Dilophosaurus Facts for Kids
die-LOAF-oh-SORE-us · its name means “two-crested lizard”
A meat-eater with two thin crests on top of its head.
Dilophosaurus had two thin crests on its head. It walked on two legs. It lived a very long time ago in Arizona.
Dilophosaurus was one of the biggest meat-eaters of its time. Two thin, rounded crests ran along the top of its head. Its fossils were first found in northern Arizona.
Dilophosaurus lived early in the Jurassic, long before T. rex. Scientists have found no sign that it had a neck frill or spat poison, as it does in films. Its thin crests were probably for show.
Every dinosaur number is scientists’ best guess from bones, so each one says where it came from.
How big was Dilophosaurus?
Dilophosaurus in numbers
| Length (nose to tail) | 23 ft7 m1about; scientists' estimate |
|---|---|
| Height at the hips | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 851 lb386 kg1more than; scientists' estimate |
| When it lived | 174 to 201 million years ago174 to 201 million years ago2the Early Jurassic |
| What it ate | other animals and fish |
| Fossils found in | northern Arizona |
| What kind | a theropod: a two-legged dinosaur, the group birds came from |
Wow!
- Its name means two-crested lizard.
- It had no neck frill and did not spit poison.
- It was first found in northern Arizona.
🦴 Dilophosaurus’s bones
Books about Dilophosaurus, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about Dilophosaurus for free.
Where was the land back then?
The continents were in different places when Dilophosaurus lived, 174 to 201 million years ago. Open Planet Earth, pick Drifting continents, and slide back in time to see where the land was.
Its neighbours in time
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, fossils of the 2024 National Fossil Day artwork, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Jurassic dinosaurs, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, Dilophosaurus (Q271710), checked 30 October 2026.
To read more: the Natural History Museum’s Dino Directory (see also, not copied).