Chapter 14 : There's a famous quote

want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 10 chapters

patreon.com/Rasi_rose519

----------

Thanks to a study of a vertebrate found in Alberta in 2013 found they only lived 16 years, which is an 8 year difference between it and the modern day guitarfish, its closest living relative." George stated. Raynare looks,

"Why would the lifespan be so important?"

"There's a famous quote: "The more we learn about history, the less likely we are to repeat it." He deadpanned.

"Oh."

"Next are also easy one: Amphibians." He pulled out the third container that was labeled Amphibians and only pulled out 2:

The first one was the larger of the pair with the label reading 5 feet. It was a salamander but very long and serpentine, with only two front limbs and feathery gills on it.

The other was slightly smaller, just over 3 feet going by the label. It was another salamander that was also long and sinuous but had 4 legs and no external gills.

Rias grabbed the first one while Raynare grabbed the second one and then both placed them in hopefully the correct biomes. George inspected their work. "

Since both of you placed them in the Cypress Swamp, and I've decided to start giving Rias some points: Rias you have 8, Raynare 16." George stated. Rias sighs,

"It'll do." They take their seats and prepare to take more notes.

"The first one is called Habrosaurus, and it is one of the largest amphibians at 5 feet long and the oldest known member of the Siren family of amphibians.

Sirens are amphibians that are distantly related to salamanders but only have one pair of hind limbs, smallest is just shy of 3 feet, and feed mainly worms, shrimp, and algae.

Habrosaurus however, feed on hard-shelled animals like shellfish, besides shrimp." George explained. They took notes.

"The other, Scapherpeton, was more like a lizard and lived near swamps and streams, feeding on insects. And we have a lot of specimens of this 3 feet salamander: 144!" George explained. They take notes. "Quite a lot." Rias commented.

"Next are the future successors of the land once the non-avian dinosaurs become extinct: Mammals." He pulled out the container of mammals, and placed 3 small mammals.

The first looked like an opossum or rat and was only 12 inches long.

The next had the head of a Tasmanian Devil but body of an otter. Also the largest mammal with a 3 foot length and 11lbs.

The third looked like a tiny rodent due to the large buck teeth. It also had a brown coat of fur with white spots, like that of the Tiger Quoll from Australia.

Rias picked up the rat and otter while Raynare picked up the rodent. "To make this one more interesting, there are small holes in the set that are supposed to be the burrows for these mammals.

Find them, and place the mammals there." He explained the interesting fact.

The girls looked. They found the burrows that were located and then came back. George takes a look at their work. "Both of you get 6 points.

Rias: 14. Raynare: 22." George said. Raynare smiles while Rias groans. They sit down to take notes.

"The first mammal is called Alphadon, meaning first tooth; and we only have teeth, lower jaw, and fragments of the skull. That's just enough to assume that it was 12 inches long, looked like a modern day opossum, and was an omnivore feeding on fruits, insects, and small lizards.

Additionally, it was a Metatherian or marsupial, a mammal that gives birth to a tiny baby and has a pouch, just like an opossum" George explained.

They took their notes. "Oh and to get an idea of what one may be like in life, there's an infamous movie called Walking with Dinosaurs, unrelated to the documentary of the same name, that has it."

He pulled out a projector and played a short video that was a small info-video of it. They watch it and also eat some of the snacks.

Raynare seemed to think it was interesting as did Rias. "As for the documentary?" Raynare asked. "One moment please."

"The next is Didelphodon, meaning opossum tooth. Much like Alphadon, it too was a marsupial.

Once thought to be akin to a badger, it's now thought to be more like an otter, using the powerful jaw muscles to crush mussels and snails, even carrion." George explained.

They took notes. "Now the Walking with Dinosaurs documentary does indeed have Didelphodon. . but it's outdated, showcasing the older badger look." He showed them the video.

Rias blinks, "So in this documentary they are depicted as opportunists that get into comedic fights over a dead dinosaur embryo while the world of dinosaurs fell apart?" She summed up.

"I thought the fight was rather cute. And they did look really well made, both the real deal and the computer generated one." Raynare added.

"Yeah while this documentary is often praised and is a landmark in prehistoric video education material, there are quite a few inaccuracies, most of which are due to being created in 1999 and is a case of Science Marches On trope.

Besides the outdated Didelphodon design & behavior, the environment wasn't sickly since the paleoenvironment I've shown makes it that the Dinosaurs were clearly doing well at the end of their reign."

George said, subtly annoyed with the fault but not not overly bothered by it. Rias noticed that he was annoyed.

"Don't like the inaccuracies, George?" Rias wondered, a bit concerned. "Not really, it's not the fault of the creators of the show, despite what some people say about it.

I still enjoy it to this day." George said, his mood a lot better as he gave the document some praise.

Rias smiles."Next mammal is Meniscoessus, meaning small crescent tooth. It belonged to an extinct group of mammals called Multituberculates. These tiny mammals lived for 166 million years, the longest reign for any mammal lineage.

Most were small and scurried under the feet of the dinosaurs but died out in around 44-33 million years ago, most likely due to competition from other mammals and climate change.

Meniscoessus, at 7lbs, was rather large for its kind and behaved like a small rodent, feeding on plant matter and living in burrows." George explained. Raynare was able to write this down.

---------

want to read ahead or want to support you can join my patr-eon and u will be able to read ahead by 10 chapters

patreon.com/Rasi_rose519