The Jurassic franchise has been around for many years, from the first Jurassic Park movie being released in 1993, and the most recent released on July 2nd, 2025 (Jurassic World: Rebirth). There were also books released and a Netflix series, which is getting a new season, released on November 20th (Jurassic World Chaos Theory). Not many people really know anything about dinosaurs, and most people usually take what is shown in movies like Jurassic Park/World as how they really look. However, the dinosaurs shown in the film aren’t accurate as they’re scientific counterparts.
An undated artist’s impression shows the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus as it appeared in life 66 million years ago, based on fossilized “mummies” discovered in east-central Wyoming. Dani Navarro/Handout via REUTERS
There are many dinosaurs shown in the movie; however, not all of them are accurate. One of the most famous dinosaurs shown in the Jurassic franchise is the Tyrannosaurus, a giant apex predator, which is represented as having a lean body and downward-facing wrists, a muscular, agile predator with an oversized head. The majority of people think that the Tyrannosaurus in the movie is accurate to the real-life counterpart; nonetheless, it does have some accurate features. The scientifically accurate Tyrannosaurus has more of a bulky build with a long tail to balance its massive skull.
Another really well-known dinosaur is the Triceratops (also one of my favorite dinosaurs), is shown in the majority of the Jurassic movies being a common dinosaur for people to know. The Triceratops was a three-horned herbivore that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous period. In the movie, it’s shown that the Triceratops is more docile and not an aggressive creature. Its scientific counterpart shows that the herbivorous creature was actually likely more aggressive than what’s shown in the movie. It’s also shown that the Triceratops has elephant-like feet and has less prominent horns. However, its real-life counterparts had more of an outward-toed, clawed feet, which also lacked the keratin sheath in the movie Triceratops.
A fan favorite dinosaur is the Spinosaurus, which had its own dedicated movie in Jurassic Park 3, where many fans got to really like the creature. The Spinosaurus is portrayed as a really aggressive apex dinosaur capable of defeating the great Tyrannosaurus rex. It also had a more crocodilian appearance with a prominent sail on its back and long legs. Despite that, the scientifically accurate Spinosaurus is more of a semi-aquatic predator with a regularly seafood-based diet, featuring a sail-like tail for swimming in oceans, short legs, and a tall sail on its back. The Spinosaurus was also scientifically incapable of defeating a Tyrannosaurus rex, given that it was probably much slower on land since it was more of an aquatic creature rather than a land predator, as shown in the movie.
The Parasaurolophus was seen in many of the Jurassic movies, where it’s shown to have a long head crest and is mostly seen as being predominantly bipedal; however, in real life, the actual Parasaurolophus mostly spent its time walking on all fours instead of two, as shown in the movies, and typically, they can also walk on two legs. Still, such action only occurs when they need to sprint to escape predators or reach higher vegetation. In the movies, they were also depicted as having a leaner build, whereas their real-life counterparts were more substantial in some depictions, particularly in the neck and belly.
The Veloceraptor is also a good representation of the Jurassic franchise, where it appeared in all of the Jurassic movies ever come out, and some differences between the real-life counterpart are drastic. In the movies, the Veloceraptor is shown to be a large, scaly, reptilian predator. However, its accurate counterpart was actually smaller with feathers, similar to a big turkey. The movie’s representation of the Veloceraptor actually more resembles the Deinonychus in size matter except it also had feathers.
Furthermore, the recent movie Jurassic World Rebirth introduces more scientifically accurate dinosaurs, having more of a closer resemblance to their real-life counterparts, and also reintroduces the Spinosaurus back into the franchise after only being seen in Netflix series and the Jurassic Park 3 movie, with a brand new design, along with the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Overall, the Jurassic franchise is a fun way to see dinosaurs in action in the media. Although the dinosaurs may not be as accurate as their real counterparts, they are still the closest thing we have to a dinosaur living among people.
