InGen Files - Allosaurus

Jurassic Park InGen Files: Allosaurus fragilis

Age: Jurassic

Diet: Carnivore

Length: Around 12 meters long when full grown.

Notes: DANGEROUS Jurassic Park wouldn’t be complete without one of the best know Jurassic-age predators, Allosaurus. Allosaurs are easily recognizable due to the brightly colored lacrimal crests above their eyes; these are bigger in males, although females are usually larger in size. With adults attaining a length of around 10 meters and a battery of replaceable serrated teeth, Allosaurus is a formidable predator. Recent field observations support paleontological research which indicated that the animals’ bite was surprisingly weak for its size (less powerful than that of a lions’).

It was noted that the Allosaurs had a peculiar way of using their jaws which overrode any shortcomings they may have faced in terms of bite force. Despite the relative weakness of their bite, Allosaurs do in fact have a deadly killing method. Their skulls can withstand a force more than fifteen times greater than their bite, and they can open their jaws to a very wide angle. This allows them to utilise their heads as axes, relying on their powerful neck muscles to drive their upper jaws down into their victims. With each impact their recurved teeth tear through muscle and bone causing massive haemorrhaging and shock.

This provided InGen staff with a problem. What could we possibly feed them? It wasn’t powerful enough to take on large armoured prey items like Triceratops, and the animals were far too valuable to risk such encounters. Indeed they instinctively avoided such animals in the wild on Site B. They seem to prefer small Othy-sized prey and quickly developed a taste for goat.

This large ambush predator can commonly be found in the forests around the rivers and lakes on Isla Sorna. They are often spotted on their own, but can be regularly seen in small groups of two or three animals. They settle in jungle clearings and drive any prey that cross their path along game trails back towards their lair. They are capable of jumping quite high and they’re incredibly fast for a large animal, prompting park keepers had to take extra precautions when dealing with them. They are always easy to locate due to the fact that they drag the remains of their prey back to their dens, which produce a terrible stench.

They are very aggressive during the mating season, and should be avoided at these times. Their lacrimal crests turn a bright shade of red, and the males battle for female attention. They then pair off for a few months while the eggs (which they lay in a large mound of soil and rotting plant matter) are incubated. After the eggs hatch, the male abandons the female. The female will then raise the chicks to the point where they can hunt small animals like lizards, compies, and juvenile othys. At this point she abandons them, or worse; views them as food.

Adult Allosaurs commonly attack Ceratosaurs. They animals must have been natural enemies in the Jurassic. This could explain the Ceratosaurs’ aversion to the smell of faecal matter and rotting flesh.



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