Herps in Pop Culture: Scientific Inaccuracies with Jurassic World

EVERYTHING WRONG WITH JURASSIC PARK/WORLD

While I have always personally enjoyed the Jurassic Park Series, in fact, so much so that as a young girl I aspired to be a paleontologist. Whilst my love for Jurassic Park is strong enough to look past the inaccuracies and just enjoy the ride, I still feel that as a "scientific based" movie, it has a duty to provide truth to the public. As Jaws did for the shark, Jurassic Park has given us falsified evidence to provide a more dramatic movie. Even in 1993, with the first Jurassic Park, scientists were aware of and publishing the evidence of feathers with dinosaurs. Now, armed with a militia of evidence and scientific discoveries, Jurassic World had an opportunity to showcase the REAL DINOSAUR to the public. I give you a summarized version of 3 things wrong with Jurassic World.

1. Why are there no feathers on any of the dinosaurs? It is a scientific fact that a majority of dinosaurs, to include Raptors, had feathers. Feathers are merely modified scales, and for ancient large reptiles, could be in part, what provided them warmth for thermoregulation.

2. Genetic Testing: Where in the world did this Dr. Frankenstein study? Why would you even use frog DNA? The fact is, even if we found undamaged dinosaur DNA, scientists would never consider a Lissaamphibian over an Amniota. If you were to splice the DNA of a dinosaur with a close relative, it would make much more sense to use a bird. Even a mammal would be better suited than an Anuran!

Also as a side note: In this picture here we can see a reddish goo (blood perhaps) around this baby dinosaur. Why is there blood in the amniotic egg? It is an egg, there is no blood filled placenta. 

3. The Name itself: JURASSIC PARK. Although a catchy name, most of the dinosaurs featured in this film did not even exist during the Jurassic Period! For example, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, and Triceratops were all around during the Cretaceous Period! May I suggest Mesozoic Park?

After all is said and done, I will still be that nerdy kid, hunched in the movie theatre seat with popcorn and gummy bears, squealing with glee while feeling my childhood being restored. Unlike the young me, I will be going in with a skeptical mind and fueled with knowledge from my Herpetology class :-)