BEWARE THE ANCESTORS... THEY BITE

Jurassic World Dominion’s cast of marauding dinosaurs brings a few old favourites back to the screen and introduces a few new ones.

Here’s our list of 10 to watch.

TYRANNOSAURUS REX

A theropod dinosaur – translation: it walked on two legs and is a sub-genus of the Saurischian dinosaurs – T-rex is the greatest carnivore of all time, a rock star among dinosaurs and one of the favourites of the franchise. In the new film, however, she has competition in the form of two new foes who are almost as deadly.

GIGANOTOSAURUS

The largest known terrestrial carnivore, this theropod was 43 feet in length, weighed 13 tonnes and could move at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. An unstoppable killer that flattens everything in its path and more than a match for T-rex. “It’s the size of an Edinburgh bus,” says paleontologist Steve Busatte. “It’s one of the biggest, baddest meat eaters of all time.”

DILOPHOSAURUS

Returning for the first time since the original Jurassic Park movie, this brilliantly-coloured theropod is a small but deadly carnivore made even scarier by the neck frill it opens when in attack mode. Party trick? Its ability to spit deadly black venom at its victims.

PYRORAPTOR

A fire-red feathered dinosaur, above, from the Late Cretaceous period, these bird-like theropods have curved claws on the second toe of each foot and are relatively small by Jurassic Park standards – just eight feet long. That doesn’t stop Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and new character Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) being chased by one in Jurassic World Dominion.

QUETZALCOATLUS

One of the biggest known flying animals, this toothless pterosaur was the size of a light aircraft, has a wingspan of 36 feet and is named for a feathered Aztec serpent God. Dates from the Late Cretaceous period 100 million years ago when the world was relatively temperate and ice free, with forest extending to the poles.

THERIZINOSAURUS

The name means ‘scythe lizard’ and though this theropod is a herbivore, her name is well-earned: each of her front limbs contains three razor-sharp claws the length of a baseball bat. Covered in grey and black feathers she’s 33 feet long and makes a distinctive noise, part hiss, part screech. Lived in the Cretaceous period.

OVIRAPTOR

Another new addition to the cast, this raptor was toothless and beaked and its name means ‘egg thief’. It was small too, just over five feet in length, and had four toes, three fingers and a short, feathered tail.

DREADNOUGHTUS

Making its debut in the franchise is this massive, long-necked, pot-bellied dinosaur. Closely related to the

Brachiosaurus it would have weighed as much as a Boeing 373 airliner. The name means ‘fears nothing’ and is also intended as a nod to the heavily-armed Dreadnought battleships used by the Royal Navy in the early 20th century. A formidable opponent, in other words, and one bristling with armour.

MOROS INTREPIDUS

A member of the tyrannosauroid theropod genus, this pacey, two-legged creature would have come up to the shoulders of an average human and lived during the Late Cretaceous period. Interestingly it was only discovered in 2013 when bones were discovered poking out of a hillside in Utah during an excavation, and it wasn’t until 2019 that it received its name: in Greek mythology Moros was the spirit of impending doom. Another franchise debutante.

ATROCIRAPTOR

The name means ‘savage robber’ and this fearsome bunch hunt in packs and are even bigger than our old friends the Velociraptors. In Jurassic World Dominion they have been modified for speed and are trained to hunt by scent. Absolutely deadly.