Styracosaurus
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Styracosaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. A Styracosaurus appears in the 1933 King Kong film Son of Kong. Early plans for King Kong included an Arsinoitherium to chase the sailors onto the log where Kong shook them to their deaths, which was later replaced with a Styracosaurus. These sequences may have been filmed, and the Styracosaurus appears in some production photographs, but any footage that may exist remains lost.[1]
Name
The name "Styracosaurus" means "spiked lizard" and is a combination of the Greek words styrax (meaning "spike") and sauros (meaning "lizard"). The dinosaur received this name because of the spikes around its frill.[2]
Appearance
Styracosaurus was a medium-sized ceratopsid. Like most members of the family, it was a quadrupedal dinosaur with a large head and a short tail. Its head is covered with a spiked frill and three horns, the longest of which is on the snout near the strong, hooked beak. This beak, as well as the prominent cheekbones, is a key feature of all ceratopsians.
The head of the model used in Son of Kong is a fairly accurate representation of the skull of a real animal, but the distinctive cheekbones are missing, and the movie version is noticeably larger than the real Styracosaurus. In this film, the dinosaur is covered in thick, scaly skin and has a row of small spikes along its spine. Like many non-avian dinosaurs depicted in early and mid-20th-century films, this Styracosaurus drags its tail along the ground. Later paleontological research revealed that ceratopsians, like other quadrupedal dinosaurs, actually held their tails up.
History
- Son of Kong (1933)
- The Lost Spider Pit Sequence (2005)
Son of Kong
When a group of humans was stranded on Skull Island, three of them, Captain Englehorn, Nils Helstrom, and their Chinese cook Charlie, began to search the jungle for food. However, as they made their way through the brush, they were spotted by a Styracosaurus, which immediately charged at them. The captain shot it once, making it stumble before running away. The dinosaur ran after them and it cornered them into a crevice at the foot of a cliff and tried to ram its head it after them, but to no avail. However, as they tried to shoot it, it got a hold of their rifle and broke it. However, it eventually lost interest, and the three men were able to escape.
The Lost Spider Pit Sequence
After being chased out of the water by a Brontosaurus, the crew of the Venture ran through the jungle straight into where a lone Styracosaurus was grazing. It began to chase them and ate one stumbled sailor dangerously close to Carl Denham, who had caught his hand on a branch. The dinosaur eventually cornered the sailors onto a log bridging a deep chasm with Kong on the other side. The monstrous ape shook the sailors off the log before throwing it into the pit.
Abilities
Physical abilities
Like most ceratopsians, the Styracosaurus possesses horns and a strong beak.
Weaknesses
The wide frill restricts its movement in tight spaces. Having driven the people into the crevice, the Styracosaurus was unable to squeeze through to them.
Comics
King Kong #2 (1991)
To be added.
Gallery
Son of Kong
Screenshots
Post-production
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The current state of the original Styracosaurus model -
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The Lost Spider Pit Sequence
Pre-production
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X-rays of the original model -
Weta team members working on their Styracosaurus model
Trivia
- The original puppet used in scrapped King Kong footage and later Son of Kong resides in Peter Jackson's personal collection of Kong memorabilia.[1]
- The roars created for the Styracosaurus for The Lost Spider Pit Sequence were made by slowing down recordings of Fay Wray screaming as Ann Darrow in the original King Kong.[1]
External links
References
This is a list of references for Styracosaurus. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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