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Cryolophosaurus

By Bob Strauss, About.com

Cryolophosaurus (Wikimedia Commons)

Name:

Cryolophosaurus (Greek for "cold crested lizard"); pronounced CRY-oh-LOAF-oh-SORE-us

Habitat:

Plains of Antarctica

Historical Period:

Early Jurassic (190-185 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 20 feet long; weight unknown

Diet:

Meat

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Horizontal crest on top of head

About Cryolophosaurus:

You might think a dinosaur that lived in Antarctica would have needed a thick coat of fur (or feathers), but you have to remember that in the early Jurassic period, Antarctica had a temperate climate--perhaps not as hot as regions further north, but nowhere near the sub-freezing cold of today.

Besides its unusual habitat, Cryolophosaurus stands out for two reasons: it was a very early carnosaur (a type of theropod, or two-legged, carnivorous dinosaur), predating others of its kind by tens of millions of years, and it had a strange crest atop its head that ran from ear to ear, rather than from front to back, like a pompadour. That's why Cryolophosaurus was informally dubbed Elvisaurus (after singer Elvis Presley) when it was first discovered.

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