Velociraptor's 1980s Roots

Velociraptor ca. 1993

An interesting thing happened when the Velociraptor was selected as the habitual aggressor in the Jurassic Park franchise.  It is no secret that fossil Velociraptor is a very different creature than the one that rampages across the silver screen.  The film version is more like a related but much larger dinosaur named Deinonychus.  The historical evidence suggests that the use of the scientifically inaccurate Velociraptor was less an artistic choice made by Michael Crichton in 1990 and more a reflection of then available dinosaur science.

Paleontologist John Ostrom first discovered and described Deinonychus in 1969.  Deinonychus was a game-changer for the scientific community because it had unmistakable avian features in skeletal structure.  Beginning in 1969, scientists began to think differently about dinosaurs.  The discovery of Deinonychus sparked what became known as the Dinosaur Renaissance.  Between 1969 and 1990 several paleontologists played a huge role in this revival.  Most notably, Ostrom, Robert T. Bakker, and Gregory S. Paul.  Bakker’s 1986 text, The Dinosaur Heresies directly confronted ideas about dinosaur biomechanics, body temperature, and their evolutionary link with birds.  In 1988, Gregory S. Paul published, Predatory Dinosaurs of the World.  Paul’s text beautifully illustrated the paleontological ideas of the Dinosaur Renaissance including feathered dinosaurs, and active, flexible postures.  Michael Crichton was known for the depth and quality of scientific research put into his novels.  Part of the popularity of his works was the page-turning combination of fiction and hard science.   Jurassic Park is no exception.  It is clear that Crichton was familiar with both Dinosaur Heresies and Predatory Dinosaurs because the ideas of both texts are embedded throughout the novel.  

 

Gregory S. Paul is very important to this story.  When putting dinosaurs into order for 1988’s Predatory Dinosaurs, Deinonychus was filed under Velociraptor.  The book shows Deinonychus under Velociraptor as the same species - literally Velociraptor Antirrhopus synonymous with Deinonychus Antirrhopus.  On page 367 Paul acknowledges that the placement of Deinonychus is “rather unfortunate” but let the classification stay nonetheless.  Crichton would have been writing Jurassic Park at this time and using Paul’s data simply chose the most euphonious dinosaur name thus forever mixing film Velociraptor and fossil Deinonychus.  

"Velociraptor Antirrhopus in a leaping attack"

There is further evidence to suggest this dinosaur switcheroo.  On page 116 of Jurassic Park, Dr. Grant tells the group that before coming to the Park he was digging up “an infant Antirrhopus.”  Five pages later, Dr. Grant tells them about the coordinated hunting of Velociraptor and how they could kill other dinosaurs like Tenontosaurus.  This would seem a pointless anecdote except that on page 367 of Predatory Dinosaurs there is a dramatic black and white line drawing of Velociraptor Antirrhopus attacking a Tenontosaurus.  The behavior reported by the fictional paleontologist is the exact same data reported by the real paleontologist in Predatory Dinosaurs.  There is one more telling quote from page 367 of Predatory Dinosaurs: “If alive today it would be considered a big predator.”  Surely this turn of phrase was too good for Crichton to pass up.  Paul’s description (and drawing) of Velociraptor Antirrhopus is a ready-made Jurassic Park killer dinosaur.  This simply cannot be a coincidence.

Today a firmer distinction is drawn between Velociraptor, and Deinonychus.  One need only talk to a dinosaur obsessed 6-year old for ten minutes and they will quickly disabuse you of your paleontological prejudices.  The truth is that 1988 dinosaur science informed the science fiction novel that led to the creation of the Jurassic Park franchise.  We can certainly forgive any mix up between Velociraptor and Deinonychus when you consider that an entire generation was inspired to marvel and wonder at these vanished animals. V1.N2

Next Episode: Part Two of V1.N1 "Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom Ruffles Some Feathers"