Herrerasaurus

"Herrerasaurus, 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. 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. Some scientists consider the Herrerasaurus to be more carnivorous primitive member of the Prosauropoda family.

Although Herrerasaurus shared the basic body design of future rulers of the Earth (like Allosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus), it lived during the Triassic period - a time when the dinosaurs were not the most powerful animals on Earth. 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 Mesozoic era.

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Story
A Herrerasaurus‘ icon was located on a map of the Jurassic Park brochure, but the animal was never seen on-screen. On the map, Herrerasaurus‘ enclosure is located at the far northwestern end of the island where the tourist route does not connect. However, it is unknown if this enclosure was ever constructed.

Herrerasaurus apparently went extinct on Isla Nublar in 2018.
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Creation
Herrerasaurus was created by InGen inside their compound on Isla Sorma where they taken care of by the workers there at a young age. Dr. Laura Sorkin believed that they were created as to be a "safe" alternative to Velociraptor, since the Raptors proved to be too difficult to handle and were said not to be as intelligent.

Like all of InGen's cloned theropods Herrerasaur clones had pronated hands. The Herrerasaurus clones had a bright red body with dark red stripes, and white underbelly and some yellow patches. They roamed in packs and their willingness to pursue their prey over long distances made them highly dangerous.

When those on Isla Sorna reached a certain age, they would be shipping to the neighboring island Isla Nublar in the Herrerasaur Paddock of Jurassic Park, which was planned for Phase 1 of the park.

Isla Nublar Incident (1993)
At the time of the Isla Nublar Incident of 1993, the Herrerasaurus living in Jurassic Park were not fully grown.

Herrerasaurus was in the Jurassic Park Brochure, as an attraction for Phase I.

When Dennis Nedry disabled Jurassic Park's security, Herrerasaurus, along with many other dinosaurs, were able to freely go outside of their paddocks.

Herrerasaurus had very little involvement in the incident and farthest they were known to go outside of their paddock was the nearby Bone Shaker roller coaster.

This pack attacked Dr. Gerry Harding, his daughter Jess Harding, and their captor Nima as they try to use the Bone Shaker 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. It is also unknown if there were any existing and surviving populations on Isla Nublar after the Isla Nublar Incident of 1993 or if there were any on Isla Sorna after Hurricane Clarissa.

Gallery

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

LEGO Jurassic World
Herrerasaurus is listed on the Isla Sorna map seen in the game, but does not physically appear.

A Herrasaurus figure will be featured in a toy-line for.
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Behind the scenes
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).

Bizarrely, the Herrerasaurus sounds in Jurassic Park: The Game seem to be a slowed-down version of the Velociraptor calls.

Gerry Harding claims the cloned Herrerasaurus are classed as early theropods. However, a study by Barron, Norman and Barrett has found that Herrerasaurus was more closely related to sauropodomorphs like Brachiosaurus.