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 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 brontosaurus, 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.

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 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 luck. If things get rough, Chard Guard and Celery Stalker will help defeat the zombies.

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 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 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 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, Missile Toe, 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, 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 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 level.

Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus possesses the most dangerous ability. This dinosaur is especially dangerous when they fling 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 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
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
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, causing them to turn around and run in the opposite direction from the lawn. A shadow of a giant T. Rex is shown after the ambush, probably scaring them and make them run. An armed Potato Mine or Primal Potato Mine can be sacrificed to protect your defense, because the Stampede activate the Potato Mine but do not harm the plants behind.

General

 * 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.
 * 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, there are raptors, T. Rexes and ankylosauruses present. In real life, these dinosaurs are believed to have lived during the Cretaceous period.
 * Pterodactyls and brontosauruses have been seen carrying their babies, confirming their genders being females.

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 happens, it will not kick any more zombies, becoming useless; nonetheless, the threat they posed would be neutralized.
 * 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, the raptors usually had narrower heads, while the one of the game's raptor was wider and featured two horn-like protuberances, making it to look like the head of an Allosaurus.

Stegosaurus

 * Despite the world being named Jurassic Marsh, stegosaurus is the only dinosaur that actually existed during the Jurassic period

Pterodactyl

 * Any zombies that are dropped by pterodactyl after all other zombies are killed will also die like Prospector Zombie, Zombie King, 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.
 * Despite being called pterodactyls, their design is clearly based on another pterosaur: the Pteranodon, which lived during the Cretaceous period.

T. Rex

 * T. Rex has canine behavioral qualities, similar to Chomper and Guacodile.
 * 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 completely different than its regular counterpart.

Ankylosaurus

 * Ankylosaurus walks and holds its tail over its head like a scorpion.
 * In real life, this would have been impossible to do for it without the mace falling and crushing the ankylosaurus's head. Their tails are positioned straight from the body like most other dinosaurs and are swung from side to side.
 * During the dinosaur stampede however, the ankylosauruses that appear in it have their tails positioned correctly.
 * 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 Ankylosaurus' mace features small spikes. In real life, ankylosauruses 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 part where the T. rex was shown approaching the Jeep as shown through the car mirror, which says “Objects in mirror are closer then they appear”).
 * If the Ankylosaurus pushes a normal zombie into a hypnotized zombie, the hypnotized zombie will be pushed back as if it were a plant

Brontosaurus
Динозавры и птерозавры Jurassisches Moor __NOWYSIWYG__
 * 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 looks more like a Brachiosaurus than a Brontosaurus due to the bone arch on its head.