Decision is the twenty-second chapter in the Fourth Configuration. Here, Malcolm and Levine explain why the Biosyn group got their facts on a Tyrannosaurus rex vision incorrect and Malcolm, Thorne, Harding and Eddie head to see the damage caused.
Plot[]
Doc Thorne recounts that the Biosyn group left and Ian Malcolm notes they stole eggs. Eddie joins them and Sarah Harding wonders why Lewis Dodgson and George Baselton just stood there; she says that's not how one should react when encountering predators. A person should distract predators or throw objects in order to distract the predator and never stand still. Malcolm repeats himself, stating that the Biosyn men read an incorrect paper. He says John Roxton made casts of a Tyrannosaurus head and proposes that T. rexes had the intelligence of a frog. Over the radio, Richard Levine picks up, accusing Roxton as one who "doesn't know enough anatomy to have sex with his wife." He repeats Roxton's theory that a T. rex visual system is like an amphibian is definitely baseless. A T. rex would never have such a visual system. Prey do normal freeze still upon the approach of predators. Yet, Levine say predators like a T. rex would still see their prey. Levine criticises another well-known palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant who theorizes that a T. rex was not adapted to wet climates and would not move in such an environment. The Cretaceous Period was not dry and he is certain that T. rexes would have adapted well in wet climates. Malcolm wonders when a T.rex would stop attacking or eating. Levine answers it is obvious: when that dinosaur has already eaten a prey.
Harding finds out they carry three loaded Lindstradt rifles and wishes to check out the T. rex next, with Levine objecting. Arby is no longer nauseous and questions Kelly Curtis where the adults minus Levine are heading. Kelly informs him and is confident her idol can handle the situation.
Trivia[]
- This classic chapter shows Michael Crichton correcting the fact he wrote in Jurassic Park that one should stand still to avoid a T. rex from attacking you. This is in the chapters Bungalow, The Main Road and The Park II. In the first film, it is recounted with Dr. Alan Grant shouting, "Don’t move! He can’t see you, if you don’t move." Scholars and others have constant researched this scientific error. You can read examples here, here and here.
- Interestingly, Crichton also 'corrects' himself or produces a fact, criticizing Grant's theory that T. rexes don't function well in wet climates.
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