History Trivia / MarchOfTheDinosaurs

** ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is portrayed as a biped, even though pterosaur trackways unambiguously confirmed that these animals walked on all fours back in the early '90s (after initially being misinterpreted as crocodylomorphs tracks), and yet this documentary came out in ''2011''. Pterosaurs being quadrupeds is a very basic thing a paleo-documentary should know. And despite both the ''Troodon'' and the ''tyrannosaurs'' being portrayed as feathered, the pterosaurs are still naked (even though we knew that they had pycnofibers since the '''70s'')

** ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is portrayed as a biped, even though pterosaur trackways unambiguously confirmed that these animals walked on all fours back in the early '90s (after initially being misinterpreted as crocodylomorphs tracks), and yet this documentary came out in ''2011''. Pterosaurs being quadrupeds is a very basic thing a paleo-documentary should know.

** The feathered ''Gorgosaurus'' and ''Albertosaurus''. Evidence of feathered tyrannosaurs first came about with the 2004 description of the small, basal tyrannosaur ''Dilong paradoxus'', and gained further traction just one year after the film aired, with the description of the 9-meter long but still basal ''Yutyrannus huali''. However, a 2017 study reviewing known skin impressions of various derived tyrannosaurids, including those of the T. rex specimen nicknamed "Wyrex" (BHI 6230) which preserves patches of mosaic scales on the tail, hip, and neck, suggests derived tyrannosaurids likely had very little to no feathering. Specimens of ''Gorgosaurus'' itself have also preserved patches of small, rounded or hexagonal scales, and given its close phylogenetic relationship to T. rex, it’s unlikely that it and ''Albertosaurus'' were extensively feathered, despite being descended from feathered ancestors.

** The feathered ''Gorgosaurus'' and ''Albertosaurus''. Evidence of feathered tyrannosaurs first came about with the 2004 description of the small, basal tyrannosaur ''Dilong paradoxus'', and gained further traction just one year after the film aired, with the description of the 9-meter long but still basal ''Yutyrannus huali''. However, a 2017 study reviewed known skin impressions of various derived tyrannosaurids, including those of the T. rex specimen nicknamed "Wyrex" (BHI 6230) which preserves patches of mosaic scales on the tail, hip, and neck, meaning derived tyrannosaurids likely had very little to no feathering. Specimens of ''Gorgosaurus'' itself have also preserved patches of small, rounded or hexagonal scales, and given its close phylogenetic relationship to T. rex, it’s unlikely that it and ''Albertosaurus'' were extensively feathered, despite being descended from feathered ancestors.

** The ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is depicted with a robust, blunt bill, a semi-common depiction of the animal at the time and inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javelina_azhdarchid#/media/File:TMM_42489-2.png one specimen]] from Texas, but in 2021, the specimen was recognized as a completely different azhdarchid, called ''Javelinadactylus'', and the real ''Quetzalcoatlus'' had a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus#/media/File:Quetzalcoatlus_sp.jpg much thinner bill]]. It’s also depicted as a vulture-esque scavenger but subsequent studies showed that it was a terrestrial predator of small animals (akin to a stork), though it would have still scavenged dead dinosaurs when given the opportunity.

** The ''Prognathodon'', in general, has aged very poorly. [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Even ignoring the fact that it’s shown living in freshwater]], it’s depicted as incredibly skinny and has the traditional, paddle-like tail, but later finds showed that mosasaurs were [[https://www.deviantart.com/arvalis/art/Saurian-Mosasaurus-661984681 much more compact animals and had crescent-shaped tail flukes]] (akin to a shark).

** The basic plot probably wouldn’t have happened in real life, as Arctic dinosaurs likely didn’t migrate during the winter, or at least nowhere near as extensively as shown here. Part of the reason behind this theory was that, at the time, the ''Edmontosaurus'' and ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' found in Alaska were assumed to be the same species as the ones found further south in Alberta, but not long after the film aired, the former were reclassified as being separate species from their southern cousins (with some even considering the polar edmontosaura separate genus, ''Ugrunaaluk''), along with several other lines of evidence suggesting that hadrosaurs and ceratopsians didn’t travel much.

** Same for the ''Troodon''. While its behavior is mostly plausible, its plumage is very minimalistic, with a naked face and no wings. Furthermore, ''Troodon'' itself has been deemed a dubious genus in 2017 (due to its holotype being just teeth, which are undiagnostic on a generic level) and the giant Alaskan troodont was likely a completely different animal.

** An interesting case in that the science was already there, but the movie still used the outdated portrayal of ''Quetzalcoatlus'' as a scavenger, and gave it a terribly obsolete bipedal stance. The ceratopsids and ankylosaur also have old-school, wrongly positioned "elephant feet", and the mosasaur lacked its tail-fluke. On other fronts, the creators went with the latest ideas, such as depicting tyrannosaurids with speculative feathers, and ''not'' giving the hadrosaurs claws. Weird.
** In a legit example, it appears that ''Edmontosaurus'' and ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' didn't migrate.
** A few years later, a preserved fleshy crest in ''Edmontosaurus regalis'', the species portrayed here, was discovered.
** The Alaskan tyrannosaur should be ''Nanuqsaurus'' rather than ''Gorgosaurus''.
** ''Troodon'''s validity has been brought into question recently, as it is only known from teeth.

** In a legit example, it appears that ''Edmontosaurus'' didn't migrate.

** The Alaskan tyrannosaur should be ''Nanuqsaurus'', rather than ''Gorgosaurus''.

** The Alaskan ''Gorgosaurus'' should be now known as ''Nanuqsaurus'', and it should also be smaller.

** The Alaskan ''Gorgosaurus'' should be now known as ''Nanuqsaurus''.

** The Alaskan ''Edmontosaurus'' and ''Gorgosaurus'' should be now known as ''Ugrunaalkuk'' and ''Nanuqsaurus''.