Thursday, October 9, 2014

Life, Part 7 (The Early Days)

With everything else out of the way, the once insignificant dinosaurs now had a clear path ahead of them. A path to dominating the earth. The early Jurassic saw the birth of many new types of dinosaurs. It also saw the the birth of a whole new earth. After the sudden extinction of many of the earths' species, the climate on earth began to drastically change. The great supercontinent of Pangea began to break up into two other landmasses, known as Laurasia and Gondwana, which actually were forming during the Triassic. This caused the climate to drastically change. The once dry, arid deserts transitioned into vast, humid rainforests dominated by giant conifer trees, or gymnosperms. This shift in climate also caused a dramatic shift in species. The relatively small prosauropods were now joined by giants that would define the dinosaur age. These giants had evolved long necks for reaching their heads into the treetops. These giants were called sauropods. Sauropods had grown to gigantic sizes necessary for the possession of large guts necessary for consuming conifer trees, which were very low in nutrients. They had also evolved very long necks to be able to reach the tops of the trees. And the early Jurassic birthed one of the earliest sauropods known. This sauropod was known as Barapasaurus. (Barapasaurus) Barapasaurus gets it's name from two Indian words, "bara" meaning big, and "pa" meaning foot. It had a built that would later be typical of later sauropods, and was also a very large sauropod for it's time, compared with the relatively small Vulcanodon and the many prosauropods at the time, including the mouse-sized prosauropod, Mussasaurus, the smallest dinosaur ever found. And though the environment seemed in favor of the new sauropods, it was also working with some other, fiercer dinosaurs. These types of dinosaurs were known as theropods. Unlike the four-legged sauropods, the theropods stood on two legs, and many of them had powerful, lizard-ish skulls with sharp, pointy teeth locked inside the mouth. They also hunted the sauropods, along with the many other plant-eating dinosaurs of the time. Some of the more well-known species of theropods of the time included dinosaurs with crests on their heads. And the most well-known of these types of dinosaurs was known as Dilophosaurus. (Dilophosaurus) The most distinguishing feature of Dilophosaurus were the two crests on it's head, though they were likely too delicate for anything but display purposes. But display could have been useful in many ways, such as attracting mates, intimidating other males, or intimidating potential predators of the species. And contrary to the statement I made above, Dilophosaurus is actually said by many to have been too weak for hunting large animals like sauropods due to a notch in the jaw. The notch was actually a weakness, and there are two theories of how Dilophosaurus might have survived. One is that it dug out small prey from rock crevices, though being that it was a fairly large dinosaur, it wouldn't have really satisfied it's needs. Another possible explanation is that it was simply a scavenger, feeding on the dead carcasses of larger dinosaurs. They often traveled in groups throughout the forests, and this is supported by the fact that there were many fossils of Dilophosaurus that were found together. Another scavenging theropod of the time was known as Cryolophosaurus. It was larger than Dilophosaurus, one of the largest theropods of it's time, and was one of the earliest theropods of the Jurassic. What also makes it so interesting is that it was the first dinosaur to be discovered in Antarctica. (Cryolophosaurus) The Antarctica of the time looked much different than what we're used to seeing today. Many years before it turned into an desolate, icy land, Antarctica was a land of mixed desert and forest, and was part of the continent of Gondwana. And unlike today, there were many types of animals living on the continent, including dinosaurs, though only about 4 types of dinosaurs have been discovered so far, though they were plentiful. And one of those dinosaurs was Cryolophosaurus. Cryolophosaurs was most likely a scavenger based on fossil evidence, such as broken teeth from at least two different theropods. It fed of the carcasses of larger creatures such as the prosauropod Glacialisaurus. And though Cryolophosaurus was similar to Dilophosaurus in that regard, it also shared other advanced characteristics with later theropods, which makes it important in the evolutionary tree, as these traits would pass down to later theropods of the Jurassic. And while there were the more well-known types of dinosaurs, there were many new species of dinosaurs as well, which included many types of stegosaurs and heterodontosaurs, one of which looked like something out of someones' nightmares, despite having a plant-based diet.(Pegomastax) Pegomastax looked like something between a vampire and a heterodontosaur. It was indeed a very strange looking dinosaur, and the canine-like teeth seemed very out-of-place, though they might have had a defensive function. It also possessed a row of quills on its' back, which may have also served as a defense, to make it look bigger, or to make it look unappealing to predators, which probably would have worked. Pegomastax was also one of the of the smallest dinosaurs, and it only grew one foot long. And while it and it's other heterodontosaurid cousins were very plentiful during this period of time, there was another very interesting dinosaur lurking about. The Early Jurassic had also given birth to a species known as ankylosaurs. In particular, an early group of ankylosaurs known as scelidosaurs.(Scelidosaurus) Scelidosaurus was an unusual type of ankylosaur, along with one of the earliest of the ankylosaurs. It actually is still not known if it was an ankylosaur, though it was one of the first armored dinosaurs, along with the small bipedal Scutellosaurus. Scelidosaurus was so unusual due to the fact that it could stand on two legs to get food from the trees, though it was largely quadrupedal. The early Jurassic seemed like a good time for the dinosaurs. They were spreading worldwide and many new types of dinosaurs were born, some of which would continue to be successful throughout the Mesozoic. But, while tehre were many dinosaurs roaming the earth, this was only the beginning. From here, dinosaurs would only continue to grow and change. The many scavengers of the Early Jurassic would eventually pale in comparison to the large, powerful theropods of future generations, and sauropods would only continue to get bigger. Dinosaurs all over the world would continue to get bigger and stronger, and the climate would continue to change. They would rule while other species, such as mammals, would live in their shadows. The age of dinosaurs was upon the earth.

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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?