Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Life, Part 6 (The Triassic)

(First of all, I am very sorry for the delay. To make up for this, though this is a promise I can't keep, I am going to try to make a blog on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There is no second of all.) Many animals were spurring all over the world, but the ones that stood out were the dinosaurs. But, like mammals, dinosaurs started out small. The dinosaurs of this time were not the dinosaurs you and me imagine. Most were actually rather small in comparison to later species. In fact, most other animals, such as the tiger-sized Postosuchus, the largest predator of the time, might have outclassed most dinosaurs. The largest a dinosaurian predator got at the time was the similarly sized Herrerasaurus, which was among the earliest of the dinosaurs. Since it was similar in size to Postosuchus, it was one of the fiercest predators of the time, and dwarfed most mammals. (Herrerasaurus) (Postosuchus) Many of the first dinosaurs and dinosaurs throughout the Triassic also consisted of small theropods that roamed the landscape and were outclassed by other creatures, and though there were other medium sized and well-known dinosaurs like Plateosaurus and Coelophysis, they were often outclassed by large reptiles. The first pterosaurs were beginning to appear too, and were the primary prey of many dinosaurs of the time. During the late Triassic, there was one very strange type of pterosaur known as Sharovipteryx. You're probably thinking why it's so strange. This pterosaur, instead of evolving wings on it's arms, had evolved wings on it's legs. The purpose of this is unknown, though the most plausible answer is for a better gliding strategy that allowed it to glide similar to an aircraft. (Sharovipteryx) Meanwhile, gymnosperm forests were beginning to dominate the land and swamps were abundant in the once harsh, desert landscape. Large crocodylomorphs, archosaurs, crurotarsans and many other types of creatures were becoming the dominant creatures, roamed all the land. The icthyosaurs and nothosaurs were becoming quite successful in the oceans as well. Even some amphibians were making a comeback. They teemed within the swamp waters as they do today, and were starting to look much more like frogs. Even the earliest crocodiles were coming into place. There were many strange creatures as well, such as the Desmatosuchus, which had a head similar to a pig and an armored body.(Desmatosuchus) The dominant predators of the time were creatures that seemed similar to Postosuchus, and they ate just about anything that had meat, and their primary targets were large creatures that were similar to the bulky herbivores of the Permian, and they even occasionally hunted dinosaurs. Postosuchus looked like a more crocodilian version of a therapsid, with a long tail and a massive, powerful skull that beared dagger-like teeth. The mammals, on the other hand, didn't seem to be doing any better. Most of them still resided in small holes, where they spent most of their time, while their ancestors, the therapsids, still roamed around outside. Powerful creatures such as Cynognathus, which looked very much like furry therapsids, were distributed world wide. One of the most plentiful type of plant-eaters of the time was a therapsid called Placerias, which had two short tusks on it's face. It seemed that the age of reptiles was upon the earth. Many types of creatures were evolving, and it seemed that every animal, including dinosaurs, grew at what seemed to be the same rate, though the dinosaurs still seemed small and insignificant, as most of them were pretty small in comparison with other, very successful creatures. And it could have stayed this way if it had not been for another extinction event. This event was the sole reason dinosaurs would dominate the earth. This was known as the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, and it wiped out almost every creature living on the earth at the time on land and in the sea, even most of the types of creatures you and I see today, which eventually made a comeback. But that's a story for another day. This included all large crurotarsans, many remaining therapsids, and many large amphibians. A whole class of sea creatures and 34% of marine life became extinct. All of the creatures that seemed to be doing so well in the Triassic were now gone. This extinction event happened 10,000 years before the great continent of Pangea split, and there are many explanations for it, two of them being climate change and massive volcanic explosions. At least half of the creatures on Earth were wiped out during this event. The only ones that survived were the crocodiles and the Dinosaurs.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Here I am !!!

Here I am !!!

This is my brother !!!

This is my brother !!!
He is my best friend and as you can see he is a comedian!

Birth of Godzilla 1952

Birth of Godzilla 1952
This is the birth of Godzilla made in 1952. In this scene Godzilla is coming out of an egg. Awww, how cute!

Anguirus

Anguirus
This will be an animation called Anguirus.

Zilla

Zilla
This is the American Godzilla. There is also a Japanese one.

Godzilla Tokyo SOS

Godzilla Tokyo SOS
This is called Godzilla Tokyo SOS and he is destroying an Island City.

Godzilla vs. Barney and his stinkin' friends

Godzilla vs. Barney and his stinkin' friends
This is Godzilla vs. Barney and his stinkin' friends who didn't take a bath. Godzilla is having them for dinner. Everyone except Ryan and me because Godzilla really likes us!

Godzilla vs. Rodan

Godzilla vs. Rodan
This will be a movie called Godzilla vs. Fire Rodan.

Mecha King Ghidorah

Mecha King Ghidorah
This is called Mecha King Ghidorah. This will be part of the Godzilla King of the Monsters series.

Rodan

Rodan
This is fire Rodan. He changes color and becomes fire Rodan.

Godzilla's Revenge

Godzilla's Revenge
This is called Godzilla's revenge. He is catching a human.

Godzilla's Muscles

Godzilla's Muscles
These are Godzillas muscles. Godzilla is very strong.

Godzilla bites Barney's stinkin' head off

Godzilla bites Barney's stinkin' head off
This is Godzilla vs. Barney. In this scene Godzilla is biting Barney's stinkin' head off.

Godzilla Attacks 1993

Godzilla Attacks 1993
This is Godzilla 1993. He is destroying the city of Tokyo.

Godzilla 1954

Godzilla 1954
This is Godzilla 1954. This scene is Black and White and he is coming out of the water. Tune in for more! Thanks for watching!

About my Godzilla installations...

So, those are my kid pix installations up there. But before I go on, I must inform you that it is not all fun and games here. Or maybe it is, you decide? You see, my mom turns everything into a learning adventure. You may look at my interest in Godzilla and see just that, a toy Godzilla. My mom however sees Math, Science , Social Studies, you name it, in everything that we do. For instance, when I make Godzilla toys, we measure them, each and everyone. Ryan helps! And, that’s math! I also have a strong interest in exporting my toys and opening my own Godzilla store. So, we work a lot with money and learning about the business of exporting, and that’s also math! Godzilla can be made from many different types of materials ... plastic, vinyl, clay, etc… . And, these materials can be mixed with other chemicals to make the toy more durable. That’s science! And, I like science! So does Ryan! We also looove learning about Tokyo, Japanese yen, and the Japanese language when we play with Godzilla. Here is a google map that we made of Godzilla destroying buildings around Tokyo (see below). I learned a lot about the city this way. That’s Social Studies! So you get the idea. Now Ryan has something to say. "I have Godzilla unleashed." "And, I have an Anguirus toy." "I have a King Ghidorah toy." "AND I have a Gigan toy." Alright alright Ryan that’s enough. "No, no I have something else to say." What is it? "I also have a Mothra toy!" Okay, okay, (covering Ryan's mouth) back to you people, here are some of my drawings of Godzilla. And some that Ryan drew. I just love my little brother:)!

Godzilla Destroys Tokyo

Godzilla Destroys Tokyo
You can learn all about Tokyo and other cities in Japan from the map that I made.

American Godzilla

American Godzilla
He's roaring! Rrrrr!

Godzilla destroys all monsters

Godzilla destroys all monsters
This is an animation and a future movie.

Godzilla 2000

Godzilla 2000
This is a picture of Godzilla 2000. It is a good one.

Allosaurus

Allosaurus
This is an Allosaurus! It is from walking with dinosaurs.

Young Allosaurus

Young Allosaurus
This is a 3 year old Allosaurus. He is pretty much of a grown up like in walking with dinosaurs. He is creeping up on a Ornitholestes.

Godzilla's FOOT

Godzilla's FOOT
This is godzilla's foot. Look at how big it is compared to how big we are. If he stomped on us, he would crush us!

Godzilla's BIG mouth

Godzilla's BIG mouth
This is part of an animation. A BIG one too just like Godzilla's BIG mouth and foot. In this part of the animation he is roaring. What do you think he'll do next?

Scary T-REX

Scary T-REX
This animation is of a t-rex growling at an Oviraptor. The t-rex is really angry. Do you think he'll eat him?