Editor’s Note: The following contains Jurassic World: Dominion spoilers.Just how many dino-sucking mosquitos did InGen get their hands on, anyway?Jurassic World: Dominionshould have had enough on its hands, with dinosaurs loose in the world and an evil genetics company taking a page from Moses’ playbook against Egypt, but it introduced a few new species to the series’ roster anyway. Their appearances in the film won’t help you on a science test any more than any of theJurassicfilms would, but as creatures in a narrative (or itsseparately-released prologue), they all do their part. Here’s a quick guide to the new saurian faces in the series, and a picture of what paleontology currently makes of them (dinosaurs only, though; sorry,DimetrodonandQuetzalcoatlus):
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Atrociraptor
Velociraptorbecame a household name after playing the chief terror in the originalJurassic Park. WithDominion, other dromeosaurids are getting in on the act. The illicit dinosaur trade glimpsedFallen Kingdomhas not abated, and when Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) land in Malta on the trail of their adopted daughter Maisie (Isabella Sermon), they run afoul of some dino smugglers. For their troubles, they have a pack ofAtrociraptorsset on their trail. These scaly bloodhounds, each bred with a color to match its name, tear after our heroes, and leave the city in mayhem. Well, them and all the other dinosaurs that get loose.
The realAtrociraptorlived in what is now Alberta, Canada, at around the same time thatTyrannosaurusrex roamed that territory. Its size, just like its distant cousinVelociraptor, was significantly exaggerated for film purposes; were you ever to encounter anAtrociraptor, you’d be dealing with something about knee height. It would have been covered in feathers, too. WhileAtrociraptoris not a well-described genus and has no known specimens with feather impressions, it’s a pretty safe bet that all dromaeosaurs sported full coats. I’d be cagier about betting that they came in designer colors, though. And there’s only limited evidence for pack hunting in dromaeosaurs in general, and none of it is specific to eitherAtrociraptororVelociraptor. Not that that makes the prospect of a group of sickle-clawed reptiles charging after you any less thrilling in the movies when done right.
Dreadnoughtus
The nameDreadnoughtushas been an easter egg throughout theJurassic Worldfilms, but theDominionprologue was the first time the Cretaceous sauropod made it before the cameras. The prologue opened with a group ofDreadnoughtustrudging through the mud. In the film itself, Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) catch a glimpse of the species while they investigate Biosyn’s nefarious doings, and a pair of them enjoy time in a lake at the end of the film. Theirs is a cameo role, but they certainly make for a stunning visual.
Of course, any animal around 85 feet long and two stories tall would probably take your breath away.Dreadnoughtuswasn’t the biggest dinosaur ever, but it’s among the contenders, and its relatively complete remains (a rarity for a sauropod) make estimates of its length and weight a bit more solid than some of its larger cousins. In life, it would have roamed what is now Argentina during the Late Cretaceous period.
Giganotosaurus
Given that directorColin TrevorrowdescribedGiganotosaurusas “the Joker,”you might expect that it would function as the main antagonist, not scientists and locust plagues. As it is, the Southern Giant Lizard is engineered by Biosyn, kept near its sanctuary in Italy, and controlled with a chip in its brain – sort of a giant guard dog. It only really gets involved in the action once the compound goes up in flames. That’s apparently the best time for aGiganotosaurusto pursue human prey, at least until it faces challenges from aT. rexand aTherizinosaurus. Therex,Giganotosaurushandled on its own earlier in the film; up against two foes at once, it doesn’t last. I gotta tell ya, I’m not getting the Joker vibes.
AGiganotosaurusdueled and triumphed over aT. rexin theDominionprologue too, an encounter that could never have happened in the Mesozoic era.Giganotosauruslived in what is now Argentina, thousands of miles south ofT. rex’sterritory and millions of years earlier. Even if they could have fought, I wouldn’t have put money onGiganotosaurus. As silly as a “who would win in fight” argument can be,T. rexprobably had better senses (particularly sight and smell), it may have been more maneuverable, and it had the strongest bite force of any land animal we know of.Giganotosauruswas well-evolved to be the apex predator of its time and environment, and it was technically bigger thanT. rex, but it’s hard to imagine it having quite so easy a time dominating a fight without a screenwriter’s help.
Microceratus
Mentioned inJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,Microceratusputs in an appearance (though not a significant plot contribution) withDominion. This little guy barely stood above ankle height on us when it walked the earth – specifically, Asia – during the Cretaceous period. It was in the ceratopsian group, those beaked, frilled, and sometimes horned dinosaurs whose line ended withTriceratops.Microceratusdidn’t have the weaponry of its later relative, but it did have the ability to walk on two legs.
Before theGiganotosaurusdid forT. rexin theDominionprologue, it enjoyed a tooth cleaning from another member of the tyrannosauroid clade:Moros intrepidus. This sort of behavior, not unlike the supposed symbiosis between modern plover birds and crocodiles, probably kept theMorosfrom becoming dinner, but it didn’t get its genetically engineered descendent much more than a walk-on in the film proper.
A realMoroswould be about shoulder height and found around present-day Utah, a few million years beforeT. rexcame along. It’s the earliest known Cretaceous tyrannosauroid to have lived in North America, and it’s the most recently described species to have made it into theJurassicseries; the paper that namedMorosand examined its remains was only published in 2019.
Nasutoceratops
Nasutoceratopshad a big role to play in the“Battle at Big Rock” short leading up toDominion. Here, they help get things rolling when a herd consisting ofNasutoceratops,Sinoceratops, andTriceratopsinadvertently help Claire and members of her Dinosaur Protection Group escape from poachers. That cute little baby you’ve seen Ellie and Alan fawning over in promotional photos is also aNasutoceratops.
Nasutoceratops means “large-nosed horn face,” and you can’t deny that’s an apt description. It had two large curved horns over its eyes, the longest of any in the centrosaur family, and a giant beak. In life, it would have lived alongside other ceratopsian dinosaurs, though not the two it herds with inDominion;Sinoceratopslived at the same time but in another place, whileTriceratopslived in the right place but in another time.
Pyroraptor
Dino-nerds who want their raptors feathered, rejoice:Dominonthrew in a third dromaeosaur,Pyroraptor, and gave it a full set of wings. It shows up to make trouble for Owen and Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) as they try and rendezvous with Claire. If the feathers weren’t enough to throw the two for a loop, this raptor can swim, andfast. For all those distinguishing features,Pyroraptorproves less deadly than its cousin the Velociraptor had in previous films.
There’s no firm evidence for raptors swimming the way they do here, but it’s not out of the question, or a bad idea for a monster movie. But onePyroraptorwouldn’t have been so intimidating as it looked here. This is one more raptor scaled up to work in the movies; the real deal stood at about knee height. You could have found them strutting about in France and Spain during the Cretaceous period.
Therizinosaurus
What’s the opposite ofT. rex? If you went only by arm size,Therizinosauruswould be a strong candidate. One of the last of the group that bears its name, this 30-foot beast walked through Asia in the Cretaceous period, carrying giant arms that carried giant claws. The therizinosaurs were some of the few herbivorous non-avian theropod dinosaurs, and it’s suspected that their arms acted as rakes to pull food in towards its beak.
Therizinosaurus cuts a more sinister figure inDominionthan that diet would suggest. Biosyn’s blind specimen doesn’t take kindly to encroachment on its territory. Claire narrowly avoids getting chomped by it, and during the climax, theGiganotosaurusmakes the mistake of confronting it. TheTherizinosaurusholds it own against the carnivore, but it only takes it down with assistance fromT. rex. I doubt two different dinosaur species could coordinate a plan to impale the enemy onto the therizinosaur’s claws – but that’s the movies for you.
