Concept art for Jurassic World confirms another hybrid dinosaur, the Stegoceratops, was planned for the movie. Set 22 years after the first Jurassic Park film, 2015's Jurassic World revolves around an operational dinosaur theme park based on the same island, Isla Nublar, where John Hammond built his original "biological preserve". Hoping to improve the park's attendance numbers, its owners green-light the creation of a new attraction in the form of the Indominus rex, a hybrid dinosaur engineered by Jurassic World's geneticists. (Shockingly, it turns out to be a bad idea.)

The sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, would go on to build on the idea by introducing this Indoraptor, another hybrid dinosaur created by crossing Indominus rex and Velociraptor DNA. Those are the only two such creatures to appear in the Jurassic World movies up to this point, though there was another one conceived during pre-production on the first movie.

Taking to Instagram, Jurassic World concept artist Ian Joyner unveiled some images of a third hybrid dinosaur (one which crossed a triceratops with a stegosaurus - hence the name) that was conceived for the film. Those with good memories may recall the Stegoceratops even got a toy at the 2015 Toy Fair. You can check out the artwork below, along with the text from Joyner's post.

Stegoceratops! A Hybrid #dinosaur design for #jurassicworld A version of these guys ended up in the mobile game, but here was some early development for the movie. The very talented @bodinsterbadesign did a great one as well which I think they used for the game itself?#jurassicworld #dinosaurs #creaturedesign #jurassicpark

Granted, it has a creative design, but it's probably for the better the Stegoceratops didn't show up in Jurassic World. Reactions to the Indominus rex and Indoraptor have been lukewarm at best, and neither one of them has become instantly iconic the way the T-rex and Velociraptors did after Jurassic Park. Save for the way the Indoraptor killed Ted Levine's character in Fallen Kingdom, there's simply isn't anything all that memorable about the way these new monsters wreak havoc compared to the other dinosaurs. It's hard to imagine things would've turned out any differently with the Stegoceratops either, given the similar logic behind its hybrid look and abilities.

Fortunately, Colin Trevorrow has already confirmed the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion (which he's once again co-writing and directing) won't feature any new hybrid dinosaurs, and will take more of a "back to basics" approach to the property in general. After Fallen Kingdom ended with the surviving dinosaurs of Isla Nublar being freed into the world, it really doesn't need any "enhanced" dinosaurs to heighten the stakes, either. As last year's Jurassic World short Battle at Big Rock (which is set between Fallen Kingdom and Dominion) demonstrated, humans trying to coexist peacefully alongside ordinary run-of-the-mill dinosaurs is more than exciting enough on its own.

Jurassic World 3 (2021)
Release Date: Jun 11, 2021