Venom-Spitting Dinosaur In 'Jurassic Park' Had Bird-Like Characteristics, Study Finds

A comprehensive analysis of Dilophosaurus fossils is shedding light on what the creatures really looked like. Contrary to its depiction in "Jurassic Park", Dilophosaurus dinosaurs actually had characteristics in common with birds.

In the Jurassic Park movie, the Dilophosaurus was a small, venom-spitting dinosaur with the intimidating frills around its neck. For a long time, scientists knew very little about the Dilophosaurus but, they did know that there were inaccuracies in how they were depicted in the movie. For instance, the Dilophosaurus actually did not have the iconic frills around their necks and they were not venom-spitting creatures.

Further, they were not small, lizard-like creatures. In fact, with the creatures reaching 20 feet in length, the Dilophosaurus was actually the largest land animal in North America during the Early Jurassic period.

Through a comprehensive analysis of some of the most complete Dilophosaurus fossils, two researchers are shedding light on the true characteristics of the poorly-understood creatures.

One of their findings is that contrary to early research, which suggested that the Dilophosaurus had weak jaws and a fragile crest, they actually had strong jaws that had powerful muscles.

This suggests that unlike its depiction in "Jurassic Park" as a slender dinosaur that subdues its prey using venom, the Dilophosaurus was actually a predator that could easily have taken on large prey using its powerful jaws.

The researchers also found that some of the bones had air pockets.

"They’re kind of like bubble wrap – the bone is protected and strengthened," study lead author Adam Marsh said, in a news release from the University of Texas in Austin.

These air pockets likely allowed the creature to grow bigger without becoming too heavy. It was also a characteristic present in many modern birds and, they use it in various ways, such as to lighten their weight for flying, to help stretch their skin for mating rituals, or to make booming sounds. Modern frigate birds, for instance, use air sacs to inflate their throat pouches in a show of display to attract females.

In the case of the Dilophosaurus, the spaces in the crest might have been attached to similar air sacs, which could mean they had the capability for such displays as well. However, further studies will be needed to confirm the hypothesis.

The researchers also found, using an algorithm, that there is an evolutionary gap between the Dilophosaurus and its closest dinosaur relatives, suggesting that they have many other relatives that haven't yet been discovered.

Crested dinosaurs such as the Dilophosaurus were only around for tens of millions of years before they were replaced by other species. By that time, head crests were much less common, possibly because dinosaurs started developing feathers, which were more effective displays.

That said, understanding the famous Dilophosaurus is an important piece in the study of the theropods of the early Jurassic period. The study, published in the Journal of Paleontology, added valuable insight to finally understand the little known dinosaur, some 80 years after they were first discovered.