Allosaurus was a carnivorous (meat eating) dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic period and early Cretaceous period, between approximately 154 million and 135 million years ago. It was a very large animal - adults may have grown up to 39 feet (12 meters) long, and could have weighed nearly 2 tons.
Fossils of Allosaurus have been found in North America, Africa and Australia, and in some areas at least, it seems to have been quite a common carnivore. The very first fossil of Allosaurus that was found was, at first, incorrectly described as a "petrified horse hoof", and it was only later, with the benefit of hindsight, and after other fossils had been found, that it was realized that this fossil was in fact the caudal vertebra (tail bone) of a dinosaur! Othniel C. Marsh, one of the great fossil hunters of the 19th century, published the first description of Allosaurus in 1877.
Fossil
Today there is some debate about Allosaurus' lifestyle. Some scientists believe that Allosaurus may have been too large and heavy to chase down prey, and therefore probably got most of its meat by scavenging (for example, scavenging the carcasses of animals killed by other carnivorous dinosaurs). Other scientists however have formed that view that, despite its large size, Allosaurus might actually have been surprisingly agile and could perhaps even have hunted in packs. Scientists of the later view therefore believe that it was quite possible for Allosaurus to be able to bring down large herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus (also known as Brontosaurus) and Diplodocus.
By S. Tanna. Discover more about Allosaurus at http://www.dinosaurjungle.com/dinosaur_species_allosaurus.php
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