Episode 18 is all about Dilophosaurus, (as requested by Facebook fan Luke) a dinosaur famous for being inaccurately depicted in Jurassic Park.

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In this episode, we discuss:

• • The dinosaur of the day: Dilophosaurus, which means “double crested”
  • Dilophosaurus had paired crests on top of its head, though what is was used for is unknown (may have been to attract females or help packs recognize each other, if Dilophosaurus traveled in packs)
  • Dilophosaurus lived in the early Jurassic (200 to 190 million years ago)
  • The crests were probably too delicate for anything but display
  • Dilophosaurus is famous for being the spitting, venomous dinosaur in Jurassic Park, but this is inaccurate
  • Dilophosaurus was not poisonous, and there’s no evidence of any dinosaur having venom
  • Dilophosaurus also did not have a “fluttering neck crest” and no evidence of any dinosaurs having that frill
  • In Jurassic Park, Dilophosaurus was a small dog-sized dinosaur, but in reality it was about 20 feet long and weighed 1,000 pounds
  • Dilophosaurus was similar to most theropod, meat eaters in the Jurassic in North America (aside from the head crest), so it’s not clear why Dilophosaurus was portrayed the way it was in Jurassic Park
  • Jurassic Park explanation: inclusion of the frog DNA or a splicing error gave it the abnormal traits
  • Dilophosaurus was originally grouped as a Megalosaur (the “wastebasket taxon”) for theropods, when it was discovered in 1942 in Arizona, but the crest gave it its own genus
  • Dilophosaurus was a primitive predator, so it did not have forward facing eyes (stereo vision)
  • It probably used scent to hunt, had a dewclaw, hollow bones, and s-shaped curved neck, and had a long tail it could use as a whip in a fight
  • Dilophosaurus could probably run at 30 mph, and it may have hunted in packs
  • Dilophosaurus had needle-like puncturing teeth, may have eaten fish; had a crocodile-like appearance, with a notch behind the first row of teeth
  • Dilophosaurus skeletons are now housed at the University of California’s Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley, CA
  • Dilophosaurus is part of the family Dilophosauridae, which were early carnivorous dinosaurs that lived in many areas
  • They were 13-23 feet long and weighed 660 to 1100 pounds, and known for their head crests (used for attracting a mate or to scare off rivals)
  • Dilophosauridae also have a notch between a row of teeth, which makes them look like crocodiles; however, they probably had a weak bite and were scavengers
  • Though Dilophosauridae is part of the superfamily Coelophysoidea, dilophosaurids may be closer to the Tenaurae group (which has advanced megalosaurs, carnosaurs and coelurosaurs)
  • Fun fact: The fastest dinosaurs were ornithomids (ostrich like dinosaurs such as Dromiceiomimus), and they could run up to 37 mph