Continuity mistake: When the gas jeeps stop for the first time they are in sunlight away from trees. At the end of the scene they are in the shade by some trees, despite them not moving in the scene. If you watch closely when Hammond tells them to stop they are in a massive patch of sunlight as shown with Dr Grant standing up. (00:21:05)
Continuity mistake: When we first meet the dinosaurs Alan is sitting in front of a lake. Ellie is standing right in front of him. After the cut Ellie comes to Alan from behind and puts her hands on his shoulders. (00:21:25)
Continuity mistake: When the baby dinosaur is born, one minute the robotic hand is there behind the egg as it's hatching, then in the reverse angle the hand's suddenly disappeared. (00:27:30)
Continuity mistake: When the baby Dinosaur is hatching, her arm comes out but in the very next shot it's her head that is coming out. (00:27:30)
Continuity mistake: When the baby dinosaur is breaking the egg, the eggshell is almost open on one shot, and starting to break with a different shape, in the next shot. (00:27:35)
Continuity mistake: When the egg is opening, the leaves underneath change from dry and crushed to big and green between shots. (00:27:35)
Continuity mistake: In the scene from behind Dr. Grant we can see the cow being lifted straight up. You can see that the cow is rather close to Dr. Grant. Then the scene cuts and the cow is already in the middle of the top of the Velociraptor paddock. Judging from the distance between Dr. Grant and the paddock from the previous wide-shot, and the fact that Dr. Grant made no big moves, the crane couldn't pass that distance between the two shots. (00:27:35)
Continuity mistake: When the group are at the velociraptor paddock Hammond says "And that's why we're taking extreme precautions". Dr. Malcolm's head changes from looking sideways to being tilted down a lot more. Also Hammond starts to turn and then turns again in the following shot. (00:31:50)
Continuity mistake: Just after Gennaro suggests a coupon day at Lunch the camera goes to Hammond then back to Gennaro.In the change from Hammond back to Gennaro,Malcolm's head changes directions from facing left to right. (00:33:20)
Continuity mistake: Before the vehicles leave the compound Lex says to Grant, "She said I should ride with you cuz it'll be good for you." In this shot, Ellie's door on the second car is open with Malcolm talking to her. In the next close-up shot of her, the door is closed with Malcolm gone. (00:38:40)
Continuity mistake: When Hammond watches the vehicles leaving the visitor center the first car is passed the main steps. In the next shot of the car, they are just moving past the steps. (00:39:30)
Continuity mistake: When the cars are approaching the gates of Jurassic Park, there is an interior shot of the second car over Ellie's shoulder. In the car's rear-view mirror, there's nobody in the back seat. (00:41:35)
Continuity mistake: When the TRex proves to be a no show, the windows of the Ford Explorers are clear. When Jeff Goldblum moves away from his window, the window is spotted with rain drops. (00:44:30)
Continuity mistake: When Ian uses water to explain chaos theory to Ellie he drops the first water droplet on Ellie's hand and she immediately begins to tilt her head to the left to follow it. The very next shot shows Ellie's head has turned to the right. (00:47:40)
Continuity mistake: As Dr. Settler is examining the triceratops, her left hand is very close to the dinosaur's left eye. After the cut, her left hand is nowhere near the dinosaur's eye. (00:48:00)
Continuity mistake: While they're in Explorer 5, when Ian shows Ellie an example of "unpredictability" her watch reads 5:00, then when Ellie examines the Triceratops' tongue her watch has sped forward and reads approximately 6:05, and a moment later when Dr. Harding hands Ellie the flashlight her watch has run backwards, and now reads approx 5:40. (00:50:40)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the scene with the sick Triceratops, just after Dr. Harding says, "I'm in a gas powered jeep", Dr. Malcolm's hands move from on his hips to on his chest, whilst Dr. Grant's hands move from behind his back to in front of him in the next shot. (00:51:40)
Continuity mistake: When Grant and Malcolm's car suddenly "just stops" you can see outside that they are in a thick dense jungle area. A few minutes later, the two parked cars are in a wide open area next to the T-Rex fence. (00:55:20 - 00:58:10)
Continuity mistake: When Nedry opens the first gate, the big one that the explorers entered, the jeep he is driving has a long, thin antenna on it that is waving about, and is standing up straight. At the next gate, it is tied down, and looks semicircular. Nedry wouldn't have spent time tying it down since he had to get to the docks. (00:56:00)
Continuity mistake: In an early scene, Samuel L Jackson's character is struggling to get the computers up, and he is smoking away. A full cigarette, then half, then full, all without lighting a new smoke. (00:56:25)
Answer: They are not paleontologists, just people interested in dinosaurs. It is common for museums and other scientific organizations to offer the general public an opportunity to participate in a real paleontology dig. For a fee, they become an exhibition team member for a period of time, learn about dinosaurs, help excavate fossils, and so on. This is likely how Dr. Grant (or his institution) supplements his research funding.
raywest ★