What Are Pyroraptors? Jurassic World 3's Rumored New Dinosaur Explained

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Jurassic World: Dominion promises to bring the Jurassic Park franchise back to its roots, but it will also include new elements, such as the Pyroraptor, a never-before-seen dinosaur species rumored to appear in the upcoming film. Colin Treverrow, who directed the first Jurassic World movie, will be back at the helm and has said the final installment will "bring the franchise together" with a satisfying conclusion. It will make use of both CGI and animatronic dinosaur effects, bringing Jurassic World: Dominion closer to what made the first Jurassic Park film so technologically impressive. The original human Jurassic Park stars (Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum) will also return to play Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm in substantial roles.

Although these tributes to the first Jurassic Park installment are certainly welcome, Dominion will blend them with newer additions to the franchise. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will reprise their roles as Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, and Trevorrow confirmed that other characters from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom will have elevated roles in the final film. Following the second movie’s events (and perhaps even a further time jump), Dominion will take place in a world where uncontrolled dinosaurs roam free.

According to recent Jurassic World 3 set photos, the menacing Pyroraptor could be among these new reptilian threats. Little has been confirmed about the new dinosaur, but both rumors about the new movie and real scientific knowledge of the Pyroraptor suggest that it could be a major adversary.

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The Pyroraptor, whose name means “fire thief,” was a predatory dinosaur first described by paleontologists in 2000. Similarly to the Jurassic Park series’ iconic Velociraptors, it possessed a long, thin tail, clawed forelimbs, and walked on two legs. Pyroraptors were covered head-to-toe in feathers and had distinct curved claws on their feet for climbing, an important skill for an animal that only came up to an average human's knees.

How true Jurassic World: Dominion will stay to the Pyroraptor’s real-life appearance remains unknown. It is already established that the Jurassic Park movies take artistic liberties with its dinosaur designs, such as scaling up the Velociraptor and altering its avian features to be more lizard-like. However, the Pyroraptor appeared in the mobile games Jurassic World: Alive and Jurassic World: The Game in all of its feathered glory, making it one of the only dinosaurs in the franchise to be depicted with full plumage. The new movie could take a different design route, but keeping its feathers would make it a unique addition to the dinosaur roster. The rumored Pyroraptor shown in set photos does not have feathers, but it was a reference maquette, not a final animatronic, meaning its design could be altered at later production stages.

Although it could be enlarged like its Velociraptor cousins, keeping the Pyroraptor small would also set it apart from them. A knee-high dinosaur may not sound threatening on paper, but Ian Malcolm's actor, Jeff Goldblum, recently described a scene in Dominion where his character and the other two original scientists are stuck in a “tight enclosed space” with a new dinosaur, possibly the Pyroraptor. Even a pint-size predator, or multiple Pyroraptors in a mob, could be dangerous in a claustrophobic environment, especially with their deadly claws and climbing ability.

Beyond increasing its size and removing its plumage, Jurassic World: Dominion could give the Pyroraptor even more fictional upgrades. Although Treverrow has promised there would be no more hybrid dinosaurs in the new movie, hard science has never held the Jurassic Park movies back, and the filmmakers' creativity will certainly make a terrifying adversary out of the Jurassic World 3's new dinosaur.

Jurassic World 3 (2022)
Release Date: Jun 10, 2022