“But these trips are too important to give up,” Craig broke in. “Just imagine what else could be discovered.”
“We could take proper equipment next time,” Daniel offered. “There must be a way to make it safer to go.”
“Now whoa, boys. Let’s not get carried away. For you, there is no next time!”
“I agree, Ole. There’s no way they should be going anywhere near there again,” Dr. Roost interjected. “But it might be okay for you and me to go, because we’re old and don’t really have anyone who’d be hurt if we never came back.”
“I’d be hurt if you didn’t come back!” Daniel stared from one to the other.
“I don’t have any family, but what about your son and grandchildren?” Pederson asked Mildred.
“I don’t see them much anyway and they expect me to die some day,” she said.
Pederson objected. “None of us should be going, least of all you, Daniel. If something happened to you, I couldn’t forgive myself.”
Daniel could see the struggle within his old friend, the helplessness he felt, and the guilt he’d dwell on if they never returned.
“The question is academic anyway,” said Mildred. “Daniel dropped the cone. We had to leave it behind to get home. There is no mechanism for getting back.”
Daniel nodded sadly. Then he remembered the prehistoric leaf in his notebook. He glanced around to see if anyone had noticed his reaction, but Mr. Pederson was busy making the tea and Mildred was rearranging herself in the chair. Craig, however, watched him intently.
Daniel sat poker-faced, not daring to speak or make any movement that would confirm Craig’s suspicions. Then Craig raised his eyebrow and Daniel knew Craig had realized there was a way for them to travel again. He also knew Craig wouldn’t say anything.
Pederson arrived with the tea and began distributing teacups around his small wooden table. He poured a cup for Dr. Roost and rested it within easy reach for her.
“So Daniel, let’s have a look at that notebook of yours. I’d love to see the sketches of the Edmontosaurus.”
Daniel hesitated, just for a moment. He couldn’t let anyone see the notebook until he’d removed the leaf, but he couldn’t do that with everyone watching him. Before he could figure out what to do, the room became quiet. He looked up to find everyone staring at him.
In the stunned silence that followed, Daniel tried to cover up his blunder, but it was no use.
“You have something that will transport you back to the past again, don’t you?” Dr. Roost jabbed him with her cane.
“Daniel?” Mr. Pederson stared at him intently. “Is this true?”
Daniel nodded reluctantly.
“Then we really could go.” Pederson looked at Mildred.
Dr. Roost’s eyes lit up. “We’d have the research trip of a lifetime.”
Daniel shook his head. “Oh no you don’t! This last trip was bad enough.”
“If you’re going, I’m going too,” Craig piped up.
“No one’s going!” declared Daniel. There was no way he wanted to let the old couple go on their own, nor Craig. And he sure wasn’t ready to go again.
“Of course not, Daniel,” agreed Mr. Pederson. “We have plenty of material to study right now, and it is too dangerous for any of us to go. It’s totally out of the question.”
“Exactly,” Daniel said.
Everyone sipped at their tea, lost in their own thoughts. Dr. Roost and Ole Pederson snuck glances at one another with little smiles. Craig picked up the camera again, scanning through the images.
While everyone was distracted, Daniel tucked his notebook into his backpack. He had to think of somewhere safe to tuck the leaf away. Until then he wasn’t willing to open the notebook again. He was too exhausted to even think about the possibility of returning to the past.
Ole Pederson broke the quiet, “But to see the dinosaurs…”
Mildred cut him off. “We’ll see.” She patted his hand.
Daniel sighed.
Vocabulary/Descriptions
The material about paleontology found throughout this novel comes mostly from the Cretaceous Period. A brief description of some of the terms used follows, with their pronunciations. The Frenchman River Valley, where this story takes place, is located in the southwest area of Saskatchewan.
TERMS
cretaceous period(cree-TAY-shus):
The Cretaceous Period, 146 to 65 million years ago, was the latter part of the Mesozoic era when great dinosaurs roamed the land and huge flying reptiles ruled the skies. A variety of smaller mammals and creatures also populated the earth and seas. The world was one of tropical temperatures all year round. Flowering plants and trees made their first widespread appearance, creating bright, beautiful places with their reds, yellows, and purples. Before that time, there were only the browns and greens of trees and ferns and the blues of the skies and seas.
Note: Creta is the Latin word for chalk. The Cretaceous Period is named for the chalky rock from southeastern England that was the first Cretaceous Period sediment studied.
k-t mass extinction:
K-T stands for Cretaceous-Tertiary. “K” is for Kreide – a German word meaning chalk, the sediment layer from that time. “T” is for Tertiary, the geological period that followed the Cretaceous Period. About 65 million years ago, it is believed that all land animals over 25 kg (55 pounds) went extinct, as well as many smaller organisms. This included the obliteration of the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, large sea creatures like the plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, as well as ammonites, some bird families, and various fishes and other marine species. There are many theories as to why this mass extinction occurred, but many scientists favour the one of an extraterrestrial body, a meteor, or asteroid hitting the earth.
paleontology (PAY-lee-on-TALL-o-gee):
Paleontology is the branch of geology and biology that deals with the prehistoric forms of life through the study of plant and animal fossils.
tertiary period (TUR-sheer-ee):
The Tertiary Period is the name for a portion of the most recent geological era known as the Cenozoic Era, also known as the “Age of Mammals,” which lasted from about 65 to 2 million years ago. The term Tertiary was coined about the middle of the eighteenth century and refers to a particular layer of sedimentary deposits. Many mammals developed during that time, including primitive whales, rodents, pigs, cats, rhinos, and others familiar to us today.
Creatures Mentioned in this Book
Ankylosaurs (AN-kye-loh-sawrs):
A group of armoured, plant-eating dinosaurs that existed from the mid-Jurassic to the late Cretaceous Periods. Ankylosaurus was a huge armoured dinosaur, measuring about 7.5 to 10.7 m (25 to 35 feet) long, 1.8 m (6 feet) wide and 1.2 m (4 feet) tall; it weighed roughly 3 to 4 tonnes. Its entire top side was heavily protected from carnivores with thick, oval plates embedded (fused) in its leathery skin, 2 rows of spikes along its body, large horns that projected from the back of the head, and a club-like tail. It even had bony plates as protection for its eyes. Only its under-belly was unplated. Flipping it over was the only way to wound it.
Basilemys (BAH-zil-emm-ees):
A tortoise-like creature with a shell up to 1.5 m (5 feet) across. This is the largest known fossil turtle from the Frenchman River Valley.
Borealosuchus (BOR-ee-al-o-such-us):
A crocodile in existence in the late Cretaceous Period in Saskatchewan. This crocodile would be little compared to its earlier ancestors, about 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 feet) in length. It would run from a T. rex, as opposed to taking it head-on like the larger crocodiles would have.
Champosaurus (CHAMP–oh-SAWR-us):
Most of the champosaurs are fairly small, reaching only about 1.5 m (5 feet) in length, but some specimens measuring over 3 m (10 feet) in length have been recently found in North Dakota. They had long, narrow jaws with fin
e, pointed teeth, and closely resemble the modern gavial of India. They may look like crocodiles, but are not closely related to them. Champosaurs fed on fish, snails, mollusks, and turtles. They lived in Saskatchewan from about 75 million years ago to about 55 million years ago.
Cimolopteryx (sim-oh-LOP-ter-icks) (“Cretaceous wing”):
An early bird resembling typical shorebirds of today and found in the late Cretaceous Period in Saskatchewan. This bird had a long, slender bill and long, strong legs for wading and running. It probably probed in the sand or mud for food.
Corythosaurus (co-RITH-oh-SAWR-us) (“Helmet lizard”):
Corythosaurus was a large plant-eating duck-billed dinosaur that probably fed on palm leaves, pine needles, seeds, cycad ferns, twigs, magnolia leaves and fruit. It may have weighed up to 5 tonnes and was about 2 m (7 feet) tall at the hips and 9 to 10 m (30 to 33 feet) long. (NB: Corythosaurs are known from slightly older sediments.)
Dromaeosaurus (DRO-mee-o-SAWR-us) (“fast-running lizard”):
Dromaeosaurus was a small, fast, meat-eating, theropod dinosaur with sickle-like toe claws, sharp teeth, and big eyes. It lived during the late Cretaceous Period and was about 1.8 m (6 feet) long, weighing roughly 15 kg (33 pounds). It was a very smart, deadly dinosaur and may have hunted in packs. Fossils have been found in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana.
Edmontosaurus (ed-MON-toh-SAWR-us) (“Edmonton [rock formation] lizard”):
A large, plant-eating member of the duckbill dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs that lived about 73 to 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period in western North America. It had hundreds of teeth crowded together in the huge jaw, enabling it to eat tough leaves and other vegetation. This flat-headed duckbill grew to about 13 m (42 feet) in length and weighed 3.1 tonnes. It may have had anywhere from 800 to 1,600 teeth. Edmontosaurus Saskatchewan-ensis, named in 1926 by Sternberg, is the only identified species of Edmontosaurus so far found in Saskatchewan.
Garfish (A.S. gar, “spear”):
Garfish is a name commonly given to certain fishes with long, narrow bodies and bony, sharp-toothed beaks. Primarily freshwater fish, today the largest tropical gar reach lengths of about 3.7 m (12.1 feet). They are a primitive fish that have existed for millions of years. They have needle-like teeth, a dorsal fin that sits far back on the heavily scaled body. They are able to breathe in stagnant water, and their roe is poisonous to many animals, including humans.
Hadrosaurs (HAD-roh-SAWRS) (“bulky lizards”):
Hadrosaurs were a family of duck-billed dinosaurs that ranged from 7 to 10 m (23 to 42 feet) long and lived in the late Cretaceous Period. They appear to have been highly social creatures, laying eggs in nests communally. Nests with eggs have been found in both Alberta and Montana. The only known hadrosaur in Saskatchewan is the Edmontosaurus saskatchewanensis (see description above).
Hesperornis (HES-per-OR-nis) (“western bird”):
Hesperornithids were a family of large flightless birds that swam in the oceans of the late Cretaceous and preyed on small fish. They have been found in the Upper Creta-ceous of Western Kansas and Saskatchewan. It is likely that they swam and fed much like modern penguins. They were also apparently limited to the Northern Hemisphere, much like penguins are limited to the Southern Hemisphere today.
Iguanodon (ig-WAHN-oh-don) (“Iguana Tooth”):
The Iguanodon was a relatively fast plant eating dinosaur that ranged to about 6 to 11 m (30 feet) long, 4 to 5 m (16 feet) tall and weighed 4.5 to 5.5 tonnes. It was a herding animal that could run on two legs or walk on four and is said to have run at least 15 to 20 km/hr. It had a horny, toothless beak, three-toed feet with hoof-like claws, and a conical thumb spike on each hand that served as a weapon of defense. Some scientists think it had a long tongue like a giraffe and that it was extremely intelligent. The Iguanodon lived in the early Cretaceous Period, which was about 110 to 135 million years ago.
Mosasaurs (MOES-ah-SAWRS):
Mosasaurs were a group of giant, lizard-like marine reptiles that extended 12.5 to 17.6 metres (40 to 59 feet) long. They were not dinosaurs, but may be related to snakes and monitor lizards. They were powerful swimmers, adapted to living in shallow seas. These carnivores (meat-eaters) still breathed air. A short-lived line of reptiles, they became extinct during the K-T extinction, 65 million years ago.
Plesiosaurs (plee-zee-oh-SAWRS) (“near lizard”):
Plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs. They were flippered marine reptiles from the Mesozoic Era. Plesiosaurs are divided into two groups: the Plesiosauroids had long, snake-like necks, tiny heads, and wide bodies; while the Pliosauroids had large heads with very strong jaws and short necks.
Pteranodons (tair-AH-no-dons):
Pteranodons were large members of the pterosaur family from the Cretaceous Period. They were not dinosaurs, but flying prehistoric reptiles, toothless hunters who scooped up fish from the seas. They were about 1.8 m (6 feet) long, had a 7.8 m (25 foot) wingspan.
Pterodactylus (ter-oh-DAK-til-us) (“winged finger”):
This small flying, prehistoric reptile, a member of the pterosaurs group, had a wingspan that spread up to .75 m (2.5 feet). The wing was made up of skin stretched along the body between the hind limb and a very long fourth digit of the forelimb. It lived during the late Jurassic Period.
Pterosaurs (TER-o-SAWRS) (“winged lizards”):
Flying reptiles that included Pteranodons and Pterodactyls, they were the largest vertebrates ever known to fly. They lived from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous Period.
Purgatorius (pur-ga-TOR-ee-us):
A small, rodent-sized mammal from the Cretaceous Period, which may have been about ten cm (4 inches) long, probably weighed no more than 20 g (3⁄4 ounce), and fed on insects. Some have suggested that this mammal may have been the earliest primate known.
“Scotty”:
The T. rex found near Eastend, Saskatchewan in 1991.
Quaesitosaurus (kway-ZEE-tuh-SAWR-us) (“abnormal or extraordinary lizard”):
This long-necked, whip-tailed plant-eater had good hearing. It lived about 80 to 85 million years ago, probably eating conifer tree leaves, gingkos, seed ferns, cycads, ferns, club mosses, and horsetails with their peg-like teeth. It was about 20 to 23 m long (66 to 75 feet), and had a long skull, a wide snout and a large ear opening.
Stegoceras (STEG-oh-CEER-us) (“roofed horn”):
A bipedal, herbivorous, dome-headed, plant-eating dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period about 76 to 65 million years ago. It was about 2 m (7 feet) long and lived in what is now Alberta, Canada. (Not to be confused with a Stegosaurus [pronounced STEG-oh-SAWR-us], meaning “roof lizard,” a plant-eating dinosaur with armoured plates along its back and tall spikes that lived during the Jurassic Period, about 156 to 150 million years ago.)
Stygimoloch (STIJ-eh-MOLL-uk) (demon from the river Styx):
Stygimoloch was a thick-skulled plant-eating dinosaur (a pachycephalosaur) that walked on two legs. It was only 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 feet) long, and weighed about 50 to 75 kg (110 to 165 pounds). This unusual-looking dinosaur had bony spikes and bumps on its skull; the many horns ranged up to 100 mm (4 inches) long. Pachycephalosaurs probably engaged in head-butting both as a defense against predators and during rivalry with others of their own species.
Thescelosaurus (THES-ke-loh-SAWR-us) (“Marvellous lizard”):
This plant-eating dinosaur had a small head, a bulky body that was 3 to 4 m long, and less than 1 m (3 feet) tall at the hips. A member of the ceratopsian group, it also had a long, pointed tail and shorter arms and could probably run at about 50 km/hr for an extended time. Two partial skeletons have been found in Saskatchewan.
Torosaurus (TOR-oh-SAW-rus) (“pierced lizard”):
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p; Torosaurus had a strong toothless beak that was able to handle the toughest vegetation including small branches. A member of the ceratopsian group, it had a fierce appearance due to the two brow horns on its enormous 2.5 m (8 foot) skull, a short nose horn, and a long-frilled crest. Its powerful front legs were shorter than its hind legs, which gave it a very stable posture. Torosaurus could chew well with its cheek teeth. It lived about 70 to 65 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah (usa), and in Saskatchewan (Canada).
Triceratops (tri-SER-uh-tops):
Triceratops was a rhinoceros-like dinosaur with a bony neck frill that lived about 72 to 65 million years ago. From the ceratopsian group, this plant-eater was about 8 m (26 feet) long, 3 m (10 feet) tall, and weighed from 6 to 12 tonnes. A relatively slow dinosaur, it had three horns on its head and a set of powerful jaws. Its parrot-like beak held many cheek teeth. It had a short, pointed tail, a bulky body, and columnar legs with hoof-like claws. Many Triceratops fossils have been found, mostly in the western United States and in western Canada, including Saskatchewan.
Troodon (TROH-oh-don):
A very smart, human-sized, meat-eating dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. Fossils of Troodon have been found in Montana and Wyoming (USA), and Alberta and Saskatchewan (Canada). It may have been one of the smartest dinosaurs, because it had a large brain compared to its body size.
Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-oh-SAWR-us recks or Tie-ran-owe-saw-rus-recks) (“tyrant lizard king”):
Dinosaur Stakeout Page 13
