Allosaurus
...backNot all names are imaginative
- Name: Allosaurus
- Pronounced: AL-oh-SOR-us
- Period: Late Jurassic
- Name means: Different lizard
- Length: 9.5m (31 ft)
- Weight: 1.5 tons
- Location: Europe, North America
Smaller than a tyrannosaurus, at a length 9.5m, Allosaurus was nevertheless a fearsome predator. With it's mighty jaws, strong arms and three sharp claws it would be more than a match for most other dinosaurs it would encounter.
Many well preserved skeletons have been discovered, allowing paleontologists to study Allosaurus in detail.
In common with other large predators, Allosaurus grew quickly but rarely reached old age. Being a carnivore in the Jurassic period was a dangerous life.
"The name 'Different Lizard' is derived from the fact that Allosaurus had a different backbone to other dinosaurs. Or possibly that the person naming it was short of ideas."