CERATOSAURUS

Ceratosaurus nasicornis

Etymology: Nose-horned lizard

Nickname: "Cerato"

Classification: Ceratosauria, Ceratosauridae

Diet: Carnivore

Size: 8 meters long

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

Movie appearances: Jurassic Park III (2001)

Ceratosaurus nasicornis was a medium sized carnivore that lived alongside Allosaurus in the late Jurassic period. It is a prowling forest-dwelling predator, using its large teeth to ambush smaller dinosaurs.

Two phenotypes are identified in resurrected Ceratosaurus. The Ceratosaurus, once they've grown to mature sizes, appear to exceed the average size known from fossil specimens.

Ceratosaurus is shown to have a keen sense of smell, having been seen walking away from Spinosaurus dung, a territory it knows it shouldn't invade. It has also been shown running in fear from fireworks set off by poachers, showing its skittishness for a relatively large carnivore. Additionally, and strangely, it is shown to coexist somewhat peacefully with some large herbivorous dinosaurs, likely because it targets smaller prey, generally.

Ceratosaurus was resurrected, ilegally, in Isla Sorna, in the late 1990s, where it grew very quickly; only one specimen is known to have been parented and fed by InGen before being released to the wild. Later, this species was incorporated in Jurassic World, in Isla Nublar, where it lived in the wild since 2015, after the escape of Indominus rex, peacefully coexisting with the other dinosaurs near wet regions. Depending on the circumstances, the Ceratosaurus showed predatory behavior towards humans, especially at night, though it could be warded off with a flare shot. In the dense undergrowths, Ceratosaurus showed predatory behaviors too, mainly because it was well hidden. After the escape of dinosaurs from Lockwood Manor, many dinosaurs were traded ilegally across the world, and Ceratosaurus was shown to be ilegally present in the Amber Clave Night Market in Malta. The Malta one presumably was rescued from Isla Nublar before the eruption of Mount Sibo.

FILM vs. REALITY

The film Ceratosaurus shows some differences compared to its real life counterpart. The film counterpart is correctly depicted with a scaly skin, as well as osteoderms running across its back. Additionally, it also has the characteristic nasal horn, but while the film shows the nasal horn as a pointy and sturdy structure, the real life one actually had a rather thin and flat crest-like horn instead. Ceratosaurus is shown to have its large upper teeth exposed when the mouth is closed, in the films, but the real life one likely had them encased under fleshy lips, as would be traditional for most toothed dinosaurs. Ceratosaurus is also shown to be much larger than its real life counterpart, standing over 3 meters tall, when the real life one would have just over 2 meters tall and 8 meters long, at the very most. The back legs of the real life Ceratosaurus would also be relatively shorter than depicted in the films, giving it a lower height.

In the films, dinosaurs are shown to grow abnormally quickly, going from hatchling to adult just in a matter of a few years, in some cases. However, there is evidence that Ceratosaurus might have had an abnormally accelerated growth for a non-avian dinosaur, reaching adult-like sizes perhaps as quickly as in 3 years, making it one of the fastest growing dinosaurs. Surprisingly, this would be consistent with the Ceratosaurus appearance in Jurassic Park III, where its adult size would have been achieved within that amount of time since it was ilegally cloned in Isla Sorna.