Dinosaur

**Dinosaurs** are the environment modifiers of Jurassic Marsh in *Plants vs. Zombies 2*. They are invulnerable creatures which appear on their own as the level progresses, and will be triggered upon meeting zombies which they find nuisances, unleashing special abilities that will usually aid the horde. They can be turned against their former allies with the use of the Perfume-shroom, which will cause the dinosaurs to attack the zombies by using a separate set of attacks. All non-charmed dinosaurs will leave after 30 seconds of inactivity.

In the Chinese version, there are eggs that will hatch baby variants of some of the dinosaurs when destroyed which will call in the adult variant of them to unleash abilities in order to save the babies. There is also an additional dinosaur, the brontosaurus, which is called in during the surprise attack or when a baby variant of it hatches from an egg. Another surprise attack called the "Dinosaur Stampede!" appears in this version as well.

## Audio

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## List

**Note:** *For the effects specifically when its egg is hatched, see Egg.*

## Strategies

Dinosaurs act in place of special zombies in other worlds by aiding normal zombies when encountering them. However, dinosaurs will prove to be much more significant threats than special enemies, as not only are the dinosaurs' abilities quite powerful, almost every zombie are eligible targets for their boosts - this means that backward moving Jurassic Fossilhead or Jurassic Bully can become a common sight in La Brainsa Tarpits, while even Jurassic Gargantuar can be kicked by raptors or flung by stegosauruses or ankylosauruses. Additionally, dinosaurs cannot be killed or even harmed, which means that the player will have to deal with the dinosaurs until they leave. While the dinosaurs can also be used to dispatch priority targets with Perfume-shroom, this will give the player little comfort in the long run, due to Perfume-shroom's long recharge time and the dinosaur's limited lifespan, especially if the pterodactyl had picked up zombies beforehand. Placing a Primal Wall-nut on the ninth lane can prevent raptors and stegosauruses from using their abilities.

Generally speaking, the only way to fully counter dinosaurs is to prevent zombies from getting past the ninth column, as dinosaurs will only use their special abilities on zombies past that point. Defensive walls such as Wall-nut and Endurian can be used to achieve the task, and Primal Wall-nut shines in particular thanks to its relatively fast recharge rate. Infi-nut's Plant Food ability can also be used to cover the plants and shield them from whatever zombies relocated by the dinosaurs, although this strategy will require a great amount of time and Power Lilies or Plant Food Boosts to be feasible. Another strategy is to use a three-column strategy. This involves Chard Guards in the back (to combat pterodactyls), an offensive plant like Winter Melon in the second column, and a defensive plant like Primal Wall-nut on the third column. Spikerocks on the other columns, as well as using Celery Stalkers, are optional. This works because raptors only kick zombies to the third column, as well as stegosaurs flinging zombies to the third column. Pterodactyls are dealt with Chard Guard, and defensive plants and ice plants can stop the *T. rex*. However, the *Ankylosaurus* can cause some trouble. To "counter" it, placing a plant in front of it to stall is the only good method, so it will not push your plants and make the zombies close to the house. Garlic, planted on the ninth column, is also a good option as it moves zombies to the next row, meaning that the dinosaurs would have no zombies to interact with.

### Raptor

As the first dinosaur introduced, the player might have some problems with this dinosaur due to the fact, unlike most dinosaurs, this one can move around its lane kicking zombies up to the third column. However, without using the Perfume-shroom, this can actually be used as an advantage with Blover or Hurrikale as the kicked zombies are temporarily in the air before landing. Primal Peashooters are also an ideal choice as they can push zombies back a few tiles, though this requires luck. If things get rough, Chard Guard and Celery Stalker will help defeat them.

When charmed, they are extremely useful against Gargantuars and Jurassic Rockpunchers as they will kick them off the lawn and destroy them instantly.

### *Stegosaurus*

This dinosaur could cause some mayhem to other lanes as this zombie can fling up to three zombies. However, unlike other dinosaurs, the *stegosaurus* can only fling zombies from a certain position, making this dinosaur easier to deal with. Plants with high health (such as Endurian) can be used to effectively stall zombies before they reach the *Stegosaurus's* tail. Garlic can also be useful as they can cause zombies to abandon the *Stegosaurus*. Once again, using Blover or Hurrikale is useful, although the amount of time the zombies are in the air is less than with the raptor. Instant kills also work as long as said zombies are not about to be flung, as they are invincible during this time.

### Pterodactyl

When the player sees this pterosaur, they should charm it with a Perfume-shroom as soon as they see it. Failing to do it will most likely earn the player a one way ticket to having a zombie acting like a Prospector Zombie, except with possibly more health if it manages to grab a strong zombie such as Jurassic Bully or Jurassic Rockpuncher. Primal Peashooters make excellent counters for this since they can stun or push the zombie away from the player's most inner defenses, unless is it a Jurassic Bully. However, Chard Guard and Hurrikale can deal with a Jurassic Bully easily. Any backward attacking plants such as Split Pea and Phat Beet also do well against this dinosaur. Also, placing Primal Wall-nuts on the first column and Celery Stalkers on the second column will take care of the zombies. Shrinking Violet and Enforce-mint can shrink the zombies enough so the pterodactyl won't be able to grab them which makes the Shrinking Violet or Enforce-mint great against the reptile. You can also use Spring Bean, Primal Peashooter, Chard Guard or Hurrikale to push zombies back so the pterodactyl won't have a chance to grab them. Remember; that the zombies carried by the pterodactyl are not counted as airborne, so Blover and Hurrikale are useless.

If called by a baby pterodactyl in the Chinese version, it will peck onto the plant there and defeat it unless it is a defensive plant. Apple Mortar and powered Dusk Lobber are somewhat useful if a zombie gets carried to nearby lanes as they can still target them, despite the fact that neither can shoot backward.

However, if the pterodactyl appears at the beginning of the round when no defenses have been built up, it is essentially a non-issue.

### *T. rex*

When you see this dinosaur, destroy all the zombies in its lane as this dinosaur will slowly boost their speed. Zombies boosted by the *T. rex* will lose their speed when they encounter edible plants, or if they are hit by a slowing effect. Therefore, slowing plants such as Cold Snapdragon, Stallia, Missile Toe, and Winter Melon should be considered in levels with *T. rex*. Sap-fling will perform poorly however, as its pinecones take a while to travel and cannot consistently hit the sped-up zombies. Keep in mind that, if a zombie is chilled, once the effect wears off it will retain its speed. It should be noted that any backward-facing zombies dropped off by pterodactyls will turn towards the player's house if the *T. rex* roars in the same lane. This can spell potential disaster if a Jurassic Fossilhead, Amberhead Zombie, Jurassic Bully or Jurassic Rockpuncher is carried by a pterodactyl directly prior to the *T. rex* roaring. Also, if a *T. rex* roars at the same time a zombie is eating a defensive plant in the same lane, they will eat up the plant extremely quickly, and advance towards the player's house at an alarming rate until they reach a new plant. If possible, plant an explosive plant that can recharge quickly such as Primal Potato Mine or Escape Root to counter zombies boosted by *T. rex*. You could choose a cheap plant for the zombie to eat up as that will minimize the sun spent and simultaneously slow down the zombies boosted. The *T. rex* is very deadly on levels where zombies cannot trample flowers, especially with a Jurassic Bully or Jurassic Gargantuar, as this could give them a greater speed which can easily cause you to lose the level. Perhaps when paired with Hurrikale, the Perfume-Shroom is highly effective; when the latter charms the *T. rex*, the Hurrikale pushes the zombies back so the *T. rex* can destroy the zombies with devastating ease.

### *Ankylosaurus*

The *Ankylosaurus* poses the greatest threat out of all the dinosaurs. This dinosaur is especially dangerous when it flings a Jurassic Bully, Jurassic Fossilhead, Jurassic Gargantuar, Amberhead Zombie or Jurassic Rockpuncher into your defenses. The only way to catch the zombie before they hit your defenses is to place a cheap plant such as Puff-shroom, Iceberg Lettuce, or Stallia in front of the zombie when it is about to get flung, or using defensive plants to prevent the zombies from interacting with the *Ankylosaurus*. Charm it quickly, as groups of them on the same lane can push an unlimited number of plants when flinging zombies. This could lead to an empty lawn of plants and hordes of zombies near your house, forcing you to spend coins for Plant Food or Power Ups. The *Ankylosaurus* will also not become charmed while it is in a flinging-position animation. A unique way to stop its attack is to place a Cactus on the third column from the right (seventh column from the left). This will disable the *Ankylosaurus's* attack. The zombies will simply be launched on top of the Cactus and stop when it hides. This only works if Cactus is out of the ground, not hiding; if it is hiding, the zombie will be launched normally and knock all plants backwards. Guacodile also nullifies the knockback if the hit zombie lands on it. It is a good idea to use Lava Guava against this dinosaur as it also nullifies the knockback with an explosion. Despite being similar to Guacodile, Parsnip does not do the same, as it needs to be eaten to rush. Frozen zombies pushed by the *Ankylosaurus* do not knock back plants; thus, applying Plant Food to Iceberg Lettuce or Cold Snapdragon is a viable option. Chard Guards and Spring Beans are useless as these plants will be pushed before they can fling or bounce back any zombie.

Infi-nut's force field is very ineffective as the plant will still be pushed, and the force field will be destroyed instantly. Before the 4.4.1 update, it was possible to use ground plants to stop zombies flung by *Ankylosaurus*.

### *Brontosaurus*  (China only)

The *Brontosaurus* is unique to the Chinese version of *Plants vs. Zombies 2*. It appears when the ambush "Beware, the ground is shaking!" happens or a baby variant of it is hatched. It will stomp the ground in a 3x3 area, killing all plants and zombies there and leaving a footprint that lasts for around seven seconds that cannot be planted on. The Thorns can prevent a stomp and are free, so putting them in the center of your defense will prevent the *Brontosaurus* from attacking. Unlike the other dinosaurs, the *Brontosaurus* does not seem to be affected by Perfume-shroom, likely due to the fact that it can already get rid of zombies by itself.

### Dinosaur Stampede  (Conjectural)  (China only)

A mechanic involving the dinosaurs, when the ambush message "There is a weird scary sound in the jungle" is shown or when a *T. rex* egg is hatched, a few dinosaurs will come stampeding onto the lawn and destroy most of the plants in 3 or more lanes. The only counter to this is the Dinonip's Plant Food effect, which stops them in their tracks, causing them to turn around and run in the opposite direction from the lawn. A shadow of a giant *T. rex* (although a regular one or two appear in the stampede) is shown after the ambush, probably scaring them and make them run. An armed Potato Mine or Primal Potato Mine can be used to stop the stampede if they were triggered.

## Trivia

### General

* The *T. rex*, pterodactyl, and *Brontosaurus* are the only dinosaurs that do not physically throw or push the zombies forward.
* A maximum of three different dinosaurs can appear on the seed selection screen, but more than that can appear in a level at once.
	+ On the seed selection screen, the dinosaurs will appear in the reverse order that they were introduced. The *Ankylosaurus* will always be closest to the top of the screen, followed by the *T. rex*, the pterodactyl, the *Stegosaurus*, and the raptor at the bottom.
* Before leaving Jurassic Marsh, Crazy Dave says "Bye-bye, dinos! You'll be birdies in no time." This references the evolutionary change of the dinosaurs into modern birds.
* If the player times it right, they can infatuate a dinosaur and still have the same exact dinosaur support the zombies before turning against them.
* If a Jurassic Imp, Jurassic Gargantuar, or Jurassic Bully is defeated by a charmed *Stegosaurus* or *T. rex*, it will still have a regular Jurassic Zombie's arm.
* Even though the world is called *Jurassic* Marsh, the dinosaurs in this world all come from different periods of time. Assuming the pterodactyl is actually based on the *Pteranodon*, the *Stegosaurus* and the *Brontosaurus* (in the Chinese version) are the only truly Jurassic animals, whereas all the other dinosaurs come from the Cretaceous epoch.
* Pterodactyl and *T. rex* are the only primitive reptiles to not be featured in *Plants vs. Zombies Heroes*, although the dinosaur skeleton in Hunting Grounds resembles the T-rex's.

### Raptor

* Before the Jurassic Marsh - Part 2 update, a charmed raptor would not always turn to the right, instead facing the direction as it did when charmed. If this happened, it would not kick any more zombies.
* The raptor is voiced by Patrick Gunn, according to the credits.
* It is the only dinosaur in the international version that can enter the lawn directly, while all others stay at the right, or flies.
	+ If it walks on the planklanes on Pirate seas, it will vanish and make a splash.
* The raptors have several paleontological inaccuracies; they do not have any feathers, despite scientific evidence suggesting otherwise, have large, blunt heads with a pair of horn-like protuberances(making it look similar to the head of an *Allosaurus*, a completely different dinosaur), and are as tall as a zombie. They were most likely based on *Deinonychus*, a medium-sized dromeosaurid raptor with an allosaurid-shaped head commonly seen in fiction.
	+ However, since the raptors in-game kick zombies, they are most likely to be based on the *Utaraptor.* The *Utahraptor* is said to have been a powerful kicker, and often used its legs to take down prey in such a way. This resemblance is most-likely unintentional, but apparent nonetheless.

### *Stegosaurus*

* A *Stegosaurus* represents the icon for the Dinos Sore achievement.
* Primal Peashooter's Plant Food effect and Primal Potato Mine's sprites bear a great resemblance to the scales on a *Stegosaurus*.

### Pterodactyl

* Any zombies that are dropped by the pterodactyl after all other zombies are killed will also die like Prospector Zombie, Zombie King, and Fisherman Zombie.
* The pterodactyl is the only dinosaur that does not help zombies move towards the player's house, but rather makes them move away from the player's house.
* Zombies are temporarily immune to damage after the pterodactyl drops them on the left of the lawn.
* It is voiced by Bonnie Amos according to the credits.
* Pterodactyls are not dinosaurs, but rather pterosaurs, a species of flying reptile co-existing within the time of the dinosaurs. However, many people still have this misconception.
* This is the only international dinosaur that does not appear in a stampede.
* Pterodactyls can only carry Jurassic Marsh zombies and will ignore all other zombies, similar to Zombie King whose knighting effect is only valid on the Peasant Zombies in Dark Ages.

### *T. rex*

* The *T. rex* has canine behavioral qualities, similar to Chomper and Guacodile. An actual T. rex would have been too heavy to perform these actions properly.

* PopCap jokingly said on YouTube that *T. rex's* behavior was based on the newest scientific theories about dinosaurs.
* The baby version of it looks completely different than its regular counterpart.
	+ Its hands have three fingers like fictional *Tyrannosaurus* while the adults have the correct number of two.

### *Ankylosaurus*

* The *Ankylosaurus* walks and holds its tail over its head like a scorpion.
	+ In real life, this would have been impossible, as the tail would smash its head. Its tail was positioned straight from the body like most other dinosaurs and was swung from side to side.
	+ During the dinosaur stampede, however, the ankylosaurs that appear in it have their tails positioned correctly.
* There is a glitch where, after all zombies in a level are defeated, any *Ankylosaurus* on screen will continue pushing or flinging with their tails.
* The ***Ankylosaurus's*** club features small spikes. In real life, *Ankylosaurus's* clubs lacked these spikes.
* The Jurassic Marsh Part 2 sneak peek banner in the main menu has a picture of the *Ankylosaurus* and the words: "Objects in game may be larger than they appear!", which is a reference to *Jurassic Park* (specifically, the scene where the *T. rex* approaches a Jeep as shown through the car mirror, which says "Objects in mirror are closer then they appear").
* If an *Ankylosaurus* pushes a normal zombie into a hypnotized one, the hypnotized zombie will be pushed back as if it were a plant.
* Other than Modern Day - Day 34 and Inzanity Epic Quests, the *Ankylosaurus* is the only dinosaur that does not appear in any regular Modern Day levels.

### *Brontosaurus* (China only)

* It is the only dinosaur that cannot be charmed, and also the only one that does not appear "naturally". It is only called by egg spawn or ambush.
* It looks more like a *Brachiosaurus* than a *Brontosaurus* due to the bone arch on its head.
* It was also supposed to appear in the international version of *Plants vs. Zombies 2*, but was replaced by the pterodactyl, and the unused sprite was carried over to the Chinese version.

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