“Early Jurassic Park” – Dilophosaurus wetherilli

Whilst working on their YouTube video explaining about the newly published scientific paper on Dilophosaurus, team members at Everything Dinosaur needed a visual to explain the importance of this North American dinosaur to palaeontologists as they try to improve their understanding about Early Jurassic dinosaur biota.  Interpreting Dilophosaurus fossil material has been hampered by their fragmentary nature and poor preservation.

Attempting to summarise the research since the University of California field work from 1942, it was decided to modify an iconic book cover “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton.  The new research suggests that Dilophosaurus may have looked very different, it was probably not a weak-jawed scavenger but an apex predator, the most dangerous dinosaur in the ecosystem.

The Importance of Dilophosaurus wetherilli – An Important Dinosaur from the Early Jurassic

"Early Jurassic Park" - Dilophosaurus wetherilli.
“Early Jurassic Park” – demonstrating the significance of the Early Jurassic theropod Dilophosaurus wetherilli.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus was popularised in the famous dinosaur movie “Jurassic Park” which was released in 1993.  It also appeared in the novel written by Michael Crichton, upon which the film was based.  The small venomous dinosaur with its neck frill, reminiscent of the frilled-neck lizard of Australia (Chlamydosaurus kingii) was regarded as a major departure from the science by many movie-goers although Dilophosaurus played a prominent role in one of the most significant scenes of the whole franchise when Dennis Nedry, the computer programmer who had been bribed to smuggle dinosaur embryos off the resort, was attacked and eaten.

The Dilophosaurus from the Film “Jurassic Park”

ITOY Studio Dilophosaurus dinosaur model with articulated jaw.
The ITOY Studio Dilophosaurus dinosaur model has an articulated jaw. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view dinosaur and prehistoric animal models: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Figures.

In the newly published paper (Marsh and Rowe 2020), Dilophosaurus is depicted as a more robust, powerful animal and as far as the fossil record known to date goes, Dilophosaurus represents the largest terrestrial vertebrate known from the Early Jurassic of North America.

A Life Reconstruction of Dilophosaurus wetherilli Based on the 2020 Scientific Interpretation

Dilophosaurus wetherilli Makeover
An amazing puppet depicting Dilophosaurus wetherilli using the data from the newly published scientific paper was created by Brian Engh.

Picture credit: University of Texas at Austin

To read Everything Dinosaur’s blog post about the new scientific paper: Time to Beef Up Dilophosaurus.

The Everything Dinosaur YouTube channel, is packed with lots of amazing videos all about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals.  The channel has over 175 videos on it, providing lots of information to dinosaur fans and model collectors: Subscribe to Everything Dinosaur on YouTube.

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