Name:
Habitat:
Historical Period:
Size and Weight:
Diet:
Distinguishing Characteristics:
About Allosaurus:
A bit like an earlier, scaled-down version of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Allosaurus was one of the most common predators of the Jurassic period, a fearsome creature with sharp teeth and a well-muscled body (though it's unclear how fast it was able to run). This dinosaur had an especially prominent head, some of the anatomical features of which (such as the distinctive ridges over the eyes) may have been meant to attract the opposite sex and not to intimidate smaller dinosaurs. (See 10 Facts About Allosaurus and a gallery of Allosaurus pictures.)
As a sign of how common Allosaurus was in the plains and woodlands of modern-day North America, paleontologists have discovered dozens of fossils, more or less intact, many of them in a single quarry in Utah. It's likely that these unfortunate Allosaurus individuals were attracted by various herbivorous dinosaurs mired helplessly in the mud, and became trapped themselves when they stopped for a quick snack.
By the way, in late Jurassic North America, Allosaurus coexisted with another famous dinosaur, the spiked, plated Stegosaurus. While it's unlikely that a hungry Allosaurus adult would have dared to take on a full-grown Stegosaurus, such encounters must have occasionally transpired. See this article for an analysis of who would come out on top in a fight between Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.
