History Main / ArtisticLicensePaleontology

** Not to mention there's scaly, bat-winged pterosaurs and sauropods with dragging tails and crocodilian belly-scales.

* ''LostTapes'' has several of its monsters portrayed as Prehistoric Animals. None of them make sense. Goofs includes a surviving Azhdarchid Pterosaur behaving as a modern (albeit giant) Shrike; a [[IAmAHumanitarian people-eating]] Elasmosaur and a ''Megalania'' [[MisplacedWildlife living in rainforest]].

* PlayedForLaughs in ''VideoGame/ZooTycoon 2'', in which ''Stokesosaurus'' wears glasses when painting. Not that the game didn't have plenty other examples…

** The episode "In My Africa" mentions dinosaur bones found in Angola… accompanied by a photograph of a mosasaur skull.

** There's also the fact that their claims about non-avian dinosaurs are occasionally [[ScienceMarchesOn somewhat at odds with our current knowledge about them]]. As Brian Switek, commenting on Alan Feduccia’s book ''The Origin and Evolution of Birds'', [[http://laelaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/thursday-night-notes/ put it]]: "anything relating to dinosaurs being smart, active, or dynamic is discounted, Feduccia’s model of dinosaurs more resembling the swamp-dwelling lizards thought up by early 20th century scientists (i.e. hadrosaurs are referred to as being primarily aquatic)".

* The ''[[http://www.dinosaurcollector.150m.com/playskool.htm DinoRiders]]'' franchise had dinosaurs from virtually everywhere, plus the obligatory pterosaurs and Dimetrodon. A spinoff line of prehistoric mammals provided another example of this trope, with an entelodont (giant pig-thing) alongside a giant ground sloth, saber-toothed cat, and wooly mammoth. Then again, this is a series that concerns the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot exploits of aliens waging war on prehistoric Earth]] with the help -- voluntary in the case of the good guys, not so much in the case of the bad guys -- of the animals. RuleOfCool heals many a wound.

Dinosaurs are [[RuleofCool pretty cool]], which is why they are frequently seen in fiction. However, creators do not always prioritize historical or scientific accuracy when dealing with these prehistoric creatures in works. As such, dinosaurs often appear in the [[AnachronismStew wrong time period, along with humans,]] possess special abilities that they otherwise would never have had, or are treated as pets or friendly characters.

** The episode also had a bit of AnachronismStew with ''Parasaurolophus'', ''Maiasaura'', and ''Pteranodon'' existing 67 million years ago, when these are three reptiles that disappeared about 5 million years before then, and ''Pteranodon'' was portrayed as living inland. ''Edmontosaurus'' would have been a better substitute for ''Maiasaura'' and ''Parasaurolophus'', and ''Quetzalcoatlus'' would be a more accurate fill-in for ''Pteranodon''. At least this episode decided to stick with late Cretaceous dinos.
** Therapsids and ''Dimetrodon'' were identified as reptiles in the LicensedGame.

** Not to mention that ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Megazostrodon]]'' is called a dinosaur (it was a primitive mammaliaform), and the model shown looks nothing like the real animal.

** Not to mention that ''[[Main/PrehistoricLifeMammals Megazostrodon]]'' is called a dinosaur (it was a primitive mammaliaform), and the model shown looks nothing like the real animal.

** Not to mention that ''[[PrehistoricLifeMammals Megazostrodon]]'' is called a dinosaur (it was a primitive mammaliaform), and the model shown looks nothing like the real animal.

** Also, saber-toothed cats are often shown attacking and even destroying things with their long canines, when in real life, these teeth are fragile and only used for stabbing.

* ''Dinosaurology'' attempted to subvert this trope, with the inaccuracies that may pop up being HandWaved in that the book is meant to be the translated copy of a traveler's journal.

* ''Dinosaurology'' attempted to subvert this trope, with the inaccuracies that occasionally pop up being HandWaved in that they are translations and speculations by the authors.

** Spinosaurus.

* The first ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' movie (and its remake) refers to a plesiosaur as "Nobita's dinosaur".

** The ''Styracosaurus'' in the show is depicted as having having two brow horns that are larger and longer than the nasal horn, when in reality, it should be reversed. What's worse is that the official website accurately states that the brow horns should be smaller. Of course, the official site made its own mistakes, such as stating that ''Tyrannosaurus'' walked in a kangaroo-like posture.

** Not to mention there's scaly, bat-winged pterosaurs and sauropods with crocodilian belly-scales.

* In 2014, one scientist [[http://www.aaps-journal.org/pdf/Garnet-Fraser-JPS.C.2014.01.pdf suggested]] that stegosaur plates, ceratopsian frills, hadrosaur crests and similar accessories evolved to deter parasitic deinonychosaurs from "riding" them (several living predators, such as wolverines and eagles, also "ride" their prey). The same author suggested that feathers evolved so that feathers evolved so that deinonychosaurs could jump from large prey and that some dinosaurs, such as stegosaurs, were driven to extinction by these predators. There are several big problems with this theory:

** It is ecologically unsustainable for predators and parasites to hunt their prey into extinction (the majority of cases that this has happened has been caused by invasive species), as that would be counterintuitive to their own survival.

** Living animals that are "ridden" by predators do fine without plates, frills and whatnot.

** Predators never hunt their prey into extinction (with man's exception), as that would be counterintuitive to their own survival.

** In one episode, Veloci attempts to infect the clouds with primordial ooze so it woud rain down everything and infect everything, from plants to animals to insects, and how they would all become dinosaurs. Yes, even the plants. And this is coming from a guy who came from the Cretaceous and is a dinosaur himself.

* The ''Literature/JurassicPark'' novel actually doesn't commit this crime ''too'' much, as it tries to generally depict accepted theories on dinosaur behavior, and explains everything in a way that actually makes a lot of sense logically. The mix-and-match assembly of species from different periods is attributed to the fact that the geneticists who ''made'' the dinosaurs [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care]], and John Hammond, the guy in charge, was just relying on the RuleOfCool. The name of the park was chosen to appeal to investors, and to customers (had it opened for business), and not with any regard for accuracy. The whole "can't see you if you don't move" is actually attributed to ''all'' the dinos, not just the ''T. Rex'', as they had to fill in genetic gaps with the DNA of similar modern day reptiles and amphibians, many of which actually ''do'' have motion-based vision. The ''Velociraptor''s, though, are a lot closer in dimension, even in the books, to really large ''Deinonychus''es. Partially justified in that Crichton was relying on a classification that called ''Deinonychus'' a kind of ''Velociraptor''; but this classification was the sole opinion of the famous paleoartist Greg Paul, in his widely-read book, not backed up by paleontologists.
** It uses this trope when the dinosaurs are in any way interested in the humans. The idea of a tyrannosaurus chasing a human for food is like you chasing a mouse for the same reason. The novel does HandWave the idea for the ''Velociraptors'', though. As Malcolm mentions, somewhere along the line, they must have realized that humans are easy prey - much as tigers tend to become man-eaters if they kill a human while starving. Easier to kill, that is, as long as they [[PlotArmor aren't the main characters]].

* The ''Literature/JurassicPark'' novel actually doesn't commit this crime ''too'' much, as it tries to generally depict accepted theories on dinosaur behavior, and explains everything in a way that actually makes a lot of sense logically. The mix-and-match assembly of species from different periods is attributed to the fact that the geneticists who ''made'' the dinosaurs [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care]], and John Hammond, the guy in charge, was just relying on the RuleOfCool. The name of the park was chosen to appeal to investors, and to customers (had it opened for business), and not with any regard for accuracy. The whole "can't see you if you don't move" is actually attributed to ''all'' the dinos, not just the ''T. Rex'', as they had to fill in genetic gaps with the DNA of similar modern day reptiles and amphibians, many of which actually ''do'' have motion-based vision. The ''Velociraptor''s, though, are a lot closer in dimension, even in the books, to really large ''Deinonychus''es.
** According to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_issues_in_Jurassic_Park#Velociraptor That Other Wiki]] the scientific taxonomies used by Crichton at the time of writing classified ''Deinonychus'' to be a type of ''Velociraptor'', partially justifying their use.

* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'' also averts this. Its raptors (actually aliens masquerading as raptor models in a museum) are notably covered in feathers (or maybe fur, but we'll be optimistic). On the other hand, the ''T. rex'' [[DinosaursAreDragons shoots fireballs]].
** Justified in that they're aliens.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' features characters who either have the ability to fly or have a flying device with them. Convenient enough, there are some pteranodons or other prehistoric fliers around. Is someone still unable to fly? No problem, just bring in the ''T. rex''. [[FanFic/AlternateRealityDBZ In the same time period as flying cars.]] To be fair, ''Manga/DragonBall'' has a whole lot of other weird stuff that the pterosaurs and such fit right in.
** Another error is Toriyama's design of the ''Tyrannosaurus''--first off, it has what look like horns on its head--now there MIGHT be tiny brow ridges over its eyes, but the design he used is completely off. Secondly, ''Tyrannosaurus'' had tiny arms with two fingers--he seemed to have based the arms on ''Allosaurus''. Thirdly, though this is a case of [[ScienceMarchesOn science marching on]], it may have feathers. And fourth, it is much too big. ''Tyrannosaurus'' would be 12-13 meters long (42-45 feet) and 4 meters high (13 feet), yet are drawn nearly 20-30 meters long and 10 meters tall.
*** Given that there are also canon dragons wandering around, it's likely it's just a RuleOfCool alternate Earth.
** Not featured in the manga, in the anime though? There are the same dinosaurs...on ''Namek''.
*** Which could be intended to imply that Kami brought them with him to Earth. Though given the relatively small size of his spaceship, he could only have brought eggs.

* ''Anime/YouAreUmasou'' has tyrannosauroids that shift from tripod stance to horizontal stance, the now dubious genus "Titanosaurus" and a really bendy-necked elasmosaurid, as well as a bit of AnachronismStew and MisplacedWildlife. [[ShownTheirWork On the other hand]], it has feathered maniraptors, hadrosaur nesting colonies, migrating herbivores, pack-hunting tyrannosauroids and snow-roaming dinosaurs.

* In Manga/CageOfEden, creatures from different points in history, who all lived in very different habitats, live in the island where the characters are marooned at. [[spoiler: Justified since it is later revealed that the monsters are but man-made clones.]]

* [[LargeHam The ocular secretions of mammal paleontologists are of no concern to]] ''[[ComicBook/AtomicRobo DOCTOR DINOSAUR!]]''
** To elaborate, Dr. Dinosaur claims that "mammal energies" traveled back in time and granted him super-intelligence while wiping out all the rest of the dinosaurs, and then he built a time machine out of rocks, fronds, and crystals to travel to the present and get revenge. His inaccuracies (such as lack of feathers and presence of a larynx) are largely justified however, when Robo points them out and dismisses Dr. D's story as absurd, assuming he's just a genetic experiment based on a ''Film/JurassicPark'' dinosaur rather than a real one.

* ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' does an interesting take. While there's dinosaurs and humans living together, the raptors are coated in feathers.
* Horácio from MonicasGang. A vegetarian baby T-Rex.
** Still on MonicasGang we have the Cavern Clan. Just imagine the Flinstones without all the american {{Sitcom}} situations to turn into something normal for prehistoric cavemen... [[AnachronismStew like hunting dinosaurs.]]

* ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', after its first episode had aired, found itself a target for angry palaeontologists because of one scene that showed a ''Postosuchus'' urinating and not excreting its wastes the way its modern relatives, birds and crocodilians tend to. Later episodes gave more fuel to the debates. While beloved by many, and hailed as a milestone in paleo-documentaries (rightfully so), a number of dino enthusiasts still frown upon its "spectacle over science" approach. To be fair, most of their mistakes were a result of [[ScienceMarchesOn Science Marches On]], and they still commited a lot fewer mistakes than the documentaries below.

* ''Series/JurassicFightClub'', the [[PoorMansSubstitute Poor Man's]] ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' [[NetworkDecay on]] Creator/TheHistoryChannel. Hosted by "Dinosaur" George Blasing ([[http://reptilis.net/2008/08/15/jurassic-bites-club/ whose credentials]] [[http://reptilis.net/2008/08/28/dinosaur-george-can-bite-me/ are questionable]] [[http://reptilis.net/2008/09/14/jfc-lockjaw/ at best]]), this does not involve lines like "you are not your fucking primitive feathers" or a ''Tyrannosaurus'' trying to punch itself in the face with those scrawny little arms. It's just a bit of paleontological pretext to some Cretaceous predators having dust-ups. Let's take a look at the errors:
** They have the same naked generic "raptor" dromaeosaurs and improbably fierce dinosaurs that have been hanging around since ''Jurassic Park'', plus the weird, unfounded suppositions about how dinosaurs behaved ("raptors" coordinated their hunts by using hand signals? ''Okay'', then...) from ''Walking With Dinosaurs'' without quite the special effects quality of either.
** Juvenile ''T. rex'' did NOT look like exact miniature copies of the adults and, in fact, looked more like ''Nanotyrannus''. Oh, and also, there is a debate among paleontologists as to whether or not ''Nanotyrannus'' was even a separate genus of dinosaur at all or if the specimens found were really that of juvenile ''T rex'' skeletons.[[note]] The evidence is pointing in the direction that ''Nanotyrannus'' is a juvenile tyrannosaur.[[/note]] However, for all its other flaws, the series does dedicate a portion of that episode to the controversy over whether or not ''Nanotyrannus'' was its own genus.
*** It's interesting that in the narration they did ''say'' that juvenile ''T. rex'' were not shaped like miniature adults and were in fact physically very similar to ''Nanotyrannus''. But then in the actual animation the juvenile ''T. rex'' were copies of the adult models and shrunk down. Perhaps it was a budget thing.
**** Well, [[TheyJustDidntCare they could've at least]] used the ''Nanotyrannus'' model and changed the color scheme.

*** On the other hand, it is very likely for ceratopsian skulls to be coated in a layer of keratin due to blood grooves, and some palaeontologists suggested ''Pachyrhinosaurus'''s boss over its snout might actually be the base of a huge keratinous horn. Later studies have shown that it is still [[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19711467 unlikely]] a horn was present though.
** ''Majungasaurus'', just ''Majungasaurus''. Not only did the show not get the memo that the dinosaur had gotten a name change from ''Majungatholus'' to ''Majungasaurus'', but the host goes on to state that ''Majungasaurus''' ugly appearance was caused by inbreeding, leading to horrible mutations. Apparently "Dinosaur George" doesn't know that, despite its lumpy skull and proportionately short legs, ''Majungasaurus'' was one of the prettier members of the abelisaur family, and in fact other species like ''Carnotaurus'' and ''Rugops'' were [[{{Gonk}} a lot more ugly looking]].

* The ''Dinomorphosis'' episode of ''Naked Science''. Even disregarding that woefully outdated and unrealistic reconstruction of ''Oviraptor'', it had actual scientists [[http://deinonychusempire.deviantart.com/journal/?offset=20#/d3nrn95 lamenting over the fact]] that the "poor ''T. rex''" may have been feathered in real life, as if this somehow made it less BadAss. Um, nice job trying to forward the latest findings to the audience there, by explicitly saying how lame the new dinosaur image is. [[SarcasmMode Surely, its immensely powerful bone-crunching bite and title as the baddest North American predator around at the time mean absolutely nothing now that we know it had fuzz somewhere on its body.]]
* ''{{Paleoworld}}'' had an episode on prehistoric rhinoceroses that used an animatronic ''Triceratops''.
** Another episode contained the implication that ''Carnotaurus'' was older than ''Allosaurus''.
** To be fair, the palaeontological advisors ''did'' say that ''Triceratops'' was not, in any way, very closely related to any rhinoceros. The higher-ups did it anyways because ''Triceratops'' looked like a rhino slightly, and they had the footage, so they put it in the episode. So it's more an example of ExecutiveMeddling.

* There is a Soviet cartoon called Animation/MotherForLittleMammoth. It is about the eponymous mammoth who thawed out in our age searching for his mom. He finds one, an elephant in Africa. A truly happy ending, except one of the traits by which she accepts him is the fact that, like her, he has big ears -- and the mammoth is pictured with such. Now, an elephant's big ears are heat sinks -- mammoths didn't need nor have them.

*** [[WordOfGod Walt Disney]] has stated that the carnivorous dinosaur fighting the Stegosaurus is a Tyrannosaurus. Paleontologists told him that Trex should only have two fingers, but he declined because he thought [[ViewersAreMorons people wouldn't recognize a Tyrannosaurus with only two fingers.]]
** When all of the dinosaurs go extinct, some of them fall into several tar pits and cannot escape, possibly starving to death inside. The idea of animals dying by falling into tar pits did not appear until the Cenozoic era.
*** Which doesn't necessarily mean it didn't ''happen'', only that we only have clear examples of this phenomenon from much more recent geological times.

** The really funny thing is that technically, by including dodo birds, they ''are'' including dinosaurs. After all, what is a bird if not a modern dinosaur?
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime''. Pity the professors of geology and paleontology who have small children at home, because all the errors in these films ''will'' indeed make a paleontologist weep.
** Ironically, the original movie ''can'' be considered relatively accurate for its time (AnachronismStew aside, and then only for stegosaurs and pelycosaurs), at least as far as dinosaur depictions in popular media are concerned.
** The sequels and TV series zig-zag this trope several times, with notable aversions including the anatomically correct (if improbably large) ''Liopleurodon'' from "Journey to Big Water" and Ruby the ''Oviraptor'' having feathers.

** He could also be an ''Edmarka'', a three-fingered theropod which also has the species name ''rex''.
** I suppose that's possible, but ''Edmarka'' is probably [[StockDinosaurs too obscure]] to be featured in a major film such as ''Toy Story''.
* ''WesternAnimation/WereBackADinosaursStory'' features ''Anatosaurus'', which is indeed a bona fide member of the duckbill group. Sadly, the duckbill is shown with a long bony crest on the back of its head more reminiscent of a ''Saurolophus'' or ''Parasaurolophus'' than a smooth-headed "''Anatosaurus''"...
** The ''Pteranodon'' isn't that better either, having a long tail and being bipedal. Also, how is she mistaken for a bat if she isn't bat like at all!?
*** Because of her wings. They do indeed look like a bat's.

* Parodied in ''Film/{{Caveman}}''. Yes, there are cavemen and dinosaurs in the same film, but few scientists would be able to cry for the laughter. Not only does the movie occur "One Zillion Years Ago", but the main dinosaur seen in the movie is a geriatric ''T. rex'' that is alternately denied delectable cavewoman meat, stoned off a burning cannabis plant, and [[GroinAttack fondled and then smacked where it counts]] by a blind caveman.
** The other prehistoric creatures include a pteranodon which has its (10ft long! Ouch!) egg stolen and a stop-motion creature resembling some outlandish {{Slurpasaur}}.
* The original ''Film/KingKong'' and its sequel ''Son Of Kong'' features many prehistoric animals portrayed as overly aggressive carnivores even if they were herbivorous (''Apatosaurus'', ''Styracosaurus'', and ''Stegosaurus'', to name a few) and one dramatically oversized pterodactyl to help ruin the image of its eponymous, misunderstood ape.
** Creator/PeterJackson's remake does the same, with the justification that they have been evolving the whole time and it's pure coincidence they look like popular depictions (but some don't like the ''Ferrucutus'' or the ''Atercurisaurus''). They even came out with a tie-in book exploring the unique fauna of the island (which show the usual errors like the lack of any plumage on any non-avian dinosaurs - even the ''birds'' seem to have as little feathers as possible, pronated hands, live birth etc. as well as many non-dinosaurian biological impossibilities).
* Subverted with the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films in that, Toho doesn't even ''try'' to even ''pretend'' to be remotely accurate in any way whatsoever.
** A case can however be made for the first movie, ''Film/{{Gojira}}'', which ''was'' to be taken seriously. In it, a paleontologist deduces that the titular monster hails form the Jurassic period by finding a trilobite in one of its footprints. Trilobites died out about 50 million years before that period, but this can be {{hand wave}}d, given that in the movie's universe, prehistoric creatures still exist in modern times. The true error is that the supposed paleontologist places the Jurassic at 2 million years BC. He's off by about 150 million years. Kinda justified given the film was in 1954 ''and'' in Japan (where errors like this are made all the time, even till this day). Back then, the actual age of the Earth wasn't proven, nor were the time periods. So a case of ScienceMarchesOn.

* On top of the issues carried over from the book with the ''Velociraptor''s, the film of

* In ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', Mr. Freeze knows [[{{Pun}} absolute zero]] about what killed the dinosaurs.

** Ironically, as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene%E2%80%93Eocene_Thermal_Maximum That Other Wiki]] points out, the climate in the epochs immediately following the K-T extinction was substantially ''warmer''.
* The main villain of ''Film/DevilFish'' is a mutated ''Dunkleosteus''/octopus hybrid. In the movie, [[MixAndMatchCritters ignoring]] [[LEGOGenetics the obvious issues]], ''Dunkleosteus'' is described as a prehistoric [[ThreateningShark shark]]. Real ''Dunkleosteus'' were members of a now-extinct family, the Anthrodira, which left no surviving descendants and was only distantly related to sharks.
** They also claimed that the pliosaur ''Kronosaurus'' ''[[CriticalResearchFailure was a shark]].''
** Another fish that they describe as a prehistoric shark is a very modern, harmless basking shark.

* The ''[[Literature/{{Animorphs}} Megamorphs]]'' book ''In The Time of Dinosaurs'' tried pretty hard to avoid this, with the only real anachronism given a HandWave (Tobias: "Who are you gonna believe, some scientist with a bunch of bones, or someone who was actually there?!") in the epilogue. Then again, it starts out with a nuclear explosion causing TimeTravel and also had crab-aliens and ant-aliens in a minor war over the Earth at the same time, so...
** It was actually a case of ShownTheirWork meets RuleOfCool - K.A. Applegate was doing her research, found out that certain dinos weren't around at the time of the extinction, then came up with the HandWave so she could get away with keeping them around.
* The ''Literature/JurassicPark'' novel actually doesn't commit this crime ''too'' much, as it tries to generally depict accepted theories on dinosaur behavior -- there's a very good reason why Creator/MichaelCrichton was a respected science fiction author -- and explains everything in a way that actually makes a lot of sense logically. The mix-and-match assembly of species from different periods is attributed to the fact that the geneticists who ''made'' the dinosaurs [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care]], and John Hammond, the guy in charge, was just relying on the RuleOfCool. The name of the park was chosen to appeal to investors, and to customers (had it opened for business), and not with any regard for accuracy. The whole "can't see you if you don't move" is actually attributed to ''all'' the dinos, not just the ''T. Rex'', as they had to fill in genetic gaps with the DNA of similar modern day reptiles and amphibians, many of which actually ''do'' have motion-based vision. The ''Velociraptor''s, though, are a lot closer in dimension, even in the books, to really large ''Deinonychus''es.

** Mentioned in Stephen Jay Gould's ''Dinosaur In A Haystack'':

* StevenBaxter's book ''Literature/{{Evolution}}''. While most of the time he gets the science right, and the speculative leaps he takes are somewhat within the bounds of plausibility, a few examples must be mentioned. First of all, in the story about the sapient ''Ornitholestes'', he mentions that the only evidence humans had of these species is the disappearance of sauropods in the Late Jurassic, since the sapient species bones and technology are too fragile to preserve. Problem is, sauropods didn't go extinct in the Late Jurassic, not even in the Northern Hemisphere. There were as many sauropods infesting North America in the Early Cretaceous as there were in the Late Jurassic, including ''Sauroposeidon'' and ''Sonorasaurus''.
** However there was a mass-extinction at the end of the Jurassic that claimed the dominant Jurassic sauropods, and the sauropods referred to in that story were all ''Diplodocus'', which did go extinct then. The phrase was 'the disappearance of ''the'' giant sauropods'. This could easily have meant just those specific species, not sauropods in general.
** The story about primates coming to North America has some anachronism and MisplacedWildlife in it too. Not only does it have indricotherid rhinos (native only to Asia), camels (who were only found in North America at this time), and such, it has gastornid birds inhabiting Oligocene-Miocene Africa...yes, even after these animals were supposed to have died out in the middle Eocene.
** In addition, the story involving ''Purgatorius'' has some flaws too. While Baxter does get it right by cloaking his troodonts in feathers, he leaves them off his dromaeosaurs. To add insult to injury, he makes the raptors cold-blooded, despite the fact that raptors are the very dinosaurs which ignited the cold blood, warm blood debate. In fact, even paleontologists who doubt endothermy in ornithischians and sauropods don't deny that raptors were most likely endothermic. And then there are the ''Giganotosaurus'' and ''Suchomimus'' in North America. Not only are these animals in the wrong place (''Giganotosaurus'' was from South America, ''Suchomimus'' from Africa), but they are from the wrong time, both species were from the Early Cretaceous.
*** The ''Giganotosaurus'' in that story was no less implausible that any of the other speculations not directly supported by fossil evidence Baxter uses, namely that a giganotosaur species whose fossil remains had not been found by modern human paleontologists, descended from the known early ''Giganotosaurus'' finds, survived to the end of the Cretaceous and migrated to North America across the land bridge between North and South America when it formed in the late Cretaceous. Similarly the ''Suchomimus'' is a not implausible speculation that a member of that particular family did in fact live in North America, though only fossils from the African branch of the family have so far been found. This is certainly possible since similar pairs of "sister taxa" in North America and Africa are known for many other dinosaur families, and the origins of these families date back to when North America and Africa were connected.
*** On the topic of the "disappearance of giant sauropods" thing, the problem is: not even the large sauropods disappeared at the end of the Jurassic. Many Cretaceous sauropods, such as ''Sauroposeidon'' and ''Argentinosaurus'' rivalled, if not surpassed the sizes that Jurassic sauropods reached.

* While they aren't about dinosaurs, Steve Alten's ''Literature/{{Meg}}'' novels will make paleontology enthusiasts cringe. The opening scene of the first book has a ''T. rex'' chasing some hadrosaurs into the water, [[TheWorfEffect where it is eaten by a]] ''{{Megalodon}}'' [[TheWorfEffect explicitly stated to be twice its size]]. * sigh* ''Carcharodon Megalodon'' did '''not''' live during the Cretaceous (the giant shark appeared 47 million years '''after''' the dinosaurs died out) and it would '''not''' have been the top oceanic predator if it '''had''' lived in the Cretaceous (the big Mosasaurs would have been serious competition).
** As for the comment relating to the mosasaurs, Alten does have other giant carnivorous marine reptiles show in his series; ''Kronosaurus'' (Pliosaurs, aka; short-necked plesiosaurs). Only when they show up; they are not only PREY to the ''Megalodon'' (Pliosaurs were known to have eaten sharks quite often, judging by their remains and quite a few were larger than 'Meg') but [[ArtisticLicenseBiology they have somehow evolved gills]]. That's TWO inaccuracies of nature in one!
*** Alten states that the kronosaurs were at the top of the oceanic food chain...until ''Megalodon'' evolved, and that the "cold-blooded reptiles" were forced down to the warm geothermal areas on the ocean bottom. ''Megalodon'' was cold-blooded too. In fact, one of the most popular theories as to why they died out was that they couldn't follow whales to the poles during the Ice Age and starved. And a [[ScienceMarchesOn new study]] suggests that plesiosaurs like ''Kronosaurus'' had a more or less stable body temperature. So, these ''Megalodon''s just showed up in the Cretaceous and overpowered all of the '''very large''' marine reptiles with their ferocious awesomeness? Yes, [[ThreateningShark sharks are badass]], but this is pushing VillainSue territory!

** Alten wouldn't be the only one to greatly exaggerate Megalodon's size (the most realistic estimates place it at 50-60 feet long at maximum, Alten goes above and beyond 80-90 feet) and place it in the Dinosaurs era. It seems these two traits go hand in hand when attempting to write fiction for these things (yeah, because a shark as large as most whales isn't interesting enough, they need to [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs insert Dinosaurs]]).
* Mentioned in the sci-fi novel ''[[Literature/TheLordsOfCreation The Sky People]]'' by S.M. Stirling, due to AncientAstronauts terraforming and seeding Venus with Earth lifeforms. There are also [[NubileSavage beautiful cave princesses]] in {{fur bikini}}s, much to everyone's delight.
* ''Kronos''. It rapidly becomes apparent that the author did not do any research whatsoever [[CriticalResearchFailure on plesiosaur biology]]. Among the worst is the eponymous Kronosaurus swimming in an up-and-down body motion like a whale, complete with flukes. The problem? Plesiosaurs had a stiff spine and were virtually forced to swim sealion or penguin style. Seeing as the author has a severe creationist lean, this [[ArtisticLicenseBiology F in biology]] could be due to not doing any research at all and trying to [[DanBrowned Dan Brown it]]. The author has several other books involving prehistoric life, which likely contain other issues.

See EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs, {{Slurpasaur}}, RaptorAttack, and PteroSoarer.