note: Creta is the Latin word for chalk. The Cretaceous period is named for chalky rock from southeastern England that was the first Cretaceous period sediment studied.
crinoids (crin-OIDS):
A lily-shaped or star-shaped marine animal, usually sedentary with feathery arms.
edmontosaurus (ed-MON-toh-SAWR-us):
A large plant-eating member of the duckbill dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs, that lived from about 73 to 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous period in western North America. With 800 to 1600 teeth crowded together along the side of the huge jaws, they were able to eat tough leaves and other vegetation. This flat-headed duckbill grew to 13 metres (42 feet) long, 3 metres (9 feet) tall at the hips, and weighed from 3200 to 3600 kilograms (7000 to 8000 pounds). Edmontosaurus was a slow-moving dinosaur with few defences, but its keen senses may have helped it to avoid predators in its swampy habitat.
hadrosaur (HAD-roh-SAWR) (“bulky lizard”):
The hadrosaurs were a group of duck-billed dinosaurs that ranged in size from 3 to 12 metres (10 to 40 feet) long and lived in the late Cretaceous period. They appear to have been highly social creatures, laying eggs in nests communally, travelling and even migrating in herds. Similar in body-build, the main difference between hadrosaur species was in the shape and size of the crest on their heads. In Alberta alone, remains from twelve different hadrosaur species have been discovered. Nests with eggs have been found in both Alberta and Montana.
mosasaur (MOES-ah-SAWR):
Mosasaurs were giant, snakelike marine reptiles that extended from 12.5 to 17.6 metres (40 to 59 feet) long. They were not dinosaurs, but were related to snakes and monitor lizards. Powerful swimmers, mosasaurs had adapted to living in shallow seas, and breathed air. These carnivores were a short-lived line of reptiles that went extinct during the k-t extinction, some 65 million years ago.
paleontology (PAY-lee-on-TALL-o-gee):
Paleontology is the branch of geology that deals with prehistoric forms of life through the study of plant and animal fossils.
pterodactyls (ter-oh-DAK-tils) (“winged finger”):
Pterodactyls were flying prehistoric reptiles of the pterosaur family. They had wingspans that spread up to 6 metres (20 feet), made up of skin stretched along the body between the hind limb and a very long fourth digit of the forelimb.
receptaculites (ree-sep-TACK-you-light-EEZE):
Referred to as the “sunflower coral” from 450 million years ago. At one time, it was thought to be a sponge. In more recent times, receptaculites are considered to be sponge-like, rather than true sponges. They are commonly found as flattened stones with a pattern of criss-cross lines like the head of a ripe sunflower.
sponges:
Also called poriferans, sponges are very simple animals that live permanently attached to one location in the water. There are from 5,000 to 10,000 known species. Most sponges live in salt water – only about 150 species thrive in fresh water. Sponges evolved over 500 million years ago.
stromatolites (strow- MAT-o-LIGHT-ees):
Mounds built up of layers of green algae and trapped sediment.
tyrannosaurus rex (tie-RAN-o-SAWR-us rex):
The tyrannosaurus rex is also known as the “Tyrant lizard king”. A carnivore (meat-eater) that ate large dinosaurs like the triceratops, it was 12.4 metres (40 feet) long, 4.6 to 6 metres (15 to 20 feet) tall, and weighed 5 to 7 tonnes. It lived during the late Cretaceous period, from about 85 to 65 million years ago. Tyrannosaurus rex’s arms were only about 1 metre (3 feet) long, and it had two-fingered hands. T-rex had cone-shaped, serrated teeth that were continually replaced. The first Tyrannosaurus rex fossil was discovered by the famous fossil hunter Barnum Brown in 1902. Only about 30 Tyrannosaurus fossils have been found, mostly in the western part of the United States. The Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in Saskatchewan was found in 1994, at Eastend, and was excavated by the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.
royal saskatchewan museum fossil research station:
In 1994, the rsm began the excavation of what was then only the thirteenth-known partial skeleton of the carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex, now affectionately called Scotty. This project led to the establishment of a fossil research station in Eastend in 1995. The rsm’s activities there focus on paleontological field research and collecting, the separation of fossils from their rock matrix in the laboratory, and ongoing research to better understand Saskatchewan’s fossil history.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to Alison Lohans for helping me achieve the life of the story, and to Dianne Warren who saw the potential. I am most grateful to my editor, Joanne Gerber, for her insights that enriched the essence, and without whose skill this book would not have reached its present form.
Thanks also to: Ervin Fehr for the initial idea and inspiration; Harold Bryant, Curator of Earth Sciences, Royal Saskatchewan Museum, for his expert advice; The Children’s Writers Round Robin group in Saskatchewan for their encouragement; Linda McDowell for first taking me to the t-rex excavation site; and others along the way who have influenced, inspired, and informed.
nb: The paleontological information in this book has been derived from a wide variety of written and pictorial sources. Although I have done my best to create an accurate picture, this remains a work of fiction, and there is no claim to total academic authenticity. New discoveries constantly change what scientists know about the world of dinosaurs.
About the Author
Judith Silverthorne is the author of two books, including a juvenile novel The Secret of Sentinel Rock for which she won the 1996 Saskatchewan Book Award for Children's Literature. She has also worked as an editor, curator, and a television documentary producer, as well as serving as the Executive Director for the Saskatchewan Library Association. She currently lives in Regina.
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