Dinosaurs featured in Jurassic park ‘weren’t really from the Jurassic interval’

The dinosaurs featured in Jurassic park were not actually from the Jurassic period, a scientist has claimed.

Adam Rutherford said it ‘bugs’ him that both the original novel, and Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Blockbuster hit, were wrong in the title – as most the reptiles actually originated from a different time. The 49-year-old said the movie should have instead been called ‘Cretaceous Park’ as this is the period when most of the dinosaurs in the movie – such as the T-Rex and Velociraptor – existed.

Speaking on BBC’s Unexpected Elements podcast, Rutherford said: “All of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park came from the Cretaceous period. And I realise that’s a nerdy point but it just bugs me.”

The Cretaceous is a geological period that began 145 million years ago, and ended 66 million years ago. It came after the Jurassic Period, which started around 56 million years prior.

For this reason, the science populariser said Jurassic Park should instead be called ‘Cretaceous Park’.

Rutherford said despite the mistake, the film did depicts real life scientists well – and praised a well-known scene starring Sam Neill, 77, Laura Dern, 57, and Jeff Goldblum, 71.

“I really like the three scientists in Jurassic Park,” he said. “The moment where Sam Neill and Laura Dern first see the Brachiosaurus in Jurassic Park is one of the greatest moments in cinema history – because they can’t believe their eyes.

“It’s such a wonderful moment of them just being regular people doing extraordinary things. And that’s what I think scientists are.”

Jurassic Park is originally a science fiction novel written in 1990 by Michael Crichton. The movie was released some three years after.

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