem to have been concentrated in its arms,

and involved the growth of bony tumors, stress fractures, torsions, and deformities. These injuries were disabling in life, as reconstructions have found that this individual would not have been able to properly use one of its arms and hands, leading it to rely more heavily on the other. It's not exactly known how the Dilophisaurus obtained all these injuries, but some speculate that it may have occurred through failed hunts or fights with competitors. What's interesting, though, is that despite many Dilophisaurus having banged up arms, a study of over 60 individuals found no fractures on their legs and feet, which confirms just how useful their arms were as weapons and tools. Additionally, all paleontologists agree that the number of wounds found across all specimens showed that this was one time. an tough animal that likely had a seriously high pain tolerance.

And this isn't all that surprising as it lived during a time when the Earth was no joke. Specifically, fossil dating shows that it existed roughly 183 million years ago during the early Jurassic, in what is now North America. At the time, both the supercontinent of Pangaea and the Super Ocean Pantalassa were still around. And the Earth was still recovering from the Triassic Jurassic extinction event, which means there wasn't that much life around. And this certainly wasn't helped by the environment as the earth was still relatively hot. The Dilophosaurus' environment seems to have been particularly grueling, characterized by extreme dry seasons during which dunes would migrate in and out of its habitat.

However, during that era, the presence of the large prehistoric lake, Lake Dixie, would have provided a source of relief and a food supply during these extreme dry seasons. Wet seasons occurred as well and during those times rivers and streams would come alive, creating habitats akin to desert oasis seen today. Despite its harsh environment and the fairly recent extinction event, the Dilophosaurus was by no means alone, and it was even joined by other dinosaurs, such as the previously mentioned Sarasaurus, as well as others including the Megynosaurus, Cayenne Divinator, and Scutalosaurus. dinosaurs were also present and were represented by various hybridont sharks, bony fish, lungfish,

lizards, and salamanders. Other animals also included the prosalarus, Eocasilia, Kayenta Kellis, the Crocodileomorphs, Kalsaiosukis, Proto-Sukas, and the Terosaur Ramfinian. Meanwhile, synapsins in the area came in the form of the Denebito-Don, Cayentotherium, and oligo-chaifice. Even early mammals called these lands home as showcased by the tiny dinotherium. And yet, despite the remarkable amount of life, none held a candle to the Dilaphasaurus's size or ferocity, which allowed it to be the undisputed apex predator of the early Jurassic North America.

And with its true legacy being that much greater than that scene in Hollywood, we can only hope that one day we will be able to witness Dilaphasaurus's true glory on the big screen.