Dilophosaurus – less of a frilly, venom-spitting lizard than we thought

When people think of the Mesozoic, most people think of dinosaurs. Rightfully so: dinosaurs were major components of terrestrial ecosystems for almost all of the Mesozoic. Dinosaurs are charismatic; people are naturally fascinated by them, especially iconic taxa like Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Ankylosaurus. One of the big questions in dinosaur paleontology, however, is what allowed this successful increase in diversity and body size throughout their reign. We know from the global fossil rec