I Think the Jurassic Park Movies Have Messed Up Our Understanding of Dinosaurs

The first Jurassic Park movie hit theatres on June 11, 1993. It was a groundbreaking movie, creating a generation of dinosaur lovers and paleontologists. However, we have to address the elephant in the room: the Jurassic Park franchise has seriously messed up society’s perception of dinosaurs.

When the first movie was released, most people thought that dinosaurs were just massive reptiles, complete with scales, but more recent discoveries disprove much of what we knew then. We’re not going after the original movies for this problem — nobody can predict future discoveries — but the Jurassic World movies have made little to no effort to fix this misconception.To be clear, we’re huge fans of the Jurassic Park movies.



The franchise is a perfect blend of action and monster movies, full of heart, and sometimes a campy plot or two. It’s important to address that these movies have skewed a generation’s perception, and with newer movies continuing this trend, it will only get worse. A flippant line here and there can explain it all away, but it does little to help educate fans of historical evidence.

Even a few minutes of research would prove that the dinosaurs portrayed in this beloved franchise are not accurate.How Our Understanding of Dinosaurs Has Changed Over the YearsSaying that paleontologists have learned much about dinosaurs during the last two decades would be the understatement of the century. For example, where people once believed that dinosaurs were covered in scales, we now understand that they were more likely covered in feathers.

In other words, dinosaurs had more in common with today’s chicken than with a Komodo dragon. Admittedly, it’s not the most majestic imagery, but that doesn’t mean we should throw this science away.In the defense of Jurassic Park, Dr.

Grant speculates that dinosaurs may have had feathers, even during the first movie. This was becoming a theory at the time and was confirmed in 1996, thanks to a discovery made by Li Yumin. Yumin uncovered a Sinosauropteryx, a small predator buried in volcanic ash.

What made the discovery groundbreaking was the presence of feathers clustered so tightly that they looked more like fur. Translation: the scale theory was officially busted.This was the first of several discoveries that helped change the scientific understanding of dinosaurs.

Some fossils even had wings, though they were probably vestigial, given their size. More importantly, it looked like even large-scale predators had feathers, solidifying this new perspective on dinosaurs. We could go on and on about these details, but readers would be stuck here for the next week and a half.

[RELATED: Is Chris Pratt in Jurassic World Rebirth?]The Inaccuracy of Dinosaurs in Jurassic ParkIt’s easy to forgive the original Jurassic Park for not giving its dinosaurs feathers, but it’s important to understand that the movie took creative liberties with many known facts at the time, and in some cases, it outright went against current theories. For example, the Dilophosaurus, the dinosaur that famously killed Dennis Nedry, didn’t have a neck fan or shoot venom. Another inaccuracy of the film (and all ensuing movies) is the sounds dinosaurs make.

Scientists do not believe they would roar, not even the beloved T-Rex. Speaking of the T-Rex, don’t count on standing still to stay alive, as scientists believe they had excellent sight.One of the biggest portrayal divergences has to be that of the Velociraptor.

The movies played hard and loose with these dinosaurs, changing many critical details about their appearance. The raptors are much smaller than how they’re shown in the film. Realistically, most of the dinosaurs were portrayed as too large, but this is especially true for the raptor.

In real life, these creatures were a foot and a half tall and six feet long. The films also got lots of other details wrong about this fan-favorite, making it all the more frustrating for paleontologists.[RELATED: How Jurassic World Rebirth Connects to the Original Jurassic Park]Jurassic World‘s Portrayal of DinosaursGiven our increased understanding, one might have expected the Jurassic World version to portray dinosaurs better.

Those expectations were quickly washed down the drain, with massively scaled monsters roaming the island. On the bright side, at least one line addresses the scientific inaccuracy, implying the addition of amphibian DNA is responsible for the changes in the engineered creatures. As far as explanations go, it’s okay, but it doesn’t help change our perception of dinosaurs.

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that Jurassic World Dominion introduced the franchise’s first feathered dinosaur. Why the sudden change? It all comes down to the dinosaurs living in the wild, thus reverting to their more natural forms. It feels like a small victory compared to the other artistic liberties strewn throughout, but hopefully, this trend will shift toward more accurate dinosaurs.

The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies are available to stream on multiple services. To learn more about paleontological discoveries, follow science news online or visit accordingly themed museums.The post I Think the Jurassic Park Movies Have Messed Up Our Understanding of Dinosaurs appeared first on ComicBook.

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