THE
POSSIBLE POLAR ORIGIN OF REPTOIDS
By John Rhodes
Hundreds
of millions of years ago, the Earth that the dinosaurs inhabited
look quite different than it does now. In fact, the entire land
mass of the Earth was drawn together by continental drift into
one giant supercontinent surrounded by a single ocean called
Tethys. The continent itself was called Pangaea.
After
a while, Pangaea gradually split into two separate parts. The
northern land mass (containing the North American, Asian and
European continents) gradually fractured and spread northwards.
The southernmost land mass (containing South America, Africa,
India, Antarctica and Australia) remained fairly intact and
occupied the southern hemisphere. This southern hemispheric
land mass was called Gondwanaland.
At
this time, Antarctica was attached to the southern boundary
of Australia, forming an area that is known as polar Gondwanaland.
Although polar Gondwanaland was located well within the Antarctic
circle, the fossil records indicate that this area enjoyed a
climate similar to that of the state of Oregon.
Paleobotanists report that Antarctica’s cool landscape
was filled with beautiful conifers, ferns, evergreens and a
few flowering plants which spread patches of color across the
vast land. Geologists report that great mountain ranges and
volcanoes pierced the horizon and rivers flowed abundantly across
the terrain. What is most important, is that scientists
have discovered that within this enchanting and peaceful polar
environment, a variety of life thrived there, including,
animals we previously considered inhibited by cold environments,
the dinosaurs.
In addition, along the southern cliff side of Australia, a region
that was once attached to polar Gondwanaland, the remains of
another Polar Dinosaur was unearthed that provided insight into
the remarkable ability of the dinosaur to evolve adapt and thrive
in dark, cool environments. the dinosaurs name was LEAELLYNASAURA
(Lee-Ellena-Saura):
PRE-ADAPTATION
TO THE UNDERWORLD ENVIRONMENT.
In
1987, Paleontologist Tom Rich of the Museum of Victoria, Australia;
discovered the fossilized remains of one particular polar dinosaur
in an excavated tunnel on the southern tip of Victoria (South
Australia) in a place called Dinosaur Cove. When he found this
hipsilophodontid dinosaur, he discovered a 106 million years
old fossilized treasure that revealed the extent to which dinosaurs
were able to adapt and survive in the extremes of light and
temperature. This miraculous find was called Leaellynasaura,
after his daughter.
Leaellynasaura
was unique dinosaur in many ways. It was a large chicken sized
herbivorous dinosaur with bipedal posture, long legs and well-developed
hands at the end of their front limbs. They also had large eyes
set into their heads.
Behind
their eyes, an even more amazing thing was discovered...
When
Tom Rich discovered Leaellynasaura’s skull (right), he
noticed that it also had an unusually large brain for a dinosaur
of it's size and that it's optical lobes (the ridge of the brain
where messages are received from the eye and are translated
into visual images) were extremely oversized and the dinosaurs
eyes were remarkably large. These cranial formations led Dr.
Rich to believe that a major portion (almost sixty-five percent)
of Leaellynasaura's brain was completely dedicated to the processing
optical information. ( Suggesting a dinosaur that is primarily
nocturnal in their activity cycles.)
Place
a card or piece of paper on the dotted line, bring your eyes
close to the opposite end of the card or paper. Allow your focus
to merge the two pictures. It can be seen in 3D! (courtesy:
Quantas 'Airways' Syme projects)
Although
Polar GondwanaLand had a climate much like that of northern
Oregon or Scotland, Dr. Rich knew that the seasonal extremes
through which the polar Gondwanaland environment fluctuated
were as unique as were the dinosaurs that inhabited this ancient
region of the planet. Any animal living in this southerly location
would either have to migrate northwards during the four long
months of winter cold and darkness or be physically adapted
to living and thriving through such environmental extremes.
Leaellynasaura had proven the later to be true.
Paleoclimatologists
report that, even though the winter temperature fluctuations
were nlong, dark months of polar winter, dinosaurs would have
had to forge for food in either freezing or sub-freezing temperatures.
This means that Leaellynasaura-like dinosaurs may have had a
warm-blooded physiology far superior to any those dinosaurs
living beyond the northern polar Gondwanaland boundaries. The
sheer environmental stresses of living under these polar climates
may have encouraged dinosaurs living in this region to evolve
an evermore increasingly warmer blooded physiology in order
to survive.
Together,
these physical attributes answer the question as to the physical
adaptability and physiological survivability of some of the
dinosaurs in extreme environments. Gondwanaland dinosaurs, such
as the lovely Leaellynasaura, were pre-adapted to living in
dark, cool regions of the Earth...such as caverns and caves.
GOING, GOING.....DOWN
There
are several reasons why it is possible that
some of the polar dinosaurs may have been driven to seek the
shelter of the Antarctic underworld.
- Given
that Leaellynasaura-type polar dinosaurs must have been
hypersensitive to light, the long Antarctic summer days
may have forced some dinosaurs into darker shelter in order
to avoid bright light. As with most nocturnal animals, it
is possible that they sought shelter in a cave or large
caverns close to the surface of the earth.
- The
wind blown Antarctic winter nights may have also led the
Leaellynasaura-like polar dinosaurs to seek shelter from
the wind. Just as a cave or cavern opening became mankind's
first domicile, dinosaurs may have used such an inner earth
opening as a shelter from from such unfavorable winter conditions.
- Many
creatures that were on the Saurian menu, sought the refuge
of the underworld to escape their predators. When caves
and cavern systems were used as a means of escape, unrelenting
dinosaurs would have followed their prey as deep into the
earth as possible to get "dinner." Once inside, they may
have noticed the agreeable conditions within the cave and
later returned when winter draped itself over the Gondwanaland
terrain.
These
environmental conditions may have possibly created a dinosaur
that was perfectly pre-adapted for living underground. Furthermore,
it is also important to remember that Leaellynasaura was almost
110 million years old when Paleontologist Tom Rich discovered
her remains in Dinosaur Cove, Australia. This means that as
physiologically advanced as these polar dinosaurs appear to
have been, they still had an additional 45 million more years
in which evolution could perfect their designs so they could
further explore their world and seek out new ecological niches
in which they could adapt and thrive.
Paleontologists
appear to be in agreement that dinosaurs of this type and from
this region of the Earth were, most likely, amongst the last
to walk the surface of the planet 65 million years ago.
Given
the fact that this particular type of dinosaur was so highly
adapted to a cool or cold climate and was able to see in the
dark, could other advanced polar dinosaurs, such as Leaellynasaura,
have been able to survive the cool, dark underground environment
if they could find food and water? Could large brained dinosaurs
have entered one of the many ancient volcanic vents or lava
tube caves that speckle the southern Antarctic continent (polar
Gondwanaland) and discovered an underground ecological niche
in which they could evolve undisturbed for millions of years?
Perhaps in search for answers we need look as far as this very
profound statement.
"Author
Conan Doyle once dreamed of a plateau in South America that
time forgot, where dinosaurs continued to reign. Reports earlier
this year that Dwarf mammoths survived to early historical times,
in islands of the coast of Siberia, give force to such speculation.
If dinosaurs found a similar haven in which they outlived the
rest of their kind, then we think polar Gondwana, including
southeastern Australia, is a likely place to look for it."
Patricia
and Tom Rich, discoverers of Leaellynasaura
Scientific American, July, 1993
Alas,
even these great paleontologists appear to also dream of discovering
survivors of the great dinosaur extinction! And, according to
their own words, they believe that polar Gondawanaland or Antarctica,
would be the place to search for evidence of their survival.
Thanks
to paleontologists Dale Russell and Tom Rich, immensely important
realities have been established that can support the hypothesis
regarding saurian survival. Scientific evidence now indicates
that:
a)
Dinosaurs could have eventually acquired the human-like physical
form.
b)
Some dinosaurs were perfectly "suited" for survival in the dark,
cool underground environment.
c)
If some dinosaurs were to have survived the disaster of 65 million
years ago, a yet undiscovered haven the Antarctic regions may
conceal the remains or actual presence of their descendants.
