Dilophosauridae

Life image of D. wetherilli from PLoS ONE 2010. A resting trace from the Lower Jurassic shows that the Händflächen the theropods were not for the body ( ventral) but birdlike median, ie, oriented facing each other.

• USA
• South America
• China
• Antarctic

The Dilophosauridae are a family of theropod dinosaurs. Name giver and the largest (after Cryolophosaurus ) is representative of the Jurassic Dilophosaurus. Your body lengths range from three to perhaps eight meters. Characteristic of the group are bony crests on the skull.

System

Dilophosauriden were formerly placed in the Coelophysoidea. However, according to recent analyzes of this family is a sister group as a common taxon of Neoceratosauria and Tetanurae outside the Coelophysoidea. The genus belongs to Cryolophosaurus this analysis also in the Dilophosauridae, it was formerly often attributed to Tetanuren.

The kinship relationships illustrates the following cladogram:

Coelophysoidea

Zupaysaurus

Dilophosauridae

Neoceratosauria

Tetanurae

Genera

• Dilophosaurus
• Dracovenator
• Cryolophosaurus

Swell

• Nathan Smith, Peter Makovicky, William Hammer & Philip Currie (2007): Osteology of Cryolophosaurus ellioti ( Dinosauria: Theropoda ) from the Early Jurassic of Antarctica and implications for early theropod evolution. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Volume 151 Issue 2, Pages 377-421, doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00325.x
• Smith, ND, Makovicky, PJ, Pol, D., Hammer, WR, & Currie, PJ (2007): The dinosaurs of the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Central Transantarctic Mountains: Phylogenetic review and synthesis. In Cooper, A.K. and Raymond, C. R. et al. (eds. ): Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World. Online Proceedings of the 10th ISAES, USGS Open - File Report 2007-1047, Short Research Paper 003, 5 p. ; doi: 10.3133/of2007-1047.srp003