Page 77 - DINOSOUR ATLAS

australia and antarctica

Antarctica

When dinosaurs Were alive, Antarctica was a warm, ice-free place, lying
farther north than now. Cryolophosaurus, an Early Jurassic carnivorous
dinosaur of 195 million years ago, and older Triassic reptiles such
as Lystrosaurus were found here in the 1990s, in the vicinity of Mount R o s s I c e S h e l f
Kirkpatrick. They had lived beside a river on a low-lying woodland Mount Kirkpatrick
4,528 m (14,855 ft)
plain. Long after they ceased to exist, the Earth’s temperature cooled,
Glacier
glaciers spread, and the land was pushed up to form today’s ice-capped Beardmore
mountains of Antarctica.

, crYoloPHosaurus sKeleton A N T A R C T I C A
An almost complete Cryolophosaurus
skull, together with other parts u site location
of its skeleton, was found
high up near the summit Mount Kirkpatrick lies close to the Beardmore
of Mount Kirkpatrick. Glacier, one of the world’s largest valley glaciers.
The skull, which is
similar to that of
Allosaurus, measures Crest of bone
25 in (65 cm) long, protruding from
the top of its skull
and its jaws hold many was about 8 in
backward-pointing teeth (20 cm) long
with serrated edges—the teeth
of a predatory meat-eater.

crYoloPHosaurus .
The distinguishing feature of
Cryolophosaurus was its bony head crest and
short horns that grew between its eyes. The crest may
have been used during courtship displays to attract a mate
or to warn rivals away. The bone was thin and fragile, so the
crest would not have functioned as a weapon.

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