Primal Earths Volume 2: The Mesozoic Phenomenon E01 “A new beginning”

Primal Earths Volume 2: The Mesozoic Phenomenon E01

“A new beginning”

65 million years ago, late cretaceous

An enormous 6 mile wide rock can be seen hurdling through space right above the earth’s atmosphere, in the matter of minutes the Rock will strike on earth decimating 70% of all life in the known universe. Down on the planet itself, however things are very different, with most creatures clueless about the imminent devastation they simply go along with their business as usual. Suddenly another sun appears in the sky, the creatures confused and panicking have no idea whatsoever how to react in such a situation, some animals run and hide while others stand in awe at the strange and magnificent sight. But that period of shock quickly turns into terror as the silhouette of the sun touches the farthest part of the horizon blasting a shockwave so strong and scorching hot, it sends some animals flying through the air as they boil from the inside out. But one must wonder how did these creatures eat, survive, and behave before their untimely downfall, how did they rule the Earth for 165 million years, and how did these creatures become one of the biggest success stories of all time.

165 million years earlier, Mid-Triassic

South America

 It’s the mid Triassic and giant reptiles scour the land for their next meal, but among the shadows of the giant beasts something…new is scurrying towards safety. Compared to the creatures around it, this animal is as strange as it gets…measuring just under 3 feet long this…is the very first dinosaur ever to walk the earth. Even though tiny compared to other predators in the area, the Eoraptor is quickly driving the them to extinction as it is much more successful than they, that is thanks to one thing: Its stance, unlike other creatures around it, the Eoraptor’s bipedal legs, shockingly are positioned under its body allowing it to be much faster and much more agile, something never before seen at the time. The fact that it was bipedal also allowed them to grab and grasp at things with their forelimbs while walking or running, another revolutionary adaptation.  This individual Eoraptor is an adult male searching for a meal in a forest, he notices a small synapsid running towards a small burrow in the ground. He starts chasing it but it is only moments late, he sticks his small head through the burrow, squinting in order to see in the pitch black darkness.

  Out of nowhere a large predator springs out from the bushes and snaps his jaws only inches away from the Eoraptor, who gets so jump scared he jumps 10 feet in the air and immediately starts dashing away from the large attacker, Saurosuchus. The substantially smarter Eoraptor runs through a herd of dicynodonts, all 3 tons+. They are not moved by the Eoraptor, but the moment they saw the Saurosuchus, they charged at him madly, circled him, and tried to gouge him with their tusks. But the more agile Saurosuchus impressively jumps an amazing 10 feet right between the large creatures. They then make it to a river, the faster and smaller Eoraptor is eventually able to cross the river by jumping on small logs and rocks as opposed to the Saurosuchus, who has to swim to get across. Even though the Eoraptor is now hundreds of feet away he then Eoraptor gets cornered against a large cliff. The Eoraptor tries to climb the cliff, but it’s too steep, the Eoraptor stares at the Saurosuchus and roars, the Saurosuchus simultaneously leaps in the air and opens his jaws ready to make the kill.

But abruptly a pack of 3 larger bipedal dinosaurs jump on the Saurosuchus’s side mid-air and start slashing and biting as the animal crashes on the ground. Once he touches the ground he makes it clear that he is not backing away from a fight, he shakes them off and rears up on his hind limbs in order to appear larger, but that….was his fatal mistake, while rearing up he reveals his only weakness: his unprotected belly, they bite and slash the animal who tries to fight but is too busy crying and roaring in the pain caused by the smart attackers who finally bite him in throat, suffocating him. The large multi-ton animal eventually falls to the ground, coughs up blood, and looks at the menacing attackers……he roars loudly, but is killed mid-roar by the pack leader, who violently stomps on his neck, snapping it and putting him out of his misery. The dinosaurs, Herrarasaurus are about 15 feet long and weigh just under half a ton, big for the time.  The scared Eoraptor is seen hiding and standing in awe at what his close cousins are capable of. He looks at them and bows down, a sign of respect, the look at each other, look right at him and nod, a sign that he has been spared. 3 hours later and the Eoraptor has navigated to a small valley beneath the forest, as the sun sets he looks towards the horizon and sees silhouette of 3 dinosaurs as they look up from their meal and roar. This is just one of many wins for the race of the dinosaurs, they will eventually go on to conquer and outcompete the ruling class of reptiles such as Synapsids and Dicynodonts. This era will eventually go on to mark the beginning of a new era, the most successful era in the history of planet earth, the era of the dinosaurs.

Creature Overviews:

Eoraptor:

Length: 3-4 feet

Height: 0.5-1 feet

Weight: 5-10 kg

Eoraptor is a small dinosaur considered by some to be the first dinosaur ever to walk the earth. Its stance is an evolutionary revolution as it was the first dinosaur with bipedal legs and its legs right under its body.

Saurosuchus:

Length: 15-23 feet

Height: 5-7 feet

Weight: 2-3 tons

Considered to be the second largest Rauisuchian of all time (second only to Fasolasuchus) Saurosuchus was the menace of the mid-Triassic, but the imminent arrival of the more successful dinosaurs eventually caused them to go extinct.

Herrarasaurus:

Length: 15-20 feet

Height: 5-7 feet

Weight: 300-500 kg

With large 3 inch fangs and 2 inch claws the largest carnivorous dinosaur up to that time also possessing bipedal legs positioned under its hips like its smaller cousin Eoraptor. The Herrarasaurus is now considered to be the first basal Theropod.

NEXT TIME ON PRIMAL EARTHS….

IT’S THE JURASSIC PERIOD AND DINOSAURS ARE NOW THRIVING AND IN THEIR HAYDAY, AND DINOSAURS ARE GETTING MUCH, MUCH LARGER. JOIN US NEXT TIME WHEN WE DIVE INTO THE DEN……. OF THE SYNTARSUS.