The story of our fascination with dinosaurs does not even start with science. And, honestly, I think my girlfriend makes a pretty fetching Allosaurus in her fursuit-though, yes, Allosaurus did not have fur. In yet another, the dinosaur helps corporations hawk oversweet breakfast cereals. In another context, the dinosaur might stand as a gentle imaginary friend. Time and again, Allosaurus has rampaged across the screen as a chomp monster.
But theirs is not the only legitimate interpretation of the animal. Paleo-artists can turn to traits from living animals to fill in the gaps in the scientific dino data, hoping to get as close as possible to real-life accuracy in their renderings.
The permineralized, ancient skeleton of an Allosaurus can be an object of scientific curiosity, every tooth socket and bony flange named and analyzed. Science is a framework for understanding nature-but it is just one prism among many through which we can view Tyrannosaurus and its stompy kin. But ultimately the flavored vodka and the cinema-saurs alike are not here to cater to the most refined and demanding sensibilities.Īnd why shouldn’t moviemakers share their own, imaginative versions of terrible lizards? Dinosaurs don’t exclusively belong to science (nor do any other organisms, living or extinct). That is, there’s a little bit of resemblance, which is important. As the Jurassic movies have made it abundantly clear, the creatures they showcase are to real dinosaurs as french fry–flavored vodka is to an intact potato. Trying to make ever bit of plastic match what dinos really looked like was not the point. The toys themselves were, of course, somewhat artistic renderings of dinos. I even wound up doing some science advising for the Jurassic World marketing team, gathering accurate dinosaur facts and figures to be included with toys (though I haven’t been involved with them in a few years). I wanted to see the weird new species that had been dug up, and feathers and bright colors to match the current scientific understanding of dinosaurs.
When rumors started to percolate a decade ago that there would be a third sequel in the Jurassic franchise-a follow-up to the movie that blew my young dino-obsessed mind back in 1993-I wrote a few pieces more or less begging Universal to update their dinosaurs for the 21 st century. I love dinosaur facts as much as the next paleo buff.