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| Creature information | |
| Scientific name : | Allosaurus fragilis |
| Time period : | Late Jurassic |
| Primary diet : | Carnivore |
| In the documentary | |
| Fatalities caused : | One Ceratosaurus
One Apatosaurus (Indirectly) |
Allosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from late Jurassic North America and Portugal. The name Allosaurus (al-o-soar-us) means "different lizard". It measured over 36 feet long and weighing 4 tons, it was considered one of, if not only, the largest predator that lived on the land, in the Late Jurassic Era, 165,000,000-145,000,000 BCE. Recently, some study had been done on the skull of Allosaurus. The results on one Allosaurus specimen called "Big Al" reveal two extraordinary things about this predator:
- A weak bite: Allosaurus had weak jaw muscles. It had a bite force of only 200 kilograms, which is the same as a leopard's. So it was no bone crusher, like the T. rex.
- A strong skull: Despite its weak bite, Allosaurus's skull was extremely good at transmitting force along its length. With more openings and much lighter than T. rex's head, it was structured to carry tremendous levels of stress, as much as 6 tons!
This shows that Allosaurus would have used its head like a hatchet, using its strong neck muscles to ram its teeth from its upper jaw into the body of its prey. This method of attack when shown isn't pretty, nor clinical, but its ruthlessly efficient. Allosaurus lived alongside other large carnivorous dinosaurs such
as Saurophaganax, Marshosaurus, Ceratosaurus and Torvosaurus.
Allosaurus hunting a young Apatosaurus
In When Dinosaurs Roamed America .
Allosaurus were in the late Jurassic segment. An Allosaurus tries to attack a young Apatosaurus but the mom scares him off with her whip tail. The Allosaurus then attacks and kills a Ceratosaurus who was chasing some Dryosaurus . Then, while walking away to avoid the dry season, an Apatosaurus breaks its foot and falls down a 20 foot drop, mortally wounding it. 3 Three Allosaurus attack it and eat it alive, killing it in time.
Errors
- Allosaurus' hands couldn't pronate without breaking them.