Name:
Tutor:
Course:
Date:
The Allosaurus dinosaur
The Allosaurus dinosaur is a member of the dinosaur group called the Theropods.The Theropods were meat eating dinosaurs that walked on their two back legs. The name Allosaurus means ‘different lizard’. The Allosaurus is believed to have lived about 163 to 144 million years ago (Britannica 86).This period is referred to as the late Jurassic period. It had a life span of 25 years. Most of the fossils of the Allosaurus where found in North America, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, south Dacota and Wyoming (Britannica 86). The Allosaurus reached up to 39 feet (12 meters) in length, stood about 15 feet (4.5 meters) tall, and weighed up to 2 tones. It had a massive head that measured about 3 feet (1 meter) long with it being supported by a short thick neck together with two horns sticking out of its head. It possessed sharp teeth that were curved and had saw like edges. The Allosaurus had sharp claws on the three toes of each hind foot and long grasping claws on the three toes of each front foot. To cap it all it had along, strong and heavy tail that was mainly used to maintain balance.
The Allosaurus is believed to be a meat-eating dinosaur that preyed on the plant eating dinosaurs. Its sharp teeth made it fit for meat eating. Its main pray is believed to be the Stegosaurus dinosaur. The Allosaurus hunted in cooperative packs according to some scientists. By hunting in packs they would bring down very large pray. Although sometimes they hunted alone and when doing this they would hide behind thick bushes and pounce on the pray.It is believed that the Allosaurus reproduced by lying of eggs. Like many dinosaurs the Allosaurus regularly shed and replaced its teeth. The teeth were up to 4 inches in length and as they moved to the back of the mouth they would become shorter and more curved and accompanied by a savage bite. The teeth were mainly used to rip of flesh from bone. Their jaws could also expand up and wide which helped them to swallow large chucks of food. It is believed that the power behind Allosaurus' bite was mainly due to its reign forced skull and its neck. Another important adaptation was the possession of a well-developed sense of smell for sniffing its pray. In the hearing sense it possessed poor sense of hearing with only low frequency being detected. In terms of vision the Allosaurus had its eyes in the front of its head facing forward so as to be able to estimate it’s pray distance and time to attack.
The Allosaurus main habitat is the lowlands and the plains. This was mainly because it was easier to hunt in these regions. It is also believed that they also existed in the wetlands. Their environment had seasons of rainfall accompanied by periods of drought. During their existence the Allosaurus coexisted with other dinosaurs which include the Torvosaurus and Ceratosaurus.The gigantic Sauropods which were mainly their pray also co-existed with them at the same time. With their intelligence being rated highly among the dinosours, the Allosaurus would sometimes scavange on other dinosaurs’ kills. They were characterized with fast speeds compared to its pray hence they had the upper hand in hunting.

Cited works
Britannica Student Encyclopedia (A-Z Set), Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc
Daniel Cohen, Allosaurus ,Minnesota Capstone press,1993 (print)

Bottom of Form