Clever Girl - Raptors: their role vs reality

Thanks to all our viewers for joining us today - here we will be looking at that modern day Moriarty of the dinosaur world; the raptors! The impact of 'Jurassic Park' upon paleontology has been massive...leading to an entire group (the Dromaeosaurids) becoming popularly known by the nickname of only one genus! How has the perception of dinosaurs in cinema changed, and what movies can be considered hallmarks? How do the common images of raptors compare to what they are in reality?
Dedicated to Willis O'Brien - thank you for your legacy!

[@logangrimnar3800]

Great overview! The book actually had a great explanation for the raptors inaccuracy - (the scientists didnt know what species they were cloning and guessed based on outdated books, along with pressure to choose catchier names for the park, and there was a controversy in the book about weather Deinonichus was actually a Velociraptor), but i think it gets glossed over because people *like* talking about how wrong it is, more than they like addressing it. Paleontologists eventually made brontosaurus a real dinosaur because it fit better with popular perception, but never want to address the *reason* JP velociraptors were 10x bigger than they were in real life or just rename Deinonichus for better perception.

[@logangrimnar3800]

*Was Rexy an adult or a baby trex in an adult body?!* One thing I've never seen anyone address about the movies thats even more egregious than naming one of their dinosaurs wrong, is the *size* of their animals. The park had only been stocked with animals for two years, yet had fully grown brachiosaurs, Trex, Triceratops etc. They barely address this in the book but it makes no sense. Did they accelerate aging? Growth? Was it genetic or Hormonal? How did this affect their lifespan? Reproductive maturity?