Metriacanthosaurus

Metriacanthosaurus is a in the infraorder. It belongs to the recently classified Sinraptoridae, which is its own distinct family, in its own right - like so many other Victorian Era discovered theropod Dinosaurs, the fossils of what were to be named Metriacanthosaurus, were dumped in the 'wastebasket taxon' of Megalosaurus, which was thought to have been a genus of dozens of species. In time, Paleontologists shunned the old ways which were lazy and inaccurate, leading to many so called Megalosaurs being reclassified as something else. In some cases, the 'Megalosaur' remains did not even belong to any kind of Dinosaur. Sinraptor, from China, is one of its closest relatives. The only species that is known of this genus is Metriacanthosaurus parkeria. This Theropod lived during the late Jurassic Period of Europe, hunting contemporary herbivores, such as Callovosaurus.

More real-life information: Metriacanthosaurus at Wikipedia.

Discovery and classification
In 1923 the paleontologist described a few fossils and concluded that they belonged to a new species of the Megalosaurus genus. In the 1960s concluded that the fossils where to different from Megalosaurus and concluded that this species belonged to a unique genus, he called Metriacanthosaurus. The species was named parkeria.

In 1977 an almost complete skeleton of large Theropod was discovered in China. It was classified as a new species (shangyouensis) and member of a new genus (Yangchuanosaurus). According to the genus Yangchuanosaurus was identical to the genus Metriacanthosaurus and therefore classified the animal in 1988 as Metriacanthosaurus shangyouensis. But this reclassification was later cancelled.

Jurassic Park (film)
Metriacanthosaurus is ultimately not seen in the films, but its name can briefly be seen next to a vial in the Cold Storage Room, and on the map of the park. According to vertebrate paleontologist this was probably meant to refer to Yangchuanosaurus (which was then classified as a species of the Metriacanthosaurus genus) as he explains in this e-mail:

"..."Metriacanthosaurus shangyouensis". In other words, it was what most authors (?including Greg Paul, who was the first to transfer the species) would call Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis. Unlike the very fragmentary Metriacanthosaurus, Yangchuanosaurus is known from a lot of the skeleton. This restoration closely follows Greg Paul's excellent restoration.

(As a side note, Spielberg & Crichton likely followed the same generic reference in "Jurassic Park", as "Metriacanthosaurus" is one of the dinosaur taxa whose DNA vials Nedry steals. Presumably, S & C were thinking about M. shangyouensis, which is on the cover of Paul's Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, rather than M. parkeri)."

Games

 * Its skull is shown on a poster in Jurassic Park: The Game.
 * The Acrocanthosaurus in Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis can be modified into Metriacanthosaurus. One could also use Allosaurus, since Metriacanthosaurus's sail isn't as pronounced as Acrocanthosaurus.

Trivia

 * It was speculated that Metriacanthosaurus would appear in Jurassic Park: The Game, but this did not occur (only a picture of its skull).

Links

 * Pictures of Metriacanthosaurus
 * Metriacanthosaurus on Wikipedia