Jurassic World Dinosaur Names: The Complete Pronunciation Guide

Most of the creatures in the Jurassic World films were genuine prehistoric animals — and the real versions are just as wild as the movie versions.

Velociraptor in real life was about the size of a turkey. Seriously. The massive, human-height raptors you see on screen are closer to Deinonychus or Utahraptor in terms of size. But real Velociraptors were fast, clever pack hunters with that famous curved killing claw on each foot.

Tyrannosaurus rex had tiny arms that were actually quite strong — scientists think they may have been used for gripping prey or pushing up from the ground. And those famous jaws could crush bone with over 12,000 pounds of force. Nothing alive today comes close to that bite.

Mosasaurus is one of the most jaw-dropping animals in the whole franchise — and the real creature was even bigger than the movie version. It was a massive marine reptile that patrolled the oceans during the Late Cretaceous, growing up to 17 meters long. That's longer than a school bus.

Ankylosaurus was basically a living tank. It had armored plates called osteoderms fused across its back and a bone club at the end of its tail that it could swing hard enough to shatter the legs of predators.

Brachiosaurus is one of the tallest dinosaurs ever discovered — it could reach leaves more than 9 meters off the ground, higher than a three-story building. Those long necks weren't just for looks.

Spinosaurus had a massive sail on its back that could reach nearly 2 meters tall. Scientists think it spent a lot of time in the water, hunting fish — kind of like a giant prehistoric crocodile with a sail.

Parasaurolophus had that long hollow crest on its head for a reason — scientists think it worked like a musical instrument. The crest was connected to its nasal passages, and it could make deep, resonating calls to communicate with the rest of the herd. Imagine hearing that sound echo through a Cretaceous forest.

Carnotaurus had horns above its eyes — the only large meat-eating dinosaur known to have them. Its arms were even shorter than T. rex's, which is honestly hard to imagine. It was built purely for speed and that devastating head strike.

Compsognathus is the tiny one — about the size of a chicken. Don't let the size fool you. These little predators hunted in groups and were among the fastest dinosaurs relative to their body size.

Pachycephalosaurus had a dome of solid bone on the top of its skull up to 25 centimeters thick. Scientists debate whether they actually head-butted each other or used the dome for side-ramming. Either way — that is one tough head.