Re: JP and 'raptors

[binder@zk3.dec.com (Omnia tibi dicta non crede)]

Thomas R. HOLTZ writes:

> Actually, he uses the species name V. antirrhopus in the book (I'll have to
> look up the page number).  The true species (and type species) of
> Velociraptor is V. mongoliensis (antirrhopus is the trivial name of
> Deinonychus).

Gregory Paul lists both V. mongoliensis and V. antirrhopus in Predatory
Dinosaurs of the World.  Neither is large enough to have passed for the
'raptor in JP; they are fairly similar in size and skeletal appearance,
except for some differences in cranial geometry.  (I don't have the
book with me, but I think V. mongoliensis has a longer, more gracile
head.)  I don't recall that Paul mentions the name Deinonychus in
connection with either Velociraptor, but this may be faulty synapses.

One of the reasons Spielberg upped the size was the lack of scare
quotient in an actual-sized Velociraptor - another was that with the
beast as big as he made it he could use a live human inside, allowing
for a full view of an actual working 'raptor instead of only partial
views as with the Dilophosaurus and Brachiosaurus head puppets, or
computer-generated animations as with the Brachiosaurs or the running
T. rex and gallimimids.

-dick

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