Evolution
Jurassic Park: The Lost Science (Part 1 of 6 - Velociraptors)
Of all the dinosaurs represented in the Jurassic Park novels and films
none has gained popularity or notoriety like the Velociraptors. The
raptors shown on screen were, however, not the accurate portrayals of
deadly, intelligent hunters they appeared.
When looking for inspiration for the first Jurassic Park novel, Michael Crichton tur
ned
to "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World" by Gregory S. Paul. This book
unfortunately incorrectly represented of Deinonychus antirrhopus as a
species of Velociraptor. While Deinonychus was very similar to a
Velociraptor it was a lot larger and consequentially the raptors in the
novels and films were much bigger than is strictly true.
It
wasn’t just the size of the raptors that doesn’t quite add up. While
they were intelligent, it’s highly likely that the intelligence
displayed in the film was far above Velociraptors actual cognitive
abilities given the relative size of their brains and comparisons with
modern animals.
A more discrete inaccuracy was their supposed
ability to rotate their wrists. This would have been anatomically
impossible for Velociraptors in real life as their forearm bones (ulna
and radius) could not rotate in this way and so their arms should have
been fixed as if ready to clap.
Perhaps the most famous
inaccuracies of how the Velociraptors were depicted was the absence of
feathers. It’s now widely recognised that raptors had feathers, although
at the time of making the first film there was little evidence to
support this theory. To Crichton and Spielbergs credit the third film
had remodelled raptors with added feathers on their heads but without
altering the look significantly. JB
http://
http://
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/
Jurassic Park: The Lost Science (Part 1 of 6 - Velociraptors)
Of all the dinosaurs represented in the Jurassic Park novels and films none has gained popularity or notoriety like the Velociraptors. The raptors shown on screen were, however, not the accurate portrayals of deadly, intelligent hunters they appeared.
When looking for inspiration for the first Jurassic Park novel, Michael Crichton tur
Of all the dinosaurs represented in the Jurassic Park novels and films none has gained popularity or notoriety like the Velociraptors. The raptors shown on screen were, however, not the accurate portrayals of deadly, intelligent hunters they appeared.
When looking for inspiration for the first Jurassic Park novel, Michael Crichton tur
ned
to "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World" by Gregory S. Paul. This book
unfortunately incorrectly represented of Deinonychus antirrhopus as a
species of Velociraptor. While Deinonychus was very similar to a
Velociraptor it was a lot larger and consequentially the raptors in the
novels and films were much bigger than is strictly true.
It wasn’t just the size of the raptors that doesn’t quite add up. While they were intelligent, it’s highly likely that the intelligence displayed in the film was far above Velociraptors actual cognitive abilities given the relative size of their brains and comparisons with modern animals.
A more discrete inaccuracy was their supposed ability to rotate their wrists. This would have been anatomically impossible for Velociraptors in real life as their forearm bones (ulna and radius) could not rotate in this way and so their arms should have been fixed as if ready to clap.
Perhaps the most famous inaccuracies of how the Velociraptors were depicted was the absence of feathers. It’s now widely recognised that raptors had feathers, although at the time of making the first film there was little evidence to support this theory. To Crichton and Spielbergs credit the third film had remodelled raptors with added feathers on their heads but without altering the look significantly. JB
http://
http://
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/
It wasn’t just the size of the raptors that doesn’t quite add up. While they were intelligent, it’s highly likely that the intelligence displayed in the film was far above Velociraptors actual cognitive abilities given the relative size of their brains and comparisons with modern animals.
A more discrete inaccuracy was their supposed ability to rotate their wrists. This would have been anatomically impossible for Velociraptors in real life as their forearm bones (ulna and radius) could not rotate in this way and so their arms should have been fixed as if ready to clap.
Perhaps the most famous inaccuracies of how the Velociraptors were depicted was the absence of feathers. It’s now widely recognised that raptors had feathers, although at the time of making the first film there was little evidence to support this theory. To Crichton and Spielbergs credit the third film had remodelled raptors with added feathers on their heads but without altering the look significantly. JB
http://
http://
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/
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