Quote from: King Rathalos on Jan 15, 2013, 03:05:29 AM
Quote from: Crazy Rich on Jan 15, 2013, 02:57:17 AM
Actually... in reality Spino is believed to have been more frail in comparison to T-rex.
Yep, Spinosaurus ever since Jurassic Park III has been exaggerated in popular media to ridiculous levels.
Planet Dinosaur so far is the only series to portray (that I know of) what most scientist deduce Spinosaurus was actually like. A fish eating scavenger that once met with a dinosaur made for hunting (Charcaradontosaurs, can't remember the spelling atm) would have only two choices: fight back (which it was not good at it since it was adapted for eating fish and dead animals) or run away, which would be the sensible solution.
Raw mass would make Spinosaurus something not to be trifled with (if size estimates are accurate - which they may not be as we have very few remains to go by), and probably capable of outmuscling other predators in a struggle. I'd imagine it would be like when a bear encounters a tiger - they back off and go their separate ways, too great a risk of injury to both parties.
Still, Tyrannosaurus isn't your average predator, and with that bite it has a ridiculous weapon that marginalises the muscular advantage of larger animals (Tyrannosaurus' preferred prey included Triceratops which grew larger than itself, and was an incredibly powerful animal). It's perfectly adapted for winning any territorial dispute,
nothing is going to fight an adult rex if it can possibly avoid it.
Quote from: KiramidHead on Jan 15, 2013, 03:51:14 AM
Both T. Rex and the Velociraptors are overused. Gimme something new.
Agreed. I also thought it was dumb to use Spinosaurus in more or less the same way as a Tyrannosaurus. The original idea of Baryonyx being the main enemy raised a more novel situation, of something larger and more powerful than the raptors, but small and lithe enough that it would be very difficult to escape from.
Anyway, there are over 700 known genera of dinosaur, so why stick with the same handful? Replace Velociraptor with Liliensternus or a horde of Coelophysis and you're introducing millions of people to something new. Velociraptor and Dilophosaurus went from little-known to household names thanks to Jurassic Park (though both of them were grossly misrepresented...), it would be nice to throw that effect onto others.
One other thing I'd love to see in a new JP (though I'll repeat the main thing needs to be a grounding in deeper issues and cutting edge theory/science)... proper predatory behaviour among the dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus hunting the Gallimimus in the first film was a tremendous scene, and helped reinforce that they're animals rather than B-movie monsters. Haven't seen much of that since then...
:Edit: Or even some other natural behaviour. The Gigantoraptor courting displays in Planet Dinosaur were rather hilarious, and there's a sequence in Crichton's first JP book in which the dilophosaurs court by the river. Could be an opportunity to showcase an unusual herbivore.
