Allosaurus: Quintessential Theropod
Jurassic Delight
#Allosaurus, the “different lizard,” so named because Marsh thought its hollowed-out vertebrae were unusual. Turns out they were the norm, it was just his first time seeing such pneumaticity and concavity.
This Allosaurus is at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. It is mounted underneath an #Apatosaurus louisae tail, highlighting how even a biggish Allo is puny compared to an adult #sauropod :-). Adults typically hit over 30’ and a few tons. If #Epanterias proves to be Allo, it was even larger!
I’d say it is in the “kill zone” where that massive tail would absolutely wreck the Allo. The tail alone weighs far more than this few ton max predator.
It is known from many cool associated and articulated skeletons (Big Als come to mind), as well as over 10,000 disarticulated bones. It is the most commonly found Late #Jurassic #theropod #dinosaur. Looking for a predator to study with rich sample sizes? Look no further!
To me, this is the quintessential theropod: big head laden with sharp teeth, longish arms ending in wicked claws, legs for days, and a sweet tail. Classic silhouette disrupted by big lacrimal horns, the bony triangles over the eyes. Such a great look!
Despite the song's lyrics suggesting it doesn’t even hide, I presume it struck from ambush when it could. This is the ultimate generalist, it didn’t run too fast, it didn’t have tremendous bite power, it wasn’t the largest beast on the predator block even, but it was successful, living throughout the Morrison Fm and even in Europe!
The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry produced thousands of bones of all sizes, from tiny less than 6” to 37” femora. Some kind of predator trap preferentially lured Allos in. Why, no one knows, but across more than 10,000 bones very few are non-Allo. Though the road is roughish, it is worth visiting the Jurassic National Monument (and be sure to note the #Cretaceous #Tyrannosaurus skull!) where the CLDQ is.
#Marshosaurus, a #megalosaurid at best guess, was ~15’ y 500 lbs and filled the medium-sized predator niche, along with #Stokesosaurus. The holotype is an ilium, skull material was referred to it, which was used to create this cast.
#FossilCrates #TheropodThursday #dinosaurs #dinosaurbones #dinosaurskeleton