Type Species: Monolophosaurus jiangi
Classification: Dinosauria – Saurischia – Theropoda - Tetanurae
Time Period: Middle Jurassic
Location: China
Diet: Carnivore
Monolophosaurus is named for the single crest atop its skull. This medium-sized predator reached about eighteen feet in length and stood six feet tall at the hips. It had sharp, serrated teeth and a large but skinny head. Its remains were found in fossil rocks containing traces of water, so it may have hunted along lake shores or in coastal regions. Its single crest began on the midline of its snout and continued over the top of its skull to the frontal bones. The top of the crest ran parallel to the upper jaw edge. The frontal bones didn’t contribute to the crest, and they’re unique among theropods in that they have a combined rectangular rather than triangular shape, due to the posterior position of the crest’s rear. Though it had a crest, it wasn’t closely related to the dilophosaurids; in fact, its skeletal anatomy is more closely related to advanced ‘stiff-tailed’ theropods such as Allosaurus. Monolophosaurus may have hunted in packs to take down the sauropods of its day, such as Abrosaurus or Omeisaurus, though pack hunting for this theropod has no evidence in the fossil record; this theory derives from the fact that many early, mid-sized tetanurans such as Allosaurus did, indeed, hunt in packs.
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| a pair of Monolophosaurus stalk an ichthyosaur graveyard on a southern Laurasian beach |
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