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.

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Creation
Parasaurolophus was created by InGen in their compound on Isla Sorna where they spent their early lives being raised by the workers there.

The clones resembled the species Parasaurolophus walkeri but were shorter than the real animal, being 7 meters (23.25ft) in length instead of 10 meters (33 ft).

In a Parasaurolophus herd, there would be a member that would observe the surrounding area for any threats to the herd and would alert it if there were any nearby.

They had three skin variations, beige, bright yellow, and beige green. The ones seen in the Brachiosaurus Enclosure were also a greenish color. Their crests would vary in color as well, with some having black, dark gray, and purple crests. From the research conducted by Dr. Laura Sorkin and her assitant David Banks the coloration of their crests were unique for each social clique.

When the clones were a few months old they would be transported to the neighboring island Isla Nublar to live as an attraction for InGen's Jurassic Park. Four lived in the self-titled Parasaurolophus Paddock, though there were many that lived in the Brachiosaurus Enclosure.

Just before the 1993 Isla Nublar Incident, one of the Parasaurs that was kept in the Parasaurolophus Paddock hurt her leg and became the watchmen of her herd.

Visitor Center Mural
Inside Jurassic Park's Visitor Center is a mural depicting Parasaurolophus. The depiction is somewhat different than the Parasaur clones that have been encountered. They display the two species Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus and Parasaurolophus walkeri. The P. walkeri are depicted as dark green with the front half of the crest being a dark red with its body bearing a single black stripe. The P. cyrtocristatus have a different color scheme being a lime color with the upper body being a dark green albeit split in the middle.

This mural is based on an old belief that P. walkeri and P. cyrtocristatus were not separate species but rather represented the male and female respectively of one single species. Seeing as how there is no evidence of P. cyrtocristatus (or at least clones that resembled this species) ever being created or encountered as well as the fact that the mural depicts Velociraptors as dark green that also has no evidence of ever being created or encountered like the previously mentioned Parasaurolophus species, it can be safely assumed that this is simply an artistic rendering rather than evidence that P. cyrtocristatus was recreated by InGen.

Isla Nublar Incident (1993)
The endorsement team saw a herd of Parasaurolophus at the Watering Hole of the Brachiosaurus Enclosure once they arrived on Isla Nublar.

Dr. Laura Sorkin and David Banks stayed on Isla Nublar during the storm to monitor the Parasaurolophus Paddock along with the Troodon she had created. When Dennis Nedry disabled Jurassic Park's security systems, the Parasaurolophus in the Brachiosaurus Enclosure were able to roam freely, however, the hadrosaurs inside the Parasaurolophus Paddock could not escape their paddock.

When confronted by the remaining survivors and mercenaries on Isla Nublar, Dr. Sorkin insisted that they put Lysine into the water supply of the Parasaur Paddock to save its inhabitants from death via the Lysine contingency, to which she and Dr. Gerry Harding and his daughter Jess Harding scare the Parasaurs out of their paddock and helped her achieve her goal. But after releasing Lysine into the water supply, a pack of Velociraptors attacked the herd and killed the Parasaurolophus that was the lookout of her herd.

Jurassic Park's Tyrannosaurus rex, referred to as "Rexy", later hunted a Parasaurolophus, but did not kill it. Nima Cruz and Billy Yoder witnessed this hunt. The hadrosaur's large tubular crest broke the branch that Yoder was hanging off of after the T. rex unintentionally through scrap metal from the helicopter Billy had used previously, causing him to fall to the ground. Billy survived, but this caused Rexy to decide to hunt him instead of the Parasaur. Concurrently, a Velociraptor was feeding on a Parasaurolophus carcass inside the Parasaur Paddock (which was probably the lookout) when Rexy, Nima, and Yoder entered the paddock. It was the only member of its pack interested in the carcass as the other raptors were pursuing Sorkin and the Hardings. Rexy began to feed on the carcass and while doing so killed the Raptor who was originally eating it. She later abandoned this carcass after she discovered Billy when he returned to the paddock to retrieve the Barbasol can he had dropped.

It is unknown what happened to the Parasaur populations on Isla Nublar after the Isla Nublar Incident of 1993.

Wild on Isla Sorna
When Hurricane Clarissa hit Isla Sorna, the InGen personnel evacuated the island with the Parasaurs that were under their care being freed by them or by the hadrosaurs freeing themselves. In the wild, they countered the Lysine contingency by eating Lysine rich plants.

They had a wide range of territory on the island. In the east, they coexisted with Gallimimus, Pachycephalosaurus, and the large Mamenchisaurus. In the west, they lived alongside with Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Stegosaurus, even forming mixed herds with the related hadrosaur Corythosaurus.

Isla Sorna Incident (1997)
The InGen Hunters captured a Parasaurolophus that their leader, Roland Tembo, named Elvis because its crest resembled a pompadour like had. This individual would later be freed by Gatherers Nick Van Owen and Dr. Sarah Harding the following night it was captured by the hunters, though it is unknown if the Parasaur survived.

Infant
In 1999, InGen was in possession (or had created) an infant Parasaurolophus. When Simon Masrani went to oversee the genetics company a year after he had purchased it, he got to hold the young Parasaur.

Isla Sorna Incident (2001)
When the search group for Eric Kirby was running from the Velociraptor pack who they encountered in the InGen Compound that Billy Brennan (one of their members) stole eggs from, they ran through a mixed herd of Parasaurolophus and Corythosaurus that was outside the InGen Compound.

Later, Parasaurolophus was one of the many dinosaurs that Dr. Alan Grant and the Kirby family saw on a riverbank.

Jurassic World
Parasaurolophus was one of the many dinosaurs that lived as an attraction for Masrani Global Corporation's Jurassic World. Because of their close resemblance to the previously created clones, it is possible that those that lived in the park originated from the dinosaurs transported from Isla Sorna in 2004. However, the images on Jurassic World's website depict them with a longer and more curved crest. On the website, its skin was a mixture of tan and brown with the crest and the upper part of the head being mint green.

The juveniles, unlike the originals, had crests at an early age.

They lived in the Gyrosphere Valley, Cretaceous Cruise, Gentle Giants Petting Zoo, and the Gallimimus Valley.

During the Isla Nublar Incident of 2015 Gray and Zach Mitchell saw several Parasaurs during their time in the Gyrosphere Valley.

It is unknown what happened to Parasaurolophus populations created for Jurassic World after the Isla Nublar Incident of 2015.

Vocalizations

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Novel canon
In 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.
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The Lost World: Jurassic Park (arcade game)
A male Parasaurolophus is encountered in the The Lost World: Jurassic Park arcade game.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (video game)
Parasaurolophus was originally going to appear in the The Lost World: Jurassic Park console game, but was cut; apparently the files for Parasaurolophus were 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'.

Jurassic Park III: Park Builder
Parasauralophus is nr. 084 of the Herbivore Twos that can be created in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.

Jurassic Park: Survival
It was planned to appear in Jurassic Park: Survival.

Jurassic Park: Builder
see Parasaurolophus/Builder

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 is 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
see Parasaurolophus/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 (despite the fact that Parasaurolophus and Ouranosaurus didn't live in the same period or place). They are favored 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.

Jurassic World: The Game
see Parasaurolophus/JW: TG

Parasaurolophus is seen in Jurassic World: The Game as a super rare herbivore.

LEGO: Jurassic World
see Parasaurolophus/LEGO

Parasaurolophus was in LEGO: Jurassic World and did many of the same things as Parasaurolophus did in The Lost World, Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World. Like all the other dinosaurs, Parasaurolophus sometimes participates in humorous antics, due to the game's comical nature.

Gallery

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The Lost World Series 1
A Parasaurolophus toy was released as a part of this toy line.

Jurassic Park III Kaiyodo Toys
A maquette of Parasaurolophus was one of the toys in this line.

Jurassic World
A Parasaurolophus "Hero Masher" was one of the toys of this line. Its parts can be used with other toys in the line to make unique creations. 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.
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Behind the scenes
Parasaurolophus, despite appearing physically in the first three films, is absent from the scripts of the aforementioned films, or is at least not mentioned by name. In, the Parasaurs appear to have filled the role of both Hadrosaurus and Maiasaura from the novel, most notably the former as both Hadrosaurus in the novel and Parasaurolophus in the film lived alongside a species of sauropod at a watering hole.

When creating the concept art for the Parasaurolophus featured in the first film, Mark "Crash" McCreery used a duck's bill as a reference when creating the hadrosaur's mouth and the eyes of a deer to make the dinosaur seem quiet and docile. The mural of the dinning room featuring Parasaurolophus was painted by Doug Henderson.

Oddly, the section "Exploring Jurassic Park Part 2" of the Topps comic Jurassic Park II and the Jurassic Park Topps card for Parasaurolophus states that it was cut from Jurassic Park even though a herd can be seen at the Watering Hole with Brachiosaurus.

TyRuben Ellingson painted the digital maps used for the color of the Parasaurolophus as well as the Brachiosaurus in Jurassic Park. Though the concept art by "Crash" McCreery depicts the first film's Parasaurolophus as having a beige color with a dark gray crest and back with dark brown stripes on the thigh, the final film's Parasaurs have greenish colored skin with a black back and seemingly lacks striping while its other details are unidentifiable due to the duckbill dinosaurs being difficult to see clearly.

An alternate opening to The Lost World: Jurassic Park was for a Japanese fishing boat to pull up a Parasaurolophus carcass in its net, to which the net breaks from the weight of the carcass and disappears into the waters below. Paul Mejias supervised the construction of this sculpture and even though this alternate opening scene never made the final cut, the carcass was still used in the film in the scenes taking place in the Tyrannosaurus nest and the boneyard. It was later repainted for to represent the carcass that the T. rex was eating.

In the script for The Lost World: Jurassic Park, instead of the Parasaurolophus Elvis, Dieter Stark captures a Corythosaurus (misspelled "Carninthosaur" in the script). Though this scene was cut from the final film, it is included in Mighty Chronicles adaptation of The Lost World Jurassic Park. This early design choice is also referenced in the film itself with one of the Hunters carrying a factsheet of Corythosaurus and Roland even misidentifies the Parasaur Elvis as a corythosaur, but is unable to pronouce it.

For the second film, Mark McCreery revised his original Parasaur concept art for Jurassic Park by giving it a new color scheme. The recolor depicted the whole head and neck as red, the torso being a darker tan with some of this tan being on its back instead of black like the original concept, and the stripes on its thigh being black as opposed to dark brown. In turn, Paul Mejias sculpted and painted a 1/7th scale model from one of McCreery's designs that stood 17 inches tall. Unlike the concept art, this painted maquette was a bright yellow. The head was also not completely red, with the crest being black and the only red found on its body being only on the back of its neck. Ultimately, the final sequence would feature the color of Parasaurolophus as having more of an earth tone and less red on the neck. A further two maquettes were made to reflect the change to earth tones with one having less red on the back of the neck than the other, the one with less red on the neck being nearly identical to the color scheme seen in the finished film. Another version of this maquette had its mouth slightly open. Seeing how it was present in the construction of the Parasaur carcass for the film, it is assumed that this maquette was used as a reference for the latter.

The vocalizations of Parasaurolophus for were created from cows calling through tubes. The Parasaurolophus in Jurassic Park: The Game appears to have been based on several Parasaur designs that were never seen physically in the films. They have bright yellow skin much like one of the Parasaurolophus maquettes made for The Lost World: Jurassic Park and the front half of the crest is red just like the lone Parasaurolophus walkeri seen on one of the murals of the Jurassic Park Visitors' Centre.

Despite its appearances usually being little more than cameos, Parasaurolophus has physically appeared on-screen in all four films of the Jurassic Park franchise, a distinction shared with the more famous and iconic Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Velociraptor.

Notes and references
Parasaurolophus Parasaurolophus Паразауролоф