Jurassic World informatics Part 24: Indominus Rex!!

Height: 5.5 meters (18 feet)
Length: 12-15 meters (40-50 feet), could possibly be longer

Indominus rex is a new attraction in Jurassic World. The hybrid was created by combining the genetic traits of multiple species. Some of the known species that were used in the creation of the hybrid are Carnotaurus, Giganotosaurus, Majungasaurus, and Rugops, as well as modern animals.

InGen's chief scientist, Dr. Henry Wu, was fascinated with the possibility to create entirely new species by gene mixing, ever since he learned that the inclusion of frog DNA had given the dinosaurs the ability to switch gender. In 1997, he created a hybrid plant.

Years after its opening, the success of the park Jurassic World started to wane and the investors got worried. Masrani's Chief Operations Officer described the 2013 success as merely acceptable. "The world has seen what we have to offer, but they aren't in awe as they once used to be. We need to change that. You can't expect the world's greatest theme park to merely rely on the same attractions. We need to be proactive, thinking of bigger and better things."

Masrani decided to expand Henry Wu's work on hybrids and create a new dinosaur that was bigger, more intelligent and more dangerous than any other dinosaur in the park. Development of the hybrid began in 2012 in the Hammond Creation Lab. Upon Simon Masrani's announcement of the creation of the genetic hybrid, Indominus rex, online ticket sales for Jurassic World skyrocketed.


The hybrid could run up to speeds of 30 mph with its roar alone reaching 140db-160db, as loud as the liftoff and landing of a Boeing 747 airplane. Indominus rex had osteoderms across its body and horn-like decorations above its eye orbits, traits that originated from the abelisaurs used in its creation. It also had well-developed forelimbs complete with opposable thumbs that I. rex used to grab prey and get in quadrupedal stances.

Though they do hunt for survival purposes, Owen Grady, a Velociraptor trainer, says he has exhibited the hybrid hunting for sport. However, since the I. rex who had exhibited these traits had a rough upbringing this behavior may not be natural

Jurassic World informatics Part 23: Mosasaurus

Name meaning: "Meuse Lizard"
Length: 60 feet
Weight: 15 tons

Mosasaurus was a genus of large aquatic, carnivorous, aquatic lizards, somewhat resembling flippered crocodiles, with elongated heavy jaws. The genus existed during the Maastrichtian age of the Cretaceous period (Mesozoic era), around 70–66 million years ago in the area of modern Western Europe and North America. The name means "Meuse lizard", as the first specimen was found near the Meuse River (Latin Mosa + Greek sauros lizard).

Mosasaurus means 'Meuse Lizard', referring to the river near which it was first found. It fed on such prey as seabirds, sharks, large fish, plesiosaurs and even other mosasaurs.


Mosasaurus was among the last mosasaur genera, and among the largest. The skull was more robustly built than in other mosasaurs, as the mandibles articulated very tightly with the skull. It had a deep, barrel-shaped body, and with its fairly large eyes, poor binocular vision, and poorly developed olfactory bulbs, experts believe that Mosasaurus lived near the ocean surface, where it preyed on fish, turtles, ammonites, possibly smaller mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. The animal remained near the surface and although it was able to dive, it evidentially did not venture into deeper waters.

The skull of Mosasaurus tapered off into a short, conical process, and the jaws were armed with massive, sharp, conical teeth. Their paddle-like limbs had five digits in front and four in back. The trunk terminated in a strong tail which, together with serpentine undulation of the whole body, contributed far more to the animal's locomotion than did the limbs.

Jurassic World informatics Part 22: Edmontosaurus

Name meaning: "Lizard from Edmonton"
Length: 13 meters (43 ft)
Weight: 5 tons

Edmontosaurus was a large herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period. It's name means "Edmonton lizard" after the location of its discovery (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada).

Edmontosaurus is part of the Hadrosauridae, or duckbill family of dinosaurs, who are known for their amazing teeth - or as paleontologists call it, their "dental battery." On each side of the jaw are three rows of sixty or more perfectly interlocking teeth - that's 720 per mouth, compared to thirty-two in an adult human! Not only did Edmontosaurus have a lot of teeth, but when one fell out, another from inside its jaw would take its place! Teeth like these are called "evergrowing".


Edmontosaurus ate plants and had to be on constant alert for predators such as Tyrannosaurus and Dromaeosaurus. Edmontosaurus could not outrun any of the meat-eaters and had to rely on outmaneuvering them - like a crafty football player - and traveling in large herds, where there was safety in numbers.

Jurassic World informatics Part 21: Baryonyx

Name meaning: "Heavy Claw"
Length: 10 meters (32 feet)
Weight: 1.7 ton

Baryonyx is a Spinosaur, a member of the same group as the northern African dinosaurs Spinosaurus and Suchomimus. Baryonyx was smaller than these relatives but was still a big predator. It was 10 meters (33 feet) long and 2.5 meters (8 feet) high at the hips. It had a long, narrow snout filled with teeth that were cone-shaped - a real difference from the blade-shaped teeth of typical meat-eating dinosaurs.


Because of the shape of its snout and teeth (both of which are similar to those of modern crocodiles and alligators), some paleontologists think that Baryonyx ate lots of fish. Others, however, think it ate other dinosaurs. In fact, both ideas are supported by the original Baryonyx specimen from Surry. In the guts of this dinosaur, palaeontologists found the partially digested scales of large fish as well as the partially digested bones of a young Iguanodon. This strongly supports the idea that Baryonyx ate both fish and dinosaurs. However the concept of Baryonyx suitable to diet of eating other dinosaurs is only suggested that it fed off the carrion, implying it was a scavenger to some extent.

Jurassic World informatics Part 20: Dimorphodon

Name meaning: "two-form tooth""
Length: 1 metre (3.3 feet)
Wingspan: 1.45 metre (4.6 feet)

Dimorphodon was a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from the early Jurassic Period. It was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1859. Its name is relevant to the fact that it had two distinct types of teeth in its jaws - which is comparatively rare among reptiles.


The body structure of Dimorphodon displays many "primitive" characteristics, such as, according to Owen, a very small brain-pan[citation needed] and proportionally short wings. The first phalanx in its flight finger is only slightly longer than its lower arm. The neck was short but strong and flexible and may have had a membraneous pouch on the underside. The vertebrae had pneumatic foramina, openings through which the air sacks could reach the hollow interior. Dimorphodon had an adult body length of 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, with a 1.45 metre (4.6 ft) wingspan. The tail of Dimorphodon was long and consisted of thirty vertebrae. The first five or six were short and flexible but the remainder gradually increased in length and were stiffened by elongated vertebral processes. The terminal end of the tail may have borne a Rhamphorhynchus-like tail vane, although no soft tissues have yet been found of Dimorphodon to confirm this speculation.

Jurassic World informatics Part 19: Apatosaurus

Name meaning: "Deceptive Lizard"
Height: 9-12 meters (30-40 feet)
Length: 20-27 meters (65-89 feet)
Weight: 18 tons

Apatosaurus is one of the most famous of the giant Jurassic plant-eaters. It was a huge, long-necked dinosaur, longer than two school buses and weighing as much as 7-13 elephants. For years, an Apatosaurus body stood with the head of Camarasaurus on the end of its neck. This was named Brontosaurus and was one of the most popular dinosaurs for many years. Recently, Brontosaurus has received its own genus instead of being an alternative name for the Apatosaurus.

Apatosaurus is a fairly typical member of the diplodocid family - long neck, pillar-like legs, long tapering tail and enormous size. It had, like the other family members, peg-like teeth in a head that seemed very small for such a large creature. Compared to Diplodocus, Apatosaurus has a shorter, thicker neck, and a larger, heavier body. There is much speculation about how much these creatures needed to eat and how such a small head could ingest enough food to fuel such a large body. Some scientists have stated that these huge, small-headed creatures would have needed to eat every waking moment in order to provide enough food to keep such a large body alive. Apatosaurus seemed to have every adaptation needed for continuous eating, including having nostrils on the top of its head, so breathing would not interfere with eating.


In order to facilitate the processing of food, which it could not chew with its teeth. Apatosaurus probably swallowed stones that it kept in a gizzard similar to that found in a chicken. The tough plant fibers would spend time in the gizzard stewing and grinded up by the stones.

Jurassic World informatics Part 18: Ceratosaurus

Name meaning: "Horned Lizard"
Height: 3.5 meters (12 feet)
Length: abt 9 meters (30.5 feet)
Weight: 500 kg (1 ton)

Ceratosaurus was a medium sized carnivore that lived at the same time as the larger Allosaurus, in the Late Jurassic period. However, it also lived some millions of years before the emergence of the successful allosauroids, being of the more primitive four fingered Ceratosauria. What makes it different and distinctive is the large horn on top of its nose and the two horns over its eyes.

About 100 years ago, when it was first discovered, it was one of the most well-known dinosaurs. Another unusual feature is that Ceratosaurus had four fingers on its hands, instead of the more common three among the other large meat-eaters. This is typically an indication that this theropod is relatively primitive, whose ancestral relatives heark back to the earlier times of the Mid Triassic to Mid Jurassic periods when coelophysoideans and ceratosaurians were much more prevalent. Allosaurids and megalosaurian carnosaurs, both kinds tetanurans, were much more advanced, with greater speed and intelligence, as well as the ability in at least allosaurids to form packs.


It is probable that the Ceratosaurus ended up being sidelined by the Allosaurus in North America, as evidenced by the fact that Ceratosaurus is the rarest fossil theropod genus present in the magnificent Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry. It probably became a prowler of the forest, using its terrifying dentition when ambushing smaller Dinosaurs.

Jurassic World informatics Part 17: Ankylosaurus

Name meaning: "Fused Lizard"
Height: 2-3 meters (6-10 feet)
Length: 10-11 meters (33-36 feet)
Weight: 4-6 tons (8,000-12,000 lbs)

Ankylosaurus was like a tank, with lots of thick, bony armor on its body. It also had a nasty weapon, a heavy club on the end of its tail, which it could swing around and smash into an attacking dinosaur. There probably weren't many creatures, even a big Tyrannosaurus rex, who would want to mess with this formidable species.

As a defensive creature, Ankylosaurus was one of nature's most perfect designs. It was almost impervious to being bitten from above and its long, strong tail muscles would have been able to swing its club with great force, however, the tail wasn't too flexible and could only swing 45 degrees in each direction.


There is very little fossil material from this dinosaur - it was apparently the last and largest of this family of armored dinosaurs. Ankylosaurus walked fairly upright on all four legs, carrying its tail off the ground and it is theorized that it would drop to the ground when attacked to use its armor as a shield to cover its legs and underbelly.

Jurassic World informatics Part 16: Corythosaurus

Name meaning: Helmet lizard
Height: 3.6 meters (12 feet)
Length: 9 meters (30 feet)
Weight: 4 tons

Corythosaurus was a hadrosaur dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous period. It is also known as Corinithosaurus. Like other duckbills and some other late Cretaceous plant-eating dinosaurs, Corythosaurus had huge numbers of teeth crammed together into "batteries" forming a single grinding surface on each side of the upper and lower jaws. This allowed the dinosaur to process large amounts of food at once. The hadrosaurines had broad, "ducklike" snouts to cut a wide swathe through the herb layer, while lambeosaurines such as Corythosaurus had narrower snouts and presumably fed more selectively.


The most distinctive feature of the lambeosaurines was the hollow bony crest on top of the head. The size and shape of these crests varied greatly. As a result, different skeletons of Corythosaurus have been identified as belonging to at least seven different species. However, comparison of more than 20 skulls has shown that the crest changes as it grows and differs between the sexes. Only a single species is, therefore, now recognized. The large-crested individuals are thought to be the adult males. They probably used the crest to intimidate others males. The skin covering the crest may have been brightly coloured or patterned, and the hollow within the bone, which was connected to the airway, may have been used to produce distinctive honking calls.

Jurassic World informatics Part 15: Peteranodon

Name meaning: Toothless Wing
Height: 2 meters (6 feet)
Wingspan: 8-10 meters (26-33 feet)
Weight: 25 kilos (55 pounds)

Pteranodon is a massive flying reptile. When it spread its wings, it could reach from the front to the back of a school bus. Just imagine something that big flying around. It did not have feathers, but rather had a basal type of integument along the same lineage that feathers evolved upon called pycnofibers. Pycnofibers were very hair-like in appearance and, like hair, were made of keratin.

Members of the Pterosaur order lived through much of the Mesozoic, some species of Pterosaurs with wingspans close to 11 m (36 feet). Pteranodon males had a wing span of 5 metres (18 feet), while females had a wing span of 3 meters (12 feet). Making it one of the largest Pterosaurs found.


Pteranodon, as you can tell by the translation of its name, had no teeth, something portrayed (it having teeth) in the movie. It probably used the long crest on the back of its head to help it steer while flying. The movement is still some debate about whether these reptiles could actually fly or if they were primarily gliders, but the consensus seems to be that they could take off with little or no wind.

Their diet was fish and scavenged remains of dead marine animals. Quite a few Pteranodon skeletons have been found in Kansas in the central part of the U.S. This would have been the shore of a shallow sea when these creatures were alive, supporting the theory that they were fish eaters.

Jurassic World informatics Part 14: Spinosaurus

Name meaning: Spiny Lizard
Height: 4 meters
Length: 18 meters (60 feet)
Weight: Around 20 tonnes

Spinosaurus was a theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North Africa, from the Albian to early Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous Period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. According to recent estimates, Spinosaurus is the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs, even larger than Tyrannosaurus rex and Giganotosaurus. These estimates suggest that it was around 16 meters (54 feet) in length and up to 9 tons in weight. This genus was first known from a set of Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described in 1915 by German paleontologist and aristocrat Ernst Stromer. These original remains were sadly destroyed in an Allied bombing run over Berlin during World War II, but additional skull material has come to light in recent years. It is unclear whether one or two species are represented in the described fossils. The best-known species is Spinosaurus aegyptiacus from Egypt, although a potential second species named Spinosaurus maroccanus has been discovered in Morocco in recent times.


The skull of Spinosaurus was long and narrow, similar to that of a modern crocodilian. Spinosaurus is known to have eaten fish, and most scientists believe that it hunted both terrestrial and aquatic prey; evidence suggests that it lived both on land and in water as a modern crocodilian does. The distinctive spines of Spinosaurus, which were long extensions of the vertebrae, grew to at least 1.65 meters (5.4 ft) long and were likely to have had skin connecting them, forming a sail-like structure, although some authors have suggested that the spines were covered in fat and formed a hump. Multiple functions have been put forward for this structure, including thermoregulation and display.

Jurassic World informatics Part 13: Compsognathus

Name meaning: Elegant Jaw
Height: 30 cm (12 inches)
Length: 1 meter (3 feet)
Weight: Around 3 kg

Compsognathus, often referred to simply as "Compy", is a chicken-sized coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period (around 150 million years ago). It was first discovered in Germany before the only other specimen to be found was unearthed in France. Compys typically hunt small lizards and insects, but like other opportunistic theropods, will scavenge larger animal carcasses when available.


Compsognathus has a creative attack tactic for their small size. The alpha appears first and confronts the victim, who is surrounded by the other Compys before he/she knows they are coming. While the prey is interacting with the Alpha, or ignoring it, the others will eventually spring and attack the victim, usually overwhelming it. However, there is currently no evidence that Compsognathus hunted in packs, due a shortage of specimens.

Jurassic World informatics Part 12: Mamenchisaurus

Name meaning: Mamenchi Lizard
Height: 14 meters (45 feet)
Length: 35 meters (115 ft)
Weight: 30 tons

Mamenchisaurus is one of the most unique long-necked dinosaurs for a very good reason - it has a really long neck. In fact, it had the longest neck of any creature that ever lived. Stretching [18 metres (59 ft), the neck on Mamenchisaurus was longer than a school bus! The rest of it was just like other members of its family; a long tail, stout legs and really big.

The architecture of the neck of this dinosaur is incredible. It had 19 neck vertebrae, more than any other dinosaur. The vertebrae had long struts running between them that would have limited the ability of Mamenchisaurus to turn its neck too sharply, but it could still reach well up into the trees to feed. This plant-eater had spatula-shaped teeth that seem to have been well designed to chew coarse plant material. This is one feature that makes it different from the members of the Diplodocidae family, which had peg shaped teeth, to which it has been thought to belong. It is now being thought of as possibly part of a group of sauropods unique to Asia. Most of the big Asian sauropods, such as Omeisaurus, had spatulate teeth. In fact, the Asian sauropods, including Mamenchisaurus, seem to share more characteristics with Brachiosaurus than with Diplodocus.


For evidence of this, one needs to look no further than the nose - Mamenchisaurus and other Asian sauropods are very close in evolutionary terms to that of Brachiosaurus. It is also thought that another aspect that these creatures had in common was that they were finding their food high off the ground. Diploducus and Apatosaurus on the other hand were likely feeding on low growing plants.

Jurassic World informatics Part 11: Pachycephalosaurus

Name meaning: "Thick-Headed Lizard"
Height: 2 metres (6 ft)
Length: 5 metres (16 ft)
Weight: 450 kilograms (990 lb)

Pachycephalosaurus is the last, largest, and most famous member of the Pachycephalosauria, or thick-headed dinosaurs. In the 1970s paleontologist Peter Galton proposed that male pachycephalosaurs used their dome heads as battering rams, like Bighorn sheep. The idea caught the public's imagination. In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, you can even see the dome-headed pachycephalosaurs doing head butts (of course, these are genetically engineered dinosaurs and not necessarily exactly the same ones that lived 70 million years ago!). Like other pachycephalosaurids, Pachycephalosaurus was a bipedal omnivore with an extremely thick skull roof. It possessed long hindlimbs and small forelimbs. The thick skull domes of Pachycephalosaurus and related genera gave rise to the hypothesis that pachycephalosaurs used their skulls in intra-species combat.


But by the 1990s, scientists began to question Galton's head butting theory. It was pointed out that animals who do butt heads have a wide surface area where the heads come into contact to prevent "head slippage." This happens when two animals butt heads at high speed and do not hit straight on. The risk breaking their necks when their heads suddenly snap to one side. Pachycephalosaurus has a domed, or rounded, head, which would minimize surface contact and therefore increase the risk of head slippage. This throws doubt on the idea of any high speed head-butting between pachycephalosaurs, but it does not exclude "head-pushing" of "head-ramming" against non-pachycephalosaurs.

Jurassic World informatics Part 10: Parasaurolophus

Name meaning: Near Crested Lizard
Height: 13 feet (4 meters)
Length: 33 feet
Weight: 4-5 tons

Parasaurolophus is a Hadrosaurid (sometimes called a duck-billed dinosaur) from approximately 76.5–73 million years ago (late Cretaceous). It is a herd animal feeding on the park’s rich vegetation. The most stunning feature of the Parasaurolophus is the crest on its head. Scientists were unsure of its function until today. Some believed it was a snorkel for when the animal was in water; others felt that it was used in combat. We now know that it serves for display and for communication, allowing the animals to remain in contact over distance by amplifying their haunting, beautiful cries.


Like other hadrosaurids, it was able to walk on either two legs or four. It probably preferred to forage for food on four legs, but ran on two. The neural spines of the vertebrae were tall, as was common in lambeosaurines; tallest over the hips, they increased the height of the back.

Jurassic World informatics Part 09: Stegosaurus

Name meaning: "Roofed lizard"
Height: 4 meters (13 feet)
Length: 9 meters (30 feet)
Weight: 4 tons (8,000 pounds)

Easily one of the best known of all the dinosaurs ever, Stegosaurus is recognized all the world over. It is the biggest and most famous member of the stegosaur family. It roamed the open plains of the Late Jurassic Period in what is now North America. The plates along its back, its small head and spiked tail make it a peculiar and unique dinosaur. This plant-eater evolved to find its food in the low-growing plants of the late Jurassic. The long fearsome spikes on its tail would have made a powerful weapon against any hungry predators.

Stegosaurus is often called the dumbest dinosaur because of its incredibly small brain. In fact, most scientists believe that its brain was too small to control such a large creature and that it used an auxiliary "brain" located above its rear legs to help control its movements. This was not actually a brain, but a bundle of nerves that helped relay information from its real brain. Its brain was once thought to have been the size of a walnut, but CAT-scans proved that it was actually the size of a kitten.

Most fascinating to people are the plates along its back. There has been a great deal of debate about their use and arrangement. The plates were up to 2-feet tall and 2-feet wide (.6 m). The most prevalent theory is that they were used for cooling or heating the animal. A more recent theory, however, suggests that they could have been used as a display during courtship and that they may have been brightly colored. It is also possible that they could move up and down, perhaps to intimidate predators.


The spikes on its tail are also the subjects of some controversy. For years, every model of Stegosaurus showed it with the spikes sticking up into the air. It is only since the 1990s that it has become accepted that these spikes stuck out horizontal to the ground, which would have been a potent defensive weapon when swung at a hunter.

Stegosaurus would have lived in family groups and herds, moving slowly through forests while eating the low-growing plants. Its front legs were considerably shorter than its hind legs, making it adapted to nibbling the plants closest to the ground. Stegosaurus is the namesake for a large family of dinosaurs whose members were found all over the world.

Jurassic World infromatics Part 08: Gallimimus

Name meaning: Chicken Mimic
Height: 6.6 feet (2 meters at the hip)
Length: 26 feet (8 meters)
Weight: 470 kg (700 pounds)


Gallimimus was a speedy predator, the largest of the ornithomimid theropod family. They were called chicken mimics because they probably moved like modern flightless birds. Unlike other meat-eaters, Gallimimus had no teeth. All ornithomimids had small yet long skulls, but that of Gallimimus was exceptionally elongated, due to an elongation of the snout. The snouts of the juvenile specimens are much shorter. This was probably one of the fastest dinosaurs, with speed like a modern cheetah; it could probably run up to 60 mph.


With its small, toothless head, it is believed that Gallimimus probably had a omnivorous diet of insects, small animals, eggs and maybe even some plants. They hand very long fingers and long arms, which they could use for digging or grabbing eggs. They had a much longer neck that any other theropod dinosaur. In Jurassic Park they were shown as moving in a large flock, but we are unsure if that was real or movie behavior.

Jurassic World informatics Part 07: Triceratops

Name meaning: Three-horned face
Height: 10 feet (3 meters)
Length: 33 feet (9 meters)
Weight: 10 tons

Triceratops was a very common dinosaur which lived at the very end of the Cretaceous period. It had a huge frilled head with horns over each eye that could reach over 4 feet long. Triceratops had a third, smaller horn on its nose. These would be fearsome weapons against a predator.

Triceratops is one of the most common dinosaur fossils found. More than 50 skulls have been found. Within the genus, at least 7 species have been identified. The ceratopsian family is one of the most successful and varied of the Late Cretaceous. Triceratops is the largest member of this family, reaching the size of a school bus.

Triceratops was a herd animal; it is believed that large groups roamed North America. Their large, horny beaks and long rows of teeth were well designed for chewing the tough, low-growing plants of the Late Cretaceous. It was likely the main predator of these animals was Tyrannosaurus Rex. A number of skeletons show bite and chew marks that match the teeth of T-Rex. Horns and frills seemed to vary among individuals within the species. Some frills were very broad, others narrow. The nasal horn shows the most variance among individual specimens, no two being the same. The material that covered its horns in life would have added significantly to the length of the fossilized bone.


After examining the beak and jaws, paleontologists reached the conclusion that Triceratops may have been partially carnivorous, probably scavenging after T-Rex, or even scaring smaller predators away from their kills. Its strong jaws were able to crush bone and flesh as easily as they could grind plant material. The result would be an incredibly bizarre-looking, intimidating beast that behaved more like a giant wild boar or an entelodont (a carnivorous pig-like creature) than the placid vegetarian of classic imagery.

Jurassic World informatics part 06: Brachiosaurus

Name meaning: Arm lizard
Height: 30 feet (9 meters)
Length: 90 feet (27 meters)
Weight: 30 tons

Brachiosaurus is one of the most spectacular dinosaurs ever seen, or imagined. It gets its name from the great height of its humerus, or upper arm bone - which is longer than most humans are tall! For almost a century, the plant-eating Brachiosaurus was considered the tallest of all dinosaurs. It was over 9 meters (30 feet) tall, and no other animal ever came close.

Originally discovered in 1900 in Colorado, the sauropodian Brachiosaurus was named in 1903 by Elmer Riggs of the Field Museum in Chicago. Brachiosaurus lived in both the United States and Africa (Tanzania) in the Jurassic. Scientists believe that Africa and North America were connected during the Jurassic.


New studies by computer specialists suggest that Brachiosaurus may not have carried its neck angle up as high as was thought once. It may have carried the neck more at a 45 - 60 degree angle. Although this changes its height, it does not change its length - or our wonder at this gigantic, graceful dinosaur.

Jurassic World informatics Part 05: Dilophosaurus

Name meaning: Double-crested lizard
Height: 7 feet (2 meters)
Length: 10 feet (6 meters)
Weight: 1 ton (2000 pounds)

Dilophosaurus was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of the Early Jurassic Period. Dilophosaurus gets its name from the two thin crests of bone on the top of its head. These were probably used as a display for courtship purposes (it's unlikely that it had a frill like the movie suggests). Dilophosaurus has been found in both the U.S. and China, which, although part of the same huge landmass, were still quite a long distance from each other.

As a more primitive predatory dinosaur, Dilophosaurus didn't have forward facing eyes to give it stereo vision. It may have used scent as an integral part of its hunting technique. It had long and slender, rear-curving teeth in long jaws and strong front arms which would have been effective in grabbing prey. It was fast - probably with a top speed of about 30-mph. It also had a long tail that could have been used as a whip in a fight. Footprints attributed to Dilophosaurus appear in groups, so it may have hunted in small packs. It shares the same overall body configuration as its ancestor Coelophysis.


The Dilophosaurus seen in the first film was very different from its real-life counterpart, made significantly smaller to make sure audiences did not confuse it with the raptors. Its neck frill and its ability to spit venom are fictitious.

Jurassic World informatics part 04: Velociraptor

Name meaning: Speedy thief
Height: 6 feet (2 meters)
Length: 10-13 feet (3-4 meters)
Weight: 300 pounds

Velociraptor is the dromaeosaurid theropod carnivore that appears in all Jurassic Park films and film-based media. The Raptors are the main antagonists of the first film and are the secondary antagonists of the second and third films. But in the fourth film, they become a sort of protagonist, as Owen Grady trained them as the park's guard dogs.

Velociraptors are highly intelligent pack hunters. They could run 60-70 mph at full sprint, so they could outrun most dinosaurs. They have a primitive level of vocalization which enables them to direct attacks and call for help. The average distance an adult raptor could jump was around 10–12 ft high and thats about the same in length. The tail is helpful to show counterbalance can even make quick turns and be agile.


Raptors did not always get along, and were sometimes very anti-social towards each other. However, they show a high devotion in protecting or retrieving their eggs.

In reality, there is no real paleontologist that recognizes this animal. Although it is called Velociraptor, it also shows characteristics of other dromaeosaurs, like Deinonychus and Utahraptor. Acheroraptor which also has a vague distinction to the dinosaurs in the film. Interestingly and by coincidence no less the Acheroraptor was found in the state of Montana, the same place where the film's Velociraptor was found.

Jurassic World informatics Part 03: Tyrannosaurus

Name meaning: Tyrant lizard king
Height: 20 feet (6 meters)
Length: 47 feet (14 meters)
Weight: 9 tonnes

Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of, if not, the most famous of all dinosaurs species. Tyrannosaurus was the largest of the Tyrannosaur family, and by extension one of the largest theropods, reaching twelve metres in length. Commonly known as "T-Rex", this infamous species lived during the Late Cretaceous Period in modern day North America and was therefore among one of the last non-avian dinosaurs.

Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus had very short arms with only two fingers. Although these were probably nearly useless while hunting, its jaws were not: Tyrannosaurus has an enormous skull armed with teeth the size of bananas. Unlike the teeth of most theropods, the teeth of tyrannosaurids are very thick and capable of crushing bones. The skull and neck bones show that T. rex had the largest neck MUSCLES of any meat-eating dinosaur. It probably used its strong neck to twist and pull off big chunks of meat that it grasped with its jaws. Tyrannosaurus could bite with extremely strong force - one fossilized skeleton shows that it crushed and swallowed the bones of a smaller plant-eating dinosaur.


In popular culture, Tyrannosaurus has an iconic status shared by few other species, helped in no small part by the prominent role of the T-Rex in all four films in the Jurassic Park franchise.

Jurassic World informatics Part 02B: Characters in the new film

Here are the human chracters who appeared in the latest Jurassic World film.

Owen Grady, portrayed by Chris Pratt
Owen Grady is the main character and an on-site staff member at Jurassic World. He conducts behavioral research on the park's resident Velociraptors. It is acknowledged that Claire Dearing, a operations manager at Jurassic World, and Owen had a failed relationship in the past. Owen doesn't believe in genetic modification of dinosaurs to up the 'wow' factor saying "They're dinosaurs, wow enough."

Claire Dearing, portrayed by Bryce Dallas Howard
Claire Dearing is the park operations manager at Jurassic World, and the aunt of Zach and Gray Mitchell. The film acknowledges that Claire and Owen Grady had a failed relationship in the past.

Vic Hoskins, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio
Victor "Vic" Hoskins is the main human antagonist, who is the head of security operations for InGen. In the film, Vic wanted to use the tamed Velociraptors as weapons, much to the disapproval of Owen Grady, who is able to communicate with them. Owen argues that the raptors are not tamed enough to be weapons, since they are still wild and he's the only one they'll listen to, and later proves his point when a he stops a raptor from nearly attacking an employee who accidentally fell into their paddock. Later in the film, the park's latest attraction, the Indominus rex, escapes its paddock. Simon Masrani, the owner of the park, is then killed in a helicopter crash caused by Pteranodons. Vic then takes charge and instructs that the raptors be used to kill the Indominus, with Owen reluctantly agreeing. However, after the plan fails and the Indominus communicates with the raptors to turn on the others, Vic and the team decide to evacuate. However, before they can do so, Vic is killed by one of the raptors before the others have time to escape.

Simon Masrani, portrayed by Irrfan Khan
Simon Masrani is the CEO of the Masrani Global Corporation, and the owner of Jurassic World. His father, Sanjay Masrani, started the company as a telecommunications business before eventually passing leadership to his son. The business was then expanded into oil and bought InGen after the death of John Hammond in 1997. In the lead-up to the fourth film, his company promoted Dr. Henry Wu into the Masrani Global Corporation's ranks. The lead-up also mentioned how Simon's company set up a lab in Siberia to harvest Cenozoic DNA from old glaciers as part of a plan to add the cloned animals of that time to Jurassic World. In 2002, Masrani set out to construct the Jurassic World theme park, which opened on Isla Nublar in 2005. After the events of Jurassic Park Masrani seeks to follow Hammond's initial vision while fixing and improving upon all that made Jurassic Park a disaster. Masrani made safety the number one priority of Jurassic World. Masrani is also a trained pilot. Masrani piloted a helicopter that chased after the Indominus rex during the events of Jurassic World, eventually crashing into the Aviary and killing two others and himself, when Pteranodons and Dimorphodons attacked the helicopter.

Dr Henry Wu, portrayed by BD Wong
Dr Henry Wu is the chief geneticist in Jurassic Park, and head of the team that created the dinosaurs. He is a former child prodigy, gaining early attention from his undergraduate thesis at MIT, and was personally recruited by John Hammond after finishing his doctorate. He proposes genetically altering the dinosaurs to make them more manageable, citing that many of their early assumptions about the behavior and biology of the animals had been wrong, but could not get Hammond's approval. When he is later presented with the fact that the dinosaurs have been breeding, essentially proving that he had failed to engineer them properly, he mistook it as a "tremendous validation of his work".
In the years following the failure of Jurassic Park, Dr Wu continued his work on DNA and even created a new plant called the Wu flower through the DNA of different plants. Masrani Global Corpration's CEO Simon Masrani took over InGen and promoted Dr. Wu. In November 2014, the new InGen facility named "Martel" opened in Siberia. The goal of Martel was to extract Pleistocene datedorganic materials from glacial ice. Wu showed excitement for the project believing it will expand InGen's genome library, but he withheld from speculating about using any found materials to create Cenozoic animals for Jurassic World at the moment. Later on, Wu explains to Simon Masrani how the Indominus Rex was made. When Vic Hoskins takes command of the park, Wu is evacuated to the Costa Rican mainland, along with the rest of the InGen team.

Zachary Mitchell (Nick Robinson) and Gray Mitchell (portrayed by Ty Simpkins)
Zach and Gray Mitchell are Claire's nephews, and visitors to Jurassic World.

Lowery Cruthers, portrayed by Jake Johnson
Lowery Cruthers is the park's tech-savvy operations overseer. When the Indominus Rex escapes, he strongly advises against Vic's idea to capture it. When Simon is killed, and Vic takes command of the park, he remains working in the control room, but warns Claire of Vic's plan. After the plan fails, Lowery remains in the control room, while the others are evacuated. Lowery is later forced by Claire to release the Tyrannosaurus Rex from it's enclosure, so it can try and defeat the Indominus Rex. After the Indominus Rex is killed, he is evacuated to the Costa Rican mainland, along with other survivors.

Katashi Hamada, portrayed by Brian Tee
Katashi Hamada is a Jurassic World security guard and commander for the park's ACU (short for Asset Containment Unit). Hamada and his team were called to stop Jurassic World's remaining Indominus rex who had escaped her paddock, along with another team led by Austin. During their pursuit, Hamada discovered the Indominus rex clawed out her tracking implant. As he analyzed the implant, blood began to drip on him. As he looked up, he saw blood dripping of the trees and hearing around behind him. When he turned around, he saw the Indominus rex, which was hiding in the bushes and ordered his men to shoot it. The I. rex grabbed Hamada while the latter screamed and feared for his life. His men managed to temporarily stun the animal, which led to loose it's grip on Hamada. He tried to crawl away, but the I. rex crushed him under her foot, killing him instantly. He had sacrificed himself to save his men.

Barry, portrayed by Omar Sy
Barry is a dinosaur tamer and Owen's friend. He takes care of Owen's Velociraptors.

Zara Young, portrayed by Katie McGrath
Savannah "Zara" Young is Claire's personal assistant. She is reponsible to look after Zach and Gray while they visit Jurassic World. Zach and Gray leave Zara to further explore the park. When the Pteranodons breach the Jurassic World Aviary and attack tourists, Zara manages to find Zach and Gray. However, a Pteranodon picks her up and drops her into the Mosasaurus lagoon. The Pteranodon again picks her up, but the Mosasaurus appears and eats the Pteranodon and Zara.

Vivian, portrayed by Lauren Lapkus
Vivian is an employee at Jurassic World who works in the control room. When Simon's helicopter crashes into the Jurassic World Aviary, she shows grief for his death. After Vic's plan to hunt the Indominus Rex with Velociraptors fails, Vivian, along with the rest of the InGen team, is evacuated to Costa Rica.

Scott Mitchell (Andy Buckley) and Karen Mitchell (Judy Greer)
Scott Mitchell is the father of Zach and Gray. Karen Mitchell is Claire's sister, Scott's wife, and the mother of Zach and Gray.

Jurassic World informatics Part 01: The film franchise

Jurassic Park is an American media franchise consisting of novels, films, comics, and video games centering on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when Universal Studios bought the rights to the novel by Michael Crichton before it was even published.

The book was successful, as was the 1993 film adaptation, which led to three sequels, although the third and fourth films were not based on novels, as the first two were. The software developers Ocean Software, BlueSky Software, Sega of America, and Telltale Games have had the rights to developing video games since the 1993 film, and numerous games have been produced.

The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 25, 2011 in North America. The first film was re-released in 3D on April 5, 2013. On June 21, 1996, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal's Islands of Adventure opened Jurassic Park: The Ride and Jurassic Park River Adventure. The rides are heavily themed on the main trilogy. The rides are similar to Thorpe Park's Tidal Wave and Parc Asterix's Le Grand Splash (En: The Big Splash).

The fourth film Jurassic World was initially scheduled to be released in the summer of 2005, but has since been pushed back to a June 12, 2015 release. In March 2013, Colin Trevorrow was announced as the director. Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley are producing the film with a script written by Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. Trevorrow said sequels to Jurassic World have been discussed.