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Now this dinosaur is something special. Well, they're all special, but this one stands out because of the horns on top of its head. It's called Ceratosaurus. It kinda looks like a slightly smaller T. rex. But its bite is probably about the same.

Ceratosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur in the Jurassic World Evolution series. Distinguished by a bladed horn on its snout, Ceratosaurus originated from Late Jurassic North America, Africa, and Europe.

In Evolution, Ceratosaurus is the first large carnivore available in the Campaign Mode on Isla Matanceros.

History

Ceratosaurus was one of the animals illegally cloned by InGen on Isla Sorna in 1999, soon after the company had been acquired by Masrani Global.[1] After InGen abandoned the cloning facility on Sorna, the Ceratosaurus was released into the wilds of the island, where it was briefly encountered by the survivors of a plane crash on the island in 2001.[2] The existence of the Ceratosaurus, which was absent on InGen's list, was later reported to the authorities, as with the presence of Corythosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and a Spinosaurus, though these reports were later covered up.[1]

Several Ceratosaurus were present on Isla Nublar around the time of the incident in 2015, and were encountered by the survivors of Camp Cretaceous; Jurassic World's resident summer camp.[3] As of 2018, it has been revealed that the Ceratosaurus population was the victim of an unconfirmed form of cruelty, likely referring to the aforementioned 1999 illegal cloning event.[4]

Characteristics

A carnivore, I see. This time, a Ceratosaurus. There are distinctive spines that run down its back. And a bladed horn on its head. Just what you don't want to run into when you are out there alone. Or in a group.

Measuring at around seven meters in length and just under one ton in weight, Ceratosaurus is an average-sized theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period. This carnivore is best known for possessing a large, blade-shaped horn on its snout and an unusual configuration of two hornlets above each of its eyes, which gave rise to its name – Ceratosaurus translates to “Horned Lizard”. Another unusual feature of Ceratosaurus was the dermal armor, or large number of osteoderms, in the middle of its back. The base genome of Ceratosaurus has a red head, neck, and upper back, and a creamy body with dark black stripes.

Gameplay

Evolution

Behaviour

Ceratosaurus is an aggressive and voracious predator, that targets mainly smaller herbivores but can also tackle larger herbivores, including Triceratops. They can either be housed alone, in pairs or in a group of three. They can also be housed safely with almost all sauropods, except Nigersaurus.

Available genomes

Fossil icon Dig site Quality Number available
Largetheropodicon
Lourinhã Formation
★★★
★★★★
1
3
3
Morrison Formation
★★
★★★
★★★★
1
6
3
3

Skins

Jungleicon Jungle: Isla Matanceros Challenge Mode Jurassic Difficulty Unlock

Paleontology

Ceratfdf

A pair of Ceratosaurus.

The first discovery of Ceratosaurus came in 1883-1884, when Marshall Parker Felch dug up a near-complete skeleton in Cañon City, Colorado – one of many dinosaurs found in the area around this time. Ceratosaurus was also found in the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah, and from the Dry Mesa Quarry in Colorado. Further Ceratosaurus remains have been found across North America, with some fossils unearthed as far away as Portugal. While specimens have been reported from Tanzania, Uruguay, and Switzerland, most scientists doubt their assistant to this genus. In the Morrison Formation, it is one of the rarer theropods, being overshadowed by the more common Allosaurus. An interesting feature of Ceratosaurus are the lines of osteoderms, raised bony growths, down its back which are similar to a crocodile. These act as a type of armor, which suggests that Ceratosaurus competed with and even fought with larger carnivores such as Torvosaurus and Allosaurus. It can be deduced that Ceratosaurus was in the middle of the food chain or lived in a different area to these other predators. Its primary prey was small to medium ornithopod dinosaurs such as Dryosaurus, Camptosaurus or Nanosaurus. There are some species of Ceratosaurus that have been estimated to be as big as some Allosaurus. However, there aren't enough bones to show how big the species actually got.

Ceratosaurus most famous feature is its three horns, one on its snout and two above its eyes. Originally it was believed to have been a dangerous weapon used to attack herbivores or rivals. In recent studies, it has been concluded that the horns were too blunt and fragile to be used as weapons and were more likely a display feature that helped it attract mates. Its four-fingered arms were short but strangely muscular and its fangs were some of longest in comparison to its skull with them going past its bottom jaw on some specimens which probably means its jaw could open incredibly wide to swallow food. It could possibly have used these fangs to rip out the jugular of larger prey. Ceratosaurus tail was very flexible and helped it swim which may point to it supplementing its diet with aquatic prey.

Even though the Ceratosaurus was smaller than the Allosaurus, its closest relative, Genyodectes, survived further than the Allosaurids, appearing in the Early Cretaceous.

Cerato2Ulu2

A Ceratosaurus fighting a Triceratops.

Paleoecology

Living in North America around 150 million years ago, all North American Ceratosaurus finds come from the Morrison Formation which had a semiarid environment with distinct wet and dry seasons. It housed a variety of different sauropods like Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Diplodocus. Other dinosaurs known from the Morrison Formation include fearsome theropods Allosaurus and Torvosaurus, as well as herbivores such as Dryosaurus and Stegosaurus. Herbivorous dinosaurs from the formation include the sauropods Dinheirosaurus and Zby, as well as the stegosaur Miragaia. As a carnivore further down the food chain, Ceratosaurus kept clear of larger dinosaurs, prowling the forests for smaller herbivores to prey upon. The Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is a mudstone site on the floodplain for a river system. The Dry Mesa Quarry site appears to have been a mass grave as a result of a drought, followed by a flash flood.

Behind the scenes

The design of the Ceratosaurus in Jurassic World Evolution is based on the dinosaur's brief appearance in 2001's Jurassic Park III. Much like their work on the Mamenchisaurus, the development team took some liberties with the movie design of the Ceratosaurus, and redesigned some areas of the animal to be more scientifically accurate, such as the narrower, longer skull. Its inclusion in the game was first revealed on December 23, 2017, in an IGN First video that showcased some of the new species.[5] It received a Species Profile a month later, on January 26, 2018.[6]

Post-launch, in response to community feedback regarding inaccurate dinosaur sizes, the Ceratosaurus was downsized in Update 1.4 from 9.6 metres to 9 metres.[7] The Jungle cosmetic skin was added to the game with Update 1.6 on December 13th, 2018.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 What Killed the Gene Guard Act?. (February 23, 2018). Dinosaur Protection Group. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  2. Johnston, Joe. (Director). (2001). Jurassic Park III [Film]. Universal Pictures.
  3. Lueras, L., Kreamer, S., Spielberg, S., Trevorrow, C., Marshall, F. (Executive Producers). (2020–present). Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous [TV series]. Universal Pictures; DreamWorks Animation Television.
  4. Dinosaur Protection Group. (2018). Dinosaurs Are Mortal. Cruelty Is Timeless. [Poster]. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  5. IGN. (December 23, 2017). Jurassic World Evolution: Up Close With the Dinosaurs - IGN First [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  6. Frontier Developments. (January 26, 2018). Species Profile - Ceratosaurus [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  7. Marit, Bo. [Bo_Frontier]. (August 16, 2018). Important News about Dinosaur Sizes [Online forum post]. Reddit. Retrieved April 9, 2021.

External links

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