ALLOSAURUS

Allosaurus fragilis

Etymology: Fragile different lizard

Nickname: "Allo"

Classification: Carnosauria, Allosauridae

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 10.4 meters long

Provenance: Morrison Formation, Colorado, USA - Late Jurassic, Kimmeridgian-Tithonian stages, 153-148 million years ago

Movie appearances: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018); Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)

Allosaurus fragilis, whose genus name means "different lizard", was a large species of allosaurid carnosaur that is known from North America and possibly also Europe. It was characterized by a relatively weak bite force, despite having a tall skull with large sharp teeth, having led some researchers to believe its jaws were used like a machete, to cut through the flesh of its victims, instead of using crushing force, though later studies and upon behavioral observation from resurrected individuals, it was concluded that Allosaurus did not use its jaws in that manner, instead using its toothed jaws to get a good grip on prey to immobilize them, using its strong clawed arms to help. Allosaurus have been observed to be able to hunt in group, but they don't seem to show many signs of cooperation, seemingly they only tolerate other individuals while hunting the same prey. Allosaurus lived a dangerous and perilous life, with many individuals dying young. One almost complete fossil specimen of a different species of Allosaurus, nicknamed Big Al, seems to reflect what is observed in living individuals, a series of healed wounds and pathologies that reflect a tumultous and aggressive life history.

The biggest resurrected Allosaurus reaches 10.4 meters long, considerably larger than the largest fossil specimen of Allosaurus fragilis, indicating that in the past these dinosaurs could have kept growing at even larger sizes than those that were recorded.

When threatened, Allosaurus proceed to spout fearsome roars, as has been observed by Claire Dearing when she was escaping the eruption of Mount Sibo in a gyrosphere. Allosaurus have a good sense of sight and are relatively intelligent, having been seen stalking herds of herbivores, scanning for the best targets to hunt. In an incident in 2019, a feral Allosaurus destroyed a camping trailer with a family of campers inside in the Big Rock National Park, demonstrating the destructive and inquisitive force of this curious predator.

Allosaurus was resurrected for Jurassic World, and indeed was already in the park, however outside of public display, by 2015; the guests could however learn about them in the local Innovation Center's holoscape. By 2015, the collapse of Jurassic World led the Allosaurus to roam freely in Isla Nublar, until 2018, when the species was captured during the eruption of Mount Sibo, and sent to Lockwood Manor, in mainland California, where it was released into the wild and terrorized the vicinities for a few years, with the most advertised example being during the Big Rock National Park event, in 2019, where it battled a family of Ojoceratops. During this event, the Allosaurus injured a baby Ojoceratops, but eventually gave up the hunt when the ceratopsians stood against the hunter and left the camping site. Afterwards, however, the Allosaurus investigated one of the nearby RVs, where a family of campers was hiding, tearing it apart and forcing the campers to defend themselves with nearby objects, eventually scaring off the theropod.

While feral, Allosaurus has been a culprit of killing humans. Feral Allosaurus were captured and contained to avoid any more threats, including a one-eyed specimen. In the early 2020s, that one-eyed specimen was observed fighting Australovenator alongside a Tyrannosaurus rex. While captive, Allosaurus were often put in line with a cattle shocker to avoid it hurting any handlers. However, the one-eyed individual did escape confinement, eventually, after leaving the fight it had with the Tyrannosaurus rex. Brooklynn, one of the infamous Nublar Six, was initially believed to have been killed by an Allosaurus, but that was since revealed to be false, and that she actually survived an Australovenator attack. While in the wild, the one-eyed Allosaurus was also observed battling a feral Ceratosaurus. This individual was captured and held ilegally in Malta, where it escaped and caused chaos in a nearby town, but afterwards the exact fate of this one-eyed Allosaurus is unknown, but its speculated that it was captured and introduced to the Biosyn Valley.

FILM vs. REALITY

The film Allosaurus shows several similarities with its real life counterpart. Like it, it has the characteristic horn-like crestes on top and in front of its eyes, modestly sized arms with three large-clawed fingers, and long legs for pursuit hunting. The skull shape of the film Allosaurus is also vaguely similar to the real life one, and even in a few reconstructions in the film (though not all) the wrists appear to approach the correct position and orientation as the real life animal would have had. However, there are some inconsistencies between the two iterations of the same animal. It would be expected for the real life animal to have fleshy lips that would cover the teeth when the mouth is closed, instead of having them exposed like a crocodilian would. The film iteration also shows an array of pointy scales and even what appears to be large scutes and osteoderms on the dorso. However, the real life Allosaurus had small somewhat round scales covering most of its body, suggesting a much smoother appearance in real life. Curiously enough, the real life Allosaurus had a row of scutes going along its underside, somewhat similar to those seen in some snakes, which is not reflected in the reconstructions in the films.

The reconstructions in the film appear to be based on specimens that were, afterwards, classified in their own species, Allosaurus jimmadseni, but because this project only deals with species and genera that were described at any point prior to their first onscreen appearance, the film Allosaurus is here redesigned after Allosaurus fragilis, which was described much earlier.