Dinosaur: Meeting the Dilophosaurus
Not necessarily a familiar dinosaur name to many people, however, Dilophosaurus had a good role in the first Jurassic Park movie. That’s right, Dilophosaurus was the little dinosaur that happily spat poison at the latest bad guy in the park while trying to steal dinosaur DNA for personal gain. While the movie did a good job of providing a great image and personality for this dinosaur, I’m afraid there’s nothing in the fossil collections to suggest that Dilophosaurus did, in fact, spit venom.
Say it, as we will now refer to them, lived in the early Jurassic period, around 208 million to 194 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found mainly in Arizona and confirm that Dilo would have been a carnivorous dinosaur.
As the film suggests, Dilo had an unusual pair of highly arched ridges on the top of his head. These crests may well have been colored or even patterned. Experts believe that Dilo may well have used these crests for courtship display purposes, although some people have suggested that they may have been used as a deterrent against the large carnivores of the time.
Collections of fossils and multiple small fossilized footprint tracks have led people to believe that Dilo may have engaged in complex social behaviors that could have included herding and foraging together in an organized fashion.
A prominent feature of the Dilos in the movie Jurassic Park was the elaborate fan around their neck. The film indicated that they lifted the fan’s neck bandage when attacking or spitting venom at prey. Similar to the venom position, which I mentioned earlier in this paper, there is no evidence to suggest that they had a fanned neck.
Dilo had long, thin teeth that were perched on its large head. Dilo’s skulls are considered large in relation to the size of his body. Experts have suggested that they would have lacked a strong bite due to the fragile fossil remains and the proportions of the skull. The lack of biting power would indicate that the Dilo were in fact scavengers that tore away meat and used hands and feet to tear the flesh rather than their jaws.
Dilophosaurus was an amazing dinosaur. Where this dinosaur lacked in size and power, it made up for with unique features. There are lots of great images of Dilo in dinosaur books and on the intranet, however I always think the Safari and Bullyland models are great ways to see how awesome this dinosaur would look.