When do you think theropods became “the” dinosaurs? If you ask people on the street to draw or imagine “a dinosaur”, I think something like T. rex or Velociraptor will be the first thing that comes to mind, albeit featherless. But back when my dad was a kid “dinosaur” brought to mind a sauropod, probably Brontosaurus (sic) and probably semi-aquatic. When do you think the popular default image of a “dinosaur” went from lumbering sauropods to active, “awesomebro” theropods?
Jurassic Park
Theropods have long been cast as the villains in media (even in the original King Kong), but usually opposed by a Brontosaurus or Triceratops. Pretty much every dinosaur book I read as a child would have an illustration in it somewhere of an Allosaurus chomping on some poor sauropod’s neck.
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