16 Prehistoric Creatures You’ll See In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The sequel to 2015’s Jurassic World ups the ante with a huge roster of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and marine reptiles. While some are familiar favorites (see: T. rex), others have never been seen in a major motion picture before. Pull off your nostalgia goggles and let’s take a look at what modern science has to say about the long-gone animals of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

1. TYRANNOSAURUS

Lived: 68 to 66 million years ago in North America

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum Length: 40 feet

Name Means: “Tyrant lizard”

Apparently, the most popular dinosaur of all time wasn’t above cannibalism: Multiple Tyrannosaurus rex bones have bite marks on them that match the teeth of other tyrannosaurid species. Debate has arisen over the issue of T. rex plumage. University of Alberta paleontologist Scott Persons recently compared tiny skin impressions left behind by Tyrannosaurus and its close cousins Gorgosaurus, Daspletosaurus, and Tarbosaurus. These reveal that the dinos had pebbly scales, but the samples contain no evidence of feathers. Keep in mind though that the skin impressions only represent small patches of the dinosaurs’ tails, necks, abdomens, and pelvises—so Tyrannosaurus might’ve had feathers elsewhere on its body. For the record, Persons thinks the giant carnivore would still look “pretty cool and plenty scary” with a little fuzz. “[Nobody] ever complained that tigers weren’t scary, and they’re fluffy,” he said.

2. APATOSAURUS

Lived: 155 to 150 million years ago in North America

Diet: Herbivore.

Maximum length: 80 feet

Name means: “Deceptive lizard”

In 1879, an unidentified sauropod (a long-necked dinosaur) was found in Wyoming. At first, this creature was given the name Brontosaurus excelsus but in 1903, paleontologist Elmer Riggs rechristened it as Apatosaurus excelsus (the Apatosaurus had been described before the Brontosaurus, so the name had precedence). A few scientists now think the Brontosaurus and Apatosarus actually are distinct and the much better-known name ought to be reinstated for that particular group, but others disagree. Regardless, Apatosaurus was pretty awesome. Some of its bones were pneumatic and the body contained a number of air sacs. Such traits would’ve made the big plant-eater very lightweight for an animal of its size. Apatosaurus may have also been able to break the sound barrier by cracking its sinuous tail like a bullwhip.

3. TRICERATOPS

Lived: 68 to 66 million years ago in North America

Diet: Herbivore

Maximum length: 29 feet

Name means: “Three-horned face”

Give credit where it’s due: Look at the baby Triceratops in Fallen Kingdom and you may notice that the horns above its eyes curve backward ever so slightly. This is scientifically accurate. The brow horns of Triceratops newborns were tiny bumps which bent backward during the adolescent years. Then they changed course and bowed forward while the animals matured. Puncture wounds and lesions on the skulls of adult Triceratops tell us these animals locked horns in head-to-head combat. Triceratops was constantly replacing its teeth, which were arranged in tight clusters and most likely used to shear through fibrous vegetation.

4. SINOCERATOPS

Lived: 75 to 66 million years ago in China

Diet: Herbivore

Maximum length: 19 feet

Name means: “Chinese horned face”

A newcomer to the Jurassic Park films, Sinoceratops first came to light during a 2008 fossil-hunting excursion into China’s Shandong Province. It belongs to the same family as Triceratops and was the first member of this group to be found in Chinese rock. Small, forward-bending horns lined the top of its frill, which was proportionally smaller than that of Triceratops. A single cone-shaped horn sat over the nostrils.

5. ALLOSAURUS

Lived: 155.7 to 150 million years ago in North America and Portugal and possibly elsewhere

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum length: 28 (or possibly 35) feet

Name means: “Different lizard”

In one of the trailers for Fallen Kingdom, a running Allosaurus falls flat on its face. The dinosaur was no stranger to injury in real life. Cracked ribs, broken arms, and badly-infected toes are just a few of the medical maladies that Allosaurus skeletons have been preserved with. Selected as Utah’s official state fossil in 1988, Allosaurus is one of the most commonly found predatory dinos in the American west. Strong neck muscles may have allowed the carnivore to disembowel prey by pulling its head backward in a falcon-esque tugging motion. And here’s something we’d really like to see on the silver screen: According to a 2015 study, Allosaurus could possibly open its jaws at a nightmarish 92-degree angle.

6. MOSASAURUS

Lived: 70 to 66 million years ago in Europe and North America

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum length: 56 feet

Name means: “Lizard of the Meuse River” (It was first discovered along this European river in 1764.)

Mosasaurus wasn’t a dinosaur; it’s more closely related to snakes and monitor lizards than it is to any of the other creatures you’ll read about here. Both Jurassic World flicks show the marine reptile leaping high out of the water to snag unwary prey. According to mosasaur expert Michael J. Everhart though, these animals didn’t have the tail strength or speed to pull off such an athletic feat. Mosasaurus is the most famous member (and the namesake genus) of the mosasaur superfamily. Late in the age of dinosaurs, these were some of the ocean’s major predators. They probably swam like gigantic crocodiles, keeping their flippers pressed against the body. Fossil evidence tells us that mosasaurs gave birth to live young at sea and at least some of them had vertically-fluked tails.

7. PTERANODON

Lived: 88 to 80.5 million years ago in central North America

Diet: Carnivore (probable fishing specialist)

Maximum wingspan: 20 feet (or possibly 24 feet)

Name means: “Toothless wing”

Here’s another non-dinosaur for you. Good old Pteranodon was a kind of North American pterosaur. What’s that, you ask? Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that patrolled the skies from 228 to 66 million years ago. Long before birds or bats took to the air, pterosaurs became the first vertebrate animals to ever achieve powered flight. The good people of Kansas designated Pteranodon itself as one of their official state fossils in 2014. Back in this animal’s heyday, there was a vast inland sea which covered most of the Great Plains, splitting North America in two. Pteranodon may have behaved like a modern albatross, using its narrow wings to soar for vast distances on air currents above the ocean waves. The creatures were apparently keen on seafood: Pteranodon skeletons are sometimes found with masses of fish bones in their throats and stomachs. We may never know how they captured prey, but one idea can be dismissed outright: Not a single known pterosaur had opposable toes, so Pteranodon couldn’t have grabbed things with its feet like the genetically-engineered flyers in Jurassic World do.

8. CARNOTAURUS

Lived: 72 to 69 million years ago in Argentina

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum length: 25 feet

Name means: “Meat-eating bull"

Carnotaurus didn’t show up in the first four Jurassic Park movies, but Michael Crichton wrote the horned creature into his 1995 novel The Lost World. The book depicts Carnotaurus as a nocturnal hunter that can change colors like an overgrown cuttlefish. There’s no reason to put any stock in this idea, but the real Carnotaurus was not without its quirky attributes—including its forelimbs. While T. rex gets a lot of flack for its meager arms, those of Carnotaurus are proportionately smaller, and the Argentine dino didn’t even have any wrist bones. On the flip side, Carnotaurus’s strong legs and powerful tail would’ve made it a gifted sprinter. Skin impressions reveal that its back, neck, and tail were studded with bony knobs, much like the ones Carnotaurus shows off in Fallen Kingdom.

9. GALLIMIMUS

Lived: 70 million years ago in Mongolia

Diet: Probable omnivore

Maximum length: 20 feet

Name means: “Chicken mimic”

Gallimimus belongs to an ostrich-like family of dinosaurs known as the ornithomimids. Though it lacks plumage in the Jurassic movies, real ornithomimids were covered in fuzzy down as youngsters and the adults grew long feathers on their arms. Gallimimus and its brethren couldn’t fly, but their showy, wing-like forelimbs could’ve been used to help them attract mates. Ornithomimids compensated for their lack of teeth by swallowing rocks, which ground up food in the stomach. Exactly what they ate is unclear, though most paleontologists think the ostrich mimics were either omnivorous or herbivorous.

10. BRACHIOSAURUS

Lived: 155 to 140 million years ago in North America

Diet: Herbivore

Maximum length: 72 feet

Name means: “Arm lizard”

Even though it’s poorly represented in the fossil record, Brachiosaurus is well-known to the general public. This is largely due to its breakout role in the first Jurassic Park movie. The Brachiosaurus in that classic film hold their elongated necks in an almost vertical position, and this depiction might not be too far off. A 2010 biomechanical analysis argued that browsing on treetops would’ve been a more energy-efficient option for Brachiosaurus-like sauropods than holding their necks horizontally and eating ground-level plants. It’s interesting to think about the behemoth’s cardiovascular system: In order to pump blood up that lengthy neck and into the head, Brachiosaurus may have required a gigantic heart weighing in the neighborhood of 880 pounds.

11. ANKYLOSAURUS

Lived: 68 to 66 million years ago in North America

Diet: Herbivore

Maximum length: 21 feet

Name means: “Curved lizard”

We know this formidable animal had a backside covered in bony plates; yet because no one’s ever found a complete Ankylosaurus skeleton, scientists disagree about how the armor was arranged. The 19-inch-wide club on its tail was probably a weapon. Using CT scans and anatomical measurements, a Canadian research team estimated that a large Ankylosaurus club could strike its target with enough force to break bones. Evolution made some of the tail vertebrae in these dinosaurs stiff and inflexible so they could support their heavy clubs. A hammer needs its handle after all.

12. STYGIMOLOCH

Lived: 68 to 66 million years ago in North America

Diet: Probable herbivore

Maximum length: 10 feet

Name means: “Styx devil”

It’s kind of ironic that Stygimoloch is mentioned by name in Fallen Kingdom’s promo videos. Paleontologist John R. “Jack” Horner has worked as a consultant for all five Jurassic Park films. He thinks that Stygimoloch is nothing more than the juvenile version of the thick-headed dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus, which lived at the same time and place. (You may remember the latter’s cameo in 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park.) This would render the name Stygimoloch invalid. Horner’s argument is supported by the trademark feature of both dinos: the iconic domes on the top of their craniums. Stygimoloch’s skull bones were not fully fused together, suggesting the animal had a lot of growing to do. CT scans have also shown that Stygimoloch’s dome was significantly thinner than that of Pachycephalosaurus. Perhaps these dinos used their special skulls to flank each other—or maybe the thick noggins were designed for heavy-duty headbutts. For his part, Horner has proposed that these were used for identification.

13. STEGOSAURUS

Lived: 155 to 150 million years ago in North America and Portugal

Diet: Herbivore

Maximum length: 23 feet

Name means: “Roof lizard”

Nobody knows what to make of the bony plates on Stegosaurus’s back. If self-defense was their purpose, why do they project upward from the spine, leaving the flanks of this vegetarian wide open? And why do the plates of other spiky-tailed dinosaurs in its family have radically different shapes? One hypothesis is that these bizarre accessories were used to attract mates—much like the peacock’s gaudy tail feathers. Maybe they also helped the small-headed herbivores recognize other members of their own kind from afar. The quartet of spikes on Stegosaurus’s tail were almost certainly used to ward off attackers. Live Stegosaurus got plenty of mileage out of these weapons: One survey, which compared 51 individual spikes, reported that just under 10 percent had been broken and re-healed at the tip.

14. COMPSOGNATHUS

Lived: 150 million years ago in Germany and France

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum length: Four feet

Name means: “Elegant jaw”

Only two skeletons of this dinosaur have ever been discovered, both of which were found with the remains of tiny lizards tucked inside their rib cages. That’s a pretty far cry from the scene in The Lost World: Jurassic Park where a swarm of “Compies” gobble up the man who’s been tormenting them with a cattle prod. But we digress. Named in 1859, Compsognathus used to be the smallest type of non-avian dinosaur known to science. It no longer retains this title, as the creature would’ve dwarfed some more recently-discovered dinos like the 15-inch Mongolian Parvicursor.

15. BARYONYX

Lived: 130-125 million years ago in England, Spain, and Portugal

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum length: 25 feet

Name means: “Heavy claw”

Sail-backed Spinosaurus was the main villain in 2001's Jurassic Park III—a casting choice that irked plenty of fans. Baryonyx was a close relative of this beast who now joins Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s Mesozoic ensemble. Preserved stomach contents have shown that Baryonyx ate fish as well as the herbivorous dinosaur Iguanodon. On each hand, Baryonyx had a 12-inch hooked claw that served an unknown purpose. (Artists like to imagine it as a fishing tool.) The animal’s conical teeth look well-equipped for grabbing hold of slippery prey. Despite the narrowness of its snout, Baryonyx’s jaws were able to withstand a great deal of bending and torsion.

16. VELOCIRAPTOR

Lived: 85 to 70 million years ago in Mongolia and China

Diet: Carnivore

Maximum length: 7 feet

Name means: “Swift thief”

Velociraptor stood less than two feet tall at the hip and weighed around 55 pounds. Michael Crichton’s description of the animal was inspired by its bigger cousin, Deinonychus. Even that dinosaur was smaller than the man-sized predators of Jurassic Park, though. Both Velociraptor and Deinonychus were dromaeosaurs: bird-like carnivores with bony rods in their tails and sickle-shaped toe claws. (When we say “bird-like,” we mean it: Dromaeosaurs are thought to be some of our feathered friends’ closest relatives. Many had plumage; Velociraptor itself came with sizable feathers on each arm.)

The notion that they hunted in packs can be traced back to the maverick paleontologist John Ostrom of Yale. During the 1960s, he worked at a Montana dig site where four Deinonychus were found around the body of a larger herbivore named Tenontosaurus. Ostrom’s belief that dromaeosaurs hunted in organized groups gained traction with scientists and novelists alike. A newer interpretation of the data is that the dinos lived alone and at most occasionally came together to mob vulnerable plant-eaters.