AKA:10 Lies You Still Believe About Dinosaurs(And...STOP THE REX HATE!)
We all know Jurassic World took some liberties with its movie monsters, but it turns out your teachers might not have been much more accurate.
From the T-Rex's underrated arms to the Velociraptor's overrated brain power, here are 10 lies about dinosaurs you still believe before we get to the main story. (Also, there's a bonus section about how the T-Rex had been depicted as evil in most dinosaur media with the only exception being the Jurassic Franchise's Rexy, and how it needs to be stopped.)
The main story is a cross between Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and my two brainmade movies, Civil War Collision Course and The Avengers:United They Stand. It gets a Gurren Lagann vibe towards the end, has Aisha Campbell AKA Lady Das(who is the commander of an entire army of Zords, you'll eventually find out what kinda dinos they are.) and several OCs such as Lorelei(who is half human and half Predator X), and a little girl named Lily who is the owner of the Spino Zord. Some chapter titles are in English, others are in Hawaiian.
Trini drives a truck, so her parents are afraid of her in this fic instead of berating her.
Begins as Jason X Kim but ends up as Jason X Zordon. Additional pairings are Kim X Billy, Zack X Trini, Tommy X Lorelei, Zedd X Rita, Goldar X Scorpina, Rykar(Former Blue Ranger) X Senna(Former Pink Ranger) and heavily referenced Captain America X Iron Man.
As well as having OCs(and Aisha, for that matter), this fic is heavily associated with a deceased Leyenar Oh(since there's no way I'd be alive 'till 3017).
Gosh, I do hope this story inspires more Jason X Zordon fics into the fandom so I can favorite all of 'em!
10:Dinosaurs Roared
We all love a good dino roar(just like what goes with the Zords in this fic). But in reality, a lot o' dinosaurs probably sounded a lot more like geese. Yeah, scientists now think that dinosaurs sounded less like terrifying predators and more like modern-day birds. Paleontologists examining ancient bird fossils have found evidence of a syrinx, the organ that allows birds to make their chattering and chirping noises. Although there's no evidence of this organ in dino remains, a similar organ that allowed them to honk like geese has been suggested. With dinosaurs and birds already being so closely genetically linked, a twittering Triceratops is not as unlikely as it sounds. In fact, there's never really been much evidence for the claim that they roared other than that they really look like they should've roared. Only one dinosaur voice box has ever been preserved, and there's no evidence of them having the larynxes needed to roar. But the Zords ain't living creatures, they're robots, so let's count 'em outta this, shall we?
9:Velociraptors Were Smart
Jurassic Park did for Velociraptors what years of PR couldn't do for the Kardashians:convince us that they're smart. Because they hunted in packs and managed to survive in a world full of much bigger predators, it's easy to imagine that these "raptors" were super intelligent. And for dinosaurs, they were. Velociraptors belonged to the family Dromaeosauridae, one of the cleverest families of dinosaur, and they had very large brains for their size. The problem is, smart for a dinosaur ain't really that smart. Although exact IQs are hard to work out on living creatures, let alone dead ones, experts reckon that the raptor was only as just as smart as that other terrifying genius:the rabbit. That's less intelligent than traditionally clever animals like apes, dolphins and elephants. Even less than dogs. So turns out the raptor wasn't such a "clever girl" after all.
8:The T-Rex Had Weak Arms
The T-Rex has always been a badass dinosaur. After all, it had teeth the size of bananas and a bite more powerful than any other creature that has ever lived. But the Tyrannosaurus always had one major downside:Its seemingly useless arms. Despite being attached to an animal that was 12 meters tall, the T-Rex's arms were only a meter long and couldn't reach its mouth or even help it up if it fell over. So what good were they? Well, research from 1990 suggests that the T-Rex's arms were incredibly strong. The bones were 3 times as thick as a human's, and the T-Rex's bicep alone could lift as much as 181 kg. That's about as much as a piano. One researcher even called the T-Rex "the Schwarzenegger of dinosaurs". That strength would allow the Tyrannosaurus to pin its prey to the ground while getting in position to deliver the infamous bite. So there you have it, science has conclusively proved that it's not about size but how you use it.
7:The Triceratops
It's many people's favorite dinosaur, even Billy Cranston has his own Tricera Zord in the main story. But, the Triceratops may not have actually existed. Remains of the iconic 3-horned skull were originally thought to belong to a unique species of dinosaur:the Triceratops. However, as more and more fossils are uncovered, it looks increasingly likely that a completely different dino was just the teenage version of the similar-looking Torosaurus. As the Torosaurus reached adulthood, it would grow from having 3 short horns to 2 long ones. The teenage Torosaurus theory would explain why no fossils of Torosaurus young had ever been discovered, as well as why Triceratops remains are always found alongside acne cream. Okay, not really. But I'mma keep the Tricera Zord, because, hey, fanfiction.
6:Some Dinosaurs Were Too Big To Move On Land
It may not surprise you, but a lot o' dinosaurs were big. Really, really big. The biggest group of all were the sauropods, a family of dinosaurs that included the 50-ton Brachiosaurus and the 30-meter Diplodocus. These beasts were so big that their heft alone has created a myth:That they would have been too heavy to exist on land. The theory goes that these behemoth beasts had to live mostly submerged in lakes, unable to step onto the shore without being crushed by their own weight. In reality, living underwater would have been far more dangerous for these creatures. The depth they'd have to reach to be submerged would be under so much pressure that it would have caused their lungs to implode. Oh, plus there are footprints of 'em on land.
5:All Dinosaurs Existed In The Same Era
Remember when you emptied out your toy box and made all your dinosaur toys fight to the death for your own sick, twisted amusement? Well, sadly that kinda battle royale could never have happened. The dinosaurs were around for a long time. They dominated the earth for over 150 million years—25 times longer than historians think humans have existed. That kinda longevity means that most species never saw each other. Dinosaurs existed in 3 distinct eras:the 20-million-year Triassic period, the 60-million-year Jurassic period, and the 80-million-year Cretaceous period. Triassic terrors like the Eoraptor and the Plateosaurus went extinct before Jurassic dinos like the Stegosaurus and the Allosaurus...which went extinct before Cretaceous creatures like the Tyrannosaurus and the Velociraptor. But if they did all fight, the Ankylosaurus would certainly win. I mean, look at that thing. And I'mma bring ALL these ancient dinosaurs in the same era because, hey, Power Rangers. (Feat. an alien invasion which Earth cannot endure without borrowing the powers of these prehistoric reptiles)
4. Pterodactyls Were DINOSAURS
Pterodactyls were many things. Excellent hunters that could pick out fish through water. Unbelievably fast flyers that could reach top speeds of 108 kilometers per hour. Huge flying monsters with a wingspan up to 12 meters. A significant chunk of the Zord assembly needed to save Earth from extraterrestrial threats(Kimberly's is a Pteranodon, to be precise). But one thing they weren't...was dinosaurs. Although often used to describe any creature that is super old, "dinosaur" only applies to a specific type of land-bound creature. And if the massive wings didn't tip you off, pterodactyls were NOT land-bound. Pterodactyls actually belonged to a separate genus of flying creatures called pterosaurs. The pterosaur family tree has its own wide variety of sub-species, including the Pteranodon, the Dimorphodon and the Quetzalcoatlus...a creature as large as a giraffe and apparently too big to actually fly. It was believed to be the biggest flying creature that ever existed...that is, 'till the Hatzegopteryx, which will be featured in the main story, was found in 2002. Anyways, pointing out that pterodactyls ain't dinosaurs ain't just nick-picking either. According to archaeologists, calling a pterodactyl a dinosaur is as inaccurate as calling a human a marsupial.
3. Dinosaurs Were All Scaly
The image of all dinosaurs as scaly, Godzilla-like reptiles is a much scarier one than the reality. While the dinosaurs were just as deadly as we think, many of 'em were covered in feathers, not scales. Birds are thought to be the closest living descendants of dinosaurs, and tiny holes in fossils where quills would have been attached confirm that at least 30 species of dinosaur were adorned with plumage. This includes many of the most iconic dinos, including the Oviraptor and the Velociraptor. Even the mighty T-Rex is now thought to have basically been a giant bird. In fact, of the animals still around today, scientists believe that the animal genetically closest to the Tyrannosaurus is the chicken. But, hey, that's fine with me, this might explain the fact that I loved dinosaurs so much, I even ATE them! The good news is, that the reptilian appearance you've been imagining for decades ain't entirely wrong. Research into the subject from 2015 suggests that not all dinosaurs had feathers, most plant-eaters were the scaly creatures we all know and love.
2. Dinosaurs Terrorized Early Mammals
With building-sized lizard-monsters stomping around the place, it's easy to imagine early mammals as the constant victims. And for a while, that was what experts believed. But fossils discovered in China suggests that those rat-like teeny-weenies didn't just scurry from hide-out to hide-out praying for an asteroid. They could actually hunt dinosaurs. Discovered in 2005, the Repenomamus Giganticus was about the size of a spaniel, and its teeth and jaws suggest that it was a carnivore. While we're not saying your pug could take on a T-Rex, a dog-sized animal would have been big enough to hunt smaller dinosaurs like the Dilong or the Microraptor. In fact, the scientists who dug up the Repenomamus's remains found the skeleton of a baby Psittacosaurus in its stomach. Mammals could cause problems for bigger dinos too, like sneaking into their nests and feasting on their eggs.
1. The T-Rex Can Only See You If You Move
We've already learned that the T-Rex is a lot stronger than we thought, but we're gonna make it a teeny-weeny bit more terrifying, No matter "whut" your Jurassic Park-loving friends tell you, the T-Rex's vision was not based on movement. In fact, the Tyrannosaurus had excellent eyesight, better than a modern-day hawk. An 1993 study by the University Of Oregon examined the eyes of known T-Rex descendants like the crocodile and the chicken, cross-referencing that with examinations of the T-Rex's skull shape. What they found was that the T-Rex's baseball-sized eyes were excellent, able to clearly see objects as far as 6 kilometers away. That's 13 times better than human eyesight, and even better than an eagle's—y'know, that creature is better than eagle-eyed.
Stop The Rex Hate!
Well, before I begin, let's start with the fact that I gave the Zords names.
T-Rex=Cynthia
Triceratops=Trixie
Saber Tiger=Eileen
Mammoth=Madison
Pteranodon=Darla
Dragon=Lola
Now let's get to the section's main topic:As far as I'm concerned, the T-Rex had always been depicted as evil in most dinosaur media, with the only exception being the Jurassic Franchise's Rexy. She's made out of pure sheer awesomeness that totally befits a hero.
And before that, there was Tatsuya Miyanishi's You Are Umasou, a collection of special stories about a specific T-Rex seeking redemption from his dark, twisted path. Maybe I am that T-Rex right now, considering my own twisted mindset. You Are Umasou is also the story I loosely based this fanfic on, considering the fact that Cynthia is really, really, really fond of berries—especially red ones, and somewhere in Archangel Grove(a cyberpunk version of Angel Grove) is an Egg Tower, which is a not-so-blatant ripoff of Egg Mountain.
Well, before they got turned into Zords and got joined by several others later, Cynthia, Trixie and Darla were a team. Many dinosaurs thought this was strange and uncanny, considering that big, strong predators like the T-Rex usually hunted weaklings. But Trixie was no wimp, and so was Darla. So the three friends just roamed around here and there, singing, dancing and doing extreme challenges. Then the Power Rangers came along, and the three oddballs got power upgrades. They got bad-ass weapons, mighty battle cries, and the best part was:They didn't need to hunt or shuffle around for food anymore! It was the perk of being a Zord, although Cynthia still missed the berries. They even got to meet a new friend, Lola, and later on, two more, Eileen and Madison. Pretty soon, Cynthia, Trixie and Darla got along with their owners:Zordon of Eltar, Rykar of Sandor and Senna of Abriza. They thought it was gonna be a party from now on...that is, 'till Rita Repulsa of Lwiowl, Lola's owner, back-stabbed her fellow Rangers and then, along with her Zord, vanished without a trace. At the last moment, Cynthia wished on the Red String Of Fate that she, Trixie, and Darla could find new owners. She wished the same thing for Eileen and Madison too. And, true to her wish, Cynthia got a new owner, but the String also brought her fallen owner back. How will this affect the general Power Rangers storyline we all know and love?
Anyway, fellas, you better stop the Rex hate. It makes me uncomfortable, and further, people will be greatly shocked if the decisive commander of the Zord army had been considered a bad guy beforehand.
