Allosaurus! It’s always been a bit of an underappreciated dinosaur, not because it’s not well-known

Allosaurus! It’s always been a bit of an underappreciated dinosaur, not because it’s not well-known or doesn’t have enough exposure but because it’s usually seen and used in media as “Backup T. rex”, just another big scary predator. Allosaurus actually has a whole bunch of strange and unique features that distinguish it from other large theropods, like how massively wide its jaws can stretch, its strangely small teeth, and its huge arms and claws.Another interesting thing about Allosaurus is the fact that there are three named species of it, with several potential others kinda bouncing around in poorly-defined limbo. This sort of diversity within a genus is something we see all the time in the modern day but is badly represented in palaeontology because of how rare fossils really are. It’s rare to find more than a few individuals of genus, let alone multiple different species of the same genus like in Allosaurus.So, I thought it might be kinda neat to show off this species diversity of Allosaurus in a field guide style illustration! Putting all three next to each other makes it easier to compare the differences between these three, especially in the skulls. The older A. jimmadseni has a longer, lower snout, A. europeus has more triangular, arched crests, and the youngest species, A. fragilis, has a much boxier, more robust skull shape. The colour patterns are varied yet follow a similar theme, although this is pure speculation.So yeah, there’s the three species of Allosaurus! A unique and very interesting theropod that deserves more recognition for what makes it so special. -- source link

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