One of my favorite dinosaur documentaries would be Chased By Dinosaurs, which is a spin-off of Walking With Dinosaurs. The show was presented by zoologist Nigel Marven, who seems similar to the late Steve Irwin. The documentary consists of five episodes. One episode depicted Nigel traveling to Argentina during the early Cretaceous, one depicted Nigel visiting Mongolia during the mid-Cretaceous, and the other three show Nigel taking a dive in the seven deadliest seas in all of prehistory. In general, this documentary series shows what could happen if someone like Steve Irwin went on a prehistoric safari. I have learned a great deal from this series and I will definitely use the knowledge I have gained for my dinosaur series.
Tag Archives: PREHISTORY
A CRETACEOUS CLIMATE
Allow me to give you a little overview of the climate of the Cretaceous Period. According to experts, the Cretaceous Period was one of the warmest periods in our planet’s history. There were no ice caps, which not only increased the temperature, but also caused the sea levels to rise. With higher sea levels, many continents were partially underwater with inland seas flowing through them. The extreme warmth meant that reptiles could move around freely without the need to warm their cold-blooded bodies up. In addition, the atmosphere had 50% more oxygen than in modern times. We often see and read science fiction stories of people time traveling to the Cretaceous Period, but, in reality, humans would not be able to survive in the Cretaceous Period’s climate. The extreme warmth would cause us to overheat and the higher oxygen levels would kill us with oxygen toxicity. For my dinosaur book, I am thinking of giving my manmade island a climate similar to the Cretaceous Period. It will be like hitting the reset button to the time before the dinosaurs became extinct.
JURASSIC WORLD: NEW CREATURES
Even though I was disappointed by the delay of Jurassic World: Dominion‘s release, I received some historical news. It looks like humans won’t be cloning just dinosaurs anymore. Now, they are going to clone animals from all across prehistory. This development was heavily implied during Camp Cretaceous when it was revealed that Dr. Henry Wu was experimenting with Wooly Mammoth fossils. Further confirmation was provided when the film crew of Dominion posted a picture of a new creature wearing a COVID-19 mask. As a prehistory nut, I instantly recognized the animal as Lystrosaurus even though it was wearing a mask. Lystrosaurus is officially the oldest prehistoric life form in the Jurassic Park franchise because it is a creature that is older than even the dinosaurs. I am glad that the franchise is going in this direction because it is long overdue to feature prehistoric creatures that are not dinosaurs. I look forward to seeing these animals on the big screen in two years.
JURASSIC CARPARK
I found this video in which two guys organized a scare prank on their coworkers. The prank involved the use of the most expensive and realistic dinosaur costume. The victims of the prank went into a carpark, not expecting a dinosaur to be down there. The coworkers’ reactions to the dinosaur were priceless. I can only imagine how this scenario would play out if the dinosaur was real.
BLOODLINES REBORN
For millions of years, animals that were a transition between species have vanished off the face of the earth. Mammal-like reptiles served as the transition phase between mammals and reptiles and died out in the early Triassic Period. There were also fish such as tiktaalik that served as a transition phase between fish and amphibians during the Devonian Period. During the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, some dinosaurs grew feathers and became a transition phase between reptile and bird. Throughout natural history, evolution made animals diverge into different groups by producing transition species such as these. In my dinosaur series, I am using a method that involves awakening certain genes in birds in order to turn them back into dinosaurs. However, could the same concept be applied to other animals as well? If you awaken enough genes in a mammal, would it develop reptilian features? If you awaken enough genes in an amphibian, would it become more fish-like? If you awaken enough genes in a bird, would it turn into something like a terror bird instead of a dinosaur? These possibilities are what I will be basing on the non-dinosaur creatures in my series. They will be the first of their kind to exist in millions of years.
CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
One of the strangest oddities of nature would be carnivorous plants, flora that have evolved to become predators. Some plants like the Venus fly trap develop jaws while others grow into living pitchers filled with liquid to trap and digest unsuspecting insects. For both my zoology book and dinosaur series, I will be featuring two highly evolved breeds of carnivorous plants. These plants will be taking their predatory tendencies to the extreme.
A SUPER-ORGANISM
There are some cases of organisms that become larger and more complex than others. When these factors are pushed to the extreme, they can produce super-organisms. Both in my zoology book and dinosaur series, I will be featuring my own super-organism. It will consist of various organisms fusing together to form a version of symbiosis where every creature it consists of benefits from the fusion. I have taken inspiration for this fusion from the Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish, which consists of multiple jellyfish working together in a single body. This super-organism will be the largest in the series, bigger than any dinosaur, and it will have the potential to consume entire landscapes if given the chance.
LEARNING PREHISTORIC ANTHROPOLOGY
In order to create my new species of human for my dinosaur series, I have been binge watching a number of documentaries that talk about early humans. One such example is Walking With Cavemen, which covered seven million years of human evolution. I have learned about hominids that were specialists, some that lacked imagination, and a few that were innovators. I am thinking of combining traits from these various species into one group of humanoids. Compared to the hairy and rugged hominids of the past, my hominid will be sleek and graceful with a feral beauty about them. Unlike the reverse engineered dinosaurs, which were deliberately created, these hominids will be the result of a chance mistake.
PRIMORDIAL OOZE
Four billion years ago, a pool of volcanic water became inhabited by microbes. Over time, these microbes evolved into the ancestors of every creature that is alive today. I am thinking of doing a homage to the primordial ooze in my dinosaur series.
A NEW HUMAN
Once there were many species of human throughout history. Now, homo sapiens are the last of their kind. However, the origins of the human race played a significant role in prehistory. With this in mind, I am planning to introduce my own unique species of human in my dinosaur series. When I include it in the zoology book, I am planning to have the illustrator draw it like an anime character. Sadly, sharing the planet with other hominids has never been humanity’s greatest strength. It is what compelled us to murder our Neanderthal relatives. Because of this, this new humanoid’s existence will rustle a lot of feathers.
