“Novelist Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park as a screenplay option for the Steven Spielberg flick. I am ambiguous about Crichton’s body of work, as it includes dubious anti-scientific elements. But I can’t be too upset about a fellow who includes me in the acknowledgements of his bestselling novel. I ended up doing some preliminary studies of Tyrannosaurus and Deinonychus for the movie. These were significantly altered by Spielberg and Stan Winston and his effects team for copyright purposes. In the film, some of my skeletals show up posted on Sam Neill's trailer wall. I was accidentally responsible for the avian term 'raptor' being improperly applied to dromaeosaurs. In another Hunteria paper and PDW, I synonymized Deinonychus with Velociraptor, which Crichton picked up on and shortened into the convenient handle 'raptor'. The movie was okay, but I will never forgive them for presenting Brachiosaurus as such a heavy limbed clunker. I had nothing to do with that. I thought it was too bad the potentially omnivorous brachiosaurs – which were unlikely to have been as placid as cattle – missed the opportunity to snarf up the bratty kids when they were up in the tree.”
“L'apice dell'evoluzione tirannosauride, T. rex fu uno degli ultimi dinosauri nordamericani. Nessun altro dinosauro mostrava una tale combinazione di grandezza, velocità e possanza. Da quando si è estinto, abbiamo dovuto accontentarci di leoni, tigri, orsi e altri mammiferi carnivori ""piccoli.”
“The culmination of tyrannosaur evolution, T. rex was one of the very last North American dinosaurs. Nothing else combined its size, speed, and power. Since its demise we have had to make do with lions and tigers and bears, and other ""little"" mammalian carnivores.”
“Sono ambiguo riguardo le opere di Crichton, siccome includono elementi dubbiosi anti-scientifici. Però non mi posso lamentare d'un tizio che mi include nei ringraziamenti del suo best seller... Il film non era male, ma non li perdonerò per aver presentato Brachiosaurus come un goffo dagli arti pesanti. Io non avevo niente a che fare con quello. Credevo che fosse un peccato che i brachiosauri, potenzialmente onnivori e certamente non placidi come mucche, avrebbero mancato l'opportunità di papparsi di quei mocciosi sull'albero.”
“What gave archosaurs the edge as large predators at this time, and therapsids the edge as smaller ones? Frankly, I am not sure. Both seem to have had heightened metabolic rates and fur or feather insulation... Perhaps the chief advantage enjoyed by thecodonts centered around their big, slashing attack jaws. These may have made them better big-game hunters, while the more precise cutting teeth of therapsids were more suitable for smaller prey.”
“I resti dei dinosauri sono stati scoperti da umani per millenni e probabilmente essi hanno creato la base per le credenze nelle creature mitologiche, inclusi i draghi.”
“Dinosaur remains have been found by humans for millennia and probably helped form the basis for belief in mythical beasts including dragons.”
“Tyrannosaurus rex did not have 6-to-8-inch serrated teeth and an arc of D-cross-sectioned teeth set in a massive, powerful skull just to consume rotting carcasses! These were killing tools. In sharp contrast are the weak beaks and feet of vultures and condors- the only true living scavengers.”