Science Art: Allosaurus Size Comparison



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T. rex gets all the credit, but Allosaurus – all the various species and sizes – was really the large fierce predator to look out for in the Mesozoic era. Some paleontologists call them “wolves of the Jurassic”. Unlike today’s wolves, Allosaurus weighed between 2 and 5 tons and used its massive head like a serrated hatchet:

…attacking open-mouthed, slashing flesh with its teeth, and tearing it away without splintering bones….Another possibility for handling large prey is that theropods like Allosaurus were “flesh grazers” which could take bites of flesh out of living sauropods that were sufficient to sustain the predator so it would not have needed to expend the effort to kill the prey outright.

This graphic was screen-grabbed from "Alosizes.svg" by Wikimedia Commons user Marmelad.

Size comparison between every allosaurid with a human:

  • Epanterias amplexus: 12 Metres (40 Feet)
  • Largest definitive Allosaurus fragilis: 9,7 Metres (32 Feet)
  • Average Allosaurus fragilis: 8,5 Metres (28 Feet)
  • "Big Al": 7.5 Metres (25 Feet)
  • Human: 1.8 Metres (6 Feet)

I think this illustration should simply be titled "Run, you fool!"

1 Comment

  1. I, too, think that dude is way too chill. It is the wave that pushes him over the edge. If he was just standing there, I could pretend he didn’t see the pack of hungry dinosaurs sneaking up on him. But, he is all ‘hidey ho, neighbor’ and that is just weird.

    I’d also say this illustration subtly reinforces the idea that dinosaurs and humans existed at the same time. I cringe when I see science textbooks with this sort of juxtaposition. If you really want to help me visualize size, why not put a scale (feet preferred, meters accepted) on the illustration? Or, even better, why not include the size of their suspected prey so we can better judge if they were true Chuck Norris style bad asses or just bullies picking on smaller, weaker dinosaurs.

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