Trivia / Dinotopia

• Accidentally Correct Zoology:
  • In the first book, Malik the timekeeper is referred to as a Stenonychosaurus. This is a junior synonym of Troodon...until 2017 when Stenonychosaurus has become a separate genus again, while Troodon has become dubious (but still valid).
  • The portrayal of Oviraptor as an egg nurse (renamed Ovinutrix) instead of the notorious egg devourer. The latter was the common image we had of this animal at the time the first book came out (as you can easily tell by the genus name), because its fossil remains were found near a nest supposedly from Protoceratops. It later turned out that the specimen in question wasn't a thief caught red-handed, it was a brooding parent.
• Science Imitates Art: The series' author, James Gurney, had the theropod Torvosaurus gurneyi named after him.
• Science Marches On:
  • Probably the reason why the Deinonychus librarian and Troodon timekeeper are nowhere to be seen in the fourth book, as they were depicted without feathers in the earlier books. The Tyrannosaurus, Ornithomimus, and Struthiomimus are still featherless, but they're pretty much the only coelurosaurs in the book that are portrayed this way (though science has marched on for them too; we now know that ornithomimids were feathered, while Tyrannosaurus may have been more scaly than fluffy, but this is still in debate).
  • In A Land Apart from Time, pterosaurs are depicted standing on two legs. Even though this is later fixed, the pterosaurs probably get this the worst overall. The Skybax (supposedly a species of Quetzalcoatlus) are portrayed as scaly and feeding on fish. We now know that Quetzalcoatlus, like all azhdarchids, was actually a stork-like terrestrial stalker of large land animals. In the fourth book the Skybaxes are portrayed skimming for fish, a behavior that's considered doubtful for pterosaurs in general and downright impossible for azhdarchids. Similarly, Dimorphodon is depicted as an agile, strong flyer (so much so that it's used as an Instant Messenger Pigeon), rather than the relatively weak flyers they actually were. And none of them have pycnofibers.
    • Come 2022, a new study has thrown even more of a wet blanket on the Skybaxes' portrayal. It turns out azhdarchids like Quetzalcoatlus, despite their size, were not long-distance flyers and spent most of their lives on the ground, taking to the air only to escape predators.
  • The Deinocheirus from the first book are portrayed as generic-looking ornithomimids. More complete specimens in 2014 have revealed they were much more bizarre in appearance namely having a hump, a hadrosaur-like skull, and a build more similar to therizinosaurs (so much for their portrayal as the equivalent of racehorses).
  • The plesiosaurs are likewise depicted hauling out on land, when in reality they were completely confined to the water much like whales.
  • Macrauchenia is depicted with a short trunk in Journey to Chandara. We now know this is not the case.
  • Dunkleosteus is depicted as a long-bodied giant in The World Beneath. Come 2023, when a recent study shows it had a short, compact body and was about the size of a great white, but heavier.
• Vapor Ware: The Library of Congress listed one further digest novel, Groundswell. However, no book by that title was ever published, and we can probably assume the license ended, shelving the book.
• What Could Have Been: James Gurney has published a non-fiction book in 2009, Imaginative Realism, which serves as both a behind-the-scenes look at his painting method and a collection of his lesser known art. Several of the newly-published pieces practically beg for elaborations. Generally speaking, there were going to be a lot more Dinotopia spin-offs including a Theme Park, a line of dolls and toys, and a theatrical animated film (which, from the looks of it, would have been made by people who bothered to read the book).

---