Theropod dinosaur — Allosaurus fragilis

Geologic period: Late Jurassic — Kimmeridgian

Age: Approximately 152 million years ago in the Smithsonian Deep Time interpretation.

Feeding: Carnivorous.

Locomotion: Bipedal terrestrial locomotion.

Body plan: Large bipedal theropod with a powerful skull, serrated teeth, grasping forelimbs and large hind limbs.

Evidence: Skull, teeth and limb anatomy are direct fossil evidence. Specific hunting behavior is reconstructed.

Why it matters: Allosaurus represents one of the major large-predator lineages of Jurassic ecosystems before tyrannosaurs became dominant much later.

Plain Language Identity: A large predatory theropod dinosaur of the Late Jurassic.

What You Are Looking At: Fossil skeletal material from Allosaurus fragilis.

Defense Or Attack: Serrated teeth, jaws and clawed forelimbs were involved in prey capture and processing.

Ecosystem: Late Jurassic Morrison Formation floodplains.

Formation: Morrison Formation — Brushy Basin Member for documented Smithsonian material.

Find Location: Colorado, United States.

Preservation: Original fossil skeletal material.

Open Questions: Avoid describing detailed pack-hunting behavior as fact without specimen-specific evidence.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3451298; https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/david-h-koch-hall-fossils-deep-time

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; historic taxonomy retained where relevant; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Allosaurus fragilis

Evidence / representation: comparative_exact_taxon_visual

comparative_exact_taxon_visual

Jurassic Giants: Size, Teeth, Armor and Survival.

Media license: CC0

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en