Allosaurus

Allosaurus ("strange lizard") was the most common predator of the Late Jurassic period and the most dangerous. Like most meat-eating dinosaurs, its jaws were filled with serrated teeth shaped like blades. Computer studies suggest that Allosaurus attacked by using its upper jaw like a battle axe to hack at its victim, then it used its lower jaw to bite out a slice of meat.

It might have been easy for an Allosaurus to kill a fairly defenseless dinosaur like Camptosaurus, but Stegosaurus could certainly put up a fight, and the sauropods (giant long-necks) were so huge that they could easily crush even an adult Allosaurus.

We know that Allosaurus led a dangerous life. The Allosaurus on display at the Smithsonian Institute has a smashed shoulder blade, many broken ribs, and a lower jaw so damaged that paleontologists didn't realize it was an Allosaurus jaw for over 100 years! But these were tough dinosaurs: Their bones show that they lived long enough for their wounds to heal.

More real-life information: Allosaurus at Wikipedia.

Jurassic Park Series
Allosaurus has only appeared once in the original movie, and only as a skull (near the entrance to the tech room). However, it does appears in some games and toy lines.

Jurassic Park inspired games

 * Allosaurus first appeared in the PSX/Sega Saturn game of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Here, they were shown as living in caves near the Human Camp in large numbers and would attack the player's Tyrannosaurus moving through the area. They bear a similar orange/brown striped pattern to the later appearance in Operation Genesis. It's possible that the ones in The Lost World are males. The Allosaurs existence in this game might be the reason why Giganotosaurus is not featured here, although the Giganotosaurus is seen in Velociraptor's gallery.


 * Allosaurus also appears in the game Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.


 * Allosaurus is in the video game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis as a four-star large carnivore. Females appear to be orange to brown in color and they seem to spent most of the time stalking in the dense woodlands. Even though it is not quite fast enough to catch prey such as Dryosaurus, it will ambush and kill them if it can seize an opportunity. It is also notable that unlike the other large carnivores, who will fight each other, Allosaurus is hunted by other large carnivores, unless it is on a rampage, has been modded, or is stressed. It should be noted that in the game it does not kill large sauropods while in reality it did. It is also somewhat more robust than the actual animal.


 * Allosaurus is featured in the DVD game Jurassic Park: Explorer. A player earns a dinosaur when he/she wins a minigame, when the earned dinosaur is an Allosaurus this video will be shown. The Allosaurus in this game was actually, a recolored Tyrannosaurus. Presumably when the game was made, the developers did not have enough time to create an Allosaurus, so they reused a T. rex to portray the dinosaur. This also happened with the Albertosaurus.


 * Allosaurus is one of the available dinosaurs on the IOS application, Jurassic Park: Builder.

Comics
Allosaurus appears late in the series, in issue four, of Jurassic Park: Redemption. It’s among the many dinosaurs that were released by Ludlow on the unsuspecting town of Glen Rose, Texas. The Allosaurs attacked the vehicle that Dr. Alan Grant is in, and before it can catch Grant it’s lassoed by Dr. Backer (which is probably an intended nod to the classic dinosaur film Valley of Gwangi.)

Allosaurus appeared in the first and fifth of Jurassic Park: Dangerous Games.

Toy lines

 * Allosaurus appears in The Lost World Series 1 toy line with a Dino-Damage Medical Center and has 4 removable parts. Allosaurus is often sold separately by some figure collectors. It bears an orange/brown striped pattern, similar to the PSX/Saturn The Lost World's Allosaurus.


 * An Allosaurus prototype was made for the 2011 JP toyline, complete with a Dino Damage wound which resembles Isla Sorna. This paticular mold is unique featuring more articulation than any Jurassic Park dinosaur figure ever made. It also appears to be inspired by Papo's own Allosaurus.