The Giganotosaurus is the overarching antagonist of the 2022 film of the Jurassic Park franchise.
While determining exactly which theropod genera was the largest, metrics for Giganotosaurus have consistently placed it as larger than an average Tyrannosaurus and comparable to the largest known specimens of Tyrannosaurus. More specimens of the Giganotosaurus are required to give a clearer picture of size, as all species will exist within a spectrum of sizes. For now, it is safe to consider the likes of Giganotosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus as comparable to one another in terms of size (though Spinosaurus is technically the longer animal, it is comparable in weight to Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus due to its more slender build in real life).
When Giganotosaurus was alive, the most common herbivores found in South America were the titanosaur sauropods such as Argentinosaurus and Andesaurus, respectively. While a single Giganotosaurus was capable of killing a young titanosaur or a large ornithopod, it would take many Giganotosaurus to bring down a giant adult sauropod. Originally, there was no evidence that Giganotosaurus hunted in groups, but recent findings from slightly younger rocks shows that their sister taxon (closest relative) Mapusaurus may have formed coalitions similar to crocodiles or perhaps even family groups given the high size variation and age differences between individuals. While not known if this was true pack living behavior, these coalitions of 6 or more individuals would probably have been capable of coordinating attacks on targets of opportunity such as a large sauropod.
History[]
In the Past[]
During the Cretaceous period, a Giganotosaurus rested while a Moros scavenged morsels of meat stuck between the teeth of Giganotosaurus until a Tyrannosaurus approached the pair, causing the Giganotosaurus to confront the intruder and forcing the Moros as well as a nearby Iguanodon and some birds to leave the area. The carnivores circled and roared at each other until a fight broke out, with the Giganotosaurus quickly managing to bite the neck of its opponent and sliced it. After slicing the throat of the corpse and dumping it off a small cliff, the Giganotosaurus left the area.
Jurassic World[]
By 2014, genetic materials of Giganotosaurus was in possession of InGen and was used in the creation of the genetic hybrid Indominus rex. However, no individuals were cloned for the park.
Recreation[]
A Giganotosaurus was amongst the dinosaurs cloned by Biosyn sometime after 2018 and kept within their valley. At some point, the Giganotosaurus had a chip inserted into its brain, allowing it to be controlled when needed.
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory[]
Season 4[]
When Kenji Kon and Sammy Gutierrez arrive at Biosyn Valley, Lewis Dodgson releases both Rexy and the Giganotosaurus to see how the two apex predators will react to each other. The two briefly fight with the Giganotosaurus charging at Rexy, biting and headbutting her and even using his tail to attack her, forcing Rexy to retreat.
Afterwards, the Giganotosaurus stalks a Parasaurolophus Herd before killing one of the dinosaurs. Afterwards, he sees some Dilophosaurus and tries attacking them, but they end up escaping.
The Dilophosaurus pack was hunting the Nublar Six when they were scared off. After failing to kill either of them, he spots the Nublar Six’s tire tracks, and he follows them, digging his tooth into one of the wheels, forcing the Nublar Six to replace it, before attacking near one of the Research Outposts. Attempting to lose the Giganotosaurus, Ben Pincus sets it on fire which only serves as a brief distraction. The Giganotosaurus then chases after the Nublar Six while they run with their jeep. However, Rexy attacks and the fight allows the Nublar Six to escape. At the end, he leaves after a scuffle with Rexy, presumably to take a nap which is seen in Dominion, and the events of Dominion follow.
Attempting to escape from the burning valley, the Nublar Six finds the aftermath of Rexy and the Therizinosaurus victory over the Giganotosaurus. After smelling the fresh blood from Ben's wound, a pack of Atrociraptors climbs upon its corpse to get at Ben before Kenji and Brooklynn arrive in Gia's car to make an escape.
Sometime later, Darius has turned the Giganotosaurus tooth into a necklace. While comparing tree shapes to dinosaurs, Kenji suggests that one looks like a Giganotosaurus rather than a T rex. Darius is surprised that Kenji pronounced the name right and Kenji double checks that Giganotosaurus is the one with "the spiky things."
Jurassic World: Dominion[]
While Ellie Sattler, Alan Grant, and Ramsay Cole were heading towards Biosyn Valley, the Giganotosaurus slept peacefully as it was approached by a Moros. Later that day, Owen Grady and Kayla Watts witnessed the Giganotosaurus encounter the clone of its old rival that was killed 65 million years ago, Rexy, the elderly Tyrannosaurus rex who was recently transported to the Biosyn Valley, scavenging the carcass of a roe deer that met its end at the claws of a Therizinosaurus. The pair had a brief tussle over the carcass until the Tyrannosaurus backed off, allowing the Giganotosaurus to feed on the carcass.
That night, a swarm of giant locusts that was set on fire by Lewis Dodgson in an attempt to erase his criminal activity escaped their containment and started a forest fire within the valley, during which the Giganotosaurus encountered Owen, Claire Dearing, Alan, Ian Malcolm, Ellie, Maisie Lockwood, and Kayla at an observation tower near its habitat and attacked them. At first the predator only followed them slowly until Maisie attempted to climb a ladder into the observation tower, at which point it bit down on the railing around the ladder and tore it off. Before it could turn back to its quarry, Malcolm got its attention by waving a flaming locust on a bar of metal, which he threw into the predator's mouth as he attempted to lunge at him, stunning the dinosaur and briefly setting its mouth on fire.
As the theropod briefly writhed in pain, flames from the burning locust shot out of its mouth. The large predator managed to recover and quickly turned back to the group however, who had all made it to a platform that looped around the tower, and proceeded to bite the platform and attempt to pull it down with Owen and Ellie, but all of the humans made it inside, prompting the Giganotosaurus to smash the glass of the tower and attempt to reach the group. After Kayla shot it in the face with a tranquilizer dart, Owen began stabbing the dinosaur in the snout with metal knives and broken pipes and Claire electrocuted its eye with a taser, which forced the carnivore to retreat.
As the fire worsened, Biosyn used the chips they implanted in their animals to call them into the center of the Biosyn Research Facility. As it moved through the area, the Giganotosaurus was challenged by the old T. rex once more, and the two began battling. The Giganotosaurus managed to knock Rexy unconscious after a ferocious melee that nearly crushed the humans, but her limp body, held underfoot by the larger animal, had pinned a sheet of metal on top of Owen, Claire, Maisie, and Ramsay and was about to crush them. Ellie saw this and attempted to help them, but the dinosaur roared at her when she attempted to approach and prepared to attack.
Kayla then shot a flare to distract the large theropod, which landed beside a newcomer; the Therizinosaurus. The two dinosaurs fought each other, with the aggressive herbivore landing nasty slashing blows on the larger theropod until Rexy regained consciousness. Now finding itself cornered, the Giganotosaurus was unable to determine quickly enough which enemy was the greater threat, which allowed the Tyrannosaurus to bite its neck and ram it into the claws of the Therizinosaurus, impaling the predator in the neck and body before it eventually died seconds after it dropped to the ground.
Since this Giganotosaurus was the only known specimen of its kind to have been cloned, it is possible that the species fell back into extinction when it died at the claws of the Therizinosaurus. However, it is possible that unknown specimens and/or genetic material is still available somewhere else in the world.
Gallery[]
