The first Dilophosaurus skeleton was discovered in Tuba City, Northern Arizona, USA, in 1942. It was excavated by the University of California Museum of Paleontology and named as a new species of Megalosaurus (M. wetherilli) by paleontologist Samuel Welles in 1954. The skeleton of a larger and more complete individual was discovered in 1964, and included a complete skull that showed that the dinosaur had a pair of crests on its head – these were broken off and missing from the original 1942 skeleton.

Dilophosaurus is a medium-sized two-legged carnivorous dinosaur about the size of a van. It has a long tail and long arms with three-fingered hands and sharp claws, as our Dilophosaurus toy depicts. It has a noticeable notch in the tooth row of the upper jaw, and a striking pair of decorative crests run along the top of its head.