At first blush that does seem like a stretch, requiring some hand-waiving, but let’s delve into this and see what we find out…
In reality, dinosaurs grew to adulthood quite quickly. T-Rex, for example, were adults in about 17 years, gaining as much as 5 pounds per day. However, it varies per species. Some were slower, others faster. The Apatosaurus, for example, grew by a whopping 33 pounds per day. It seems that in general the larger they were as an adult the faster they'd grow to get there, while smaller dinosaurs grew more slowly but possibly reached adulthood around the same time. May be speculative, but there is scientific basis for those conclusions.
For context, blue whales grow an impressive 200 pounds per day, so if genes related to that were incorporated into these Frankensteined specimens in Jurassic Park, perhaps they could reach adulthood very quickly. From the last link below: "Calves leave their mothers when they give birth to their next calf, and will reach maturity when they reach their full size, between five and 15 years of age."
Considering that information, if we give the movie some leniency, we could surmise that the dinosaurs (if we can even call them that, given their genetic mixture that somehow stripped them of their feathers and color and turned them into the inaccurate, outdated depictions we saw in books 50+ years ago that incorrectly deemed them all cold-blooded reptiles, something I explain away as being a byproduct of their amalgamated genetic makeup, a large portion of which was frog DNA) might have reached adult maturity in about 5 years.
But even better than all that speculation (yes, I led you down that path on purpose knowing this is where I would end up), we have the Michael Crichton novel as a source to draw upon for the most relevant information possible pertaining to this subject (Crichton was not one to skimp on scientifically-researched details—I’ve read every one of his excellent novels), where this exchange of dialogue occurs:
“And how long to grow?”
“Dinosaurs mature rapidly, attaining full size in two to four years. So we now have a number of adult specimens in the park.”
So, there you have it. It took them 2 to 4 years to grow to maturity.
There’s also this discussion in the novel regarding a hadrosaur:
Morris laughed, too. “A baby hadrosaur. That'd be something to see. How big were they?”
“About so,” Grant said, holding his hands six inches apart. “Squirrelsize.”
“And how long before they become full-grown?”
“Three years,” Grant said. “Give or take.”
Clearly there was some sci-fi mumbo jumbo at play that they used to accelerate their growth. According to the book, the park had been breeding live dinosaurs for around 5 years by the time the events of Jurassic Park took place. Consider the following excerpts:
“Thirty thousand dollars a year,” Grant said, nodding. “For the last five years.”
“Because,” Morris said, “over the last five years, Hammond has purchased enormous quantities of amber in America, Europe, and Asia, including many pieces of museum-quality jewelry. The foundation has spent seventeen million dollars on amber. They now possess the largest privately held stock of this material in the world.”
“So Gennaro telephoned you in 1984. What happened then?”
“Well,” Grant said. “You see our operation here. Fifty thousand would support two full summers of digging. I told him I'd do what I could.”
“So you agreed to prepare a paper for him.”
“Yes.”
“On the dietary habits of juvenile dinosaurs?”
“Yes.”
“You met Gennaro?”
“No. Just on the phone.”
“Did Gennaro say why he wanted this information?”
“Yes,” Grant said. “He was planning a museum for children, and he wanted to feature baby dinosaurs. He said he was hiring a number of academic consultants, and named them. There were paleontologists like me, and a mathematician from Texas named Ian Malcolm, and a couple of ecologists. A systems analyst. Good group.”
Morris nodded, making notes. “So you accepted the consultancy?”
“Yes. I agreed to send him a summary of our work: what we knew about the habits of the duckbilled hadrosaurs we'd found.”
“What kind of information did you send?” Morris asked.
“Everything: nesting behavior, territorial ranges, feeding behavior, social behavior. Everything.”
“And how did Gennaro respond?”
“He kept calling and calling. Sometimes in the middle of the night. Would the dinosaurs eat this? Would they eat that? Should the exhibit include this? I could never understand why he was so worked up. I mean, I think dinosaurs are important, too, but not that important. They've been dead sixty-five million years. You'd think his calls could wait until morning.”
A couple of lines of this nature in the movie might have helped establish a better understanding of the timeline.
CONTINUED…
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bobbydallas (8185)
2 years ago
it's been a long time since i read the novel, and didn't quite remember anything about the growth.
thanks for the post, i also assumed the park, as we see it, during the film was in operation for some time preparing the dinosaurs and associated accelerated growth.
something like 3-5 years or in the late 80s is plausible in the novel/film timeline.
still insane but not as insane as Westworld i guess..
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