It was emblematic of just how dumb the writing on that movie was. In most films characters even scientist say and do dumb things for plot convenience but in Prometheus the guy in charge of mapping, who had literal mapping drones to assist him, got lost. The biologist who should understand animal behavior the best in the group could not tell strange creature was acting aggressive and tried to touch it etc etc.
That is not just characters acting dumb, it is uno reverso characters.... they behave the exact opposite of how they should. That is the most extreme of stupid writing at work. While I love Prometheus (for visuals, production design etc) I definitely agree it has some of the dumbest writing seen in film all while pretending it is intellectual and profound...