Vernal Express | 1950-12-21 | Page 3 | Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs Section

s rise nise and fall of the th e dinosaurs an allegory of prehistoric monsters in three acts an allegory in ahr three acts lIlle krupl Un lermann museum technician utah I 1 field hausa of natural history prologue A age ago long before your time e and slid mine liven even before there were apy any human beings there were many odd types ai of life upon the earth countless groups of animals had gone through many stages of change before they finally reached what we call the modem forms such ax as the biow cow the horse the dog the cat the camel the monkey the binds birds and all ithe rest which are familiar fam lilar to us today some of these groups like the strange uinta beast a somewhat elephant like mall mammal unal with horns instead of trunk be came extinct along tee the way without leaving any descend dantsi others like the mastodon I 1 also became extinct but left descendants that gave rise to modern types such as the elephant ahm many y of them had begun as email for forms no larger than a fox ox of which aich the t three toed t d h horse and early camel are exl amples and as the ages ageg passed they established themselves firmly in their various environments developing into large and often bizarre creatures yes that was long before the time of man one of these prehistoric animal groups belonged to the order of reptiles it was the dinosaurs an assemblage assemble ge of animals thai that surpassed any other for size and oddity and except for W types ws like the starfish arlish st and turtle for their length of time on earth they ab appeared at the beginning be 19 1 9 of the e triassic period about 9 million years ago as small two footed carnivores carn ivores and soon geologically speaking they became the do dominate minitte type of life their reign lasted for million years their remains have been found fo on every continent hg A age of reptiles there were e hundred of varieties come some which walked on an 2 legs others on four some ate the flesh of their neighbors others ate the plants ants of swamp or upland and an d still 11 others omnivorous ate whatever presented itsek insect fish ess egg or leaf general aphea appearance rance varied greatly with some four footed forms possessing short front legs and long bind hind ones like diplodocus and brontosaurus while othera others had long front legs and short hind ones like some giant bipedal ones had hugo hind legs and tiny almost useless front on oneal our ur most formidable t flesh eaters alloca arua and T tyrannosaurus still others like omnivorous in their eating habits were web fooled footed swimmers lers many had fancy tancy headdress and heads themselves ranged in size from a few inches in length stegosaurus to 6 feet f tyrannosaurus teeth varied from a few pegs or chisels to many of sabres fabres of all sizes with new teeth always ready to take the place of their broken and worn out predecessors decess ors in some dinosaurs horns adorned either elther head trie 1 ero tops or tall stegosaurus such was the strange assortment of beasts that swarmed the land surface during mesozoic tune time the era of middle life while some of the reptile cousins soared through the air and others were powerful swimmers that fished the seas let us go back to the beginning of this age and permit t the i dinosaurs to speak for themselves acal act I 1 triassic Tri assle period million to 10 million tan years ago an argument ensues between some ancient reptiles near a lake shore turtle to Coel ophy sis see lo fy els a kangaroo sized flesh eating dinosaur I 1 seen you before who ar are eyou you dinosaur tm a dinosaur my afy anc antory estory goei goes back to the the ancestor of ot the cl st no doubt more than you C can bo boast turtle never heard of jern cm cant be very important por tant im rm A direct descendant of the Cotylo saurs the ancestors 2 of ALL reptile reptiles they appeared d way back in permian Y ilme e before you dinosaur dinosaurs were even thought of dinosaur and so wonderful about that you might think youre old and wife wise but never gel get out of your shell youre tuck stuck in a rut and no matter how many va illions of year years you turtles exl never change it roll jou be plodding along your brains en u casad ax as veil well as your body not so with us dinos dinosaurs aural grandfather is small tout but farseeing and po 0 o Is my uncle live on other continents but they nay say we dinosaurs are destined to so place we are lait on our hind legi legs and a pro gros sive outlook we have the nit making of a fine racel noel 1 turtle ue you are d destined for some sonic ell end ell an r running yourself 1 aft I 1 my catching ca tg and devouring louring all the eh armless hann a leec reptiles I 1 that you do and an d chos talking about bravest no dinosaur 11 has been accused of being overburdened with them that tito ive ever eva heard of lmh an early crocoll dile alke reptile sunning himself near the edge of the lake like slither slithers into the water giving it a loud slap SW with his tall tail in ln terru ut pt AuK the heated discoe ion lon Hey wp itsou atwol what a ION lo 10 f about ut nothing therea no for or ag any of ui us taur to be boty after all we were re an cud tiles with the thel raffle pame and bave a lota locq 41 je ACU I 1 jungle period auroa an to alidon L A conversation take place ce among boxe tome fo tour tooted te d her sk aa lizard footed tooted brontosaurus u Diploid oco and cama r n and other animal an near fee 0 edge of a urge larse swamp into 3 which emphes a meandering meanda ing tream stream vegetation a luxuriant with cycad palmettos tos tree tern and other omer plants 1 there thao are asyet ai yet no true flower flowers or J co continued nt inked oa on page 0 0 8 RISE AND FALL OF DINOSAURS gras time million years an 1 3 Bront maurus hearing 1 roar roars Ll steril louder roars sound like in the dist distance anee I 1 hope he scent cd ed in diplodocus t if that roar gets much closer coser wed bettor better make for th the swamp right wont follow us into the water but I 1 bc believe lieve wed b better et t er start now or he will cagily overtake us dr 0 aurtis here comes so crale era cra ehg lh through the jungle its not big enough for Alloa urus though diplodocus itt its coming closer and closer sounds like it Is headed for that open space down by the river raising and lowering his long neck and small head 1 I sec see it now its little laosa u rus look book at him r run 0 on n those thos hind legs of hll hist imagine our four posters trying to move that fasti he lie I 1 sn t running jint jut for fun life I 1 Is a full of surprises today or tomorrow you may from desperation be driven into the quicksand or escaping that you may drown trying lo 10 swim or worse yet may be eaten al alive ve im g going 0 ln to the he bomp swamp are you coming brontosaurus tr trying to hurry but not succeeding oh dcarl dearl wish I 1 so 0 o awkward all three dinosaurs lumber along and the water splashes with a thud as the massive r reptiles throw their great bulks in into 10 it diplodocus puffing pul ng and extending his great tides sides well now were safe and just in time can you hear that thundering the fellow with the huge laws jaws and teeth Is after lao and Is like hes gaining on him they hear bear screams ac oh oh poor Lao wonder which one of us will be next a small carnivorous bipedal dinosaur but what can you u expect from a bunch of 00 old four tooted footed heavy weights ukle like yourselves you had to be different you our two footed ancestors anc estora good enough tor for you so youve degenerated into gigantic over specialized hulks and where apes it get et you all you cando can do is lumber around living in fear brontosaurus coining coming out of the water and lashing out at with his long tall doni be so diere ful how can you change the pattern mother nature has nas cut out for you we W cant all be flesh eaters of nimble litter jitter bugs if there some vegetarians et what would you flesh eaters live upon most of you live upon vegetarians that how mother nature keeps a balance its irs all a big struggle to survive and reproduce our kind and those most fit to carry on the I 1 struggle arc are the ones who come out the victor that improve improves the race but sometime sometimes the struggle toward a certain goal boomerang boomerangs and makes freak freaks of nf lit u something happens with in in us and we become giants of ten covered with horns or spines or we m may even become runts I 1 like ike you ml jurassic Juras lc bird to self too much prosperity has ha made them its reassuring to be able to take flight limited as it la Is when the earth trembles with de destruction my ance ancestor were also reptiles and I 1 still have reptile feet and teeth but fr feathers athers on my wings and tall 11 plure nite me in a different clao clail ander what my descendants will be like ACT III cretaceous period million to GO 60 million yan years ago A scene in a gray morning 03 65 million years ago in a small swamp dinosaur to gelf self dear mel mei its getting hard to find a swamp large enough to drink from much less to forage in the hying flying reptiles say there fi Is more water to the cast east and many animals can be seen traveling that way wish I 1 ra large and clumsy id try to follow some of the smaller dinosaurs that arc are going it Is getling ling too cold and dry to suit any of us here tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaur ua rex tex great grandfather T R used to mention ti the legends legend that told of warm climates and abundant food once ejoy enjoyed edby by our early ancestors and his relatives la but things are not nol the fame same as they used to be even in my own time much less in the time of my great grandfather in our younger daya days we were the mapy bosl powerful and ferocious animals in all the world but I 1 know now that we are A ping I 1 and this morning I 1 wonder if im not getting arthritis in my aching bones others have mentioned it also or maybe the i rickets the climate is certainly cooler and often you can hear those rumblings gs that seem to shake the very earth sometimes in the distance you can see fire 1 shooting from the newly formed mountains and the air is always i filled with dust have you noticed also that many of the plants are there even enouf enough sunshine to permit normal growth im hungry too wish that old long tailed would come out of hiding tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaur rex tex say can I 1 believe my ebest here comes old three hornal triceratops hell make a meal meat tor for both of us there goes that rumble again and look over at the far peak rocks are being h hurled led up out of the earth along with fire and smoke and that a queer smell burns your throat look look behind youl those smoking rocks will bury bury you alovel very loud some time elapses small mammal to self peeking out of hole brevity Is the soul of wit they say and im glad im abbreviated id rather have brains than brawn any day what freedom there is in being small and able to dart up a tree or escape into a hole in the ground warm blood keeps me active and comfortable while I 1 watch those enormous dinosaurs shiver on cold days like this what they would give to have a fur coat like mine or noise and rumbling groans then silence be able to seek shelter underground those huge dead bodies are a common sight these days and the stench Is almost more than I 1 can bear sometimes I 1 doubt there is even enough sunshine to hatch their eggs which the wind so often uncovers in the sand making them easier for us mammals to find II 11 every thing keeps going against the dinosaurs the way it is they wont last much longer then we mammals will come into our own no longer will we have to cringe and hide in order to sur vive I 1 see a new day dawning i what the little mammal pro 1 is exactly what came to pass for with their greater adaptability due to better brains warm blood fur coats and the production of their young alive instead of by laying eggs they have indeed become the new rulers of the worldly