Pteranodon
From Jurassic Park wiki
| Pteranodon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Name meaning | Wing without Tooth |
| Code name | Flyer |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Height | 6 feet (2m) |
| Wingspan | 9 meters (30 feet) |
| Weight | 45 lbs |
| Birth Type | Egg |
| Range | Isla Nublar Isla Sorna |
| Novel appearances | Jurassic Park (Some Editions) |
| Film appearances | The Lost World: Jurassic Park Jurassic Park III |
Pteranodon was a giant flying reptile, or Pterosaur, not a dinosaur but indeed closely related to them. It is the classic "pterodactyl" seen in most dinosaur movies and was one of the largest creatures ever to fly. Pteranodon was a fish eater, that lived in the shores of a shallow sea in what is today western North America. It could measure up to 10 meters of wingspan, and its head alone was 2 meters long. It was a superb flyer, and walked on all fours when in land. Paleontologists believe that Pteranodon could travel huge distances into the sea looking for food, but it had to return to land in order to lay its eggs and breed. It had a very sharp sense of sight, but poor or non existent sense of smell. Male Pteranodons had larger crests than females; it is possible that, when alive, the animal's crest was brightly colored and served as a sexual exhibition to attract a mate. Pteranodon lived at the end of the Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago. Several species are known; they are recognized by size and by the shape of both the beak and the crest.
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[edit] Jurassic Park
Pteranodons were not present in any of the Jurassic Park novels; instead, the first novel portrayed one species of pterosaur, the Cearadactylus, somewhat smaller. In the movies, however, Pteranodon was chosen instead of Cearadactylus, probably because of its larger size, more spectacular/bizarre appearance, and huge popularity with audiences (most people recognize Pteranodon as the quintessential pterodactyl). Steven Spielberg wanted to have the pterosaurs in the first Jurassic Park movie, however, the aviary scene described in the novel turned out to be too expensive to recreate. Later, in The Lost World, Spielberg wanted to show an action sequence with several safari team members running away from a pack or raptors and leaping off a cliff in parachutes; however, they would be attacked by a flock of Pteranodon. Once again, the idea was abandoned (although conceptual art for the Pteranodons exists for that movie). The movie does depict Pteranodon, though; at the end of the movie, several are shown flying above the heads of stegosaurs and T. rexes, and one of them is shown up close, being the last "dinosaur" shown. This Pteranodon is shown to be of a very lean body build, with an S shaped neck and a slender, hook ended beak. It is also shown to perch on a tree the same way a bird would (which is often said by most paleontologists to be impossible, for Pteranodon did not have grasping feet and was most likely a quadruped when it landed). The Pteranodons in The Lost World were based on a species called Pteranodon longiceps. Originally Steven Spielberg wanted to use Pteranodon sternbergi, but changed the species at the last minute; probably for the more straight and elegant crest of the longiceps. Concept art for the sternbergi species can still be seen. In Jurassic Park III, Pteranodons were finally given an important role. Director Joe Johnston had the Pteranodons re-designed for this movie; they were shown as being larger, more robust and different colored than the Pteranodons shown at the end of The Lost World; they also lack a hooked bill, but have rows of dinosaur-like teeth on their mouths (something real life Pteranodons did not have). These teeth are often cited as a result of InGen's messing with dinosaur DNA. In Jurassic Park III, the main characters enter, unknowingly, a giant bird cage in a river canyon, containing four adult Pteranodons and an nest filled with precocious, voracious hatchlings. 13 year old Eric Kirby is snatched by one of the animals and thrown to the nest to serve as food for the young, but Billy manages to save the boy. He, however, ends up being attacked himself, and he is brutally mauled and severely injured by the flying reptiles. Later, when they escape the bird cage, the Kirbys accidentally leave the cage's door open, and the Pteranodons escape; they are briefly seen at the end of the movie, heading for "new nesting grounds". It is unknown whether the adults abandoned their chicks or were simply exploring the island's surroundings, perhaps planning for a future, actual escape. The ferocity and extreme power of these animals is also generally passed as genetic mutation along with their teeth. It is possible that the reason they were in an aviary (while The Lost World's Pteranodons) was because of the mutations, and the Pteranodons from The Lost World were a less dangerous version of Jurassic Park III's Pteranodons. Thus both movies could be accurately depciting Sorna's species, if we adopt the idea of there being two species of Pteranodons on the island. Sternbergi may exist on Isla Sorna but this is unknown.
In 2001, a short novel named Flyers, written by Scott Ciencin, was released. The novel, part of a trilogy that has Eric Kirby as the main character, describes an attack of the Pteranodon flock (including the young) to the Universal studios in Florida, before they are tricked into going back to the island. This novel is, however, not canon, and some fans have speculated that a hypothetical Jurassic Park IV could reveal what happened to these Pteranodons.
A deleted scene from Jurassic Park III was going to show male Pteranodons (all the ones from the film were female), which were supposed to be larger and darker in color, and was also supposed to have them fight the Velociraptors, but this along with many others was cut from the movie.
[edit] Accuracy
The Pteranodon in Jurassic Park III are correctly depicted in regards to their size (paleontologists claim that the largest species could reach 10 meters of wingspan, being the size of a small aircraft), as well as their quadrupedal gait. They are, however, shown incorrectly to have teeth (probably a result of InGen's messing with their DNA). Most scientists believe that Pteranodons could not lift large prey with their talons, simply because their feet were not designed to grasp; instead, they caught most of their prey with their large beaks. The number of eggs or young that Pteranodons could have in one single brood is unknown; however, the movie correctly portrays pterosaurs as being able to fly from a very early age. All Pteranodons in Jurassic Park III are shown to have long crests of about the same size, when in real life, Pteranodon males would have large crests, and females had smaller ones. However, it might be that these Pteranodons don´t belong to any species known as a fossil, which would easily explain this trait.
[edit] Voice
Pteranodons were given a wide array of calls and vocalizations in Jurassic Park III, as well as an eerie, bird-like scream at the end of The Lost World. The movie creators used large bird sounds (including giant petrels) for the Pteranodons.
[edit] Portrayal
The Pteranodons in The Lost World were completely CGI, while in Jurassic Park III, they were portrayed by a combination of CGI and animatronics. The hatchlings were actually traditional puppets (although the ones shown flying are CGI).
[edit] Interaction with humans
In Jurassic Park III, Pteranodons are shown to be extremely aggressive and to attack any human that enters their territory (the Canyon Aviary), just as the Cearadactylus did in the original Jurassic Park novel. However, while Cearadactylus seemed to attack humans out of territoriality, the Pteranodons in Jurassic Park III obviously see humans as suitable prey and attack them to eat them. This is implied by the presence of human bones in the Pteranodon nest and the fact that the adult Pteranodon threw Eric Kirby to the nest in order for its young to attack him.
Later in the movie, three adult Pteranodons are shown flying near several helicopters, but they ignore them completely (although the original script had the pterosaurs to attack the helicopter).
Other than the human remains of the Pteranodon nest, no fatal victims of Pteranodon are known in Jurassic Park. They did, however, manage to almost kill Billy Brennan (who probably survived only because the river current dragged him out of the Canyon Aviary, where the Pteranodons could not follow him).
| Jurassic Park III Dinosaurs |
|---|
| Ankylosaurus • Baryonyx • Brachiosaurus • Ceratosaurus • Compsognathus • Corythosaurus • Parasaurolophus • Pteranodon • Spinosaurus • Stegosaurus • Suchomimus • Tyrannosaurus rex • Velociraptor |
