Pteranodon

"Oh my God. It's a bird Cage."

- Alan Grant

First thing, Pteranodon is not a dinosaur, it is a flying reptile. A really big flying reptile! When it spread its wings, it could reach from the front to the back of a school bus. Just imagine something that big flying around. It didn't have feathers, but it may have had a covering of fur, like a bat.

Members of the pterosaur family lived through much of the Mesozoic, some with wingspans close to 50 feet. Pteranodon, as you can tell by the translation of its name, had no teeth. It probably used the long crest on the back of its head to help it steer while flying. There is still some debate about whether these reptiles could actually fly or if they were primarily gliders, but the consensus seems to be that they could take off with little or no wind.

Their diet was probably fish and scavenged remains of dead animals. Quite a few Pteranodon skeletons have been found in Kansas in the central part of the U.S. This would have been the shore of a shallow sea when these creatures were alive, supporting the theory that they were fish eaters.

More real-life information: Pteranodon at Wikipedia

Jurassic Park novels
Pteranodons were not present in any of the Jurassic Park novels; instead, the first novel portrayed one species of pterosaur, the Cearadactylus, somewhat smaller.

A group of Pteranodons is shown at the back of Barnes & Noble's Novel bundle.

Jurassic Park movies
In the movies, however, Pteranodon was chosen instead of Cearadactylus, probably because of its larger size, more spectacular/bizarre appearance, and huge popularity with audiences (most people recognize Pteranodon as the quintessential pterodactyl).

Steven Spielberg wanted to have the pterosaurs in the first Jurassic Park movie, however, the aviary scene described in the novel turned out to be too expensive to recreate. However, Pteranodon still has a brief cameo in the movie, seen flying above the heads of the Parasaurolophus, though these may have been simply modern birds or they could have been juvenile Pteranodons.

Later, in The Lost World, Spielberg wanted to show an action sequence with several safari team members running away from a pack or raptors and leaping off a cliff in parachutes; however, they would be attacked by a flock of Pteranodon. Once again, the idea was abandoned (although conceptual art for the Pteranodons exists for that movie). Another scene filmed but was cut had Pteranodons attacking the rescue chopper. The movie does depict Pteranodon in its final version, though; at the end of the movie, several are shown flying above the heads of a Stegosaurus herd and the Tyrannosaurus rex family. One of them is shown up close, being the last "dinosaur" shown.

This Pteranodon is shown to be of a very lean body build, with an S shaped neck and a slender, hook ended beak. It is also shown to perch on a tree the same way a bird would (which is often said by most paleontologists to be impossible, for Pteranodon did not have grasping feet and was most likely a quadruped when it landed, although it was probable in the film, due to InGen splicing their DNA with that of birds). The Pteranodons in The Lost World were based on a species called Pteranodon longiceps. Originally Steven Spielberg wanted to use Pteranodon sternbergi, but changed the species at the last minute; probably for the more straight and elegant crest of the longiceps. Concept art for the sternbergi species can still be seen.

In Jurassic Park III, Pteranodons were given a larger role. Director Joe Johnston had the Pteranodons re-designed for this movie; they were shown as being larger, more robust and different colored than the Pteranodons shown at the end of The Lost World; they also lack a hooked bill, but have rows of dinosaur-like teeth on their mouths (something real-life Pteranodons did not have). These teeth are often cited as a result of InGen's messing with dinosaur DNA with primate, amphibian, and avian DNA and is why many call it a "hippocretis" species.

In Jurassic Park III, the main characters enter, unknowingly, a giant bird cage in a river canyon, containing four adult Pteranodons and an nest filled with precocious, voracious hatchlings. 13-year-old Eric Kirby is snatched by one of the animals and thrown to the nest to serve as food for the young, but Billy Brennan manages to save the boy. He, however, ends up being attacked himself, and he is brutally mauled and severely injured by the flying reptiles.

Later, when they escape the bird cage, the Kirbys accidentally leave the cage's door open, and the Pteranodons escape; they are briefly seen at the end of the movie, heading for "new nesting grounds". It is unknown whether the adults abandoned their chicks or were simply exploring the island's surroundings, perhaps planning for a future, actual escape. The ferocity and extreme power of these animals is also generally passed as genetic mutation along with their teeth. It is possible that the reason they were in an aviary (while The Lost World's Pteranodons) was because of the mutations (with the scientists probably fearing they would kill the other Pteranodon species on the island or harm the employees), and the Pteranodons from The Lost World were less dangerous than Jurassic Park III's Pteranodons.

Thus both movies could be accurately depicting Sorna's species, if we adopt the idea of there being two species of Pteranodons on the island. Maybe the ones seen in JP3 were the first attempt at reincarnating these creatures but when scientists noticed it's ferocity, they created a safer, more docile version. However, it is more likely the other way around since the Pteranodon from The Lost World more closely resemble the actual fossil species than the ones in Jurassic Park III. Perhaps InGen had enough Pteranodon DNA to recreate a Pteranodon very close to the ancient form, but as said by Henry Wu in the first novel, people wanted to see their "expectations", and not the real thing. Most books and films depict Pteranodon as a voracious flying monster that grasps people in its claws and carries them away.

So InGen (in theory) used further DNA modification to create a species less accurate, but more familiar, to the visitors. P. sternbergi may exist on Isla Sorna but this is unknown. It could also be possibly that The Lost World's Pteranodons simply found a way out of the aviary, with them possibly, instead of becoming more ferocious like their brethren, InGen might have accidentally given them more intelligence, and were able to devise a clever escape from the aviary without being attacked by the fiercer Pteranodons, and eventually became more docile with more food outside of the aviary, and less competition from the other more ferocious Pteranodons.

A deleted scene from Jurassic Park III was going to show adult male Pteranodons (all the adults from the film were female), which were supposed to be larger and darker in color, and was also supposed to have them fight the Velociraptors, but this along with many others was cut from the movie.

Accuracy
The Pteranodons in Jurassic Park III are depicted correctly with regards to their size (paleontologists claim that the largest species could reach 10 meters of wingspan, being the size of a small aircraft), as well as their quadrupedal gait.

They are, however, shown incorrectly to have teeth, possibly a result of InGen's DNA tamperring. Most scientists believe that Pteranodons could not lift large prey with their talons, simply because their feet were not designed to grasp; instead, they caught most of their prey with their large beaks.

The number of eggs or young that Pteranodons could have in one single brood is unknown; however, the movie correctly portrays pterosaurs as being able to fly from a very early age.

All Pteranodons in Jurassic Park III are shown to have long crests of about the same size, when in real life, only Pteranodon males would have had large crests, with females having smaller ones. However, it might be that these Pteranodons don´t belong to any species known as a fossil, which would easily explain this trait.

Vocalizations
Pteranodons were given a wide array of calls and vocalizations in Jurassic Park III, as well as an eerie, bird-like scream at the end of The Lost World.

The movie creators used large bird sounds (including giant petrels) for the Pteranodons. Voice God Frank Welker also lended his voice for some of them vocals.

Portrayal
The Pteranodons in The Lost World were completely CGI, while in Jurassic Park III, they were portrayed by a combination of CGI and animatronics. The hatchlings were actually traditional puppets (although the ones shown flying are CGI).

Jurassic Park Adventures
In the novel Flyers, the pack of 7 Pteranodons that is seen at the end of Jurassic Park III has reached Universal Studios in Florida and starts to terrorize the tourists. They drive all tourists into the to eat them after sunset.

All creatures have a name:
 * Elder: the patriarch of the group
 * Flood: Elder's daughter. Her markings were blue like the waves and gray like the rocky shore.
 * Fire: Flood's mate, a strong and powerful creature. With his crimson markings he looks like the fiery dawn.
 * Goldie: most troublesome child of Fire and Flood. Has a bright golden tinge on his wings.
 * Lightning: another young. His wings bare two silver streaks like lightning.
 * Spike: young.
 * Trip: young.

The Pteranodons have a much greater body mass them their prehistoric counterparts, weighing 500-600 lbs. instead of 45 lbs. They're also much more intelligent. It is suggested that InGen probably wanted the Pteranodons to be able to do tricks in shows and therefore enhanced their intelligence.

Pteranodon were also mentioned in the first book where Eric witnesses a Tyrannosaurus killing one.

Interaction with humans
In Jurassic Park III and Jurassic Park Adventures: Flyers, Pteranodons are shown to be extremely aggressive and to attack any human that enters their territory (the Canyon Aviary), just as the Cearadactylus did in the original Jurassic Park novel. However, while Cearadactylus seemed to attack humans out of territoriality, the Pteranodons in Jurassic Park III obviously see humans as suitable prey and attack them to eat them. This is implied by the presence of human bones in the Pteranodon nest and the fact that the adult Pteranodon threw Eric Kirby to the nest in order for its young to attack him.

Later in the movie, three adult Pteranodons are shown flying near several helicopters, but they ignore them completely (although the original script had the pterosaurs to attack the helicopter).

Other than the human remains of the Pteranodon nest, no fatal victims of Pteranodon are known in Jurassic Park III. They did, however, manage to almost kill Billy Brennan (who probably survived only because the river current dragged him out of the Canyon Aviary, where the Pteranodons could not follow him). In the script they do kill Billy.

It is unknown why the Jurassic Park crew would choose to let the Pteranodons roam free since they can fly off of Isla Sorna. However, it is likely they were confident that Pteranodon would not abandon Isla Sorna since it is the only suitable land for them to live on.

Jurassic Park inspired games

 * Pteranodon appears as a wildlife ambience in the video game The Lost World: Jurassic Park; especially, on the Sulphur Fields level.
 * It is encountered in all areas of Jurassic Park (arcade game).
 * It also appears in the Site B lab in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (arcade game). While you are on a zipline trying to reach the lab, Pteranodons attack you and you need to shoot them.
 * It is encountered in Chapter 3 of Jurassic Park III (arcade game).
 * Pteranodon is an enemy in Jurassic Park III: Island Attack.
 * Pteranodon is an enemy in Jurassic Park III: The DNA Factor.
 * It would appear in the planned game Jurassic Park: Survival.
 * Pteranodon can be created from paleo-DNA in the game Jurassic Park III: Park Builder. A Giant Pteranodon can also be created, and it may be simply a male Pteranodon, as it looks similar to what the males were planned to look like.
 * It is one of the Carnivores that is featured in the game Jurassic Park III: Dino Defender
 * In Dinosaur Battles, a few Pteranodons appeared, but they are unplayable.
 * Pteranodon is one of the available creatures in the IOS application, Jurassic Park: Builder.

Jurassic Park: Explorer
Pteranodon is one is the creatures that can be captured in the game Jurassic Park: Explorer. When a Pteranodon is captured this video will be shown. It also appears in a short clip flying above a river.

Jurassic Park: The Game
Pteranodon also appears in Jurassic Park: The Game based off its appearance in Jurassic Park III. A small flock of them is briefly seen flying alongside a cliff and later one attacks the mercenary's chopper. While they're based off their appearance in Jurassic Park III, their sounds were different. While the JPIII Pteranodons made a range of vocalizations, from screams to hisses to soft clucks, the Pteranodons in JP: The Game made only a raspy squawking sound, similar to that of a vulture. It is surprising that they are seen having free run of the island, since because they can fly they would be easily able to escape. It is speculated that this flock came from the aviary on the island shown the novel, similar to the one on Isla Sorna; however, this has not been confirmed by Telltale Games. Another speculation is that they somehow escaped from the Isla Sorna Aviary prior to the incident on Isla Nublar and long before the events in Jurassic Park III''. ''

Comic books
Two Pteranodons attack the plane of Lex Murphy in Jurassic Park: Redemption I as she is flying over Costa Rica. Two armed aircraft try to drive the creatures away.

Jurassic Park Toys
Pteranodon figures have appeared in many toy lines. The most classic is the blue/gray figure from the Kenner Series 1. This figure was so well known that it appeared in Toy Story. The figure was re-painted for later reappearances in Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs and The Lost World Series 1. Another figure was released for the Jurassic Park III toyline.

Other figures have appeared in:
 * Die-Cast: Jurassic Park
 * The Lost World Series 1
 * Jurassic Park III (Hasbro)
 * Jurassic Park III (Kaiyodo) (prototype only)
 * CamoXtreme
 * Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs
 * Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 2
 * Jurassic Park: Dinosaurs 3

Exhibitions

 * A animatronic pterosaur is shown in the T. rex encounter attraction of the Jurassic Park Institute Tour.