Deviation Actions
Description
Animal Description: Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) excelsus is a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period, US. It was first name and described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879 based on almost complete skeleton, missing only the head tail and some vertebrae. It lived 155 to 151 million years ago in the floodplains of Jurassic North America. Brontosaurus is famous for its long neck, heavy set frame, and gigantic size. It was one of the biggest dinosaurs discovered at the time, firmly placing it in popular culture for over a century. The tail was long and flexible, making up nearly half of its body length. It is speculated that Brontosaurus could use this tail like a whip, creating a cracking sound to scare off predators. An adult Brontosaurus can grow up to 75 feet long and weigh up to 17 tons.
History with InGen/Masrani: Brontosaurus DNA was collected by InGen from the Morrison formation of the United States in the late 80s, but was determined too small and fragmentary to clone. It did not go unused however, as specific pieces were used to fill in the sequence gaps of the larger Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum. As InGen never cloned an Apatosaurus, there are no individuals living on Isla Sorna.
In the year 2000, Masrani Global’s prototype iron analyzer successfully extracted DNA from fossilized animal tissue. As the two sauropod species initially created by Ingen were both deemed too large and obscure compared to the much more marketable Brontosaurus (at the time considered a synonym of Apatosaurus), fossils of the animal were brought in to complete the genome.
DNA makeup: Despite celebrating that the dinosaurs had a 100% complete genome, Dr. Wu himself stated in a leaked email that this was not true. The cloned Brontosaurus itself contained the DNA of the original Brachiosaurus, which implies genome fragments from mammals like Loxodonta africana and possible Hyperolius viridiflavus.
Behavior: The cloned Brontosaurus is at most tolerant of other animals of its species. It does not seem to form or even seek out herds with other individuals, the species seems to only interact with each other during mating season. The animals generally stay in the open grasslands of Nublar, as their bulk restricts them in the forests. Their docile and solitary nature makes them perfect attractions for the gyrosphere valley as they will simply ignore the vehicle, allowing guests to approach. As the only animals in the species are all captive bred and raised, it is unknown if this behavior is actually representative of the species. An undisclosed amount were slaughtered in the 2015 Jurassic World Incident, the over passive nature instilled by many long years of never facing a dangerous situation is thought to be the reason why they seemingly did not fight back against their attacker.
Sexual Dimorphism: There is no sexual dimorphism observed in the cloned Brontosaurus.
Life Cycle: After mating, the female will lay hundreds of eggs and then abandon them for staff members to collect. As it takes many years to reach full size, they are perfect for the gentle giants petting zoo. Due to the sheer number of eggs collected each year, Apatosaurus eggs are the most commonly shown at hatching shows. The dark truth of these shows however is that surplus animals are killed by the hundreds by either smothering or grinding methods and fed to many of the resident carnivores.