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fandomhigh2018-05-22 12:56 am
livingartifact) wrote in fandomhigh2018-05-22 12:56 am
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Earth Zoology -- Pre-History Edition, Tuesday, Period 2
The doors to the Danger Shop opened this week onto a thick, verdant jungle, full of gingkos, conifers, and tree ferns. The air was thick and fragrant with the smell of animal dung and moss, and the edge of a nearby body of water bloomed red with algae. Jenkins stood beneath one of the ferns, wearing high boots with his usual suit, and a pith helmet, occasionally looking up and frowning at the clear blue skies.
"Welcome back, students," he greeted, once everyone who was going to arrive seemed to have done so. "Today we're going to explore one of the most well-known yet ill-understood periods of Earth's zoological history: the Jurassic."
There'd been a set of giant wooden doors on this simulation originally, but Jenkins had done away with them. He was going for accuracy here, not drama.
"The Jurassic period occurred from roughly 200 million years ago to 145 millions years ago, and is marked by the transition from a generally dry, arid atmosphere to one more humid and tropical, as we're experiencing today. It was also the beginning of the fall of the great super-continent Pangea, as the landmasses of the Earth began to break away from each other and slowly drift across its surface, a process that is still happening to this day. Earthquakes abounded, not just because of this shift, but also due to —" He cut off, holding his helmet tighter to his head as the ground abruptly began to shake beneath them, trembling in regular intervals that shook the trees and brought ripples to the surface of the water. " — the giant beasts for which this period is best known," he said, gesturing upwards as an enormous brachiosaurus stepped into view, browsing along the tops of the trees that towered over the class. "The dinosaurs."
The creature huffed and took another step forward, the resulting impact tremor nearly knocking Jenkins off his feet.
"Do watch its step," he cautioned. "We matter not at all to creatures of this magnitude." Not that anyone would get crushed in the Danger Shop, but still: it was best to always use caution around enormous animals. "This particular dinosaur is what's known as a brachiosaurus, one of many species of sauropods that lived during the Jurassic. You will note its most obvious features, the sheer colossal size of the beast, as well as its extremely long neck and tail — these are all markers common to the sauropods. They're herbivores, powering that entire mass on plant matter alone, alongside —" The ground shook again, much less dramatically than before, but still noticeably, as a stegosaurus came into view. "My personal favorite, the stegosaurus. Note her dramatic plating and the vicious spikes on her tail. While the brachiosaur is armed with size, the stegosaur prefers more offensive tactics to ward off predators. Speaking of which." Jenkins tilted his head, and any who might have expected another tremor on the cue would be a little disappointed — he had a bit more pontificating to do, first.
"The most famous dinosaurian predator, the Tyrannosaurus rex, will not be appearing before you, today. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for a considerable amount of time, and t-rex will not be making his appearance upon it for almost another hundred million years. Instead, you must make do with his smaller, yet no less vicious ancestor, the Allosaurus."
The allosaur obligingly lunged through the trees, snapping at the stegosaurus's side, launching the two of them into a fight seemingly straight out of an old claymation dinosaur animation. The stegasaurus ultimately won, wounding the allosaurus enough to send it retreating back between the ferns to seek out weaker prey — just narrowly avoiding trampling the class as is went.
"There are any number of other fascinating creatures from the Jurassic as well," Jenkins said. "Including enormous sea creatures and the Earth's very first bird, but — I think we've probably seen about enough for now. Any questions?"
"Welcome back, students," he greeted, once everyone who was going to arrive seemed to have done so. "Today we're going to explore one of the most well-known yet ill-understood periods of Earth's zoological history: the Jurassic."
There'd been a set of giant wooden doors on this simulation originally, but Jenkins had done away with them. He was going for accuracy here, not drama.
"The Jurassic period occurred from roughly 200 million years ago to 145 millions years ago, and is marked by the transition from a generally dry, arid atmosphere to one more humid and tropical, as we're experiencing today. It was also the beginning of the fall of the great super-continent Pangea, as the landmasses of the Earth began to break away from each other and slowly drift across its surface, a process that is still happening to this day. Earthquakes abounded, not just because of this shift, but also due to —" He cut off, holding his helmet tighter to his head as the ground abruptly began to shake beneath them, trembling in regular intervals that shook the trees and brought ripples to the surface of the water. " — the giant beasts for which this period is best known," he said, gesturing upwards as an enormous brachiosaurus stepped into view, browsing along the tops of the trees that towered over the class. "The dinosaurs."
The creature huffed and took another step forward, the resulting impact tremor nearly knocking Jenkins off his feet.
"Do watch its step," he cautioned. "We matter not at all to creatures of this magnitude." Not that anyone would get crushed in the Danger Shop, but still: it was best to always use caution around enormous animals. "This particular dinosaur is what's known as a brachiosaurus, one of many species of sauropods that lived during the Jurassic. You will note its most obvious features, the sheer colossal size of the beast, as well as its extremely long neck and tail — these are all markers common to the sauropods. They're herbivores, powering that entire mass on plant matter alone, alongside —" The ground shook again, much less dramatically than before, but still noticeably, as a stegosaurus came into view. "My personal favorite, the stegosaurus. Note her dramatic plating and the vicious spikes on her tail. While the brachiosaur is armed with size, the stegosaur prefers more offensive tactics to ward off predators. Speaking of which." Jenkins tilted his head, and any who might have expected another tremor on the cue would be a little disappointed — he had a bit more pontificating to do, first.
"The most famous dinosaurian predator, the Tyrannosaurus rex, will not be appearing before you, today. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for a considerable amount of time, and t-rex will not be making his appearance upon it for almost another hundred million years. Instead, you must make do with his smaller, yet no less vicious ancestor, the Allosaurus."
The allosaur obligingly lunged through the trees, snapping at the stegosaurus's side, launching the two of them into a fight seemingly straight out of an old claymation dinosaur animation. The stegasaurus ultimately won, wounding the allosaurus enough to send it retreating back between the ferns to seek out weaker prey — just narrowly avoiding trampling the class as is went.
"There are any number of other fascinating creatures from the Jurassic as well," Jenkins said. "Including enormous sea creatures and the Earth's very first bird, but — I think we've probably seen about enough for now. Any questions?"
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Listen to the lecture
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That... that was possibly even taller than the diamonds!
She wanted one!
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Oogle the animals
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Talk to Jenkins
OOC
Damn right I did.
I definitely found SOME dinosaur videos I remember from when I was a kid, but none of them start with a song by Sting, so I'm going to say I was unable to locate it.