“Jurassic Park” might have been wrong this entire time about the patterns of raptors. According to a new study, the dinosaurs didn’t hunt in packs.
What’s happening:
New research from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has found that Cretaceous crocodilians and the deinonychus antirrhopus (the early cousin of the velociraptor) did not hunt in packs.
These dinosaurs had different carbon isotopes in the smallest and largest teeth discovered, which suggests the raptors didn’t feed their young. And it showed that they changed what they ate as they grew bigger. This means they likely didn’t hunt in packs, the researchers said.
- “This is what we would expect for an animal where the parents do not provide food for their young.” — Joseph Frederickson, the study’s lead author
- “This means the young were not being fed by the adults, which is why we believe ‘Jurassic Park’ was wrong about raptor behavior.” — Joseph Frederickson, the study’s lead author.
A look to the present
Evidence has long suggested that raptors hunted in packs. But crocodiles and birds — the modern versions of these creators — don’t prey on bigger animals, nor do they hunt in packs.
- “Further, behavior like pack hunting does not fossilize so we can’t directly test whether the animals actually worked together to hunt prey,” Frederickson said.