Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus is a Hadrosaurid (sometimes called a duck-billed dinosaur) from approximately 76.5–73 million years ago (late Cretaceous). It is a herd animal feeding on the park’s rich vegetation. The most stunning feature of the Parasaurolophus is the crest on its head. Scientists were unsure of its function until today. Some believed it was a snorkel for when the animal was in water; others felt that it was used in combat. We now know that it serves for display and for communication, allowing the animals to remain in contact over distance by amplifying their haunting, beautiful cries.

Jurassic Park Franchise
Parasaurolophus has appeared in all three films, as well as the second novel by Michael Crichton. All three appearances however have all been nothing but short cameos. In the first movie they were seen from a distance drinking from a lake. In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, they were seen on the game trail, and one male specimen, nicknamed "Elvis" by Roland Tembo, was captured by InGen. In Jurassic Park III they can be spotted in a field among other herbivores. The animal also appears in video games, trading cards, park rides and toy lines.

Novel canon
In the Lost World novel a Parasaurolophus herd lives near the river close to a Apatosaurus herd. The large Apatosaurus give protection, whereas the smaller and weaker Parasaurolophus have better eyes and can warn the dinosaurs for predators.

Richard Levine studies the creatures from the High Hide. When he imitates their strange calls the herd walks in goose step to the forest to urinate and defecate. Procompsognathus eats their feces.



On the Isla Nublar facility, a Parasaurolophus herd roamed along with Brachiosaurus at the Watering Hole. They probably kept by water, drinking it, and eating the long grass that grew around lakes and rivers. The Brachiosaurus and Parasaurolophus exhibit was very close to the main helicopter pad, and was thus one of the first dinosaurs to be seen by Dr. Alan Grant and the others upon arriving to Jurassic Park. It is not known however if the animal was featured on the Safari Tour ridden by Dr. Grant and the others, as they had to turn around after the Triceratops exhibit.

Jurassic Park: The Game
Parasaurolophus (or Parasaurus, as in the game) has an expanded role from its movie glimpse in on Isla Nublar in Jurassic Park: The Game. They first appear in the scenario The Parasaur Enclosure. Dr. Laura Sorkin wants to add Lysine to their water supply so they will survive the Lysine contingency in her absence. To reach their drinking water creatures have to go out of their paddock. The player should lure the herd of Parasaurolophus out of their pen, using various Parasaurolophus calls.

In the scenario Water Treatment, Sorkin's lab is attacked by raptors, they kill one Parasaur. Later the Tyrannosaurus rex kills another Parasaur. It is unknown what happened to the two remaining animals.

On Isla Sorna, Parasaurolophus, like the rest of the dinosaurs, roamed freely. During Roland Tembo's hunting expedition, while chasing animals on a game trail, Dieter Stark's group first catch was a Parasaurolophus named Elvis. However, Tembo initially mistook it for a Corythosaurus, which had a rounder crest as opposed to the long, tapering crest of the Parasaurolophus. This may be due to the fact that the pages of Roland's field guide were blowing in the wind, so he may have been unable to catch anymore than a glimpse of the Corythosaurus page.

Jurassic Park III
Parasaurolophus can be seen scattering along with other herbivores such as Triceratops and Stegosaurus as the Kirbys' plane flies over a large open field. It may be of interest to note that the Parasaurolophus attempt to keep in close proximity with the herd of Corythosaurus.

When the plane crashes on Isla Sorna, the team finds a T. rex feeding on a Parasaurolophus. Then, the Spinosaurus arrives and the fight begins. In the original script, however, it was a Sauropod that the T. rex was feeding on, not a Parasaurolophus. Later when the team are being chased by the raptor family, the team run through a combined herd of Parasaurolophus and Corythosaurus, instantly scaring the herd which stampedes around them.

The Parasaurolophus herd seen in the third installment of the series were seen herding with Corythosaurus. They are also see in the far distance (in the right hand side) when the group passes by the valley of herbivores in the boat.

Like most dinosaurs, the Parasaurolophus are more brightly colored in JP3 than in previous films. The animals depicted in the first Jurassic Park were (supposedly) green, the ones in TLW were a more tan/brown color, the ones in JP3 were green, but with the same color pattern as the animals in TLW. It was unknown the cause of this third variation seen in JP3, nor is the gender of this variation confirmed (though from the length of the crest it is a male). Many fans consider the different colorations on the Parasaurolophus to be of seasonal change this debate can be proven further as most male reptiles/birds are represented more colorful than females with some changing colors each season (though this can involve mammals too). Another theory is that the Parasaurolophus alter their pigmentation within the said environment they adapt too or use this trait to camouflage themselves like that of some modern day animals; this would explain why Lost World's Parasaurolophus appearing in a dry drab wasteland appear more brownish tan while compared to the ones in the other films which both appear in a lush green ecosystem. In the Vistor Center of Jurassic Park the portrait in the background shows a herd of Parasaurolophus which in the male in the Parasaurolophus along with the females are green in color.

Parasaurolophus is confirmed to be in the new theme park called Jurassic World on Isla Nublar. They can be viewed in the Gallimimus Valley. Their skin was a mixture of tan and brown with their crests having a mint green lining. The species recreated was Parasaurolophus tubicen, but was longer than any existing fossil specimens, being 12 meters in length. Parasaurolophus walkeri, however, are also present in Jurassic World in the Gyrosphere ride and the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo. They are somewhat brighter colored than the Parasaurolophus in TLW.

Vocalizations
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Crest Chambers and Function
As hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus was a very social animal and may have been very vocal amongst herd members. Parasaurolophus was most often noted for its elongated tube-like crest. For years it was theorized whether on the how crested hadrosaurs, made their sounds, some considered that they crest had no purpose for communication and was used for battles between other males and in the 1960's paleontogist such as Alfred Sherwood Romer suggested that Parasaurolophus used it for submergence underwater somewhat like a snorkel with Ned Colbert following with a similar theory or even housing specialized organs like glands or muscles to help hold the head. One odd theory is was suggested by creationist Duane Gish, that even the crest used to house a special chemical gland, that threw jets of chemical "fire" much like the Bombardier Beetle for self defense against predators. But Paleontologist have discovered that Parasaurolophus used this crest as a nasal passage in order to communicate with other hadrosaurs, how this method was to make the sounds was they would breathe the air in through their crests and the air would split into two passages within the crest and then both come through the longer chamber out the nose which creates a vibration making resonant sound much like that of a trumpet.

Making the sounds for Jurassic Park
Since Parasaurolophus ' vocalization relied on their crests, Gary Rydstrom need to make the sounds resonate as to how the animal would sound. In the first movie, Parasaurolophus wasn't heard much from it's cameo appearance, however it makes one distinctive roar, this was created by the use of Lion's bellowing roar. Four years after the Parasaurolophus would appear in a longer scenes in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and thus Gary had to use something different for the extended appearance of the hadrosaur. Back on Skywalker Ranch, Rydstrom recorded the moos from a cow, by using a tube through into a cardboard box for the distressing call of Parasaurolophus (a known fact is that these sounds were used for also Triceratops and Stegosaurus). A Lion was also reused for the Parasaurolophus in the film as well. In Jurassic Park III (four years after The Lost World), Christopher Boyes followed the same approach for the Parasaurolophus, but used a new arrangement of sounds during the stampede scene. The Parasaurolophus sounded a lot more aggressive in there distress calls this time though.

Trivia

 * In the middle of 2013, a Jurassic Park Legacy member possibly found the answer, the colors of the females in the first film are actually not their real color but instead blurred by the sun. A closer example shows they have the same pattern as TLW Parasaurolophus and color (if one were to look closer), in fact the concept art of the Isla Nublar Parasaurolophus are the same as TLW Parasaurolophus. This can also be evidenced by Laura Sorkin's Parasaurolophus in Jurassic Park: The Game. However this has not been confirmed by Spielberg or ILM.

Video games

 * A male Parasaurolophus is encountered in the The Lost World: Jurassic Park arcade game.
 * Parasaurolophus was originally going to appear in the The Lost World: Jurassic Park console game, but was cut; apparently the files for Parasaurolophus was lost. The Prey Gallery jokingly stated that it 'was eaten by a vicious pack of 3D Raptors before it could make it safely into the game'.
 * Parasauralophus is nr. 084 of the Herbivore Twos that can be created in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.
 * It was planned to appear in Jurassic Park: Survival.
 * Parasaurolophus is one of the available dinosaurs in the IOS application, Jurassic Park: Builder.

Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Parasaurolophus appears in Jurassic Park: Trespasser. It is first encountered in the Jungle Road level near Cathy's Beach. It later seen again in the Industrial Jungle, wandering dangerously close to a Tyrannosaurus, with another Para near the Smuggler's Plane.

Unlike its film version, this Para is yellow/orange with black spots. It doesn't live in herds, and in all locations only a single Para is located. The creature is easily frightened by Anne.



Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
Parasaurolophus is a 3 star Large Herbivore in Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis and are shown as those from The Lost World. They come from the same dig site as Acrocanthosaurus and Torosaurus. They can be paired with Edmontosaurus, Corythosaurus, or Ouranosaurus. They are favoured prey for Acrocanthosaurus (despite the fact that Parasaurolophus and Acrocanthosaurus didn't live in the same period)'' and Albertosaurus. ''They make a soothing, resonant piping sound. They also closely resemble the Parasaurs from The Lost World film.

Theme parks
On the Jurassic Park: River Adventure in the Islands of Adventure, a male Parasaurolophus knocks your vehicle off track from entering Hadrosaur Cove and into the Velociraptor containment area. Another spits water at you.