[Adam Khor]

So, I realized there doesn´t seem to be a thread about this very interesting subject- what do you imagine dinosaurs sounded like?

I suposse you all know about the Parasaurolophus call that was replicated (by reconstructing the creature's nassal passages inside the crest) by Tom Williamson of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History; if not, here it is:



So, I wrote to Williamson and asked if he had re-created the sounds of other dinosaurs, or if anyone else had done it after him. He said that, to his knowledge, no one has ever re-created the call of another dinosaur, but also mentioned that a certain Dave Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum had been reconstructing the narial passages of other lambeosaurs.

So I was a boy scout and contacted Evans to ask him the same. This is what he said:

Thanks for your email. It is really tough to reconstruct the sounds of the corythosaurs, because their nasal passages are quite convoluted, and there is a lot that we don't know. The passages are shorter than Parasaurolophus, so they would have made higher pitched calls, but other than that, we just don't know. I have been doing alot of CT scanning of corythosaurs with Larry Witmer, and we have generated some unbelieveably detailed and accurate reconstructions of the nasal cavity in these guys (the paper is coming out in september in a journal called the anatomical record). The next step would be to takes these 3D models and simulate blowing air through them, like Tom did with Parasaurolophus. We haven't quite gotten that far yet, but it is something that we have definitely thought about and that is on our list to do. So you might be hearing more lambeosaur calls in the future.

So, it seems that Parasaurolophus remains the only dinosaur of which we have an approximate idea of what it may have sounded like. But the point of this thread is to ask what YOU imagine other dinosaurs sounded like.
Did T-Rex had a bird-like scream maybe, instead of a roar as in every TV show and movie? Perhaps raptors were the ones calling each other with lion-like vocalizations? And what about sauropods? Did they communicate through infrasounds like many giant animals today, or where they perhaps making peacock or swan-like noises instead of the classic whale songs everyone relates to them by now?

[Galvasean]

I was disappointed by Spinosaurus' roar in Jurassic Park 3. I wanted it to have a loud hiss. Would have made it more unique.
Like this (53 seconds in):

[Adam Khor]

Originally Posted by Galvasean

I was disappointed by Spinosaurus' roar in Jurassic Park 3. I wanted it to have a loud hiss. Would have made it more unique.
Like this (53 seconds in):

You gotta admit it would be hard to top the T-Rex's own JP roar

The Carnotaurus in "Dinosaur" had cool sounds (at least they created their own mixes):

[Galvasean]

Originally Posted by Adam Khor

You gotta admit it would be hard to top the T-Rex's own JP roar

That was part of the problem. They were trying to make a bigger, louder and more intimidating roar - an exercise in futility. The JP rex roar is brilliantly mixed and so darn iconic. The Spino would have been way more effective if it had something much different, so the audience know they are literally up against a different beast.

[Adam Khor]

Originally Posted by Galvasean

That was part of the problem. They were trying to make a bigger, louder and more intimidating roar - an exercise in futility. The JP rex roar is brilliantly mixed and so darn iconic. The Spino would have been way more effective if it had something much different, so the audience know they are literally up against a different beast.

Fortunately, the Spinosaurus' fantastic appearance makes this rather clear XD
That is, also, the reason why they didn´t pick Giganotosaurus or Carcharodontosaurus to be T-Rex's nemesis; to a dino-maniac they may be instantly recognizable, but to most people they look too much like T-Rex. Spinosaurus is unmistakable.

I personally like the Spino's roar. It's not as impressive as the T-Rex's, but then again, it makes it more "real" so to speak... kinda like a saltwater crocodile not having a lion's impressive roar, but being at least equally imposing anyways.

[SvenLittkowski]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

[Galvasean]

Originally Posted by Adam Khor

Fortunately, the Spinosaurus' fantastic appearance makes this rather clear XD
That is, also, the reason why they didn´t pick Giganotosaurus or Carcharodontosaurus to be T-Rex's nemesis; to a dino-maniac they may be instantly recognizable, but to most people they look too much like T-Rex. Spinosaurus is unmistakable.

Interestingly on the DVD special features you can look at some of the storyboards. In it the Spino is labeled as being a Baryonyx. Seemed an odd choice. I can see why they changed it to Spinosaurus. It would also explain why the Spinosaurus' teeth are all wrong.

[Rubecula]

I suspect that Spinosaurus because of it's lifestyle may possibly have had a voice similar to a crocodilian. Not really a loud roar.

[Galvasean]

Has this audio been tampered with? If not, I see where the raptor 'help' call came from.

[Rubecula]

I see exactly what you mean.

[Galvasean]

Originally Posted by SvenLittkowski

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

Welcome to the forum

[Adam Khor]

Originally Posted by Rubecula

I suspect that Spinosaurus because of it's lifestyle may possibly have had a voice similar to a crocodilian. Not really a loud roar.

There's really no way to know this- we don´t know how often Spinosaurus communicated with each other, or if they lived alone or in groups or if the females called the males during mating season or the other way around. It could have had a very loud call (not necessarily a roar) for all we know.

I am pretty sure many large dinosaurs used infrasounds too, like rhinos, elephants, giraffes, tigers and cassowaries do today- I read once that there's even some evidence for this (eg. T-Rex's ear bones or something, basically it could hear infrasounds which means either its prey or T-Rex itself, or maybe both, could produce infrasounds). It is possible that many dinosaur calls would actually be too low for us to hear...

As for the alligator call, wouldn´t that be the raptor "calling for reinforcements" sound? The "help" sound was the one in JP3 which sounded a lot like a large bird (and I think was a vulture call).
I guess that means my book on the making of Jurassic Park lied when it said that the raptor call was that of an "African crane"...

[Galvasean]

Originally Posted by Rubecula

I see hear exactly what you mean.

FYP

[Rubecula]

Originally Posted by Galvasean

FYP

You did too, Thank you, I think.