Lost World: The grasslands
Apr. 14th, 2008 11:57 pmIn the base of the valley, it opened out into a grass-frond plain. The grass fronds waved level with our heads, and for a moment I thought it would provide a perfect cover, but J. Clive saw out thoughts and shook her head resignedly.
She slipped from her stegoi and stepped across to the beginning of the fronds, and shook them loosely with her hand, and we saw the tops wag violently from side to side. They were elastic, but so light any movement was transmitted clearly to the top, and Clive drew our attention out across the plain.
Small herds of taller herbivores wandered about, mostly armoured hump-backs and stegoi, with some larger beasts ambling purposefully, necks wagging. But in other places the fronds rippled enticingly, tracing the path of smaller creatures (smaller meaning, perhaps only slightly taller than an automobile).
We looked up, and saw pterosaurs gliding back and forth over the grassy sea, and after a moment realised they were tracking these ripples. Scattered tyrannosaurs strode about, singly or in pairs, and we realised they were following the pterosaurs. In the distance, we saw one hunter suddenly put on a burst of speed, and snatch up a giant speck of some grazing animal out of a presumed herd, and above the nearest pterosaurs began spiralling down, ( Read more... )
She slipped from her stegoi and stepped across to the beginning of the fronds, and shook them loosely with her hand, and we saw the tops wag violently from side to side. They were elastic, but so light any movement was transmitted clearly to the top, and Clive drew our attention out across the plain.
Small herds of taller herbivores wandered about, mostly armoured hump-backs and stegoi, with some larger beasts ambling purposefully, necks wagging. But in other places the fronds rippled enticingly, tracing the path of smaller creatures (smaller meaning, perhaps only slightly taller than an automobile).
We looked up, and saw pterosaurs gliding back and forth over the grassy sea, and after a moment realised they were tracking these ripples. Scattered tyrannosaurs strode about, singly or in pairs, and we realised they were following the pterosaurs. In the distance, we saw one hunter suddenly put on a burst of speed, and snatch up a giant speck of some grazing animal out of a presumed herd, and above the nearest pterosaurs began spiralling down, ( Read more... )