Cryolophosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids CryolophosaurusTemporal range: Lower Jurassic
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Cryolophosaurus
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Cryolophosaurus is a theropod dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic period. It is the only theropod to be found in Antarctica. Cryolophosaurus was discovered in the Jurassic Hanson Formation in the Transantarctic Mountains. The find of this dinosaur was significant because it proves that the dinosaurs lived on all continents and that high latitude climates were tolerated by dinosaurs at that time.
Cryolophosaurus is also significant because it is the oldest known tetanuran from any continent: it is the only one from the early Jurassic.
Cryolophosaurus had a large crest on the top of the skull, above the eyes. It extends upwards from the skull.
Cryolophosaurus was found about 650 kilometres (400 mi) from the South Pole but then it was about 1,000 km (621 mi) or so farther north. Also found were the remains of Glacialisaurus (a large basal sauropodomorph), a crow-sized pterosaur, synapsids, and another unknown theropod. There are also the remains of many plant genera around the same age as fossils of Cryolophosaurus, proving that dense plant matter had once grown on Antarctica's surface before it drifted southward.
Images for kids
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Reconstructed skeleton, Ohio State University
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Cryolophosaurus restored with scales
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A more modern reconstruction of the 'Cold-Crested Lizard'
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Reconstructed skull
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Reconstruction of the head of Cryolophosaurus
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Fossil pelvis of Cryolophosaurus. The loop at the widest part of the pubis is large compared to later theropods.
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Restoration of the head crest
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Juvenile Cryolophosaurus teeth
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Cryolophosaurus left tibia (upper) and left tibia and fibula (lower) with calcaneum and astragalus
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Restoration of a Cryolophosaurus in its environment
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See also
In Spanish: Cryolophosaurus ellioti para niños
