Temporal range: Late Jurassic
Currie & Zhao
Monolophosaurus (meaning one-crested lizard) was a medium-sized meat-eater from China that lived during the Jurassic Period. It had lots of sharp teeth and a big, skinny head. It also had one feature not found on any other meat-eating dinosaur - a long, bony ridge that went from its nose back to the top of its head. The area where Monolophosaurus was discovered showed signs that it was sometimes covered with water, so it is possible that this dinosaur lived on the shore of a lake or sea. The remains of the type of Monolophosaurus preserve a complete skull and partial postcranium (Zhao & Currie, 1994). In fact, these remains are amongst the most complete from the Middle Jurassic of China (Rauhut, 2003). A recent phylogenetic analysis (Rauhut, 2003) places Monolophosaurus as the basalmost member of the Allosauroidea.