Ceratosaurus was a dinosaur which appeared in the documentary film The Animal World in 1956 and, ten years later, in the prehistoric fantasy film One Million Years B.C..
Overview
Ceratosaurus, which translates from Latin as "horned lizard", is a genus of dinosaur which existed in the Late Jurassic period in what is now North America. It is characterized by large jaws with flat, blade-like teeth, a prominent horn on the snout, and a pair of smaller hornlets over the eyes. The forelimbs were powerfully built but very short. It lived alongside dinosaurs including Allosaurus, Brontosaurus, and Stegosaurus.
Discovered by Othniel Charles Marsh, Ceratosaurus fossil remains are held in the North American Museum of Ancient Life. It was around 4.5–6 m in length, weighing between 500 kilograms to a tonne. The African C. ingens may have been much larger, with size estimates ranging up to 5 tonnes, which if correct would make it one of the largest of the theropods.
The Animal World
A Ceratosaurus ambushes a Stegosaurus, engaging the two dinosaurs in a terrifying death-match, despite getting hit by the Stegosaurus's thagomizer, the Ceratosaurus proved to be more than a match for the Stegosaurus, quickly killing the herbivore. However, after the Stegosaurus is killed, a second Ceratosaurus was attracted by the corpse, and jumps out of nowhere from a high distance, as it attempts to intimidate the first Ceratosaurus, and the two Ceratosaurus fight over the food, ending in a draw with both of them falling into water and drowning.
Later, as a volcano erupts, a Ceratosaurus was among the dinosaurs escaping, whereas it is seen screaming, its fate in the extinction scene is unknown.
One Million Years B.C.
In the 1966 film One Million Years B.C., a Ceratosaurus battles a Triceratops. The combat is incredibly close, and the Ceratosaurus was fatally gored by the Triceratops at the climax.
Paleontological Inaccuracies
The Ceratosaurus depicted in the films are much larger than their real-life counterparts, as the historic Ceratosaurus was believed to have been around 6-7 feet tall and 20 feet long. The film Ceratosaurs appears to be closer to 25 feet tall and 40 feet in length.
Trivia
- The fight between the Stegosaurus & the Ceratosaurus in The Animal World shows a little similarities to the dinosaur fight sequence from the 1940 animated Disney movie FANTASIA. Only, it was a Tyrannosaurus rex that fought and killed the Stegosaurus in the third animated Disney feature film.
- In The Animal World, Ceratosaurus depicted in the documentary film seems to be depicted to jump at high distances, similar to dromaeosaurs, as shown when the second Ceratosaurus jumped out of nowhere from a high distance before the two Ceratosaurus began to compete for the dead Stegosaurus.
- This unusual feature may have been inspired for the Tyrannosaurus rex named, Sharptooth from the original Land Before Time film.
