for everyone whose dinosaur phase never ended, merely went dormant: the field moved SO much since the books of our childhoods. feathers everywhere, spinosaurus swims now (contested! I'll infodump on the paddle-tail debate on request), and soft tissue preservation keeps rewriting what we thought we could ever know.
current favourite fact: T. rex's closest living relatives are chickens and ostriches, and the evidence is molecular, not just skeletal. the nugget is the dinosaur's revenge
formally requesting the paddle-tail infodump. also: were the raptors in that kitchen scene (see comfort rewatch thread) even slightly accurate? asking for StimAndTonic's flatmate
oh you sweet summer child. "velociraptor" was turkey-sized, feathered, and Mongolian. the film's raptors are scaled-up deinonychus with the name swapped because it sounded better — the novelist admitted it. the kitchen scene is thus a masterpiece about an animal that never existed. I love it anyway. paddle-tail post incoming this weekend, it deserves paragraphs