History Literature / Carnosaur

* DeathBySex: In one of the few sequences that actually gets depicted in the film, a couple of teens are [[spoiler: mauled to death by a Deinonychus]] while getting it on in their car.

* ItCanThink: Several characters remark on the Deinonychus having a cruel intelligence about it.
* KarmicDeath: Lady Jane, who was [[spoiler: responsible for letting all of the dinosaurs loose]] , is [[spoiler: devoured by a pair of newly-hatched Tyrannosaurus rex infants]] at the end of the novel.

** Deinonychus is portrayed as featherless, using its claws like scythes. We now know that Deinonychosaurs had feathers and used their toe claws as hooks.

** It used to be thought that some theropods could be at least partially quadrupedal, and the Atispinax (now named Becklespinax) is portrayed as such in the novel. This is now seen as anatomically impossible.
** Back when the novel was written, several of the featured dinosaurs (namely Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Megalosaurus, and Altispinax) would have been considered Carnosaurs, as it was thought at the time that all large theropods were fairly closely related. Carnosauria has recently been redefined as Allosaurus and its close relatives, leaving Altispinax as the only actual Carnosaur in the book.
** Altispinax is now known as Becklespinax.

* StockDinosaurs: Subverted. Knight uses a Tarbosaurus instead of a T-rex as the novel's main threat. An Altispinax (now known as Becklespinax and just as obscure by that name) briefly turns up as well. Scolosaurus appears as well.

*** A brachiosaurus is briefly featured
*** A deinonychus is the most featured dinosaur of all, and it's arguably great stock in all but name. Interestingly, this was before raptors were made stock dinosaurs
*** A dilophosaurus is featured. This is also before it was made stock, and as such, isn't depicted as frilled or poisonous.
*** A megalosaurus makes a few appearances

*** Lastly, two baby Tyrannosauri are hatched.

** Altispinax and Scolosaurus are now known as Becklespinax and Euoplocephalus respectively.

* StockDinosaurs: Subverted. Knight uses a Tarbosaurus instead of a T-rex as the novel's main threat. An Altispinax (now known as Becklespinax and just as obscure by that name) briefly turns up as well. Euoplocephalus appears as well, but it is referred to by its now invalid name Scolosaurus.

* DiabolusExMachina: [[spoiler: The ''Deinonychus'' that Pascal forgets about homes right in on Jenny's home and slaughters her family and gravely wounds her. What are the chances it would pick her house?]]

* GeniusBonus: The novel discusses atavistic fear a few times. The conceit being that because primitive mammals learned to stay away from giant reptiles, the smells and sounds they make reawaken survival instincts in humans. Similar theories are put forth in RealLife about why nails on a chalk board or sirens causes unease (IE that they sound like the calls of predators that hunted or ancestors while they were still small.)

* OlderThanTheyThink: This book had some key elements that JurassicPark would later bring to the public conciousness several years before it came out. Namely, dinosaurs are portrayed as bird-like, quick, and intelligent instead of lumbering cold blooded brutes.

** Altispinax and Scolosaurus are now known as Becklespinax and Euoplocephalus.

* Altispinax and Scolosaurus are now known as Becklespinax and Euoplocephalus.

* StockDinosaurs: Subverted. Knight uses a Tarbosaurus instead of a T-rex as the novel's main threat. An Altispinax (now known as Becklespinax and just as obscure by that name) briefly turns up as well.

* GeniusBonus: The novel discusses atavistic feat a few times. The conceit being that because primitive mammals learned to stay away from giant reptiles, the smells and sounds they make reawaken survival instincts in humans. Similar theories are put forth in RealLife about why nails on a chalk board or sirens causes unease (IE that they sound like the calls of predators that hunted or ancestors while they were still small.)

* PrehistoricMonster: Despite being fairly progressive in dinosaur depictions, it is still very much guilty of this. All but one of the dinosaurs mercilessly hunt down humans and devour them long after their appetites should be sated. This is especially weird for creatures like ''Dilophosaurus'' and the plesiosaur, which would not be very well equipped to do such things.

* StockDinosaurs: Subverted. Knight uses a Tarbosaurus instead of a T-rex as the novel's main threat.

*** An Altispinax (now known as Becklespinax) turns up on a cattle ranch.

* DeathBySex: In one of the few sequences that is depicted in the film, a couple of teens are [[spoiler: mauled to death by Deinonychus]] while getting it on in their car.

* DeathByIrony: Subverted. Besides the dinosaurs, Sir Penward's estate houses all manner of nature's extant carnivores, many of which get loose when the dinosaurs go on the rampage. The animal that's ultimately responsible for doing Penward in? [[spoiler: One of the steers he kept for feeding purposes gores him in the thigh]], and it's lampshaded several times throughout the novel.

* DeathByIrony: Subverted. Besides the dinosaurs, Sir Penward's estate houses all manner of nature's extant carnivores, many of which get loose when the dinosaurs go on the rampage. The animal that's ultimately responsible for doing Penward in? [[spoiler: One of the steers he kept for feeding purposes]], and it's lampshaded several times throughout the novel.

* DeathbyIrony: Subverted. Besides the dinosaurs, Penward's estate houses all manner of nature's extant carnivores, many of which get loose when the dinosaurs go on the rampage. The animal that's ultimately responsible for doing Penward in? [[spoiler: One of the steers he kept for feeding purposes]], and it's lampshaded several times throughout the novel.

* DiablosExMachina: [[spoiler: The ''Deinonychus'' that Pascal forgets about homes right in on Jenny's home and slaughters her family and gravely wounds her. What are the chances it would pick her house?]]

* SequelHook: [[Spoiler: two Tyrannosaurs hatch and no one knows where they are at]]. Considering it's been about 30 years, and the author died, it's unlikely to be followed up on.

** Penward himself WouldHurtAChild however, and plans to [[CompleteMonster have the boy murdered]]. [[spoiler:Fortunately he's distracted by more pressing matters before he can do so, as the dinos get loose, rendering the issue of the boy moot, and Penward forgets about him.]]

A novel by [[FunWithAcronyms Harry Adam Knight]] (a penname of Australian sf author John Brosnan, used for his schlockiest work), written in the [[TheEighties 80's]], some time prior to ''JurassicPark''. The novel's story is vastly different from the InNameOnly Roger Corman film. In it, [[IntrepidReporter David Pascal]] in Cambridgeshire, England is trying to discover the causes of a recent rash of deaths. The local bigshot, Sir Darren Penward, who collects rare and exotic predators, insists it was a Siberian tiger that escaped from his private zoo. However the lone survivor of one of the attacks, a small boy, claims it was a dinosaur.