With T-Rex’s long legs, you couldn’t outrun them. The best you could hope for was to hide and be still—their sense of smell was weak. Idiots climbed trees, saved T-Rex the bother of bending over for a meal. They had lousy night vision, so night was safest. We always kept a fire in the mouth of our caves, to ward them off. Later, I’ll tell about the fool who stole a T-Rex egg.
[Editor’s note: Mr. Suddeth hit the coffee too hard]
Quetzalcoatl—Nahuatl/Aztec for “feathered serpent” is thought to be a dragon myth. Mayans call the feathered serpent Kukulkan. Scientists claim that dinosaurs were feathered. What if feathered dinosaurs survived in remote places until recent centuries? What if the dragon myths are merely memories of feathered dinosaurs?
The Hoatzin is a bird living in northeast South America. Like dinosaurs, the chicks have 2 claws on each wing. The size of a pheasant, they eat plants—no one is in danger. (I just found out that other birds have winged claws as befitting a dinosaur)
Often called flying dinosaurs, pterosaurs are flying reptiles and may have coats of downy-feather fibers. With wingspans of 30 feet, they have few enemies. I use the present tense. Thunderbird? They have been sighted all over the USA and worldwide. Don’t hike alone or in the open.
Inside the skull cartilage of a 70-million-year-old baby hadrosaur, researchers have found intact DNA. It was once thought impossible for DNA to survive that long. Jurassic Park, here we come! While at the park, please do wear a helmet and mask.
Before: Hypacrosaurus is a North American duckbilled dinosaur that was almost as big as T-rex. After: A few years ago, intact tissue was found inside fossilized bone. Next: Finding an intact genome. Cloning, maybe 10 years.
Researchers from Pictland College, Scotland discovered that Nessie is NOT a prehistoric dinosaur. This will destroy the Scottish tourism industry. Nessie is a garden-variety of English dragon, not at all unusual. (St. George did not slay all the dragons)
[Editor’s note: It is April 1st, and Mr. Suddeth has again slipped Bourbon into his coffee]
The Uktena was giant snake/dragon, Some say Cherokees recalled old days when a dinosaur remnant yet lived. Uktena dwelt in deep pools or high mountain passes. If a warrior stared at the crystal in its head, the man’s heart would stop. This drawing is by a genius Cherokee artist, Daniel Eskridge.
The main character of my novel, Stone Man and the Trail of Tears, believed in Uktena.
Recently, scientists discovered dinosaur fossils with blood and tissue left inside them—once thought to be impossible. They are hoping to extract DNA from red blood cells. (bird and dinosaur RBCs have nuclei—our RBCs lack nuclei) Among the RBC samples is one from a T-Rex. Write about it? You better believe it.