1. Sinornithosaurus
Its name means "Chinese
bird-lizard," which sounds almost but not quite as cool as
"Sinornithosaurus" (really, doesn't the imagined sound of Sam Neill or
Laura Dern or Jeff Goldblum exclaiming "Sinornithosaurus!" fill you with
geeky glee?). Imagine a smaller (around three feet long) version of the
Raptor and add feathers and you've pretty much got the idea, though
don't let its relatively tiny size fool you -- a recent study suggests
that the Sinornithosaurus may be the first-identified venomous dinosaur.
Imagine a swarm of these descending on some poor idiot, snapping and
biting away -- there was no scene in "Safety Not Guaranteed" like that,
was there?
"Feathers" might indeed be a key
component to "Jurassic Park IV," as today's special effects technology
allows feathers to be animated a lot more easily and realistically than
what was possible back in 1993 or even 2001.
"I don't want to give away my
sources, but when it comes to 'Jurassic Park IV,' think feathers," said
Dr. Robert Bakker, the self-described "dinosaur guy" of the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
"I'm expecting better feathers, on new dinosaurs as well as on ones
we've already seen," he added, hinting heavily toward the Raptors.
2. Archaeopteryx
Speaking of feathers, here's the
dino to include if the filmmakers want to get a bit controversial.
There's been no real consensus on how to classify this beast, which
represents the transitional link between birds and reptiles. As such,
the crow-sized Archaeopteryx (sometimes referred to by its German name
"Urvogel," which means original bird" or "first bird") is considered
both a primitive bird and feathered dinosaur at the same time,
which makes it twice as bad. It's unknown if this astonishing creature
could actually fly, but if Spielberg ends up saying it did, then it
probably did -- and a flock of these things descending on a camp of
"Jurassic Park" bird-watchers would make for quite the scary image.
3. Plesiosaur
Bring on the aquatic dinos! We
almost guarantee the appearance of a Plesiosaur (or one of its kin) in
"Jurassic Park IV," if only because it's high time for a big set piece
either on or under the water. The typical plesiosaur had a broad body
and a short tail, though its most popular feature is actually specific
to the "Plesiosauroidea" suborder: the long neck that every once in a
while pops out of the water in a certain Scottish lake.
Dr. Bakker believes that the
appearance of a Plesiosaur or other water dino is highly likely, if for
no other reason than "It would be very cool." We couldn't agree more.
4. Allosaurus
We've seen the T-Rex and the
Spinosaurs -- now it's time for another bad boy with short arms and big
teeth to stomp around and roar a lot (hey, its name actually means
"different lizard," which sounds like a term that you'd probably find
throughout the "Jurassic Park IV" script treatment). The Allosaurus is a
lighter, lither version of the Tyrannosaurus, and became extinct a good
77 million years before the time of the T-Rex... which means its
appearance might by default make "JP4" a prequel.
5. Deinonychus
Here's a close cousin to the
Velociraptor, and just the beast to call in if the Raptors need to be
dethroned the way the T-Rex got owned by the Spinosaurus in "Jurassic
Park III." The name "Deinoychus" means "Terrible Claw" (sweet), which
refers to the rather large (around five inches), sickle-shaped talon on
the second toe of each hind foot. These bird-like beasts grew up to five
feet tall and 11 feet long and had the same kind of speed and
intelligence as the Raptors, though the death grip they could inflict
with those talons definitely gave them a powerful (and messy) offensive
advantage.
Watch the trailer for "Jurassic Park 3D" coming to theaters on April 5:
Post a Comment