Tropesaurus Index

This is not a Velociraptor.^note It's a Masiakasaurus, which lived in Madagascar later into the Cretaceous, was likely featherless, did not have sickle claws on its feet, and was not closely related to Velociraptor.

For dinosaurs, dinosaur-related, and other prehistoric tropes and Useful Notes. Despite the name, this index also covers non-dinosaurian prehistoric/extinct life. See also Avian Tropes, for the dinosaurs' descendants aka the last living theropod dinosaurs.

Tropes:

Related:

• Avian Tropes
• Dragon Tropes

Prehistory in General

• Age of Reptiles: When even a Constructed World has an age ruled by dinosaurs and/or other reptilian creatures that later gave way to a modern age of mammals.
• All Flyers Are Birds: Pterosaurs (and other flying animals like bats) are often given bird-like characteristics, regardless of how much they actually have in common with birds.
• Anachronism Stew: A very common case when coping with prehistoric or extinct life, ex. cavemen interacting with nonbird dinosaurs.
• Artistic License – Paleontology: Unrealistic or inaccurate depictions of prehistoric life.
• Behemoth Battle: Giant prehistoric animals are often seen battling each other.
• Dinosaur Doggie Bone: Dogs chewing on fossilized bones the way they would on regular bones.
• Extinct Animal Park: A zoo or park hosting restored extinct wildlife.
• Fossil Revival: Fossilized creatures being brought back to life.
• Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure: The explosive power of the celestial body that hit the Earth at the end of the Cretaceous killing the last dinosaurs is often measured in billions of Hiroshima bombs.
• Hollywood Prehistory: Generalized prehistoric setting melding together creatures from wildly different time periods, chiefly dinosaurs, cavemen and mammoths.
• Jurassic Farce: Parodies of Jurassic Park, one of the most influential works featuring dinosaurs.
• Lost World: A hidden, often secret location where people and creatures long gone from the outside world still survive.
• Medieval Prehistory: Prehistoric life in a vaguely medieval setting.
• Misplaced Wildlife: Dinosaurs or other extinct creatures are often misplaced in fiction, ex. the North American Tyrannosaurus rex living alongside (or fighting) with the African Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.
• Perilous Prehistoric Seas: The seas and oceans of the prehistoric era are dangerous to be traversing or living in.
• Phlebotinum Killed the Dinosaurs: Ascribing the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs to a variety of eclectic causes.
• Prehistoria: Video game levels themed around dinosaurs and prehistory.
• Prehistoric Animal Analogue: Using extinct animals as source for designs for fictional creatures.
• Prehistoric Monster: Extinct creatures depicted as scary and violent brutes rather than looking and behaving like natural present-day animals.
• Primate Versus Reptile: A giant primate and a giant reptile, often something dinosaurian, fight King Kong-style.
• Science Marches On: An extremely common trope when coping with prehistoric life, heavily influencing the popular portrayals of extinct creatures.
• Time Traveler's Dinosaur: An extinct creature makes an appearance due to time travel.
• Undead Fossils: When the remains of prehistoric animals start moving on their own.

Dinosaurs & Relatives

• Alternate-History Dinosaur Survival: A hypothetical take on what if the dinosaurs never became extinct and continued to evolve beyond the Cretaceous Period.
• Aquatic Hadrosaurs: The outdated depiction of hadrosaur dinosaurs ("duckbills") as semi-aquatic creatures.
• Aquatic Sauropods: The outdated depiction of sauropod dinosaurs, such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus, as primarily water-dwelling animals.
• Awe-Inspiring Dinosaur Shot: Dinosaurs are shown or depicted as majestic creatures and their world as fantastical through a cutscene. Often used as an Establishing Series Moment.
• The Day the Dinosaurs Died: The K-Pg extinction is often depicted in media for dramatic effect.
• Dinosaur Media: Index of media focusing on dinosaurs and prehistoric life.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Dinosaurs and dragons tend to be treated as the same thing or to borrow traits from one another.
• The Dinosaurs Had It Coming: The dinosaurs brought their extinction on themselves.
• Domesticated Dinosaurs: Dinosaurs kept as domesticated animals for various purposes.
• Doofy Dodo: Dodos (not prehistoric but extinct a few centuries ago) are often portrayed as goofy and harmless.
• Dumb Dinos: Dinosaurs are often portrayed as very stupid, slow, and overly aggressive.
• Feathered Fiend: Just because something is covered in fluffy feathers (whether it's a giant bird or a non-avian theropod), it can still be terrifying!
• Gentle Giant Sauropod: The generic depiction of the giant long-necked dinosaurs being docile and friendly animals.
• Goofy Feathered Dinosaur: Feathered dinosaurs portrayed as comedic and non-threatening.
• Headbutting Pachy: The portrayal of pachycephalosaur dinosaurs (Pachycephalosaurus and its kin) headbutting things.
• Kids Love Dinosaurs: There's something fascinating about dinosaurs in the eyes of children.
• Living Dinosaurs: Surviving non-avian dinosaurs found living somewhere remote.
• Mokele-Mbembe: An aquatic dinosaur said to live deep within isolated jungles.
• Notzilla: When a Kaiju is based on the very theropod-like Godzilla.
• Raptor Attack: Unrealistic or inaccurate portrayals of dromeosaurid dinosaurs (dinosaurs like Deinonychus and Velociraptor).
• Savage Spinosaurs: Spinosaurids, such as Spinosaurus and Baryonyx, depicted as fearsome predators even deadlier than T. rex.
• Slurpasaur: Real-life lizards with fake horns or fins glued on used as stand-ins for dinosaurs in old movies.
• Social Ornithopod: The ornithopod dinosaurs (like the hadrosaurs and Iguanodon) are usually shown to be social animals that either live in herds, groups and/or are placid in nature.
• Spinosaurus Versus T. rex: Whenever a Spinosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex appear in the same work, they always have a fight.
• Stock Dinosaur Archetypes: the archetypal personalities stereotypically attributed to various species of dinosaurs.
• Stock Ness Monster: Portrayals of the Loch-Ness Monster or similar things, implied to be surviving dinosaurs.
• Temper-Ceratops: The ceratopsian dinosaurs (such as Triceratops) are described as being akin to bulls and rhinos; temperamental and aggressive by herbivore standards.
• Terrifying Tyrannosaur: Tyrannosaurs (T. rex and its kin) portrayed terrifying and imposing.
• Terror-dactyl: Portrayals of pterosaurs ("pterodactyls") as monstrous, often with traits from bats, dragons, or birds of prey.
• Tough Armored Dinosaur: The thyreophoran dinosaurs, like Stegosaurus and ''Ankylosaurus, portrayed as warlike and resilient.
• Toxic Dinosaur: Certain types of dinosaurs possess poison, either as a weapon or as a form of defense.
• T. Rexpy: A fictional creature inspired by Tyrannosaurus rex.
• Whateversaurus: A fictional prehistoric critter that didn't exist in reality, often with a stock suffix in its name.

Other Prehistoric Life

• All Cavemen Were Neanderthals: Cavemen tend to be portrayed as knuckle-dragging, slow-witted brutes clad in skins and carrying clubs.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: While not exclusively about prehistory, giant arthropods were common in the Carboniferous and often show up in prehistoric-themed works or settings.
• Contemporary Caveman: A caveman living in modern times for some reasons.
• Dire Beast: Not an exclusively prehistoric trope, but many extinct animals are perceived as being bigger, scarier, and more monstrous versions of familiar modern animals, such as the dire wolf.
• Frazetta Man: Prehistoric "humans" portrayed as vicious, stupid, hairy, and generally little more than somewhat upright apes.
• Handsome Heroic Caveman: Prehistoric cavemen with a Nubile Savage appearance, usually The Hero in their stories.
• Low-Tech Spears: Spears are used as an archetypical weapon for less technologically advanced peoples, such as cavemen.
• Mammoths Mean Ice Age: Mammoths are the most common "face" or symbol of the Ice Age, and their presence is often used as a shorthand for it and associated concepts.
• Meek Mesozoic Mammal: Early mammals are portrayed as timid and easy prey for dinosaurs.
• Panthera Awesome: Smilodon, or "saber-toothed cats", portrayed as a simple ancient version of modern big cats. Predatory dinosaurs are also often given color schemes based on those of big cats.
• Primitive Clubs: Primitive beings, such as cavemen, are often portrayed as wielding crude, simple clubs.
• Snowy Sabertooths: Due to their close association with mammoths, saber-toothed cats (or fictional creatures analogous to them) are often portrayed as inhabiting cold, snowy environments year-round.

Useful Notes

• Dinosaurs: Facts about dinosaurs in general.
  • Tyrannosaurus rex: Specifically about the most famous dinosaur.
• Prehistoric Life: Information about prehistoric animals, with a time-scale and a "translation guide" learning scientific names.
  • Prehistoric Life - Dinosaurs: About the history of research on non-bird dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles.
    • Prehistoric Life - Large Theropods: About the big, predatory dinosaurs.
    • Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods: About the birdlike dinosaurs.
    • Prehistoric Life - Birds: About extinct true birds.
    • Prehistoric Life - Other Small Theropods: About the other remaining theropods.
    • Prehistoric Life - Sauropods: About the biggest dinosaurs.
    • Prehistoric Life - Sauropod Predecessors: About their smaller cousins.
    • Prehistoric Life - Stegosaurs: About the dinosaurs with plated backs and spiked tails.
    • Prehistoric Life - Ankylosaurs: About the dinosaurs with tank-like bodies.
    • Prehistoric Life - Ceratopsids: About the horned dinosaurs.
    • Prehistoric Life - Ceratopsid Predecessors: About their smaller relatives.
    • Prehistoric Life - Pachycephalosaurs: About "bone-headed" dinos.
    • Prehistoric Life - Hadrosaurs: About the so-called "duck-billed" dinosaurs.
    • Prehistoric Life – Hadrosaur Predecessors: About the latter's relatives.
    • Prehistoric Life - Primitive Ornithischians: About the most ancestral bird-hipped dinosaurs.
  • Prehistoric Life - Non-Dinosaurian Reptiles: About non-dinosaur prehistoric reptiles (including mammal-ancestors).
  • Prehistoric Life - Mammals: About our closest animal relatives (including human ancestors).
  • Prehistoric Life - Other Extinct Creatures: About prehistoric amphibians, fish, invertebrates, plants, and bacteria.
• Stock Dinosaurs (True Dinosaurs): The most commonly portrayed dinosaurs in media.
  • Stock Dinosaurs (Saurischian Dinosaurs): Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and their relatives (extinct birds included).
  • Stock Dinosaurs (Ornithischian Dinosaurs): Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and their relatives.
  • Stock Dinosaurs (Non-Dinosaurs): Non-dinosaur extinct critters (flying reptiles, swimming reptiles, ancient mammals, and others).

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