Fact check: False claim video shows living dinosaurs in China

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY

March 10, 2023 at 12:51 AM·3 min read

The claim: Video shows dinosaurs cloned in China

A Feb. 28 Facebook video shows what appears to be small dinosaurs being held and touched by humans.

"China 1st it was coronavirus now they're cloning dinosaurs," reads on-screen text featured in the video (direct link, archive link).

A narrator claims information about the dinosaurs was "leaked" by an anonymous source in China.

"The source reported that scientists were using DNA and tissue remains of an actual dinosaur, and making its clone copies," says the narrator. "Once the leak got mainstream, Chinese authorities refused to comment on the leak."

The Facebook video, which originated on TikTok, was shared more than 300 times in less than two weeks.

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Our rating: False

The dinosaurs shown in the video are animatronic puppets associated with the Jurassic Park and the Jurassic World film franchises. Rather than being "leaked" secrets, the puppets can be seen online or at public attractions.

Dinosaurs in video are puppets

The first dinosaur in the clip appears to be a species of Triceratops. Human hands can be seen caressing the dinosaur as it lies on a white platform partially covered by a blanket.

This creature is actually an animatronic puppet that is part of the Jurassic Park Dinosaur Meet & Greet attraction at Universal Studios Japan. An illustration of the dinosaur can be seen on the attraction's webpage.

A video showing the same dinosaur being presented to a crowd along with other animatronic dinosaurs was uploaded to YouTube in 2020. The video is titled "My friend dinosaur Jurassic World Jurassic Park Universal Studios Japan."

A Tyrannosaurus rex skull excavated from Harding County, South Dakota, in 2020-2021, is on display at Sotheby's in New York City on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. When auctioned in December, the auction house expects the dinosaur skull to sell for $15 to $25 million. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

The video is shot in front of the Discovery Restaurant located at the park. Theme music from the Jurassic Park film franchise can be heard playing in the background at different times in the video.

Universal Studios Hollywood has a similar animatronic dinosaur attraction.

Fact check: Photo of decomposing dinosaur from German museum, not US forest

The second dinosaur in the Facebook video appears to be a Parasaurolophus and is shown being held by an individual in a lab coat.

An iteration of the clip was shared on Twitter by the Jurassic Park fan account @JurassicOutpost in 2020 with a caption that states the creature is part of "Jurassic World the Exhibition."

The same animal can also be seen in a different clip on Alibaba, where it is purportedly for sale as a "hand control baby dinosaur parasaurolophus puppet." In this clip, a person in a lab coat is shown holding the dinosaur behind a barrier that says "Jurassic World The Movie Exhibition."

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the post for comment. Universal Studios and Jurassic World The Exhibition did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The video was also debunked by Lead Stories and Check Your Fact.

Our fact-check sources:

Universal Studios Japan, accessed March 6, Jurassic Park Dinosaur Meet & Greet
Universal Studios Japan, accessed March 6, Discovery Restaurant
Universal Studios Japan, accessed March 6, Jurassic Park
M Hide (YouTube), Nov. 20, 2020, My friend dinosaur Jurassic World Jurassic Park Universal Studios Japan
TheDailyWoo (YouTube), July 3, 2019, NEW Jurassic World Raptor Encounter Opens - Universal Studios Hollywood Triceratops & Baby Dinosaur
Jurassic Outpost, Sept. 24, 2020, Tweet (archive)
IMDb, accessed March 6, All Jurassic Park Movies
Alibaba.com, accessed March 7, Hand control baby dinosaur parasaurolophus puppet (archive)
Jurassic World the Exhibition, accessed March 7, Home page
Lead Stories, March 3, Fact check: Video does not show China has cloned dinosaurs -- these are animatronic theme-park attractions
Check Your Fact, Oct. 9, 2020, Fact check: Does this video show the first cloned dinosaur in China?

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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Dinos from Jurassic Park franchise, not Chinese clones

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The claim: Video shows dinosaurs cloned in China

Our rating: False

Dinosaurs in video are puppets

Our fact-check sources:

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