Does a 1990s vintage “The making of Jurassic Park” video narrated by James Earl Jones fit into the type of #FossilFriday content this page shares?
Everyone knows the answer right?
Jurassic World: A Park of Inaccuracies
Now, before I get into this, I do want to say that I love the Jurassic Park movies, and I am in no way trying to degrade them or anything. It's obviously just a movie, inaccuracies are guaranteed. I simply find these little facts amusing, and I imagine you will too.
National geographic summarized it best: the Jurassic Park franchise is based on what we knew about dinosaurs in the 1980's. Unfortunately, 2015 has proven that the movies have not stood the test of time, and the dinosaurs should look completely different. The producers of Jurassic World have decided to stick with the "classic" dinosaur look, which has lead to debates between either preserving a classic film and its original look, or updating it to current knowledge, but ditching its iconic image.
What are some the inaccuracies of the Jurassic World dinosaurs?
1) No feathers. In the past 10 years or so, researchers confirmed that most dinosaurs were sporting a full set of feathers.
2) Dinosaurs with thumbs. Since dinosaurs are prehistoric reptiles (and since we have the skeletons), we already know that dinosaurs didn't have thumbs.
3) They are HUGE. Too huge! A video explains the major flaw using the scene with the mosasaur eating the great white shark (see link below). An average mosasaur is ~59ft long. By comparing the size of the great white shark to the visible head/neck of the mosasaur in the trailer, just the head/neck alone is about 73.5ft long.
4) Wrong era. Let's not forget the biggest error in Jurassic Park: it should really be called "Cretaceous Park." The dinosaurs seem to be mixed across a couple different eras, but for the most part, they're Cretaceous, not Jurassic.
Unrelated to dinosaur physiology, but still apparently incorrect, is the insect shown in the amber. Entomologists have pointed out that it's not a mosquito, it is a crane fly.
Fans have, of course, defended the movie to the death, pointing out that the very first movie states that the dinosaurs DNA was incomplete, so they filled it using modern reptiles/amphibians. This could explain the lack of feathers. They also defend the opposable thumbs by pointing out that the dinosaur with thumbs is a hybrid of some sort. Though, even if it is a hybrid, it was likely crossed with another dinosaur, so the thumbs still seem like a stretch.
Either way, I can't wait for the movie, and I enjoy the classic dino look. What's your opinion?
~Rosie
This article is a part of our "Mesozoic Park" series that is leading up to the release of Jurassic World. For more information, please see our introductory post at: http://on.fb.me/1ELwHW5
"Jurassic World's 667.15ft Mistake": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R60ElTKJCC4 (the author states in the video that there were a few errors and also that Jurassic World has stated that the mosasaur is apparently not that large in the movie) Jurassic World movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4
Image: http://bit.ly/1Ik9c9d
References: http://bit.ly/1baPoI1 http://wapo.st/1zkN24V http://bit.ly/1HUPUrX
Source: facebook.com