Sinornithosaurus Researchers from the University of Kansas found remains of Sinornithosaurus in China, a dinosaur from 128 million years ago, a close relative of Velociraptor, which poisoned its prey after hunting it.
Spit, spit, I triumphed skating… The huge public is not used to digesting the complicated names of certain dinosaurs. Velociraptor is a prime example, as his popularity and how good his name sounds aren’t adjustable to most. In this way, it is most often called «the rex», «the one with the long neck» or, unfortunately, «the one who spits poison». The origin of this frequent confusion is in the novel Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton, and its film adaptation. But don’t rush. I am not writing these lines to have fun with Spielberg-Crichton’s dilophosaurus, but rather to argue that, from a purely fictional criterion, such barbarism is justified.
Let’s start with a key concept: Jurassic Park is a science fiction story. So far it’s clear, right? In the novel and in the film, the opportunity to clone extinct organisms, of which we only know their fossil remains, is exposed. At this moment, think that today we did not have chameleons. Their facade in life would be rebuilt with their scaly skin, but without imagining that they could change their skin tone, since there is no mark on their bones that confirms that they have this ability! If in this parallel situation with extinct chameleons a movie were released where they are cloned, they make a park with cloned chameleons and add their crypsis ability (ability to camouflage, in this case changing their skin tone), surely that movie will to receive certain critics on this! On the other hand, this capacity would never appear in a report or in a serious and true reconstruction distanced from a fictional story, since it requires a lot of speculation.
About Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus is a dinosaur that lived precisely 193 million years ago during the early Jurassic period. It was first discovered in 1942 in Arizona by Sam Welles. In 1970 he named it Dilophosaurus. Its name means «double-crested lizard».
Thanks to its representation in Hollywood movies like Jurassic Park, Dilophosaurus is among the most misunderstood dinosaurs. This is because the movie shows this dinosaur doing things that it is not estimated to have done in real life. For example, in the film it is shown spitting poison at its prey to blind it. There is no proof that this dinosaur was venomous, or that any dinosaur could spray poison in the same way that is portrayed in the movie. Another misnomer heralded as fact in the movie was the extendable frill that is exposed on these creatures. There is no evidence to support the presence of this anatomical feature.
These are the dinosaurs of Mexico from the Jurassic period that dominated the country for millions of years, according to UNAM paleontologists
The hot and humid weather favored an enormous variety of dinosaurs in the territory that today is Mexico. According to the National Autonomous Faculty of Mexico, multiple sites full of fossils have been found in the country that shed light on the different species that inhabited the country.
The study of fossils is nothing new in Mexico. Since 1910, Dr. Erich Haarmann, a geologist at the Humboldt Faculty in Berlin, started the tradition of paleontological research in the country. Since her discoveries in Coahuila, Mexico has been in the eyes of the whole world as a land full of evidence of the animals that once dominated the planet.
Torvosaurus
Another of the popular beasts. The Torvosaurus, with its ten meters in height, the weight of almost 2 tons and the agility that characterized it, made it a risky opponent in the middle of a «war». As we can see, it is another carnivorous theropod, since it is where we count most of the much more recognized fierce dinosaurs.
It had arms very similar to those of a T. Rex, since they were singularly short for its size. Naturally, if he managed to achieve anything with his arms, they would transform into two killing machines because they were incredibly strong.
Aren’t there poisonous dinosaurs?
There is also no definitive proof that any dinosaur had poisonous saliva. In the year 2000, however, the Mexican paleontologist Rubén A. Rodríguez de la Rosa, from the Saltillo Desert Museum. He discovered a single strange tooth from an as-yet-unrecognizable carnivorous dinosaur, which has a ridge very similar to those seen in the fangs of modern vipers.
That said, the largest predatory lizard of this era, the Komodo dragon, is known to carry a potentially deadly bacterial load in its saliva which it uses to poison its prey, although this too is under investigation. doubt after much more recent studies. Not surprisingly, many people have suggested that certain theropod (carnivorous) dinosaurs may have exhibited similar habits, biting their prey and letting the venom do the rest of the work.