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Dilophosaur Venom?
Topic Started: Aug 25 2011, 01:15 PM (3,213 Views)
Ànraich
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Dracontes
Aug 31 2011, 02:41 PM
Re: Piscivory
That Dilopho' could eat fish I won't argue. However, I won't say it was an exclusive fish-eater. As many a theropod it was probably a generalist when it came to small game.
According to its Wiki page Dilopho' was found in Arizona in Sinemurian (Early Jurassic) strata. Here are a few pertinent paleogeographic maps from http://cpgeosystems.com
http://cpgeosystems.com/namJ195.jpg
http://cpgeosystems.com/ColoPlatJurNav-Kayenta.jpg
The animal lived in a fairly arid environment which probably means it wouldn't pass up any opportunity to eat.

@Parasky: Carnivorous theropods didn't do a lot of manipulation of their food. They just ripped a nice bite sized chunk out and swallowed it whole. In fact, it's the same for hypercarnivorous mammals today: the lips get in the way of processing food. However as mammals tend to be less thrifty with water they still need a good seal around the mouth.
A big yawn would be as serviceable as a way to flash those chompers ;)

Do reptiles yawn? I've never seen one do it before...

On a note related to the thread, I agree that it probably did not feed exclusively on fish. And salmon are the primary example of fish returning to a regular spawning point. Most fish do that, from what I understand that's what separated early fish ancestors from the other organisms living at the time; they could actually remember things like where they go to spawn. Anyways, fish aren't really that great of a food source if you're a large theropod. You'd have to catch them all day just to feel full, and they're pretty lean as far as calories and nutrients are concerned. I imagine Dilopho standing on the edge of a river eating big gulps of fish and whatever small animals it can catch in/by the river.
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>.< That's not what I mean. I said that it was the only site I could find that had information of some kind on where dilo lived (habitat-wise).

I wasn't looking for a picture!!!!!!!!!!! Just the habitat!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I looked at wiki, and it said nothing about the habitat.
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naruacool723
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Quote:
 
Anyways, fish aren't really that great of a food source if you're a large theropod. You'd have to catch them all day just to feel full, and they're pretty lean as far as calories and nutrients are concerned. I imagine Dilopho standing on the edge of a river eating big gulps of fish and whatever small animals it can catch in/by the river.


No nutrients?!!! Fish are full of proteins, and a predator needs proteins if it's to catch the fish anyway.

And also, dilopho was not a very "large" theropod. Probably just a bit smaller than an RV. But small animals are a possibility.

*BONNNNGGG!!!!!*

I GOT IT!!!!!!!! It waited for animals to come down to the river, take a drink, and then it would attack. Catching it by surprise would mean less injury.
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naruacool723
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I just read a book about prehistoric life. On the page where it talks about ceratosaurs (This book is old enough to be from before the time when it was discovered that ceratosaurs and ceolophysiods are not the same, but not really old) they show a dilophosaurus. On the fact box, where it lists the habitat, it says that dilo lived in "Scrubland, and maybe near lakes". Where it lists the diet, it says "Meat, possibly fish". It even acknowledges the presence of the kink in the jaw, which is what lots of other early ceolophysoids had, like one of my favorite dinosaurs of all, coelophysis.

But one thing still confuses me: If dilophosaurus was the biggest theropod of its area, and it ate small animals, then which theropod was the main predator of other dinosaurs? That's quite diffrent from most other ages in the mesozoic, where the main predators are big.
Edited by naruacool723, Sep 3 2011, 10:47 AM.
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trex841
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that may have been other, non-theropod carnavores in that era.

also, just a bit of friendly advice, you might want to avoid multipule posts by editing them all into one.
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naruacool723
Sep 3 2011, 08:46 AM
>.< That's not what I mean. I said that it was the only site I could find that had information of some kind on where dilo lived (habitat-wise).

I wasn't looking for a picture!!!!!!!!!!! Just the habitat!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I looked at wiki, and it said nothing about the habitat.
And that site happens to be inaccurate. As I mentioned before, both the information and the picture belong in an archive.
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