‘Jurassic Park’ got it wrong
Velociraptors didn’t hunt in packs
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It appears that famous movie on dinosaurs the ‘Jurassic Park’ may have got it all wrong as the Velociraptor dinosaurs did not hunt in packs, says a new study.
The raptors (Deinonychus antirrhopus) with their sickle-shaped talons were made famous in the 1993 blockbuster movie ‘Jurassic Park’, which portrayed them as highly intelligent, apex predators that worked in groups to hunt large prey.
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What researchers say
- Researchers recently have proposed a different model for behaviour in raptors that are thought to be more like Komodo dragons or crocodiles.
Now, a new analysis of raptor teeth shows that raptorial dinosaurs likely did not hunt in big, coordinated packs like dogs.
Recently, the scientists at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in the US has proposed a different model for behaviour in raptors that is thought to be more like Komodo dragons, in which individuals may attack the same animal but cooperation is limited.
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“Raptorial dinosaurs often are shown as hunting in packs similar to wolves. The evidence for this behaviour, however, is not altogether convincing. Since we can’t watch these dinosaurs hunt in person, we must use indirect methods to determine their behaviour in life,” said study researcher Joseph Frederickson. “The problem with this idea is that living dinosaurs (birds) and their relatives (crocodilians) do not usually hunt in groups and rarely ever hunt prey larger than themselves,” he explained.
Recently, the researchers have proposed a different model for behaviour in raptors that are thought to be more like Komodo dragons or crocodiles, in which individuals may attack the same animal but cooperation is limited. IANS
Decoding the behaviour
If an infant animal shares the same food with their mother, this would be reflected in levels of carbon isotopes in their teeth. However, researchers from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh have been analysing the teeth of adult and infant raptor species Deinonychus antirrhopus once of North America and found the isotopes differ in the age groups.
The smallest teeth and the large teeth do not have the same average carbon isotope values, indicating they were eating different foods. This means the young were not being fed by the adults, which is why researchers believe Jurassic Park was wrong about raptor behaviour.
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