- Dinosaurs,
(dinosaur growls)
dinosaurs,
(dinosaur screeches)
dinosaurs.
We all love to see dinosaurs,
leisurely walking
through ancient forests,
spitting venomous
goo at Dennis Nedry,
and certainly breaking free of
their electrified enclosures
to terrify panicked park goers.
But before dinosaurs could
be brought to the big screen,
first the filmmakers had to
know where dinosaurs came from.
So in this episode,
we're going to take
you on a journey through time
that began 250
million years ago.
Over the last quarter century,
the beloved films in
the Jurassic franchise
have influenced and
inspired a countless number
of dinosaur fanatics to
become paleontologists.
And while we would all love to
find and excavate a dinosaur,
there's a great deal of
knowledge that must be learned
before one can venture
out into the field
and search for
prehistoric treasure.
Today, the Jurassic
World explorers and I
are visiting the renowned
Chicago Field Museum.
As you approach the
museum's Stanley Field Hall,
you immediately notice that
this it the home of Maximo,
a full-skeletal cast of
the biggest titanosaur
that scientist have
discovered to date.
Now in its 125th
year, the Field Museum
maintains one of the
world's largest collections
of artifacts and specimens.
Yet this location is more
than just impressive displays.
Their scientists take
part in groundbreaking
research all over the world
as they drive a
mission to explore,
protect, and celebrate
nature and culture.
For an even more
in-depth education,
the team and I will be
getting a unique opportunity
to go behind the scenes
and into the Field Museum's
vertebrate paleontology
collections.
Dinosaur and
oversize collections.
Sounds like we're
in the right place.
(beeps)
Our goal is to take
you on a journey
through the Mesozoic Era,
known as the Age of Reptiles,
which spanned from 252
to 66 million years ago
and consisted of
three main periods,
the Triassic, the Jurassic,
and the Cretaceous.
I will be getting a
hands-on education
by working alongside
two of the museum's
finest dinosaur experts.
Brandon Peecook who
specializes in the evolution
of vertebrates from
the Triassic period,
and Bill Simpson, the Head
of Geological Collections
and organizer of the museum's
extensive fossil
vertebrate collection.
We begin in the Triassic,
where Brandon will
guide us along the way.
Now this looks one terrifying
little creature
form the Triassic.
What kind of dinosaur
is this, Brandon?
- So this animal's name
is Asilisaurus Kongwe.
And I gotta burst your bubble.
It's not a dinosaur.
- This is not a dinosaur?
- This is not a dinosaur.
- I'm off to a rough start
here so far today, you guys.
(laughs)
- Okay, so when I back up
a second and I
look at this thing,
it really looks to me
like the procompsognathus
that's featured in Jurassic
Park: The Lost World.
You know, the little
green ones that came out
at the beginning that attacked
that guy in the forest.
But you're telling me
this is not a dinosaur?
- This is not a dinosaur.
This animal is as close
to being a dinosaur
as you could possibly be,
but just sort of technically
it's not a dinosaur.
- Is it technically a reptile?
- It is a reptile.
- Okay, okay.
- It is a reptile.
- So close to the
archosaur lineage, then.
'Cause we've explained
this in other episodes
where the dinosaurs,
the birds, crocodilians
all split off from
a common ancestor.
- That's right.
And so this animal is a very
close cousin of the dinosaurs,
so it's on the bird side
of that archosaur split.
Crocs over here,
birds over here.
It's on the bird line just like
all the other dinosaurs are,
but this thing just
technically isn't a dinosaur.
But it's as close as you can be,
and it lived alongside some
of the first dinosaurs.
- So what makes a
dinosaur, a dinosaur then
if this is not a dinosaur?
- And that's a great question.
So just like any
group of animals,
mammals, or primates, or
archosaurs like you said,
dinosaurs is a word
that people use
to describe a teeny little
bit of the tree of life.
And to fit into dinosaurs,
you have to have a lot
of teeny little details
in your anatomy just right.
And so this animal has a lot
in common with dinosaurs,
but it's missing a
hole in its hips.
He's missing a little bit
of bone on his ankles.
He's missing a little
bit of length on this
thing here, on his arm
bone, for muscles to attach.
And just those
teeny details mean
we don't call it a dinosaur,
but it evolves
right when they do.
It lives alongside them.
It's so close, but
it's not a dinosaur.
- Now, when I look at the skull,
it looks similar to the skull
of an iguana, or maybe
a monitor lizard.
And you look at those
teeth and you think, yep.
That's not something
you wanna run into
in a dark, rainy forest, is it?
- No, maybe not.
But I've gotta tell
you something else.
If you look at those
teeth real closely,
they've got teeny little
serrations on them.
They look like little leaves.
We think this guy
might be a plant eater,
or maybe just an omnivore.
- Really?
- Yep!
- Not a meat eater?
- [Brandon] Certainly not
a big, ferocious killer.
- [Coyote] So that whole
scenario of being attacked
by the procompsognathus may
not exist with this creature?
- Maybe not.
But the thing is, if you
step out of your time machine
and you're in the
forest with these guys,
you probably are gonna
think it's a dinosaur
and I'm not gonna
fault you for it.
- It looks a lot like one.
Procompsognathus,
(dinosaur hisses)
also known as the compy,
was a true dinosaur
and they were
aggressive pack hunters
despite only being
the size of a chicken.
Armed with speed,
incredible jumping skills,
and a mouthful of
razor-sharp teeth,
they would work as
a team to isolate
and take down much larger prey.
Very cool.
Thank you, Brandon,
so much for giving us
this fascinating education.
- Oh, of course.
- About a creature that
looks like a dinosaur,
but is not actually
a true dinosaur.
- Ah, so close though.
- Man!
What we're gonna do next
is meet up with Bill,
who's gonna take us forward in
time to the Jurassic Period.
We're gonna take a
look at some bones
from some of the
icons you recognize
from the Jurassic Franchise,
and definitely creatures
that we can consider
true dinosaurs.
The Triassic Period
spanned between 252
and 201 million years ago.
And while it proudly gave
rise to the dinosaurs,
all the true giants that
we recognize from the films
actually began to appear
in the Jurassic Period,
which lasted from 201
to 145 million ago.
Bill, are you here?
- Coyote, hold on.
I'm gonna open up an aisle.
Be right there!
- Oh, look at this.
Hey, there he is!
Whoa!
- Hey, how are you?
- That's pretty cool, right?
Hey, hey!
Nice to finally
meet you in person.
- [Bill] Good to meet you too.
- Thank you for having us today,
here, to the underbelly,
the archives,
of the Chicago Field Museum.
- This is what we
called oversized storage
where all the
dinosaurs are kept.
- Yes!
Not I just worked with Brandon,
and we looked at a creature
from the Triassic Period.
- Oh, very early.
Yeah.
- You're gonna lead
us into the Jurassic
and then the Cretaceous.
- Yeah, let's see
some good stuff.
- Okay, sounds good.
Lead the way.
- All right.
- Bill oversees the care of each
and every fossil in
this vast archive.
So when we told him we wanted
to see some Jurassic icons,
he knew exactly where to start.
- All right, Coyote.
You wanna help me get
this big bone outta here?
- Yeah.
Wow!
Sauropod bones!
And I can already see that
it says brachiosaurus.
This is gonna be cool.
So I'll take my end out first,
and then you follow.
- Okay.
Wow!
It's a dinosaur.
All right, crazy.
Look at that bone!
Holy mackerel, that is big.
And how cool is this?
Getting to see a bone from
one of the most iconic
dinosaurs from the
Jurassic franchise.
Certainly, as you guys know,
it is the first dinosaur
that Grant, Sattler,
and Malcolm saw
as they arrived at Jurassic
Park, the brachiosaurus!
If you were to stand beside
a brachiosaurus and look up,
the crest of its head would
reach 40 feet into the air,
making it the tallest
dinosaur in Jurassic World.
These gentle giants
were considered social,
curious, and fearless
in the face of predators
as their massive size was
a primary means of defense.
Now, I heard you calling
it brachiosaurus.
I've grown up knowing
it as brachiosaurus.
- You know, there's no
right pronunciation.
They're both fine.
- Okay.
Brachiosaurus, brachiosaurus.
- Yeah, from brachium,
Greek for arm.
- Okay.
- This name means arm lizard,
and it's in
reference to the fact
that unlike almost
all other sauropods
that have shorter front
limbs than hind limbs,
brachiosaurus is
the first one found
that had long front limbs.
Thus the name brachiosaurus.
- Now what bone is it that
we're looking at here?
- This is actually the right
femur, the right thigh bone.
- Okay, massive!
- The head would be here.
Fits into the hip socket.
And then that would
be part of the knee.
- Okay, and how much
does this bone weigh?
Because even moving it on
this cart is a challenge.
- Yeah, it's about a half a ton.
- [Coyote] Okay, wow.
- The bone is 6 1/2 feet
long and about half a ton.
- Yeah, that's crazy.
Let's do this.
I'm gonna lay down next to it,
just so you guys
can get some scale
as to how big it really is.
Now, I'm about 5'10, so that's
bigger than I am, isn't it?
- Oh, yeah.
In fact, we are recreating.
The fellow who
discovered brachiosaurus
did exactly this out
in the field in 1900,
and we have the picture
of him next to it.
- Wow, so cool!
I have never laid hands on
a fossil like this before.
Nothing this big, and
it's incredibly dense.
- Yes.
- Unbelievable.
- [Bill] It's a bit flattened,
but yes, very dense.
- Bill, I've heard that actually
this particular fossil has
some historical significance.
Can you tell us a
little bit about that?
- Yeah.
When you find a new
organism of any kind,
plant, animal, extinct, living,
you get to make up
the name for it.
You publish a very
detailed description of it
and you designate
one official example,
the physical definition
of your new organism.
That's called a holotype.
Holotypes are the rock stars
of the natural
history collection.
This bone, along
with those behind us,
are the holotype
of brachiosaurus.
- Very cool.
Well, as we know,
the brachiosaurus
was an herbivore,
a veggie-sauras.
And as we move forward
into the Cretaceous Period,
think we can get some carnivore
fossils up close
for the cameras?
_ Yeah, let's go see some.
- All right, guys.
Let's go take a look
at some meat eaters.
Brachiosaurus will
forever stand tall
as one of the Jurassic
franchise's most
beloved dinosaurs.
Whether using its 30-foot neck
to reach leaves in the treetops,
or displaying its
massive 56 tons of power
by simply walk through a scene,
we never fail to admire this
titan with childlike wonder.
The Jurassic Period was
certainly rich with dinosaurs,
yet some of the most
recognizable stars
were actually roaming the planet
145 to 66 million years ago,
during the Cretaceous Period.
And while
land-dwelling dinosaurs
have commanded a fair
share of screen time,
Jurassic fans now have
a prehistoric predator
that hunted beneath the waves.
Wow!
Revealing the Cretaceous Period!
- All right, here we go.
- Sweet.
- So we've got a variety
of different Cretaceous
animals here,
but if you wanna see
a carnivore, we've
got one right here.
- Oh, yes!
Guys, check this out.
That's mosasaurus, right?
- Yeah, this is a mosasaur.
Uh-huh, an aquatic lizard.
So it's not at all a dinosaur.
- Not a dinosaur, okay.
- It's on the whole other
side of the reptile tree.
- Now is this something
that I can hold onto?
- Let me get the skull
out, and I can show you.
- Wow, that is impressive.
Now, did you guys find this
like this, completely
articulated?
- No.
This one was actually
donated to the museum.
Help me support it.
I'll turn it right-side up.
Put your hands under the snout,
maybe a little closer in.
Yep.
Okay, about there?
- Yeah.
- I's heavy.
- Most mosasaurs are
fairly two-dimensional.
They're flattened.
This one has been expanded out,
so it's fairly
three-dimensional.
- [Coyote] That is cool.
- You can see the
sclerotic ring,
the bones inside the eye.
- Yes!
At over 70 feet length,
the park's mosasaur
hails as the largest
carnivore in Jurassic World,
and far surpasses anything
that we've seen in
the fossil record.
And while it hunted in the ocean
during the same time period
that T-Rex stalked the land,
this giant marine
reptile is more closely
related to monitor lizards
than it is to dinosaurs.
Let's put the skull back.
Let's take a look at, would
you call these the flippers?
- Yeah, flippers, paddles.
- Okay.
- Yeah, they're the hands
and feet of this animal.
- That's cool.
Look at that, guys!
Wow.
Just like an oar.
You can just imagine this thing
propelling itself forward
at incredible speeds.
Do you think that they
were rather quick?
- Yeah, of course they were.
Yeah, carnivores.
You bet.
They'd be terrifying.
- Yeah.
Now, is there something
that I can hold onto?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- There's a beautiful
little section of lower jaw
in this specimen over here.
- Is it this right here?
- Yeah, go ahead
and pick that up.
That's pretty well-preserved.
- Check this out, guys.
A smaller jawbone.
That's a little bit easier to
hold onto than the full skull.
Look at that.
Quite the intimidating reptile.
- Now in reptiles, you have lots
of bones in the lower jaw.
We as mammals, we're used
to just having one bone,
but in a reptile, you've
got lots of different bones.
And this is just one of them.
- Now, like crocodilians,
were they constantly
rejuvenating their teeth?
Because I see there's
more teeth coming out
from the jaw socket there.
- Yeah, absolutely.
- I consider this a small one.
I mean, in the movie
they're so much bigger.
- Yeah, there's a
huge diversity in size
in this group because
it's a big group.
There are small ones.
This is a middle-sized one.
The one in the movie,
obviously, was a real giant.
- I think it goes
without question,
the mosasaur certainly is
one intimidating predator.
And as we know, at the end
of Jurassic World:
Fallen Kingdom,
we got a couple sneak
peaks as to this creature
existing now amongst the humans,
and I know we're
all really excited
to see where the next
film's gonna take us.
Well, it certainly was
an honor for myself
and the crew to be here
going behind the scenes
at the Chicago Field Museum.
Bill, thank you so much
for meeting us.
- Great to meet you, Coyote.
- On this trip through
time through the Triassic,
to the Jurassic, and finally
the Cretaceous Period.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave!
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next
Jurassic World Adventure.
The science of paleontology
has provided us all with
a gateway into the past.
And when combined with
the art of filmmaking,
it's easy to see why the results
have captivated generations
of dinosaur fanatics.
In its own right, the
Jurassic franchise
is responsible for
encouraging countless minds
to follow their dreams into
these respective fields.
By embracing this very notion,
the renowned
Chicago Field Museum
strives to inspire
discovery and spark public
engagement with art and science,
helping to bring these
dreams to reality.
If you love the Jurassic
franchise as much as we do,
then make sure to go
and watch the films
from Universal
Home Entertainment
that sparked an adventures 65
million years in the making.
(dinosaur roars)
This collection is now
available on Blu-Ray,
DVD, and digital download.
Hey, dinosaur fans!
Make sure to subscribe and
click the notification bell
so you can join the Jurassic
World Explorers next week
as we go behind the
scenes with Sue,
the world's largest
and most complete,
Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.
(exciting orchestral music)
(fire crackling)
(wolf howls)
