Herrerasaurus

'''"Herrasaurus, from the Triassic era. Now we've bred them, we can easily classify them as early theropod."

- Gerry Harding ''' Herrerasaurus ("[Victorino] Herrera's lizard") was one of the oldest and most primitive Theropods, or meat-eating dinosaurs, though in its day it was relatively hyper-advanced. And its body displayed many of the same features of the later theropods. It walked on its hind legs, and its arms ended in powerful clawed hands for grasping prey. Its teeth - like those of most theropods - were shaped like blades and had knife-like serrations running up the front and down the back. Its lower jaw had a special hinge about halfway along its length. This joint would have helped Herrerasaurus to better hold on to struggling victims. Many later theropods also had this hinge.

Although Herrerasaurus shared the basic body design of future rulers of the Earth (like Allosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus), it lived at a time when dinosaurs were not the most powerful predators. Herrerasaurus would have had to run away from the much larger Saurosuchus, a giant land-dwelling crocodile relative, and the even larger Fasolasuchus tenax, which was the largest meat-eater in Argentina during the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs.

More real-life information: Herrerasaurus at Wikipedia.

Jurassic Park Franchise
Herrerasaurus is mentioned in the Jurassic Park movie, but is never physically seen. The creature does appear in a number of Jurassic Park inspired games.

Film canon
thumb|300px|right Herrerasaurus is not seen in person in, but its name is on a map inside of the Jeep's brochure in Jurassic Park. The Herrerasaurus area was planned in the northwestern part of the island. Since its information appeared in the InGen Field Guide and the Tour the Island site, Herrerasaurus was likely scheduled for phase I of the park.

The Herrerasaurs are featured in Jurassic Park: The Game. Their paddock is located in the northwestern part of the island near the Bone Shaker Roller Coaster. In her journal, Laura Sorkin notes that while they are not nearly as intelligent as the Velociraptors, their willingness to pursue their prey over long distances made them highly dangerous. They had been intended as replacement animals in the place of the raptors since the raptors prove to be too difficult to handle.

They attack Dr. Gerry Harding, his daughter Jess Harding, and their captor Nima Cruz as they try to use the Bone Shaker roller coaster as a way down. They jump onto the roller coaster cars but are successfully fended off, thrown off into the jungle below. It is unknown if they survived the fall, but with having hollow-bones and diminutive size it's highly unlikely.

According to its bio, the Herrerasaurus can reach up to 20 feet in length, and the creatures in the game are half that size. This means the ones seen in the game, the pack that attack Nima and the Hardings at the roller coaster, are possibly juveniles. However in accuracy a full grown individual can grow to be also 10 feet in length which also a half portion to 20 feet.

Jurassic Park III: Park Builder
Herrerasaurus can be created in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.

Trivia

 * There is no evidence that mosquitoes existed during the Triassic period. However, scientists have found Amber from that period. Meaning that Herrerasaurus must have been created using DNA from drops of blood or pieces of flesh preserved in amber (see DNA in Amber).