History Trivia / RaptorRed

* ScienceMarchesOn:
** The book came out ''just'' before dromaeosaurids like Raptor Red and her kin were confirmed to have feathers. The same turned out to be true for troodonts and ostrich dinos. To be fair, it's just about the only birdlike trait the ''Utahraptors'' in this book ''don't'' have. That still doesn't stop other artists from drawing Red and the other dromaeosaurids with feathers, though.

** ''Iguanodon'' is an exclusively European genus. At the time, it was thought to have also lived in North America, with ''Iguanodon lakotaensis'' being known from a partial skull from the Lakota Formation and ''Iguanodon ottingeri'', known only from teeth and jaw fragments, being found alongside ''Utahraptor'' at the Yellow Cat Memember of the Cedar Mountain Formation. However, the latter is now considered a ''nomen dubium'', and the former was reclasfied as ''Dakotadon lakotaensis'' in 2008. The giant dromaeosaur did coexist with the very similar ''Iguanacolossus'' though.

** The story notably fudges the coexisting fauna, most obviously that ''Utahraptor'' (late Valanginian-Hauterivian) is known from significantly older deposits than ''Deinonychus'' and ''Acrocanthosaurus'' (late Aptian-early Ablbian). This was more plausible at the time, when ''Utahraptor'' and sympatric genera from the Yellow Cat Member were thought to have lived during the late Barremian-early Aptian, leaving only a gap of circa 5-7 million years, but now it's much harder to HandWave the anachronism.

** ''Iguanodon'' didn't live in North America. The partial skull formerly classified as this genus has been reassigned to ''Dakotadon''.

** The story fudges a bit of the coexisting fauna, most obviously that ''Utahraptor'' is only known from slightly older deposits than ''Deinonychus'' and ''Acrocanthosaurus''. This was more plausible at the time, as the time difference was "only" about five to seven million years apart. Later geometric dating determined ''Utahraptor'' actually lived significantly earlier than initially thought, now making the time difference fifteen or more million years, a much harder gap to HandWave anachronisms.

** Bakker included a therizinosaur ("segnosaur") in the story even though none were known from the right time and place when the book was written. (Perhaps not coincidentally, it was depicted as a mountain dweller, therefore [[FridgeBrilliance living in an environment unlikely to preserve its fossils]].) A decade later, a therizinosaur (''Falcarius'') contemporaneous with ''Utahraptor'' was published.

** ''Acrocanthosaurus'', while still an apex predator, is depicted as mid-sized, at just 3 tons. At the time the novel was written, only the holotype and paratype were properly described, neither of which are particularly large, but almost immediately after, workers described more and larger skeletons (such as "Fran"), which showed that ''Acrocanthosaurus'' reached much greater sizes, up to 38 feet and 6 tons, just marginally smaller than T. rex. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses also showed that carcharodontosaurs like ''Acrocanthosaurus'' were actually derived allosaurs, but the novel treats ''Acrocanthosaurus'' and the Jurassic allosaurs such as ''Allosaurus'' as entirely different types of theropods.

** The depiction of the dromaeosaurs' hunting techniques is now considered outdated with respect to how the hind claws were used. Based in large part on observation of how modern raptorial birds like hawks and eagles use their talons (which can be thought of as having "raptor claws" on ''all of their toes'' since they no longer need to use them for running), it's now thought the the giant curved claws on species such as ''Utahraptor'' were used for ''gripping'' prey, not slicing or tearing. You can look up "raptor prey restraint" theory if you want more of the gory details.

* ''Acrocanthosaurus'', while still an apex predator, is depicted as mid-sized, at just 3 tons. At the time the novel was written, only the holotype and paratype were properly described, neither of which are particularly large, but almost immediately after, workers described more and larger skeletons (such as "Fran"), which showed that ''Acrocanthosaurus'' reached much greater sizes, up to 38 feet and 6 tons, just marginally smaller than T. rex. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses also showed that carcharodontosaurs like ''Acrocanthosaurus'' were actually derived allosaurs, but the novel treats ''Acrocanthosaurus'' and the Jurassic allosaurs such as ''Allosaurus'' as entirely different types of theropods.

* AccidentallyCorrectZoology:

** ''Kronosaurus'' is described as 40 feet long, but that was based on an incorrect reconstruction that gave it too many vertebrae. It would have had a more compact body and it was actually 30-35 feet. It's also given a weight of 20 tons, but later estimates put it at half that weight.

* ''Kronosaurus'' is described as 40 feet long, but that was based on an incorrect reconstruction that gave it too many vertebrae, and it was actually 30-35 feet.

** The book came out ''just'' before dromaeosaurids like Raptor Red and her kin were confirmed to have feathers. To be fair, it's just about the only birdlike trait the Utahraptors in this book ''don't'' have. That still doesn't stop other artists from drawing Red and the other dromaeosaurids with feathers, though.

* When Raptor Red and her family briefly live in the mountains, one of the local animals is said to be a small iguanodont that is easily killed by the raptors. In 2010, we described a small iguanodont called ''Hippodraco'', which coexisted with ''Utahraptor''.

** ''Iguanodon'' didn't live in North America. The partial skull formerly classified as this genus has been reassigned to ''Dakotadon''.

* AccidentallyCorrectZoology: Bakker included a therizinosaur ("segnosaur") in the story even though none were known from the right time and place when the book was written. (Perhaps not coincidentally, it was depicted as a mountain dweller, therefore [[FridgeBrilliance living in an environment unlikely to preserve its fossils]].) A decade later, a therizinosaur (''Falcarius'') contemporaneous with ''Utahraptor'' was published.

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: Obscure pterosaur ''Ornithodesmus'' ([[ScienceMarchesOn now known as]] ''Istiodactylus'') is depicted as a scavenger, while at the time, it was thought of as a fish eater. In 2012, Mark Witton did some research and confirmed that ''Istiodactylus'' was indeed a scavenger.

** Therizinosaurs are depicted as featherless burrowers, and are referred to as "segnosaurs." They're now considered to have been feathered, although digging may be plausible. In addition, several of the illustrations depict them as quadrupeds (or at least crouching), but it is now known that therizinosaurs were bipedal, like other theropods[[note]]Indeed, it used to be uncertain that therizinosaurs were theropods at all.[[/note]].

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting:
** Bakker included a therizinosaur ("segnosaur") in the story even though none were known from the right time and place when the book was written. (Perhaps not coincidentally, it was depicted as a mountain dweller, therefore [[FridgeBrilliance living in an environment unlikely to preserve its fossils]].) A decade later, a therizinosaur (''Falcarius'') contemporaneous with ''Utahraptor'' was published.
** Obscure pterosaur ''Ornithodesmus'' ([[ScienceMarchesOn now known as]] ''Istiodactylus'') is depicted as a scavenger, while at the time, it was thought of as a fish eater. In 2012, Mark Witton did some research and confirmed that ''Istiodactylus'' was indeed a scavenger.

* AccidentallyAccurate:

* AccidentallyAccurate: Bakker included a therizinosaur ("segnosaur") in the story even though none were known from the right time and place when the book was written. (Perhaps not coincidentally, it was depicted as a mountain dweller, therefore [[FridgeBrilliance living in an environment unlikely to preserve its fossils]].) A decade later, a therizinosaur (''Falcarius'') contemporaneous with ''Utahraptor'' was published.

** Therizinosaurs are depicted as featherless burrowers, and are referred to as "segnosaurs." They're now considered to have been feathered, although digging may be plausible. In addition, several of the illustrations depict them as quadrupeds, but it is now known that therizinosaurs were bipedal, like other theropods[[note]]Indeed, it used to be uncertain that therizinosaurs were theropods at all.[[/note]].

* AccidentallyAccurate: Bakker included a therizinosaur ("segnosaur") in the story even though none were known from the right time and place when the book was written. (Perhaps not coincidentally, it was depicted as a mountain dweller, therefore [[FridgeBrilliance living in an environment unlikely to preserve its fossils]].) A decade later, a therizinosaur (''Falcarius'') contemporaneous with ''Utahraptor'' was published.

* AccidentallyAccurate: Bakker included a therizinosaur ("segnosaur") in the story even though none were known from the right time and place when the book was written. (Perhaps not coincidentally, it was depicted as a mountain dweller, therefore [[FridgeBrilliance living in an environment unlikely to preserve its fossils]]) A decade later, a therizinosaur (''Falcarius'') contemporaneous with ''Utahraptor'' was published.