Jurassic Park is the story about a dinosaur zoological park by cloning its DNA from mosquitos fossilized in amber…
The Mesozoic was the “Age of Reptiles” (252-66 million years ago), divided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. It was the era when reptiles dominated land, sea, and air.
The Cretaceous was the final and longest period of the Mesozoic Era (145-66 million years ago), ending with the mass extinction event that killed the non-avian dinosaurs.
Reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates with scaly skin that lay eggs. During the Mesozoic, they evolved into many forms and dominated all environments on Earth.
Not all reptiles were dinosaurs - the Mesozoic also had marine reptiles (like mosasaurs and plesiosaurs), flying reptiles (pterosaurs), crocodiles, lizards, snakes, and turtles.
Pangea
- Tyrannosaurus rex
- Velociraptor
- Triceratops
- Here’s a general timeline and geography for the dinosaurs featured in the film:
Tyrannosaurus rex
- When: Late Cretaceous, ~68–66 million years ago (right up to the extinction event)
- Where: Western North America (Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta)
Velociraptor
- When: Late Cretaceous, ~75–71 million years ago
- Where: Central Asia — Mongolia and northern China (Gobi Desert region). This is actually a fun inconsistency in the film: Velociraptor never lived in North America, but the fictional Jurassic Park is set in Central America (Isla Nublar, off Costa Rica).
Brachiosaurus
- When: Late Jurassic, ~154–150 million years ago
- Where: Western North America (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming) — this one at least fits the “Jurassic” part of the title.
Dilophosaurus
- When: Early Jurassic, ~193 million years ago
- Where: Western North America (Arizona)
Triceratops
- When: Very end of the Late Cretaceous, ~68–66 million years ago (also right before the extinction)
- Where: Western North America (Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado)
Gallimimus
- When: Late Cretaceous, ~70 million years ago
- Where: Mongolia (Gobi Desert)
The big-picture irony
Despite the title “Jurassic Park,” most of the film’s star dinosaurs (T. rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Gallimimus) are actually from the Cretaceous period, not the Jurassic — only Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus are genuinely Jurassic. The Cretaceous ended about 66 million years ago with the asteroid impact, while the Jurassic ran roughly 201–145 million years ago, so there’s a real gap of tens of millions of years between when some of these animals actually coexisted (or didn’t) in nature.
Prominently featured
The Tyrannosaurus rex
It’s likely that its vision was superb, better than a hawk’s (instead of “T. rex can’t see you if you don’t move”)
The Velociraptor
— The main antagonist threat throughout; three raptors (Big One and two others) hunt the kids and Muldoon in the second half of the film. Note: the movie’s raptors are famously portrayed much larger than real Velociraptor fossils (closer in size to Deinonychus).
The Brachiosaurus was a massive long-necked, quadrupedal, herbivorous rearing up to eat leaves. Probably they used to held necks more horizontally.
- Triceratops — Body plan and horns were fairly close to fossil evidence.
The Gallimimus was an ostrich-like build, fast runner
The Dilophosaurus was around 20 feet long (not the roughly dog-to-human-sized creature in the film)
The Triceratops — The sick dinosaur Ellie Sattler examines mid-film (“she’s sick, she’s very sick…”).
The Gallimimus — Appears in the famous “stampede” scene, fleeing in a flock just before the T. rex ambushes one of them.
Briefly seen / background
There is also a
Parasaurolophus — Visible among the herds in some wide tour/helicopter shots.
- Hadrosaurus (referenced generally as duck-billed dinosaurs in herd shots, sometimes overlapping with Parasaurolophus in the visuals)
Seen only as embryos, eggs, or on infographics/computer displays (not fully realized on screen)
- Stegosaurus — mentioned/shown in park displays and design documents
- Pteranodon — technically a flying reptile, not a dinosaur; appears briefly on monitor displays referencing the park’s planned attractions (fully realized on screen only in the sequels)
Non-dinosaur prehistoric animals also featured
The mosquito preserved in amber
Amber and fossils
- Ancient/prehistoric plants and ferns used for visual worldbuilding, though not animals
The movie’s raptors stand roughly and are portrayed as highly intelligent pack hunters.
Real Velociraptor fossils show an animal only about 1.5–2 feet tall at the hip (not 6 feet tall as in the film), roughly turkey-sized, and covered in feathers.
- Dinosaur skin/appearance in general — The film shows all its dinosaurs with reptilian, scaly skin and no feathers. This was actually reasonably defensible by 1993 standards — the feathered dinosaur consensus hadn’t taken hold yet — so it’s more “a product of its time” than a deliberate liberty like the raptor size or Dilophosaurus’s frill.
Most of the dinosaurs were to the Cretaceous Period (DATES), not the Jurassic one (DATES)
- Tyrannosaurus (Tyrannosaurus rex) - The main predator
- Velociraptor (Velociraptor mongoliensis) - The clever hunters
- Triceratops (Triceratops horridus) - The sick herbivore
- Brachiosaurus (Brachiosaurus altithorax) - The first dinosaur seen
- Dilophosaurus (Dilophosaurus wetherilli) - Nedry’s killer
- Gallimimus (Gallimimus bullatus) - The stampeding flock
- Parasaurolophus (Parasaurolophus walkeri) - Seen in herds
Cretaceous Period Plants:
- Conifers (Araucariaceae family)
- Ferns (Cyatheales)
- Cycads (Cycadaceae)
- Early flowering plants (Magnoliaceae)
La película mezcla dinosaurios de diferentes períodos (Jurásico y Cretácico) por licencia cinematográfica, aunque el título sugiere solo el período Jurásico.
clonar dinosaurios a partir de ADN antiguo conservado en mosquitos fosilizados en ámbar es fascinante… pero científicamente muy, muy poco probable, al menos con la tecnología actual (y probablemente incluso futura).
En teoría:
Sí, se puede obtener ADN antiguo de restos fósiles. De hecho, se han recuperado fragmentos de ADN de mamuts y otras especies extintas hace miles de años.
Pero… en la práctica:
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El ADN se degrada con el tiempo. A temperaturas normales, se estima que el ADN tiene una vida media de unos 521 años.
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A los 6,8 millones de años, el ADN se habría descompuesto completamente.
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Los dinosaurios se extinguieron hace unos 66 millones de años (final del Cretácico), así que su ADN estaría totalmente degradado.
En la novela y película, los científicos extraen sangre de dinosaurio de mosquitos fosilizados en ámbar.
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Se han encontrado insectos fosilizados en ámbar, sí, y algunos contienen restos de sangre.
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Sin embargo, no se ha recuperado ADN funcional de esa sangre.
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Además, la preservación en ámbar no detiene la degradación del ADN de manera perfecta.
La película sugiere que “completan” los huecos del ADN de dinosaurio con ADN de rana. Esto es ciencia ficción creativa, pero problemática:
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El ADN de rana y el de dinosaurio probablemente serían muy diferentes. Mezclarlos no produciría un dinosaurio funcional, sino más bien un organismo no viable.
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Además, los dinosaurios están más emparentados con las aves que con las ranas, así que si algo, sería más razonable usar ADN de pollo (de hecho, hay estudios sobre “reverse engineering” de pollos para activar genes ancestrales).