Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, a renowned dinosaur, shrouds itself in mystery; most of its skeleton was destroyed in the bombing of Berlin during WWII. Even so, the video game and movie industry quickly used Spinosaurus to their own advantage. They, although not always correct, alter the mighty beast for their own use. In the early 2000’s, Universal released the ending of the Jurassic Park trilogy, Jurassic Park III. The Tyrannosauruses rex, commonly known as T-rex, played the main antagonist in earlier movies, but was changed to the long, aggressive Spinosaurus for the final installment. This bipedal carrier of terror quickly killed the almighty T-rex and dominated the rest of the movie. Later in Jurassic World, Colin Trevorrow, the director, references
Pachycephalosaurians, thick-skulled dinosaurs such as the Stegoceras and the Pachycephalosaurus. (1) Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs are closely related in their characteristics. Ceratopsians processed a saddle-shaped boney frill that extended from the skull to the neck and typically had horns over the nose and eyes. The most popular was the triceratops, which could reach over 26 feet and weigh in excess of twelve metric tons. Their frills served two major functions.
...ories of why dinosaurs went extinct abound, and as there is no theory yet to be truly confirmed as the “right one”, my theory of dinosaur cannibalism is also purely anecdotal. The discovery of the cannibalistic Majungatholus atopus in Madagascar is an important scientific find because it confirms a long-standing theory of cannibalism among certain carnivorous dinosaurs. Behavioral patterns of extinct animals are difficult to establish; however, these bones give authentication to previous unfounded beliefs about the ancient feeding practices of some dinosaurs.
The difficulty in re-constructing dinosaurs for television and movies lies in the fact that not everything can be preserved. Fossilized bones create the skeleton of a dinosaur, thereby allowing scientists to study how they moved, how big they grew, and how different body parts worked as a whole. But what children see on television: the scaly green skin of the brontosaurs or the brown hair of a mastodon may not hold much fact. Unfortunately, particular physical features cannot be fossilized. Skin, cartilage, hair and other soft tissues usually decay before leaving science no clues to what these dinosaurs truly looked like. The public also cannot know the social behaviors of dinosaurs. Movies generally portray all carnivores like the T-Rex as monstrous bullies while the larger vegetarians all seem slow and peaceful. Up until recently, no hard evidence can be found to help support or dismiss any of these stereo-types. In the barren deserts of Argentina, a team of scientists from the National Geographic Society came across a massive graveyard of fossilized dinosaur eggs. In 1997, Dr. Luis Chiappe and Dr. Lowell Dingus discovered a rare opportunity to finally study the external functions of an ancient creature that contained fossilized teeth imprints, embryos and skin impressions. This unearthing unlocks endless prospects to learn about dinosaur behavior and external attributes, topics which used to be some of the most problematic areas of study. The most remarkable aspect, of course, is how the most delicate of information is found within an egg.
Ever since we were young we have been fascinated by the dinosaurs. We have played with dinosaurs as children, watched documentaries as adults with interest, and watching movies with enjoyment. No dinosaur from the past strikes more fear in the present day to the average person then that of Tyrannosaurus Rex. For decades children have played with dinosaurs and had T-Rex dominating other dinosaurs by chasing them down and destroying them. We have seen it time and time again in movies. In Jurassic Park we saw T-Rex terrorize humans, cars, and other dinosaurs. We have even dreamt about it, but if a recent study is correct we are false in our fears.
“66 Million–Year–Old Dino With A Heart.” Media Kit 17 April 2000. North Carolina University. 2000 <http://www.dinoheart.org/mediakit/index.html>.
Of course it was the movie Jurassic Park who seemed to coin the phrase “Dino DNA.” This movie gave the public the thought that, a) it is possible to find dinosaur DNA and b) we can clone dinosaurs from this DNA. This essay is not going to pick apart Jurassic Park’s scientific value, however it will share the current knowledge and information on dinosaur DNA. The discovery of DNA is important because it may uncover different bits of information. The idea of cloning dinosaurs, especially at this point is out of the question. It is really hard to clone living animals today, with full DNA and genome strands, we can’t even think about recreating animals millions of years ago.
Doctor John Parker Hammond is Scottish venture capitalist who develops a park on an island where dinosaurs can be brought back to life, through the miracles of science. He does this for the entertainment, and profit, of the people. However, the dinosaurs escape to bring terror upon those on the island, themselves, and the island itself. It is made very clear from the first scene that Jurassic Park is a commentary on global market capitalism. It both drives the story and its central complication.
We use dinosaurs to represent the changes in nature that have occurred throughout time. Studies found that although the “oldest rock did not show evidence of life, the progression of plant and animal life that changed in recognizable intervals, from ancient life, age of reptiles to the age of mammals” (Dino Nature Metaphor, slide 6), measured the age of the earth. When we think of dinosaurs in relation to nature, we think of that very powerful force that controls the cycle of life. Nature was able to yield such magnificent ferocious creatures that walked the earth and then take them back when they served nature’s purpose. Dinosaurs fit perfectly in nature’s constant
Jurassic Park is a fantastic movie for its life-like re-creation of dinosaurs and its outstanding use of computer generated images and sounds. From the first scene where dinosaurs enter the frame to the last, they bring a level of excitement to the screen like only the mighty T-Rex does. Industrial Light and Magic and Stan Winston’s
Explicitly, Smiths declares “Fuck that” referring to the overused stereotypes in the film industry and expresses that the kid is not playing with a T.Rex, but a Brontosaurus or Triceratops, to him proving divinity and freedom, his own type of religion.
Nature is the biggest problem Jurassic Park has at becoming successful. As stated by Dr. Malcom in the book, he said "Life will find a way"(Crichton ). He meant that the dinosaurs will find a way to live the way they want. This is something that scientists didn’t think about when they brought dinosaurs back to life.
Until recently, scientists believed the chances of finding a fossilized dinosaur heart were extremely slim. The heart belonged to a 66 million year old dinosaur found in Harding County in Northwestern South Dakota. The dinosaur, found in 1993, weighed over 650 pounds and was 13 feet long. The dinosaur was in fairly good condition with the exception of the left side of the skeleton. The small, plant-eating Thescelosaurus, nicknamed ‘Willo’ has been acquired by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Thescelosaurus was an ornithischian, or "bird-hipped," dinosaur that lived in the latter stage of the Cretaceous period. This was approximately 1 million years before the end of the dinosaur era. Native to North America, its range extended from the northern United States up into Canada. Since using the 3-D software to reveal Willo's heart, scientists have also used it to create 3-D images of the fossil's skull, and of remains from other dinosaurs in the museum's collection. (Fisher, Paul)
Dinosaur Fossils in Antarctica Millions and millions of years ago, the continents lay together as one super-continent known as Pangea. As time went on and the plates underneath the Earth began to separate, the continents land moved towards the poles where glaciation occurred. Glaciation is the process in which glaciers were formed during the ice age. Glaciation causes a drop in temperature which in turn causes water to freeze and form many layers of ice (http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Permian/intro.html, 1). Due to this layering of ice that has occurred at both poles, it has not been easy to discover new dinosaur fossils.
Marginocephalia were known for margin along the back of their skull that resembled a dome shaped head. In was narrow in the front and wider and lift in the back of the skull. They have a small pubic but wider hips. They had frills and possibly some horns on the top of their head. This species of dinosaur had some issues with movement and coordination. In the same species of dinosaur, the horns on Marginocephalia varied in different sizes from small, medium to large. But also as the dinosaur got bigger their horns shrunk and curved backwards.
The Jurassic Period of our earth’s history was one of great change. It began with a major extinction even, bounced back, and was yet again the victim of an extinction event. The Jurassic was a flourishing time of new species adapting, changing, and modernizing to suit the ever-changing world they