Jurassic June: Dryptosaurus

Name: Dryptosaurus (Drip-Toe-Sawr-Us)

Name Means: "Tearing lizard"

Dryptosaurus was a bipedal carnivorous therapod that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period (approximately 84-66 million years ago). This dinosaur is in fact a distant cousin of the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex. It grew to about 25 feet in length and weighed about 1.5 tons.

It was first discovered by paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 and was one of the first North American dinosaurs to be named. However, it was originally named Laelaps, after a dog from Greek mythology. Unfortunately for Cope, this name already belonged to an existing species of parasitic mite. The name was then changed to Dryptosaurus by Othniel Charles Marsh, which probably annoyed Cope since the two paleontologists were fierce rivals. This dinosaur has also become synonymous with a famous painting by paleoartist Charles Knight, which depicts a pair of Dryptosaurs fighting.

#JurassicJune #paleonotolgy #dinosaurs #education #learning #science