Continuity mistake: At the site of the T-Rex attack, Ellie and Muldoon help the injured Dr. Malcolm into the back of the Jeep, before Ellie goes looking for the other Explorer. Muldoon hears the T-Rex approaching and shouts "Ellie, come on!" but Ellie spots the Explorer over the wall and (in the next shot) she and Muldoon (heard but unseen except for his torch beam) have left Dr. Malcolm alone, somehow descended the high wall, and are running up to the wrecked Explorer. There is no implied time gap between the shots as they could hear the T-Rex was approaching before they did (or did not) descend the wall and later the T-Rex is almost at the Jeep (now in a different location) and Dr. Malcolm is urgently calling them back.
Continuity mistake: When the dinosaur comes up to Allen and the kids in the tree, we see various footage of the dinosaur's head, but in those shots there is a much larger amount of foliage around and on the tree than there was before. (01:24:55)
Continuity mistake: In the scene just after the T-Rex snorts Dr Grant's hat off you can see him and Lex with their backs almost right against the overturned Ford Explorer. The T-Rex then butts upside down vehicle causing it to spin, only now, they have nearly a 3 foot head start. (01:05:35)
Revealing mistake: In the shot immediately following Ellie turning on the circuit breakers when the raptor attacks her, we see a light bulb touching its head. There is smoke appearing where the bulb is in contact with the raptors head, the power has been off for a while the bulb would not be that hot after being on for just a few seconds. (01:39:35)
Revealing mistake: When the Explorers are entering the park through the large wooden gate, during the overhead angle you can see that the perimeter fence isn't continuous. (00:40:00)
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 the T-Rex first breaks out of her paddock, she walks between the two Explorers which look to be only a short distance apart- maybe one or two T-Rex-steps between them. But later when the T-Rex is by Grant's Explorer and walks to the one with the kids in it (when Grant is saying "Turn the light off") she has to take about five steps to get there. (01:01:25)
Continuity mistake: When Tim is up the fence Grant starts counting for him. When he starts to count, Lex and him are next to the fence. In the next shot, Lex and him are much further away from the fence. (01:38:55)
Continuity mistake: Right before Lex and Tim scream when the T-Rex roars at them Lex is holding a flashlight, in the first shot you can see that Lex is staying completely still with the flashlight facing towards the driver seat but in the next shot you can see that it is pointing out the passenger side window. (01:05:00)
Deliberate mistake: In the scene where the T-Rex is chasing the Explorer, there is a shot of the driver's side side view mirror which says, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." This warning is only used on convex mirrors, which are only placed on the passenger side of cars. (01:17:40)
Continuity mistake: When the T-rex is attacking the kids in the car, in the shot where it stands on top of the car, the metal begins to buckle in the next shot inside the car. When it starts to sink, the metal isn't buckled and you can see the car sinking into the mud pit.
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: When Jeff Goldblum is sitting in the back of the car by himself and notices that a T-Rex is coming towards him. The wide shot of him shows that the car he is in is near one of the cars for the tour. But when the T-Rex comes and they drive off, the car has been moved to an alternate route for the escape, and they are nowhere near the area they should be. (01:16:50)
Continuity mistake: When the camera zooms in on Dr. Grant helping Lex out of the crushed Explorer one of the hood level fog lights is missing (both should be missing considering the Rex stepped on the hood earlier), but they are both intact in the following scenes. (01:05:10)
Continuity mistake: Ellie, Muldoon & Dr. Malcolm are accelerating away from the T-Rex after having found the other Explorer. Just after Muldoon shouts "Bloody move!" and is looking at the gear stick, the shot changes and he is suddenly looking over his shoulder. (01:17:45)
Continuity mistake: Just after Timmy puts the goggles on and climbs into the back with Lex she says, "don't scare me" and turns to face him as he crawls into the boot. In the next shot she is immediately facing in completely the opposite direction, looking through the window. This is just before Timmy says, "oh cool, night vision". (00:58:35)
Continuity mistake: We see Dr. Grant helping Tim out of the car that has just fallen into the tree, then suddenly, they are about 5 feet under the car though the dialogue and split second cut suggest that they had merely just gotten out of the car and had not yet began their descent. (01:13:40)
Revealing mistake: The T-rex does not leave or make any footprints in the soft mud during the attack on the car.
Continuity mistake: When Timmy hears the T-Rex stomping and takes off the night vision goggles, his hair in back comes up. In the next shot, his hair is down again. (00:59:15)
Factual error: The way the car "slides" down the tree as Grant and Tim are climbing down is very unrealistic. Rather than hugging the trunk like it does, the branches (some of which are thick enough) would deflect it away from the trunk. (01:13:30 - 01:15:00)
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 ★