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Scorpius Rex in Camp Cretaceous Explained: What is the Dinosaur a Hybrid of?

Monday, May 24, 2021

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous introduces us to the Scorpius rex in season 3 but just what is the dinosaur and what is it a hybrid of?

Season 3 of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous has roared its way onto Netflix and introduces fans to a new breed of hybrid dinosaur.

That dinosaur, known at first as E750, is the Scorpius rex and it serves as the main monstrous antagonist throughout season 3.

But just what is the Scorpius rex and what is the hybrid dinosaur made of?

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead*

CAMP CRETACEOUS SEASON 3 ON NETFLIX

Season 3 of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous roared its way onto Netflix on May 21st, 2021.

The new batch of episodes sees the gang of campers trying to escape from Isla Nublar but their attempts to leave are blighted by the island’s ferocious residents.

One new creature makes its debut in season 3, after being teased as subject “E750” at the end of season 2.

SCORPIUS REX IN CAMP CRETACEOUS

It’s revealed in season 3 of Camp Cretaceous that the aforementioned E750 dinosaur is the Scorpius rex.

The fearsome new dinosaur is teased throughout the opening episodes of season 3 before being revealed fully in episode 5 as it pursues the gang of campers.

It’s revealed in episode 4 that the Scorpius rex gets its name (which translates to Scorpion King) from the scorpionfish family as part of its genome is made up using scorpionfish DNA.

As seen in the series, the Scorpius rex has a number of quills and spines that protrude from its head, neck and back. These are inspired by scorpionfish which have similar spines that are coated in venomous mucus.

One of the most recognisable fish in the scorpionfish family is the lionfish which is covered almost head to tail in deadly fin rays which it uses to protect itself from predators. Only very rare cases have seen stings lead to deaths in human.

WHAT IS THE SCORPIUS REX A HYBRID OF?

  • The Scorpius rex is a hybrid of scorpionfish and various carnivorous dinosaur species.

As mentioned, the scorpionfish provides a lot of the inspiration behind the Scorpius rex while it is also infused with other deadly carnivores.

While none of these other species that make the Scorpius rex are directly revealed, there’s a high chance that some of the science that went into creating the Indominous rex and Indo Raptor also went into this new dinosaur.

As a result, Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor DNA was almost certainly used as well as possibly Spinosaurus and Carnotaurus.

Regardless of exactly what dinosaurs species were used, the deadly combination of scorpionfish and carnivore makes for a truly terrifying dinosaur.

Source: www.hitc.com/

How Jurassic World's New Hybrid Dinosaur Compares To The Indoraptor

Monday, May 24, 2021

Camp Cretaceous season 3 introduces the Scorpios Rex, a hybrid dinosaur that's the deadly forerunner to Jurassic World's Indominus Rex and Indoraptor.

Warning: SPOILERS for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 3.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 3 introduced the Scorpios Rex, a horrific new hybrid dinosaur that was actually the forerunner to Jurassic World's Indominus Rex and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's Indoraptor. Created by Dr. Henry Wu (Greg Chun), Scorpios Rex is a technological terror that rampages in Isla Nublar in the months after the Indominus Rex caused the theme park's destruction and evacuation in Jurassic World.

The Scorpios Rex was teased at the end of Camp Cretaceous season 2; she was held in cryo-stasis in Dr. Wu's underground lab but was accidentally released by the teenage Campers stranded on Isla Nublar, though it would be months before they encountered the hybrid dino. By Camp Cretaceous season 3, there were two Scorpios Rex on Isla Nublar as the original was able to breed. Later, Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega) and Sammy (Raini Rodriguez) saw Dr. Wu's research, designated as the E750 project. The kids learned about the creation of the Scorpios Rex, which proved too uncontrollable. The hybrid beast even attacked and nearly killed Wu, poisoning the geneticist, who survived thanks to an antidote he developed. Despite his ordeal with his monstrous creation, Wu refused to destroy the Scorpios Rex and had her placed in stasis so he could create an "improved" version one day. Once loose on the island, the Scorpios Rex and her child unbalanced the natural order, killing and terrifying the various carnivores and herbivores in Jurassic World.

Since the Scorpios Rex predated the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor, she contains aspects of both, although she was a failed experiment too dangerous to let loose in the wild. The Scorpios Rex's size is somewhere between the Indoraptor and the Indominus Rex, which allows her to enter buildings and even squeeze into tunnels. Like the other hybrids, the Scorpios Rex contains Velociraptor DNA to make her a deadly predator. Similar to the Indoraptor, Scorpios Rex has hands with an opposable thumb, three fingers, and claws. She can also leap like the Indoraptor, thanks to her Velociraptor DNA, and the Scorpios Rex can even climb trees, as the Campers found out when the hybrid clambered up to attack them in their Camp Cretaceous treehouse. The Scorpios Rex and the Indoraptor both have night vision but the red-eyed Scorpios is also attracted to fire and bright flame.

The Scorpios Rex's most potent weapons are her poison quills, which come from the top of her head and her tail. Dr. Wu used scorpionfish DNA to create the Scorpios Rex (and he named his dinosaur after it). The hybrid's poison can bring down even the largest cerapods in Jurassic World. When Sammy was poisoned by the Scorpios Rex's quills, Yasmina (Kausar Mohammad) only had an hour to race to Dr. Wu's lab to retrieve the life-saving antidote.

Thanks to Blue the Velociraptor's help, the Campers were able to kill both Scorpios Rex by collapsing the old Jurassic Park visitor's center on top of the hybrid dinosaurs' heads. It's notable that despite being from the same family, both of mindless, vicious Scorpios Rex showed no affinity to her 'pack', unlike the Velociraptors or the other dinosaurs in Jurassic World. Instead, each Scorpios Rex identified the other as her enemy and they tried to kill each other with the same ferocity they attack everything else.

Hybrid dinosaurs and the dangers they pose are a running theme in the Jurassic World franchise. Camp Cretaceous season 3's retcon shows that Dr. Wu's first hybrid was arguably his most abominable creation, one that Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) ordered destroyed because it was too deadly and grotesque to place in a theme park full of visiting families. Yet Dr. Wu refused and his attempts to 'improve' on the Scorpios Rex only created new but similar horrors. But compared to Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous' Scorpios Rex may be the worst hybrid dinosaur of all.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

Must Go Faster! 10 Cool Jurassic Park Vehicles

Saturday, May 22, 2021

These 4-Wheeled Machines Might Just Steal The Show.

The original Jurassic Park movies were a breeding ground for not only pre-historic dinos but also some pretty impressive Jurassic Park vehicles. Between the original films and the re-invigorated Jurassic World trilogy, this franchise has its own set of unique vehicles that caught our eye.

10 Best Jurrasic Park Vehicles

Some of the most iconic moments of the Jurrasic Park movies involve vehicles. Who can forget the scene in the original “Jurassic Park” film where the T-Rex goes to town on a Ford Explorer or in “The Lost World” when the Fleetwood Southwind Storm gets flipped off a cliff by a pair of T-Rexes? From the original movies to the new trilogy, these ten vehicles play a worthy supporting role amidst Jurassic Park’s dinosaur drama.

2015 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG Coupé | Jurassic World (2015)

The first vehicle on our list is a bit of blatant product placement, but we won’t complain. In “Jurassic World,” we are introduced to Jurassic World’s operations manager, Claire Dearing. Dearing treks around the park in a 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 AMG Coupé. In the movie, she puts the GLE through its off-road paces as she and Owen Grady attempt to track down the Indominus Rex in the jungles of Isla Nublar.

2017 Rolls-Royce Phantom VII | Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

In the sequel to “Jurassic World,” Dearing pulls a John Hammond and goes from Jurassic World’s operations manager to a dinosaur activist. She wants to save the dinosaurs left on the island from a volcanic eruption. Without giving too much away, when she gets summoned to the estate of a certain someone who has the means to help, she rolls up in style in a 2017 Rolls-Royce Phantom VII.

2014 Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6×6 | Jurassic World (2015)

Hypothetical question: you’ve created a one-off killing machine of a dinosaur and it gets out — what do you do? Send your asset containment unit in their decked-out Mercedes Benz G63 AMG 6×6 to do damage control, of course. In real life, Mercedes-Benz claimed to have manufactured around one hundred of these unique vehicles with a price tag of $400,000, making this one of the most expensive and rare Jurassic Park employee vehicles to grace the silver screen.

2014 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 4000 | Jurassic World (2015)

If there’s one vehicle that makes repeat appearances throughout the series, it’s the Mercedes Unimog. The Jurassic Park world is filled with them, but we think one Unimog, in particular, deserves its own call-out. In the film “Jurassic World,” Dearing and her nephews on the run from some velociraptors while piloting this monster of a machine.

1969 Pontiac Custom S | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Oddly enough, this Pontiac is the only sports car on the list, perhaps because jungle islands and dinosaur theme parks are noticeably lacking in tarmac. And while a significant portion of “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” occurs on an island, just when the characters are safely on a helicopter and on their way home, the film cuts to a drastically different scene — the streets of San Diego. Dr. Ian Malcolm and Dr. Sarah Harding roll up to the San Diego docks in a 1969 Pontiac Custom S and proceed to speed around town and steal a baby T-Rex in order to bait an escaped mother T-Rex into chasing them.

1992 Hummer w/ Dino Containment Equipment | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

In “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” the main cast thinks they have the whole island to themselves with the exception of the dinosaurs until the In Gen corporation shows up with their fleet of off-road hunting vehicles. Though In Gen’s fleet has several Hummers, this one, in particular, has been modified with some very cool dinosaur containment equipment.

1996 Fleetwood Southwind Storm | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

This one is one of the more unique vehicles in the Jurassic Park universe. In “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” the team embarks on their mission in a 1996 Fleetwood Southwind Storm that has been converted into a science laboratory. It is also intended to provide a safe haven for the group, although the vehicle meets with a memorable demise after a pair of T-Rexes push it off a cliff.

1997 Mercedes-Benz ML 320 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

We talked about a few Mercedes Benz models above, but “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” marked the first official product placement of the brand. At the time of filming, Mercedes gave the movie a few pre-production modes of their then-upcoming SUV — the Mercedes Benz ML 320. The vehicles were modified into an off-road/safari-style build, complete with camo, in order to tackle the park’s terrain.

1992 Ford Explorer | Jurassic Park (1993)

This set of unique liveried Ford Explorers appear in the original “Jurassic Park” when some of the characters go on a tour of the park and end up in an unexpected clash with a T-Rex. In the film, the Ford Explorers are self-driving, following along an electric track through the park. Due to a storm, the two Explorers get stranded outside a dinosaur enclosure where one gets completely destroyed by an escaped T-Rex.

1993 Jeep Wrangler Sahara | Jurassic Park (1993)

This Jeep Wrangler is the most iconic of all the Jurassic Park vehicles. The Jeep Wrangler YJ was heavily featured in the original “Jurassic Park.” It doesn’t have any special upgrades beyond its unique livery, and the park has a whole fleet of Wranglers as indicated by their numbers. The Wrangler makes a cameo when the visitors get their first glimpse of a dinosaur, when a disliked character gets eaten, and during an unforgettable T-Rex chase scene. And keep your eyes open for an old, abandoned one that pops up in the sequel’s first installment, “Jurassic World.”

What Vehicles Are Coming Next to Jurassic Park?

The first film definitely houses the most iconic Jurassic Park vehicles, but there are definitely gems among the rest. You may have noticed that the third film doesn’t get a mention on our list and that some of the more off-road-centric models do show up in a few of the films. Now all eyes are on the next film “Jurassic World: Dominion” scheduled for release in summer 2022, to see what new vehicles may pop up alongside the dinosaurs.

Source: https://autowise.com/

Camp Cretaceous Season 3 Ending Sets Up Isla Sorna's Jurassic World Return

Sunday, May 23, 2021

The kids in Camp Cretaceous season 3 finally escaped Jurassic World but instead of Costa Rica, they could end up shipwrecked on Site B aka Isla Sorna.

Warning: SPOILERS for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 3.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 3 ended with the six teenage Campers finally escaping Isla Nublar but an ominous cliffhanger indicates their problems with dinosaurs are not over. Indeed, even though Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega), Kenji (Ryan Potter), Yasmina (Kausar Mohammed), Ben (Sean Giambrone), and Sammy (Raini Rodriguez) are sailing away from Jurassic World, they could end up in Isla Sorna instead of Costa Rica.

The Campers survived an attack by the Scorpios Rex after they learned there are two of the original hybrid dinosaur monsters created by Dr. Henry Wu (Greg Chun). With the help of Blue the Velociraptor, who returned the favor of Darius saving her life by fighting the Scorpios Rex, the kids made it out alive as the old Jurassic Park visitors' center was destroyed, killing both Scorpios Rex. Finally, the Campers made it back to the boat originally owned by the late big game hunters Mitch (Bradley Whitford) and Tiff (Stephanie Beatriz), who menaced Jurassic World's dinosaurs in Camp Cretaceous season 2. But the teenagers' attempt to sail away from Isla Nublar was interrupted by the arrival of mercenaries hired by David Mills (Rafe Spall) to extract the DNA of the Indominus Rex from the Mosasaurus' lagoon.

Dr. Wu also returned to Jurassic World for the first time since the park fell thanks to the Indominus Rex. Brooklynn, who knew about Wu creating the Scorpios Rex and his work on hybrid dinosaurs, led Darius and Yaz into keeping the geneticist's research away. Meanwhile, Kenji, Ben, and Sammy, were taken aboard a helicopter by the mercs and survived a Pteranodon attack. The kids finally reunited to upload the files from Wu's stolen laptop into a flash drive while they planned to rescue Brooklynn, who was abducted by Wu's thugs. However, Kenji decided to make an exchange of Wu's laptop for Brooklynn. Thankfully, Ben leading Bumpy and her ankylosaurus pack in a stampede prevented the mercs from doublecrossing Brooklynn and Kenji.

Everyone made their separate escape from Jurassic World, which finally wrapped up the Campers' ordeal of being stranded on Isla Nublar. However, the kids' happy ending comes with a cliffhanger that not only sets up what could come next in Camp Cretaceous season 4 but also connects to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Camp Cretaceous' Ending Caused Jurassic World 2'S Opening Scene

Camp Cretaceous season 3's final two episodes, "Whatever It Takes" and "Stay On Mission," take place at the same time as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's opening scene, which is set 6 months after the island was overrun by dinosaurs in Jurassic World. This also clearly established that the Campers have been on Isla Nublar for 6 months, after a large time jump in between Camp Cretaceous seasons 2 and 3 (Kenji grew facial hair and the roots of Brooklynn's pink dyed hair are now showing). In Fallen Kingdom's prologue, the mercenaries sent by David Mills arrived at Jurassic World during a rainstorm and successfully acquired the Indominus Rex's DNA. But they also encountered the Tyrannosaurus Rex and one of the mercs was eaten by the Mosasaurus, which then escaped her lagoon and made her way into the open sea.

However, Camp Cretaceous revealed that the mercenaries aboard their helicopters stopped the Campers from sailing from Isla Nublar. When they rendezvoused on the dock, they were attacked by the T-Rex. Darius, Brooklynn, and Yasmina fled into the jungle and they ended up leading the T-Rex back to Jurassic World's main street, which is how the massive apex predator ran into the mercenaries at the lagoon looking for the Indominus Rex's remains. The Mosasaurus eating the thug hanging from his helicopter's rope ladder was also seen from the Campers' point of view. But an interesting note is that Camp Cretaceous doesn't address how Fallen Kingdom conveniently changed Isla Nublar's geography, which Jurassic World 2 retconned to allow the Mosasaurus access to the sea when her lagoon is actually landlocked in the middle of the island.

Camp Cretaceous Season 3 Finale Connects To Jurassic  Fallen Kingdom's Prologue

Part of the fun of Camp Cretaceous for fans is that Netflix's animated series' events happen concurrently with the Jurassic World movies and show a different perspective. Camp Cretaceous season 3 revealed that while the mercenaries were dealing with the T-Rex and Mosasaurus, Dr. Henry Wu landed on the island via helicopter with his own team of henchmen to retrieve his laptop full of research. Camp Cretaceous also dropped the bombshell that the Scorpios Rex was Dr. Wu's first attempt at a hybrid dinosaur, predating the Indominus Rex. The young Scorpios Rex even attacked and nearly killed Dr. Wu with her poison quills. Simon Masrani (Ifffan Khan) ordered the hybrid destroyed because she was too dangerous and grotesque to be on display in Jurassic World — but instead, Wu placed the Scorpios Rex in cryo-freeze, intending to use her to perfect a new hybrid. The Scorpios Rex partly inspired the Indoraptor.

While Brooklynn was Dr. Wu's prisoner, she challenged his rationale behind creating killer hybrid dinosaurs. While the geneticist did stop to consider her logic, he obviously continued his experiments since he went ahead to create the Indoraptor in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Dr. Wu and his goons also apparently told no one that the Camp Cretaceous kids were still trapped on Isla Nublar when they returned to the mainland. Overall, Dr. Wu's encounter with the Campers occurred during and immediately after his team's successful acquisition of the Indominus Rex's DNA.

Camp Cretaceous Season 4 Could Be Set On Isla Sorna

The Campers finally sailing away from Jurassic World seemed to signal that their ordeal (and the series) is over. The kids planned to use a compass they retrieved from Kenji's father's penthouse to help them reach Costa Rica. However, there's actually no guarantee that they'll make it to their destination. For one thing, Kenji only nominally knows how to pilot a boat and navigate at sea. The boat's hull is also damaged and the patchwork repair job Darius did may not hold up in the stormy and treacherous waters.

If Camp Cretaceous season 4 happens, it's easy to guess how the teenagers could get shipwrecked - possibly on Isla Sorna. Site B hasn't been canonically seen in the franchise since Jurassic Park III, so it's fertile ground to continue the Campers' problems, but now they could get stuck on a different island of dinosaurs. The fact that almost 15 years have passed canonically since Jurassic Park III means that InGen and Masrani Global Group could have built new facilities on Isla Sorna and continued using Site B to breed new dinosaurs. This would allow Camp Cretaceous's producers to let their imaginations run wild in season 4. Further, there are other islands in the chain Isla Sorna is part of, known as the Five Deaths. The Campers could end up marooned on another island instead of making it to the Costa Rican mainland.

Why Camp Cretaceous Season 3'S Cliffhanger Is Actually Sad

Camp Cretaceous season 3's ominous final shot is of the locked door to the boat's galley with the sounds of a dinosaur trapped. At the end of Camp Cretaceous season 2, a pair of Baryonyx followed Tiff to her boat and presumably ate her. Somehow, Tiff must have still locked them below deck. The Campers somehow never noticed the locked door or tried to venture below decks but, suffice to say, they're certainly not free of dinosaurs on their boat. As for the Campers themselves, they have grown closer after surviving their ordeal, although Camp Cretaceous season 3 ended with a rift between Darius and Kenji that a potential season 4 needs to resolve.

Meanwhile, Ben had to leave his pet ankylosaurus, Bumpy, behind on Jurassic World although he did seriously consider staying on Isla Nublar, where he found himself and gained his beloved dinosaur as his best friend. The tragedy of leaving Bumpy behind, however, is that fans know that in less than two years, Isla Nublar will be destroyed by Mt. Sibo's volcanic eruption. Although many of the dinosaurs were evacuated in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (and later sold in a dinosaur auction), plenty of dinos perished during Isla Nublar's destruction. There's no telling whether Bumpy was evacuated or if the heroic ankylosaurus died on Jurassic World. So while it's a relief that the Campers have escaped Isla Nublar, there is still a lot of their stories left to tell if Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous returns for season 4.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

What To Expect From Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 4

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 3 doesn't mean it's the end of the story. Here's everything we know about what could come next in season 4.

Warning: SPOILERS for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 3.

Will Netflix renew Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous for season 4? Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Colin Trevorrow, and Frank Marshall, the animated series expanding the Jurassic universe has been a critically-acclaimed hit on Netflix. Camp Cretaceous season 1 premiered in September 2020 and season 2 hit the streaming service in January 2021.

In Camp Cretaceous season 3, the six teenage Campers, Darius (Paul-Mikél Williams), Brooklynn (Jenna Ortega), Kenji (Ryan Potter), Yasmina (Kausar Mohammed), Ben (Sean Giambrone), and Sammy (Raini Rodriguez) found their attempt to escape Jurassic World by boat thwarted by a new hybrid dinosaur they accidentally unleashed, the Scorpios Rex. In addition, Dr. Henry Wu (Greg Chun) returned to Jurassic World to collect his research, and Camp Cretaceous season 3's ending linked up with the opening scene of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. After the kids' fateful encounter with Dr. Wu and his mercenaries, they were able to finally sail away from Isla Nublar, although a cliffhanger ending teased a killer dinosaur stowaway they're not aware of.

Camp Cretaceous seasons 1-3 have run concurrently with the Jurassic World films and span the six months since the fall of Isla Nublar in Colin Trevorrow's 2015 blockbuster. But despite the Campers leaving Isla Nublar behind, their story is far from over. Here's everything we know about what's next in Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 4.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 4 Release Date Info

Netflix has yet to renew Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous for season 4 but given season 3's cliffhanger ending, there is an excellent chance there are yet more adventures to come for the heroic teenage Campers. Netflix announced Camp Cretaceous season 2 in October 2020, just a few weeks after season 1 premiered. Netflix announced Camp Cretaceous season 3 in March 2021 after season 2's January premiere. Jurassic fans will likely have to wait a few weeks to hear official word on if Camp Cretaceous season 4 is a go at Netflix.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 4 Story Details

When Screen Rant spoke to executive producer Colin Trevorrow about Camp Cretaceous season 2, he indicated that the greater story they have planned "will take these kids deeper into a journey that pulls further and further away from Jurassic World." That was evident with Camp Cretaceous season 3's ending, which saw the Campers finally sail away from Isla Nublar, but they're unaware of a mystery dinosaur locked in the lower deck of their damaged boat.

If the Campers don't return to Jurassic World, it actually opens up all kinds of possibilities for Camp Cretaceous season 4. One possibility is that instead of making it to Costa Rica as they hoped, the Campers could end up marooned on Isla Sorna AKA Site B, the other island filled with dinosaurs. Isla Sorna hasn't been canonically seen since Jurassic Park III and almost 15 years have passed in-universe so it's fertile ground for a new adventure pitting the kids against dinosaurs on new terrain. Another option is for the Campers to end up one of the other islands Isla Sorna is part of, which is a chain known as the Five Deaths that was first mentioned in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. So, despite escaping Isla Nublar, Darius, Brooklynn, Ben, Kenji, Yaz, and Sammy will face untold new ordeals in Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 4.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

Jurassic World: What Really Makes the Indoraptor the Deadliest Dinosaur

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom introduces the deadliest dinosaur in the franchise, the Indoraptor. But its aggression comes from a missing factor.

When the Indominus Rex burst from its egg before the events of Jurassic World, it was meant to be the deadliest creature that the franchise had ever seen. While true at the time, it became evident by its sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, that it was just the beginning of a larger project to spawn a more dangerous successor, the Indoraptor. But what makes this smaller creature more of a threat than the Indominus Rex has to do with a missing component.

Unlike its predecessor, Dr. Henry Wu manufactured the Indoraptor off of an island in the Lockwood Manor's underground labs. The home was owned by Sir Benjamin Lockwood, an ex-partner of John Hammond's, and equipped with cutting-edge machinery that Dr. Wu utilized in creating the new hybrid. With a piece from the Indominus Rex's skeleton, Wu spliced its DNA with a Velociraptor to create a much smaller version of the I-Rex.

The Indoraptor shares many features to its genetic parent, such as a keen intellect and the ability to traverse on all fours or two legs. But as the first of its kind, Wu stressed that the creature was imperfect. As a prototype, its genome required the Velociraptor Blue and her DNA to give it more empathy and a mother figure to imprint on and learn from.

Without Blue, the Indorpator lacks any ability to care and hardly follows commands. The best it can do is follow visual and audio cues that, when activated, drive the creature into a rage, attacking whatever it believes is the source of a piercing sound. Because it can't differentiate friends from food, it's highly unpredictable. But its inability to take orders from others isn't the only thing that makes the creature the deadliest in the Jurassic Park series.

Like the Indominus Rex and the Velociraptor, the Indoraptor is incredibly intelligent. For example, before its escape in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, a hunter named Ken Wheatley tranquilizes it. Trying to take one of its teeth for his collection, he walks into the cage and begins the extraction. But the Indoraptor was never put under from the darts and, with a smile, toys with Wheatley before waking up and mauling him to death.

In Jurassic World, the Indominus Rex hunts for food. But with each kill the Indoraptor commits, it becomes clear that it's likely killing for fun. Since it's a prototype creature, its lack of empathy due to not having Blue's DNA turns this intelligent animal into something more akin to a serial killer. Coupled with its unpredictability and inability to follow orders, the Indoraptor becomes something far deadlier than what has appeared in Jurassic Park's past.

Source: www.cbr.com/

Pleurochayah appalachius: Fossil of North America’s Earliest Side-Necked Turtle Unearthed

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Life reconstruction of Pleurochayah appalachius. Image credit: Brent Adrian / Midwestern University.

A new genus and species of side-necked turtle that lived 96 million years ago (Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous period) has been identified from the fossilized remains found in Texas. This discovery suggests that side-necked turtles — those that withdraw their necks sideways into their shells when threatened — migrated to North America during the Cenomanian age, between 100 and 94 million years ago.

The new species belongs to Bothremydidae, an extinct group of side-necked (pleurodiran) turtles that was geographically widespread and occupied a wide range of ecological niches.

The group originated in the southern continent of Gondwana, migrating to northern continents beginning in the Early Cretaceous.

Named Pleurochayah appalachius, the new turtle is one of the earliest examples of intercontinental dispersals by the group and is the oldest bothremydid found in North American and Laurasian sediments.

“This discovery provides the earliest evidence of side-necked turtles in North America and expands our understanding of the first migrations of the extinct bothremydids,” said lead author Dr. Brent Adrian, a researcher in the Department of Anatomy at Midwestern University.

The fossilized remains of Pleurochayah appalachius were discovered at the Arlington Archosaur Site of the Woodbine Group in Texas, the United States.

They predate Paiutemys tibert, a turtle species from Utah that was previously recognized as the oldest known North American side-necked turtle.

“The discovery further establishes the Arlington Archosaur Site as an important fossil unit that is revealing the foundations of an endemic Appalachian fauna,” Dr. Adrian noted.

Pleurochayah appalachius had an intriguing combination of morphological adaptations to a highly aquatic lifestyle that likely facilitated its long-distance migration.

Its upper arm bone shows large bony attachments for muscles that support a powerful recovery from swimming strokes.

The functional morphology of the bone also indicates that the turtle likely utilized an aquatic rowing mode of swimming, as opposed to the flapping motion of modern sea turtles.

The microanatomy of its shell bone reveals a comparatively thick external compared to internal cortex, similar to later marine-adapted bothremydid species.

However, its marine adaptations are not as derived as in later bothremydids, which are found throughout the fossil record of North American later in the Late Cretaceous.

The skull of Pleurochayah appalachius had a unique combination of primitive and derived traits that it shares with other bothremydid species.

It shares most characteristics with two of the basal bothremydid clades, Cearachelyini and Kurmademydini.

Based on the findings, Dr. Adrian and colleagues suggest that early bothremydid turtles migrated from Gondwana to North America during or prior to the Cenomanian age via the central Atlantic Ocean or the Caribbean.

“It is likely that bothremydid dispersals to North America during or prior to the Cenomanian were influenced by the vicariant event of the opening of the central Atlantic, and the periodic connection of the Western Interior Seaway to the Gulf of Mexico,” the paleontologists said.

“However, allopatric speciation may be responsible for the multiple-continent distribution of basal bothremydids, as demonstrated for other Late Early Cretaceous pelomedusoid clades.”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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B. Adrian et al. 2021. An early bothremydid from the Arlington Archosaur Site of Texas. Sci Rep 11, 9555; doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88905-1

Source: www.sci-news.com/

How Jurassic World Justified It's Scientifically Inaccurate Dinosaurs

Thursday, May 20, 2021

The Jurassic Park franchise has never been known for scientifically accurate dinosaurs. But rather than correct this, the series gave an explanation.

When the original Jurassic Park released in 1993, the idea of what dinosaurs looked like was vastly different from what scientists believe they look like now. In the past, scientists thought these creatures were far more reptilian in appearance and only loosely shared traits similar to birds. Now, it appears dinosaurs are far more bird-like than previously speculated, even having feathers. Rather than correct this idea in later releases like Jurassic World, the franchise leaned into the scientific inaccuracies with a clever explanation instead.

Since the beginning, Dr. Henry Wu has been hard at work creating new dinosaurs based on the genetic secrets he and others uncovered back in the early years of Jurassic Park. After creating creatures like the T-Rex and Velociraptor, Wu continued his genetic research following the accident at the park. However, Wu has since become more obsessed with his work, even playing in the realm of mad science to create entirely new creatures like the Indominus Rex.

While working at Jurassic World, the Indomius Rex became the pinnacle of Wu's work, giving the creature traits of dinosaurs like the T-Rex and Velociraptor along with camouflage abilities from a cuttlefish. Upon its escape, Jurassic World CEO Simon Masrani learned of Dr. Wu's project, after he cited his desire to make it cooler and scarier rather than accurate. During Wu's justification in creating the Indominus Rex, he let slip that the dinosaurs at the park have never looked accurate because the scientists filled the genetic gaps with other creatures.

This directly ties back to the original inspiration for the park, and its use of frog DNA to fill in the gene sequence gaps. Wu then stated, "...if their genetic code was pure, many of them would look quite different." To Wu, this was never about creating accurate dinosaurs, but a chance to push his creative boundaries with genetic power. His justification for his actions and the scientific inaccuracies touch on the biggest lesson that the franchise has to teach.

Explaining that these dinosaurs were designed for visitor appeal rather than educational or scientific purposes highlights man's desire for power without any understanding behind it. Even Dr. Wu, with his vast intelligence, believes he is doing something that no other person can. While it isn't morally right, he chooses to continue his work because if he doesn't innovate, someone else will. Making the dinosaurs inaccurate on purpose shows that the park creators only care about how far they can go in creating a new creature.

By Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the hope that a T-Rex or Velociraptor will have scientifically accurate feathers has become a thing of the past. Though science has detailed that dinosaurs looked very different from how society portrays them, the Jurassic Park franchise found the best solution to acknowledge reality and fantasy. Thankfully, by not retconning the designs, the franchise used the science to further explain why humanity shouldn't meddle in powers they don't understand.

Source: www.cbr.com/

Laura Dern Teases Big Jurassic Park Reunion and 'Saving Butts' in Jurassic World 3

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Laura Dern welcomed the chance to have a reunion with Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum while filming Jurassic World: Dominion.

After two decades, Dr. Ellie Sattler, played by Laura Dern, is getting ready to return to the world of dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Dominion. And she won't be alone. Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm will be joining Dern in important roles within the film. During an interview for People, Dern waxed enthusiastically about her joy at getting back into the groove of things with her old co-stars and collaborators.

"I can say that it was incredible to be back together. It was an amazing thing to join my original cast members and go down memory lane, from that experience in the beginning of a franchise through the whole course of these films together with all the key cast members who have been working on these movies, as well as [director] Colin Trevorrow and Steven Spielberg, who is like family to me."

In the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion, the dinosaurs have left behind their island and arrived in mainland US. Now, humanity has to learn to live with its prehistoric neighbors, and that means bringing in the top experts in the field for advice. Enter Dr. Sattler, Dr. Grant, and Dr. Malcolm, who are the same characters that first appeared in the Jurassic Park series, now with age on their side. According to Laura Dern, the focus was on having fun with the new movie while protecting the legacy of the characters from the original Jurassic Park franchise.

"We've had a beautiful time remembering what we loved about the origin story, and the first CGI and working with the animatronics of the brilliant Stan Winston, and what we want to hold and protect of the original characters. So it's just been amazing. And I hope everybody next summer, June of 2022, will be ready for some fun."

The filming for Jurassic World: Dominion has been beset by difficulties, due to the new era of social distancing that makes filming a big-budget movie with lots of people especially complicated. Dern goes on to explain that the team behind the upcoming film were able to manage the shooting in accordance with distancing guidelines while still making the whole affair feel like an intimate reunion.

"We all took it very seriously, but we really did create home as a group. And that was amazing. I mean, it was amazing to not just have one scene or one moment together, as you might do in an experience of a reunion, which I've had a couple of times in my life with other people I've worked with or projects. But this was really about coming together as a family, given the times that we are all living in together now. So that made it profoundly memorable."

Directed by Colin TrevorrowJurassic World: Dominion features a lead cast consisting of Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Jake Johnson, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Omar Sy, Isabelle Sermon, and B.D. Wong. The film arrives in theaters on June 10, 2022. This news originated at People.

Source: https://movieweb.com/

The 8 Best Jurassic Park Attractions At Universal Studios Parks, Past and Present

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Universal Studios Parks has had quite a few attractions based on the Jurassic Park franchise, but these 8 are the best.

The Jurassic Park franchise depicts a failed attempt at creating a theme park-type zoo featuring dinosaurs brought back from extinction. However, things go wrong, the dinosaurs escape and wreak havoc, and the theme park creators realize building it was a huge mistake. Released in 1993, the movie grossed over a billion dollars and has become a classic.

Naturally, director Steven Spielberg wanted to bring a ride version to the Universal Studios Theme Park, which seemed inevitable and appropriate since the film already takes place at a theme park. Ever since Jurassic Park: The Ride opened in Universal Studios Hollywood in 1996, the film and attraction have continued in popularity, which has prompted the construction of more rides based on the film throughout Universal's parks around the world, which allow guests to live the thrilling classic film.

8 - Discovery Center

The Discovery Center opened with Orlando's Universal Studios Islands Of Adventure in 1999 and is a recreation of the iconic main hub from the first Jurassic Park film. Notably, Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and others enter the building and pass by two giant dinosaur skeletons the T-Rex later throws the raptors into during the film's exciting finale.

The recreation features a nursery where guests can see real dinosaurs (actually puppets) born from eggs and hear scientists educate and answer questions on Jurassic Park's dinosaurs. A burger restaurant sits on the top floor and the bottom floor features gift shops and now the start of the VelociCoaster queue.

7 - Triceratops Discovery Trail

The Triceratops Discovery Trail opened with Islands Of Adventure in 1999 and took guests up close and personal with a triceratops. The trail, aimed mostly at children, was a walkthrough attraction that featured an encounter with a veterinarian and a life-size animatronic Triceratops.

The veterinarian would explain all about the triceratops to guests and the dinosaur was able to breathe, sneeze, and make other slight movements and sounds. The attraction closed in 2005 but reopened in 2010 before being shut down permanently in 2012.

6 - Raptor Encounter

Taking its cues from the extinct Triceratops Discovery Trail, the Raptor Encounter attempted to take that concept to a much more thrilling level. Opening in Universal Studios Hollywood in 2015 to capitalize on the success of Jurassic World, the Raptor Encounter is a live show with a raptor trainer parading around a velociraptor in front of park goers.

The raptor is an impressive use of person-in-a-suit puppetry that can walk around the guests, make realistic movements, and roar. The trainer explains the raptor, makes jokes with guests, and is also available for photo ops. A similar version where a raptor puppet, from behind a cage, roars and snaps at guests taking photos or selfies is featured at Orlando's Islands of Adventure.

5 - Rapids Adventure

Inspired by the Jurassic Park River Adventure at Universal's other parks, the Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure opened in 2010 at Universal Studios Singapore. Similar to the version that inspired it, the ride takes guests on a circular river raft, instead of a boat, through areas featuring peaceful herbivore dinosaurs made from animatronic puppetry.

However, the raft turns into rougher waters and velociraptors can be seen before guests enter a show building where the raft spins around in the dark as alarms sound. The raft is then lifted up an elevator where a T-Rex snaps at them before descending down a 40-foot drop.

4 - Pteranodon Flyers

The aptly named Pteranodon Flyers opened with Islands Of Adventure in 1999. The ride is a short, steel suspended roller coaster that flies at low speeds over the Jurassic Park section of the park. The coaster mimics the Pteranodon flying dinosaur with wings on the sides of each car.

Since its opening, guests have enjoyed Pteranodon Flyers for being a tame-yet-high flying ride, allowing them great views of the park. However, wait times for the rides are notoriously long due to the attraction's extremely low-ride capacity, since each car only holds two passengers.

3 - River Adventure (Jurassic Park: The Ride)

Originally opening in 1996 at Universal Studios Hollywood as Jurassic Park: The Ride, the Jurassic Park River Adventure, a clone of the earlier attraction, opened in a Jurassic Park-themed section of Islands Of Adventure in 1999. Steven Spielberg actually had ideas for the ride before the movie was even released and based the eventual attraction on a river scene from Michael Crichton's original novel.

In the ride, guests board a boat and travel through a lagoon filled with gentle herbivores before getting knocked off course. The boat then enters a show building and travels up a long lift hill where shadows of raptors can be seen following alongside. Suddenly, the raptors appear and dilophosauruses spit water at the guests. Then a life-size T-rex emerges from the darkness roaring, just before the boat plunges down an 85-foot drop. When the ride first premiered, Spielberg requested the ride stop before the big drop so he could get off.

2 - VelociCoaster

Inspired by Jurassic World, the new VelociCoaster is located in the Jurassic Park section of Islands Of Adventure. It is the first brand new Jurassic Park ride since 1999. The ride's story is that guests are going on a roller coaster through a velociraptor paddock in the real Jurassic World.

The ride's queue has many nods to the films and features two muzzled animatronic raptors that breathe and snort. Jurassic World actors Bryce Dallas Howard, B.D. Wong and Chris Pratt appear as their characters in the preshow, with the latter warning this is a bad idea. The ride itself is an intense roller coaster with a top hat, several inversions, and goes at a max speed of 70 Mph while passing raptors along the way. Guests have enjoyed the attraction but criticized its lack of theming while saying the coaster itself is one of the best ever built.

1 - Jurassic World: The Ride (Formerly Jurassic Park: The Ride)

Originally opening at Universal Studios Hollywood in 1996 as Jurassic Park: The Ride, 2019's Jurassic World: The Ride is a rebranded version inspired by the recent film series. The ride layout is the same but is now overlaid with characters and theming from Jurassic World. Legendary actor Richard Attenborough as John Hammond is no longer a part of the pre-ride queue and the color scheme has been updated to reflect Jurassic World's black, grey, and dark blue aesthetic.

The ride itself passes through a new aquarium with a mosasaurus on screens before entering the same show building. The boat travels up the lift hill like before but now guests receive warnings from Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard's respective characters Owen Grady and Claire Dearing. The biggest difference is the finale which features not only the original T-Rex but a life-sized Indominous Rex that lunges at guests. Guests have lamented they miss the old version but praised all the long-overdue and much-needed new elements, such as the brand new Indominous Rex, which is one of the most realistic animatronics ever built for a ride.

Source: https://screenrant.com/

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