The Swimming Theropod was a semi-aquatic, dromaeosaur-like species of theropod from the Jurassic period.
Characteristics
The Swimming Theropod was physically very similar to the unknown Raptor species commonly encountered by the ARC, but it was all-black and lacked protofeathers. The Theropod also seemed to have more primitive vocalisations and lower intelligence.
The Swimming Theropod was able to swim through seas to a limited extent, enough to move between islands; but it couldn't swim fast, and when in the seas, it was open to attack by larger creatures such as Liopleurodon. The Theropod was also non-fatally vulnerable to electrocution.
Incursions and encounters
Episode 5.2
While swimming in an ocean, a female Swimming Theropod was sucked through an Anomaly into the North Sea in the Present. It landed atop a nearby Nuclear Submarine, and the unconscious Theropod was taken into the submarine by the crew. When the ARC team came aboard, Abby Maitland had Sam Leonard put the unconscious Theropod in the submarine's freezer.
The Theropod is eaten by a Liopleurodon. (Episode 5.2)
The Swimming Theropod later awoke and escaped the freezer, killing Neal and Shaw and stalking the submarine's corridors. Abby and Connor Temple encountered the Theropod in the corridors, and it attacked them. However, Connor was able to knock the creature out by sending an electric current through a puddle that the Theropod ran through. The Theropod was subsequently locked in the submarine's torpedo bay, and was jettisoned out into the Jurassic seas as bait for the Liopleurodon; and in the waters, a Liopleurodon then devoured and killed the Theropod.
Trivia
- The Swimming Theropod's death scene is a reference to a scene in Walking With Dinosaurs, where a Liopleurodon plucked a fishing Eustreptospondylus from the shore.
Misinformation
- Tim Haines said that a two-clawed, swimming, black raptor would appear in "programme ten" (Episode 5.3). The only creature that appeared in that episode was a Raptor similar to the one commonly encountered by the ARC team. He is believed to have been referring to the Swimming Theropod in Episode 5.2.
- Watch's official series summary stated that a Eustreptospondylus would appear in Episode 5.2, though when the previews were released, it strongly resembled a black Raptor, rather than a Eustreptospondylus.
Errors
- It's highly unlikely that the Swimming Theropod could have survived the water pressure when it was pumped out of the submarine, as the creature's lungs should have imploded and killed the creature.
- It is unlikely that a real-life creature could be black and have red eyes at the same time. The latter mutation only naturally occurs in albino animals. However birds can support this false as a few species' pigmentation consists mostly of black with red eyes; it is also possible that Leucism is the cause as many animals (like jaguars and leopards) can experience a color change without their eye color changing.
Behind the scenes
The Swimming Theropod's CGI model is the same as the one used for the Raptor in Episode 5.3.