A Guide for Dinosaur Portrayal in the Media

Most of what the public knows about dinosaurs is their portrayal in media; documentaries, film, news items, ect. We see them all over the place, and they are so engrained in our culture. Walking with Dinosaurs is, and always will be my most treasured depiction of dinosaurs. Even though it is going on to be 17 years old (holy shit, it's as old as me!) and is highly inaccurate, it made history; portraying these animals as if we were back in time with them. Subsequently, many other documentaries have been produced, but none have got the feel that Walking with Dinosaurs had for me. It was my introduction to the world of paleontology. However, there are things that it and many other media depictions of dinosaurs did, that aren't fitting with what we know. Okay, I'm going to go on a small series of diatribes now, pointing out the flaws in each thingy portrayed.

So What if it's Not Scientifically Accurate, Why Do You Care?

Emily's fucking beautiful Velociraptor's can beat your scaly assed shit face fucking Craptor any day.

This is the response I get all the time. People have to remember that the general public isn't really that good at critically analyzing things they see in media. They just assume that it's real, or don't care. This is especially bad when there are documentaries that claim to be on the cutting edge of science, but are about as far away as can be. First off, people do need to be more critical of what they see everyday, but unfortunately we can't do a damned thing about it. Second off, too many people think that Jurassic World "raptors" are accurate, that T. rex can't see you if you're standing still, or that Spinosaurus was the most baddest assed killer that ever killed (that last one makes me cringe to now end). Also, when you're showing something inaccurately, it reinforces older ideas. Dinosaurs have been portrayed the same for almost ever. Not yet have I seen a non-shrink wrapped correctly feathered paravian on television or in a movie. Very few people know about the amazing research that has been going on. And yes, our fluffy, clawed wings, toothed Velociraptor's are better than your hidiotic Komodoraptor monsters. Say birds aren't scary, go pet a cassowary or an ostrich, and come back to me when you have you're guts laying out on the ground in front of you... (Note; this is not meant to be a formal post. This is where I express my thoughts and feelings, and my emotions)

Look, a T.rex! RAAAWR!!!

This is probably what pisses me off the most about these documentaries... Their portrayal of dinosaur behaviour. You see dinosaurs making constant noises, for no fucking reason other than to make noise! Go out and watch a pride of lions or crocodiles hunting prey, and see how much noise they make... That's right, none! Animals make sounds for a reason; to communicate things to each other! To display their moods, alert others of threats, attract others, ect. So please, don't show a fucking T.rex hiding in the bushes, growling, then rushing out and roaring at the top of it's lungs! No predator does that! Except maybe for drunk redneck deer hunters. Okay, so stop it! No more plez!

There is another element to this; what sounds they make. You always hear large theropods roaring like bears, ceratopsians roaring like elephants, and ornithodesmids growling like jaguars (no joke, I've heard that before). When you are making a documentary, you don't just slap some sounds together and then put them in, you do research. What are the closest relatives of dinosaurs? Well, I suggest you start out with birds, since they are dinosaurs (yes, Feddouchia, they are), and then look at crocodilians since they are related to them. Birds make a huge range of sounds. Yes, many of them are far smaller than the average small non-avian dinosaur, but then look at the larger birds; cassowary's and emus grunt and click, while ostriches make these really cool low pitched honks. Also, many birds and crocodilians make these sounds without opening their mouths. No open mouth roaring anymore! Now, while many people think crocodilians don't communicate that often, you'll be wrong. Females will make noises to signal when they are laying eggs, and baby crocodilians communicate with their parents with the most adorable cute noises I have ever heard in my entire life! Seriously, it's fucking adorable! So cute! Would hear again!

Anyways, adults also make very impressive, and scary noises. In territorial disputes, crocodilians will sometimes make very loud low-pitched bellows, so loud in fact, they will vibrate the surface of the water and sometimes even the ground. Imagine you are in the Cretaceous, and you come across a Tyrannosaurus pair in a territorial dispute. You would likely not see them fight to the death; you would hear a noise like that, only five times louder. Some of these sounds can even mess with your heart rhythm... That's scary shit! Also, another noise crocodiles make as a threat is hissing. This is very scary too. Here's a quick video of Saurian's Tyrannosaurus making sounds, and tell me this isn't scary as all shit: 

Fucking nailed it! That is what I want to hear a large theropod doing! Also keep in mind, animals don't always communicate with sound. Many use body language to communicate their moods. For instance, when the sunbittern is threatened, it expands it's wings out to make itself look larger than it actually is. Owls also do this.

Here that beak clapping? I would run like hell from that exact owl! They have sharp claws, they can do shit! Also, there is a possibility that diplodocid sauropods could use their whip like tails to make incredibly loud sonic booms, loud enough to kill a human and severely damage the hearing of any nearby theropod. So, that's a lot of food for thought if you want to portray the behaviour of extinct dinosaurs.
Oh, and I can't forget about the pterosaurs! You always hear pterosaurs making bird like sounds, which again, annoys me to no end! Just because it looks like a bird, doesn't mean it made the same sounds!!!! Again, look at crocodilians for what you want your pterosaurs to sound like... Imagine a squad of azhdarchids hunting baby dinosaurs and growling and hissing when angry.... So fucking scary!!!!

They are Learning!

Hunting is a major component of a predator's life, and commonly depicted in Mesozoic themed documentaries. I think the portrayal of solitary hunting dinosaurs is okay for the most part. However, before I go on to the main point, I must talk about something that I've recently been nagged by; the size of the prey the predators are hunting. You commonly see like giant theropods going after giant prey, like thyreophorans and sauropods, or large ornithopods. You also see things like Velociraptor going after Protoceratops, which is heavier and larger than it. People have to keep in mind, predators usually go for things much smaller than themselves. Why exert all your energy into going after a large prey item when you can eat lots of small animals with minimal effort. We do have evidence for instance that Tyrannosaurus did go after large prey on occasion such as Triceratops or Anatosaurus. However, looking at modern predators, they likely mostly fed on smaller prey, because it is easier to do so. So, if you're going to show dinosaurs hunting, don't have all of them going after large prey, try smaller ones.
Now, the main point in this part of the post is about pack hunting behaviour in theropods. We commonly see things like ornithodesmids hunting in wolf like packs, taking on large ornithopods (poor Tenontosaurus, doing nothing but being killed by things it can easily kill), and sometimes packs of tyrannosaurs going after hadrosaurs and ceratopsians. While there is evidence that pack hunting behaviour was prevalent in some tyrannosaur and ornithodesmid species, the way they are shown in documentaries is not at all what it should be. Wolves are not the best analogues for pack behaviour in dinosaurs; instead, turn your attention to birds and crocodilians, always the best references for dinosaur behaviour. Harris hawks, and several other modern raptors do occasionally hunt in groups, and crocodilians will sometimes attack shoals of fish together. However, the way they do so is not so much like wolves. While some crocodiles will hunt somewhat cooperatively (Cuban crocs are a great example) most crocs and birds more or less mob, than coordinate attacks. In addition, they mostly aren't family groups with multiple generations like wolves, they are mostly monogamous mating pairs or a bunch of loose individuals that happen to be there.
Many modern archosaurs are gregarious to some degree, but not in the way mammals are; they tend to be pretty loose in their structure and have no clearly defined "leader". So, next time you are showing a group of ornithodesmids hunting, keep in mind, they don't do this on a regular basis, and when they do, it is not very well coordinated. Oh, and another thing, don't show predators constantly on the hunt. That is very annoying. While hunting is an important part of life, predators spend more time resting than feeding.

It Has Feathers, it's Accurate!

This has recently been making the rounds in the paleontography and paleoart community; shrink wrapping. That is the term used to described Greg Paulian dinosaurs. What is shrink wrapping? Well, it is basically drawing the outline of the skeleton, but... Being able to see all the underlining features of the skeleton. In my opinion, this is also very annoying. Animals have tons of fat, other soft tissues, fluff, ect. that changes the shape of the animal. Here's an example: 

See the difference? Yeah, the neck looks skinny, but iss not! You can't even make out the arm in the living chicken. While all dinosaurs can be subjected to this, the worst is in paravians. It's good that people are drawing feathered dinosaurs, I mean at least they are trying... But please, don't do this: 

That is horrifying to look at. Oh, also, no pronated hands!!!! Theropods cannot rotate their wrists like that! They would break if they did that! It also looks stupid! No pronated wrists!!! Okay, I'm done... Anyways, I see a lot of paleoartists restoring paravians like this: 

That's more like. Primaries are in the right place, feathers are in the right place, much more realistic. But there is still a problem with this... It's shrink wrapped! You can clearly see the pubis, and that just looks so wrong! Again, good job trying, but you are not there yet! For the final picture, I am going to show you what a real Deinonychus should look like, courtesy of Emily Willoughby, one of the best ornithodesmid artists out there:

That's it! Nice feathering all around, no shrink wrapping, very much like a bird! This is what I wanna see! Also, another thing to not do; please don't add lizard like scales on the snout, it makes it look alien and not enough like the bird relatives they are.
While paravians get the shorthand of the stick a lot, all dinosaurs have been subjected to the shrink wrapping virus. Many dinosaurs pubic bones are seen in the models made for documentaries. Don't do that... Also, try to make the fenestra almost impossible to spot. It's not tightly wrapped in skin! But don't bulk things up too much. In archosaurs, the lower extremities tend to be very similar to the skeletal outline; don't make human legged tyrannosaurs, make bird legged tyrannosaurs. I could go on an on about this, but this is just the beginning, and I think it's a good start.

Why You Have So Few Bebes?

The final part of this immense post is about dinosaur reproduction. The way we see dinosaurs taking care of their young in documentaries is sometimes based of mammals. Again, you don't want to look first at mammals, looks at archosaurs. What do they do? Well, it should be noted that first off, dinosaurs lay a lot of eggs. A LOOOOT. Birds today usually lay a few eggs, but from what the fossil record shows us, extinct dinosaurs had a different reproductive strategy. They laid up to 20-40 eggs a clutch, and their young are born almost fully developed. This varies obviously, as hadrosaur babies are born altricial, barely able to move, and so need to be well fed by their parents for the next few weeks in order to grow. About the number of eggs, it has been suggested that eggs may have been a huge resource in Mesozoic ecosystems, so that's something to think about showing.
Anyways, how should you show dinosaur parental care? Well, for the most part, they likely looked after their young like crocodilians do; protecting them from predators, but having them find food on their own. That's pretty much all to say about this subject!

It's the End?

So, in the end, you should do a lot of research beforehand. In fact, have your main research guy be someone who is very well versed in animal behaviour and paleontology. Try to portray these animals as what they are: animals, not movie monsters. No roaring, no shrink wrapping, you get the gist... Anyways, until next time!