The Lost World

Dodgson and his henchmen arrive in Costa Rica. He is determined to secure fertilized dinosaur eggs, and he knows that Levine is already on the island. Time is of the essence. Dodgson convinces a local to take them to Isla Serna by boat.

Levine’s team quickly construct the high hide specially designed to provide a clear view of the island’s massive valley. The scaffold is topped by a platform with a small shelter. From that vantage point, Levine can observe the herds of dinosaurs roaming about. He is intent on making careful observations since, for once, he does not have to rely on bones to draw conjectures. Malcolm shares Levine’s enthusiasm: Here, the processes of evolution and extinction cab be observed live.

Malcolm expounds on his theory of extinction as the team puts together the predator cage designed to provide a place for anyone to go should a dinosaur chase them. Species, Malcolm explains, evolve to resist extinction. That balance of change and stasis is responsible for keeping a species alive. But Malcolm is bothered by one thing: Why are the dinosaurs on the island all young? More specifically, what is killing off the older animals?

Dr. Sarah Harding, after flying the red eye from Africa, arrives at the Costa Rican port city. Desperate to get to Isla Sorna, she tries unsuccessfully to hire a boat. A man overhears her plight and tells her that he has hired a boat leaving of Isla Sorna soon and offers her a ride. She accepts. The man introduces himself as Lewis Dodgson.

One of Dodgson’s henchmen ponders why, given his boss’s well-earned reputation for reptilian business practices and his ends-justify-the-means approach to competition, he offers the woman a seat on the boat. Her presence only complicates what is supposed to be a quick egg-grab on the island.

On the boat, Dodgson and Sarah engage in conversation. The water grows increasingly choppy as the boat nears the island. Dodgson asks whether anyone knows that she is in Costa Rica, and she says she did not have time to tell anyone. Reassured, Dodgson waits for the right moment and pushes Sarah over the rail and into the tumbling waves.

Levine watches the dinosaurs with keen attention to their behavioral patterns, particularly the gatherings of raptors, animals he regards as perfect killing machines. Malcolm continues to outline his theory that species were not killed off by environmental changes but rather behavioral changes; species choose things that make them expendable. “What nobody imagines is that the dinosaurs themselves might have changed—not in their bones but in their behaviors,” he says (203). However, Malcolm is distracted and wonders whether Sarah Harding is still coming.

Sarah Harding reaches the surface of the water just in time to gulp air. The surging waves carry her into a cave on the island. She is helpless. When she washes up on shore, she is exhausted and stumbles until she collapses along a stream bed. She can see Dodgson’s boat already tied up down the beach, but she can barely move. She sees a monstrously large footprint in the wet sand and senses a looming shadow behind her before she collapses in exhaustion.

Dodgson’s party arrives on the island and quickly disembarks. They unload the Jeep from the boat—the plan is to be off the island within four hours. Their goal is to use the infrared maps that Dodgson has studied to find hot spots that indicate nests and pilfer as many fertilized eggs as they can store in their plastic containers.

Levine listens to the weird calls from the pterosaurs. Imagining that maybe it is a mating call, he tries to imitate the sound in response.

Malcolm, up in the high hide with Levine, continues thinking aloud about evolution and how that process relates to extinction. What does it benefit a species to adapt when the environment itself is continually changing as well? Central to humanity’s remarkable success in evolving is the tiny size of the brain at birth that maximizes each person’s ability to learn, adapt, and survive their environment.

Levine watches the parasaurs appear to respond to his call. Feeding in a tight herd, they now march away toward the high hide but in single file. Levine is puzzled—such a formation puts each dinosaur at huge risk. As the line passes beneath his observation tower, he knows the only way to investigate is to follow the departing animals. Impulsively, he jumps down and follows them.

When Sarah Harding wakes, she is stunned to realize a stegosaurus is licking her face. She is parched. She drinks from the stream. Seeing a line of dinosaurs approaching, she hustles up a tree. From that perch, she watches the dinosaurs descend on a killed prey in a savage feeding frenzy. The behavior puzzles her. When they have finished, she drops down and starts to walk.

Thorne pulls the Ford Explorer off the road thinking that he heard an engine. He radios Arby and asks him to check the video cameras for any sign of life. While he waits, he sees a woman down the road walking toward them.

Levine follows the dinosaurs until they stop around an enormous pit that smells of raw organic waste. As Levine watches, the parasaurs urinate and defecate into the pit. Compys, bottom feeders who survive on waste, dart about the rim of the pit snacking busily. As Levine watches, Eddie, who volunteered to look for the errant Levine, pulls up in his motorcycle. Disgusted by the stench, he tells Levine it’s time to go home.

Dodgson and his men reach the first nest. The hollow is three feet deep. Dodgson sees three or four eggs. Parent lizards patrol the rim of the nest, but Dodgson does not think they can see him. He edges into the nest and quickly snatches two eggs and puts them into his container.

The team reunites. Arby radios that Sarah Harding has arrived, and everyone except Levine heads to the trailers. Levine stays on the high hide.

The team is back together. Sarah Harding takes a shower; Kelly cannot believe her good fortune. Sarah Harding is her idol. They talk about Kelly’s problems at school, being a girl, and being smart. On one of the monitors, Malcolm sees Dodgson’s Jeep near one of the nests. He knows why he is here.

At the next nest, Dodgson feels a vibration that signals a tyrannosaur is approaching. He is ready—he has brought a portable alarm system that makes a shrill noise which keeps them at bay. It works, and Dodgson secures more eggs. However, Dodgson accidentally disconnects the alarm box from the generator, and the dinosaurs approach to attack.

One tyrannosaur quickly snaps up one of Dodgson’s henchmen. The man is shattered into bloody pieces. Dodgson runs to the Jeep to drive away, but another tyrannosaur blocks the road, and another blocks him from behind. He climbs out and starts to run until a stabbing pain in his head brings him down.

Malcolm cannot decide what to do about Dodgson’s Jeep. It is too dangerous to go back into the jungle, but they must confront Dodgson.

The team cautiously approaches the nest where they believe Dodgson had stolen eggs. They are fascinated by the bird-like baby T. Rexes. Clumsily, Eddie accidentally steps on the fragile leg of one of the smaller creatures. Now it has a broken leg. As they get ready to depart, Sarah tells a guilt-ridden Eddie to destroy it since it won’t survive.

Malcolm is uneasy chasing after Dodgson and his pilfered eggs. Citing the poker logic known as Gambling Ruin, that is the logic of a losing streak, Malcolm darkly believes once things go bad, they tend to stay bad.

Dodgson passed out along the road, his last surviving henchman drives off determined to get to the dock to get on the boat without or without his boss.

The team returns to the trailer. Eddie reveals he could not bring himself to kill the baby T. Rex. He cradles it in his arms.