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| Creature information | |
| Scientific name : | Dilophosaurus wetherilli |
| Time period : | Early Jurassic |
| Primary diet : | Carnivore |
| In the documentary | |
| Fatalities caused : | One Anchisaurus |
Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Period, about 193 million years ago. The first specimens were described in 1954, but it was not until over a decade later that the genus received its current name. The name Dilophosaurus means "two-crested lizard ". Despite what is seen in Jurassic Park, they didn't spit venom and didn't have a neck frill like the frilled lizard of Australia. They were actually much bigger at 7 meters (23 ft) long and may have weighed 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), rather than 1 meter (3.3 ft) tall and 1.5 meters (5 ft) long and the weight of a small dog (the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park may have been a juvenile but it's unlikely). It was the biggest animal in the region. They ate Anchisaurus and had to fight off Megapnosaurus.
In When Dinosaurs Roamed America
In the early Jurassic segment, Dilophosaurus is seen stopping a Megapnosaurus hunt. She roars at the Megapnosaurus's prey: a male Anchisaurus. She grabs the basal sauropod's neck with her teeth and slashes him with her hand claws. Then, she forces the Anchisaurus down and kills him. Her baby comes to eat with her. All of a sudden, a rival Dilophosaurus comes towards them. The mother fights the rival off, then the mother and the baby leave. Later, when the Megapnosaurus are eating the carcass, the rival chases them off.
Errors
- The narrator said Megapnosaurus is related to Dilophosaurus as a ceratosaur but Megapnosaurus is a coelophysid and Dilophosaurus is a dilophosaurid and both groups aren't related at all with ceratosaurs (though Dilophosaurus was considered a coelophysoid).
- Dilophosaurus may have had feathers, but it's still debated.
- Dilophosaurus hands couldn't pivot without breaking them.
- The Dilophosaurus appeared in the Early Jurassic segment 200 million years ago, but it did not live exactly at this time.