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. However, unless the Perfume-shroom is imitated, it may take a long time to be able to use it again. All non-charmed dinosaurs will leave after 30 seconds of inactivity.
In the Chinese version, there are eggs that will hatch baby variants of the dinosaurs when destroyed which will call in the adult variant of it to unleash abilities in order to save the baby. There is also an additional dinosaur, the brontosaur, which is called in during the surprise attack or when a baby variant of them hatched from an egg. Another surprise attack called the dinosaur stampede appears in this version as well.
Audio
| Sounds | Description |
|---|---|
| Raptor's noises. | |
| Raptor walking. | |
| Charmed Raptor kick. | |
| Raptor turning. | |
| Raptor kicking. | |
| Stegosaurus roaring. | |
| Stegosaurus yawning. | |
| Stegosaurus walking. | |
| Stegosaurus with a zombie on its tail. | |
| Stegosaurus flipping sides. | |
| Stegosaurus throwing a zombie. | |
| Stegosaurus throwing. | |
| Pterodactyl flying. | |
| Pterodactyl picking up a zombie. | |
| Pterodactyl pecking the ground. | |
| Idle Pterodactyl. | |
| Pterodactyl noises and yawning. | |
| T. Rex entering. | |
| Sounds made when T. Rex enters. | |
| T. Rex roaring. | |
| T. Rex growling. | |
| T. Rex eating. | |
| T. Rex's tail wagging. | |
| Ankylosaurus punching a zombie. | |
| Ankylosaurus entering. | |
| Ankylosaurus pulling its tail back. | |
| Ankylosaurus walking. | |
| Ankylosaurus flinging a zombie. | |
| Ankylosaurus preparing. | |
| Charmed. |
List
| Dinosaur | First appearance | Normal effect | Effect when charmed |
|---|---|---|---|
 Raptor |
Day 2 | Walks around and kicks a zombie up to four tiles forward, but not past the third column. Leaves after kicking five zombies forward. | Kicks a zombie off the lawn. Leaves after kicking five times. |
 Stegosaurus |
Day 6 | Snares up to three zombies with its tail, then flings them to random tiles up to the fourth column, even into other lanes. Leaves the lawn after flinging three times. | Snares up to three zombies with its tail, then smashes it down on the ground, dealing 135 normal damage shots to the three zombies and another 10 normal damage shots to other zombies in the area. Leaves the lawn after smashing three times. |
 Pterodactyl |
Day 9 | Carries a zombie to the last tile (except Imps and Gargantuars), who then walks rightward in a similar manner to Prospector Zombie. Leaves after carrying three zombies to the last tile. | Abducts the Jurassic zombie closest to house (except Jurassic Imps and Jurassic Gargantuars), then drops the victim's head, armor and arm. Leaves after carrying three zombies, including zombies carried before being charmed. |
 T. Rex |
Day 18 | Roars at zombies in its lane causing an increase in speed. The effect stops if there is a plant that blocks said zombie(s) and is paused if they are affected by slowing effects. Turns all backward-facing zombies around. Leaves after roaring. | Chomps on zombies that pass by it, killing them instantly. Leaves after chomping five zombies. |
 Ankylosaurus |
Day 25 | Knocks zombies forward with its tail into the first plant. When the zombie hits the plant, it is pushed with the plants behind it similar to Mecha-Football Zombie. If it hits Infi-nut's barrier, the barrier goes down and the Infi-nut is pushed. Similar to Stegosaurus, it is stationary. If it hits a zombie and there are no plants in the way, the zombie is pushed to the second column. If a plant is placed on the eighth or ninth columns, Ankylosaurus pushes it forward, even if there are no zombies nearby. If a plant is on the leftmost column, it will be pushed off the lawn. Leaves after it knocks a certain amount of zombies in total. | Similar to Stegosaurus, it waits for upcoming zombies. If zombies go past enough, all zombies on and behind its tail are tossed off-screen, killing them instantly. Leaves after it tosses a certain amount of zombies in total. |
 Brontosaurus (China only) |
Day 12 | Lands a stampede with its giant foot in a 3x3 area, killing all plants and zombies there and leaves a footprint that lasts for around 7 seconds that cannot be planted on. | Cannot be charmed. |
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 stegosauruses flinging zombies to the third column. Pterodactyls are dealt with Chard Guard, and defensive plants and ice plants can stop T. Rexes. However, the ankylosaurus can cause some trouble. To "counter" this, 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 dinosaur can move around its lane kicking zombies up to the 3rd column. However, without using the Perfume-shroom, this can actually be used as an advantage with Blover or Hurrikale as the kicked zombies are temporally in the air before landing. Primal Peashooters are also an ideal choice as they can push zombies back a few tiles though this requires on luck. If things get rough, Chard Guard and Celery Stalker will help defeat the zombies.
When charmed, they are extremely useful against Gargantuars 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 flings not just one, but at least three zombies. However, unlike other dinosaurs, the stegosaurus can only fling zombies from a certain position, making this zombie easier to deal with. High health plants (such as Endurian) can be used to effectively stall zombies before they reach 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 Raptor. Instant kills also work as long as they are not in the process of getting flung as when the zombies are about to be flung, as they are invincible for that time.
Pterodactyl
When the player sees this "dinosaur", 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. 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. Shrinking Violet can shrink the zombies enough so this dinosaur won't be able to grab them which makes the Shrinking Violet 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 is not counted as airborne, so Blover and Hurrikale are useless. If called by a baby one in the Chinese version, it will peck onto the plant there and kill 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 that it cannot shoot backward.
However, you don't need to charm it in the beginning of the round where you still don't have defense, especially in the Chinese Version.
T. Rex
When you see this dinosaur, kill off all the Jurassic Zombies as this dinosaur will slowly boost their speed. Zombies boosted by 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, and Winter Melon should be considered in levels with T. Rex. Sap-fling will perform poorly however, as its pinecone takes a while to travel and cannot consistently hit the sped up zombies. Keep in mind that if Hurrikale is used and the chilling effect wears off the zombies will still retain their speed. This is true of the chilling effect in general. 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 or Jurassic Bully is carried by a pterodactyl directly prior to the T. Rex roaring. Also, if a T. Rex roars at the same time zombies eat a defensive plant in the same lane, they will not lose their speed and will continue to eat the defensive plant very fast 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. T. Rex is extremely 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 game.
Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus possesses the most dangerous ability. This dinosaur is especially dangerous when they fling a Jurassic Bully, Jurassic Fossilhead, or a Jurassic Gargantuar 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 player should also know that ankylosauruses will not get charmed while they are 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 its hides. This only works if Cactus is out of the ground, not hiding. If it is in the ground, the zombie will be launched normally. 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 does not knock back plants, thus applying plant food to Iceberg Lettuce or Cold Snapdragon is a viable option.
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. Chard Guards and Spring Beans are also useless as these plants will be pushed before they can fling or bounce back any zombie.
Brontosaurus (China only)
The brontosaurus is unique to the Chinese version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 which 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 leaves a footprint that lasts for around 7 seconds that cannot be planted on. The Cowardly Thorns can prevent one stomp and is free, so put them in the center of your defense will prevent it from attacking. Unlike the other dinosaurs, the Brontosaurus does not seem to be affected by Perfume-shroom.
Dinosaur Stampede Template:ConjecturalHeader (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 Dinosaur Roar Grass Plant Food effect, which frightens them away the lawn. A shadow of a giant T. Rex is shown after the ambush, probably scaring them and make them run.
Gallery
Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Dinosaur.
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Trivia
General
- Among the prehistoric reptiles shown in Jurassic Marsh, the pterodactyls (being a genus of pterosaurs) are the only ones that are not scientifically classified as dinosaurs.
- Zombies that are kicked by raptors or thrown by stegosauruses can be blown away by Blover or Hurrikale if it is timed precisely.
- Zombies that are in the stegosaurus' tail or carried by pterodactyls are immune to damage, with the exception of instant kills.
- Dinosaurs and octopi thrown by Octo Zombies are the only environmental modifiers that are living creatures.
- Raptors and pterodactyls can miss zombies when they kick them or grab them respectively, either when the zombie dies early or is moved around.
- T. Rex and pterodactyl are the only dinosaurs that do not throw or push the zombies forward.
- A maximum of three dinosaur species can appear on the seed selection screen, but more than that can appear in a level at once.
- The game will show the dinosaurs in the reverse order that they were introduced: ankylosaurus, T. Rex, pterodactyl, stegosaurus, raptor.
- All five species of dinosaurs appear in the Zombot Dinotronic Mechasaur battle, however, at different points of the battle.
- Phase one summons raptors and stegosauruses, Phase two summons pterodactyls, and phase three summons T. Rexes and ankylosauruses.
- By Day 15, an asteroid (the note) was found, and Penny believed that it was the meteor that killed the dinosaurs, but shrunk. However, by Day 32, she detects an incoming meteor, meaning that her earlier speculation was wrong.
- 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 Zombie arm.
- Even though the world is called Jurassic Marsh, there are raptors, T. Rexes and ankylosauruses present. In real life, these dinosaurs are believed to have lived during the Cretaceous period.
- For some reason, all dinosaurs except pterodactyl walk through plants, including defensive plants like Wall-nut.
- T-Rex is the only dinosaur that uses its ability only once before leaving (unless charmed).
Raptor
- Raptors can trample flowers without making the player lose the level.
- This is most likely because the goal or objective specifies that only zombies should not trample the flowers, and dinosaurs are not classified as zombies.
- 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 happens, it will not kick any more zombies, becoming useless; nonetheless, the threat they posed would be neutralized.
- Raptors are the only dinosaurs that move. The rest of the dinosaurs stay at the right side of the screen.
- However, raptors will stop moving if charmed by Perfume-shroom.
- The raptor is voiced by Patrick Gunn, according to the credits.
- For unknown reasons, raptors do not have any feathers, despite scientific evidence suggesting otherwise.
- Also, raptors were not blue. Instead, they were usually green.
Stegosaurus
- Despite the world being named Jurassic Marsh, stegosaurus is one of the two dinosaurs that actually existed during the Jurassic period, along with the pterodactyl (pterosaurs). The other dinosaurs existed in the Cretaceous period.
- In the Chinese version, when the Dinosaur Stampede occurs you can see the whole body of the stegosaurus. The same happens with the T-Rex and the anklyosaurus.
- This is the only time in which the dinosaurs' full bodies are visible.
Pterodactyl
- A charmed pterodactyl will only drop the head, arm, and armor of the zombie it abducts.
- Any zombies that are dropped by pterodactyl after all other zombies are killed will also die like Prospector Zombie, Zombie King, and Fisherman Zombie.
- Pterodactyl is the only dinosaur that does not help zombies get to the player's house, but rather makes them move away from the player's house.
- Zombies are immune to damage right after Pterodactyl drops them on the left.
- It is voiced by Bonnie Amos according to the credits.
- In real life, pterodactyls are not classified as dinosaurs, but rather pterosaurs, a species of flying reptile that lived alongside the dinosaurs.
- This is the only dinosaur that does not appear in a stampede.
- Pterodactyls can only carry Jurassic Marsh Zombies.
T. Rex
PopCap talks about T. Rex
- PopCap jokingly said on YouTube that T. Rex's behavior was based on the newest scientific theories about dinosaurs.
- Zombies under the slowing effects will receive a speed boost from the T. Rex once the slowing effect wears off.
- The baby version of it looks a lot different then its regular counterpart.
- It might not even be the same dinosaur, as the shadow of the large dinosaur chasing the other dinosaurs during the dinosaur stampede is much bigger than the T. Rex.
Ankylosaurus
- Ankylosaurus is the only dinosaur that can affect both plants and zombies.
- However, in the Chinese version, brontosaurus can also affect both plants and zombies.
- Ankylosaurus walks and holds its tail over its head like a scorpion.
- There is a glitch where after all zombies in a level are defeated, any ankylosauruses on screen will continue pushing or flinging with their tails, despite all zombies being neutralized.
- 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.
Brontosaurus (China only)
- It is the only Chinese-exclusive dinosaur.
- It is the only dinosaur that cannot be charmed, and also the only one that does not appear "naturally" (only called by egg spawn or ambush).
- It is also the only dinosaur whose adult full body is never shown.
- It looks more like a Brachiosaurus than a Brontosaurus due to the bone arch on its head.