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Description

A new work, and this time a theropod, which I unfairly neglected. It's dilophosaurid Dilophosaurus wetherilli from the early Jurassic of Northern Arizona. Three skeletons of Dilophosaurus were discovered in 1940, two of which are perfectly preserved. On the basis of one specimen, which became a holotype, Samuel P. Welles in 1954 identified the animal as a species of Megalosaurus, "watebasket" dinosaur. In 1964, another specimen was found, and Welles finally realized that he was dealing with a new genus. Since it was found several specimens, as well as a variety of ichnofossils assigned to the similar theropods, or even to Dilophosaurus. This is one of the most famous and well-studied theropods, which became famous after the movie "Jurassic Park" (despite the fact that the animal from the movie had little in common with the prototype).

Dilophosaurus is gracile animal. The largest specimen is estimated to be 7 m long. Light and narrow skull carried two famous crest, which gave the name to the dinosaur. The crests were too fragile for combat, so it is rather the result of sexual selection. Between premaxilla and maxilla, there is a toothless notch, and the premaxilla itself forms a pronounced "hook" with its bend. The predator grabbed the prey, which was caught by the "hook", and large maxillary teeth with denticuli cut the flesh. The jaws were weak, which gave rise to the dubious idea that Dilophosaurus had a venomous bite. However, its hands were very strong, and the scapula is massive, which involves active use of the hands. It is noteworthy that one of the taxon specimens preserved the largest number of forelimb pathologies among theropods (Senter & Juengst, 2016). The opinions of paleontologists about the ability of Dilophosaurus to take large prey vary.

Classification Dilophosaurus wetherilli was a subject of controversy. The animal was classed as ceratosaurids or coelophysoids. Welles himself believed that Dilophosaurus combines the features of carnosaurs and coelurosaurs. Currently, the dinosaur is placed in the Dilophosauridae family, together with the Dracovenator regenti of South Africa, described in 2005.

The Dilophosaurus integument is an interesting question. This reconstruction shows "conservative" scaly covers, but there is a version that the animal was covered with filamentous structures. Also there are questions about the covers of the crests. Here I presented keratin as in cassowaries, but osteological correlates, in my opinion, not really correspond with it. In any case, I will return to this theropod and show different aspects of appearance and behavior. And in addition, there is another reason: the Dilophosaurus is just that damn cool animal that deserves more than just one drawing.

EDIT: I found a number of flaws after posting the picture earlier. The main thing was the lighting, because of what the dinosaur looked unnatural. In addition, a few touches in the texture of the head were needed. Now I've fixed all the flaws, and this guy is really alive. Now it's much better. Previous version can be seen on my Facebook page.
EDIT 2: Scanned version.

Technical pencil HB, 2019.

Description

A new work, and this time a theropod, which I unfairly neglected. It's dilophosaurid Dilophosaurus wetherilli from the early Jurassic of Northern Arizona. Three skeletons of Dilophosaurus were discovered in 1940, two of which are perfectly preserved. On the basis of one specimen, which became a holotype, Samuel P. Welles in 1954 identified the animal as a species of Megalosaurus, "watebasket" dinosaur. In 1964, another specimen was found, and Welles finally realized that he was dealing with a new genus. Since it was found several specimens, as well as a variety of ichnofossils assigned to the similar theropods, or even to Dilophosaurus. This is one of the most famous and well-studied theropods, which became famous after the movie "Jurassic Park" (despite the fact that the animal from the movie had little in common with the prototype).

Dilophosaurus is gracile animal. The largest specimen is estimated to be 7 m long. Light and narrow skull carried two famous crest, which gave the name to the dinosaur. The crests were too fragile for combat, so it is rather the result of sexual selection. Between premaxilla and maxilla, there is a toothless notch, and the premaxilla itself forms a pronounced "hook" with its bend. The predator grabbed the prey, which was caught by the "hook", and large maxillary teeth with denticuli cut the flesh. The jaws were weak, which gave rise to the dubious idea that Dilophosaurus had a venomous bite. However, its hands were very strong, and the scapula is massive, which involves active use of the hands. It is noteworthy that one of the taxon specimens preserved the largest number of forelimb pathologies among theropods (Senter & Juengst, 2016). The opinions of paleontologists about the ability of Dilophosaurus to take large prey vary.

Classification Dilophosaurus wetherilli was a subject of controversy. The animal was classed as ceratosaurids or coelophysoids. Welles himself believed that Dilophosaurus combines the features of carnosaurs and coelurosaurs. Currently, the dinosaur is placed in the Dilophosauridae family, together with the Dracovenator regenti of South Africa, described in 2005.

The Dilophosaurus integument is an interesting question. This reconstruction shows "conservative" scaly covers, but there is a version that the animal was covered with filamentous structures. Also there are questions about the covers of the crests. Here I presented keratin as in cassowaries, but osteological correlates, in my opinion, not really correspond with it. In any case, I will return to this theropod and show different aspects of appearance and behavior. And in addition, there is another reason: the Dilophosaurus is just that damn cool animal that deserves more than just one drawing.

EDIT: I found a number of flaws after posting the picture earlier. The main thing was the lighting, because of what the dinosaur looked unnatural. In addition, a few touches in the texture of the head were needed. Now I've fixed all the flaws, and this guy is really alive. Now it's much better. Previous version can be seen on my Facebook page.
EDIT 2: Scanned version.

Technical pencil HB, 2019.