Show Dinosaurs Were Wre and Dumb 1 Huge Beasts Beasts Lived In This Area Ana Millions Of Years Ago go By 67 G E The dinosaurs of northeastern Utah lived in the Uintah Basin years years ago during the age of reptiles Mesozoic Time Their fossil remains are found In Morrison formation M today the of elf upper Jurassic age It must be clearly understood that the fossil dinosaur bones found in inthe inthe the Morrison do not represent the extinction of dinosaurs as a arace race These fossils merely merely represent eJr sent individuals i which hr died dur dur- g during ing that period and were preserved preserved ed because of a favorable set of ot circumstances Dinosaurs as a arace arace race continued to survive for an an- an another another other years after the Uintah Basin a fossils fossils were deposit deposit- tl ad i in th tha the sands of f nw an ancient Jur- Jur Jurassic river At the time the dinosaurs flourished in this area the cli cli- climate climate mate was tropical sub-tropical with set level swamps lakes lagoons and sluggish streams making an ani ideal i eal environment for these cold cold- blooded reptiles which were present in vast numbers Al Al- Although though the dinosaurs were the most successful form of life na na- nature ture had ever produced having O C 1 been the dominant life form for more millions of years than any other animals to inhabit the earth they too have suffered ex- ex extinction ex Why should this great race great in size size numbers and time ot of world dominance have be come extinct If nature can ad ad- ad advise vise a form of life which can endure for more than years what happens to toe bring about its final extinction e The dinosaurs were the vie vic tims tuns of a combination of circum circum- circumstances stances which in a geological sense sense came upon them all at ne time At the close of Creta Creta- Cretaceous Cretaceous time years ago when the the the Wasatch mountains mounta mountains ns and many of the major ranges of toda today were formed there was a world work worldwide wide elevation of the land the western American phase being known as the lion tion This world wide elevation produced a colder drier cli cli- climate mate The dinosaurs being cold blooded tropical dwellers with witha a fluctuating body temperature could not adapt themselves to toa toa a changing environment in which the swamps were drying and the climate was b coming colder Racial old age with its result result- resulting resulting ing complexity also made them less adaptable to these changes In addition the dinosaurs were in part victims vi of rickets di fossile bones having been found Accompanying the world world- worldwide worldwide I wide elevation of the land were great outbursts of volcanic ac ae- ae These produced vast halos volcanic ash which excluded i of o time the full I brilliance c of the sun Tl The e sun being the natural source of viti- viti min D a deficiency of this vital element permitted rickets in to varying degree to affect the bone structure of these pond erous reptiles Then too the mammals warm blooded animals which suckle their young were becoming more numerous and these prey ed upon the eggs of the dino dino- dinosaurs saurs reducing them In great numbers Although the mammals at that time were very small they were far more cunning and intelligent than the dinosaurs having proportionately larger brains Brain was beginning to win over brawn The dinosaurs were never famous for their in Dinosaurs and dumbness I are almost synonymous A Brontosaur Bront- Bront Brontosaur weighing as much as 40 tons had but a 2 pound brain or I 1 pound of brain to pounds of brawn A small mod mod- modern modern ern elephant weighing 2 tons has hasan hasan an 8 pound brain or 1 pound of brain to pounds of body bodyweight bodyweight weight Man the exalted last achievement of nature in the animal world has a 45 ounce brain or nearly 3 s pounds With i N lk An Early Uintah r Scene T Ni f ALL BRAWN AND NO BRAIN B RAIN Jurassic dinosaurs of the Uintah Basin Buie B Morrison Formation f as lh they r appeared million years ago This I 1 s a reproduction of a painting by r Ernest 1 m noted o painter and which will be exhibited in the Lila Ula h Ii Field House Hous of Natural His t tory tort an average weight of pounds of body weight per map he has the greatest brain ratio ra o of all being one pound of brain to 50 pounds of brawn This IQ of 1 to for dinosaurs 1 to of elephants el and 1 to 50 for forma forman man ma gives us a fair picture of brain development throughout the ages With such magnificent mental equipment man promises to stay on earth and remain its master for an unpredictable length of time unless he de de- de destroys strays himself There Is such a athing thing as being too smart Today the Uintah Basin throbs with oil booms and great ac ac- ac acI I ti ity in its vast gilsonite and asphalt deposits but the dino dino- dinosaurs saurs still hold their own as a source of perpetual interest Being big and dumb carries with it a certain fascination As a part of the great assemblage assemblage age of fossile life Ufe recovered from fromI this region their story will wUl be I told in hi the Utah Field House of I History I |