When dinosaur fans flock to theaters on Thursday (June 9th) to see “Jurassic World: Dominion” (Universal Pictures, 2022), they will be mesmerized by a myriad of prehistoric beasts. But how do these paleo-creatures, and the scientific facts of film in general, compare to what real-world paleontologists know?
To find out, Live Science spoke with two experts in the field: Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, who served as the film’s scientific advisor; and Kenneth Lacovara, founding dean and professor at the School of Earth and Environment and founding director of the Jean and Ric Edelman Fossil Park and Museum at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. Lacovara also discovered and named the powerful Dreadnoughtus, a huge, long-necked sauropod dinosaur known as the titanosaurus, which appears in the film.
When the film’s director, Colin Trevorrow, first approached Brusatte, Trevorrow said, “Look, I’m starting to write the next movie. I want to put a lot of new dinosaursand I want to put some feathered dinosaurs at last, “Brusatte told Live Science. Feathered dinosaurs are” something we’ve all longed for in the world of paleontology, “said Brusatte, who immediately agreed to ponder the scientific vision of the film.
Related: How did “amazing prehistoric planet” create such amazing dinosaurs? Find out at a glance behind the scenes.
For example, “Jurassic World: Dominion”, which hits theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom on Friday (June 10), features a flock of duck-billed dinosaurs known as Parasaurolophus running through a snowy landscape. “There would have been some dinosaurs living in the snow,” Brusatte said. Although the Earth it was generally warmer during the dinosaur era than it is today, “above Arctic circle and even near the polar circle, it would have been cold, especially during the winter months, ”he said.
Brusatte also talked about the behavior of parents in dinosaurs, as he is seen in Blue, one of the star predatory dinosaurs in the film, caring for his young, Beta. “Many of the smaller dinosaurs, those that had feathers, those that were very similar to birds, took care of their young,” Brusatte said. “We actually have fossil parents sitting in their nests protecting their eggs, very sadly, protecting their eggs from, like, sandstorms and floods that ended up burying them.”
Although highly successful films such as “Jurassic World: Dominion” are not scientific textbooks (e.g., some of the sizes of prehistoric giants, such as the sea reptile). Mosasaurusthey are exaggerated), it is difficult to exaggerate the importance that the series of films has had in paleontology.
“I’m sure there will be children watching ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ who will become paleontologists or scientists thanks to these films,” Lacovara told Live Science.
Then, how did you rate the portrayal of the film Dreadnoughtusa 65-ton (58.9 metric tons) titanosaur that lived about 77 million years ago in present-day Patagonia, Argentina?
“I really like that,” Lacovara said after watching the trailer. “I really like the muscles in my legs, and you can see those wide external plates that separate the chest. They had a very wide posture. I also like how the body is mostly parallel to the ground, which I think is the “At home for this kind of creature. It looks massive, it looks powerful, it doesn’t look particularly friendly. That’s how I imagine it’s Dreadnoughtus.”
You can watch our video interview here and below YouTube (opens in a new tab).
Originally published in Live Science.