Dinosaur Breakout (8 page)

Fossils, some exposed, and others wrapped in the typical burlap and coated with plaster like huge white rocks, were placed methodically on every conceivable shelf and counter of the spacious room. What was really neat was that visitors to the centre could watch the scientists at work through the glass partition.

Daniel felt privileged to be inside the lab and stood taking all the information in. Much of the equipment was similar to what Pederson had at his home and digs,
but this was far more sophisticated and fancy. Pederson seemed impressed too. He looked carefully at the tools, then headed towards the shelves with all the stored fossils.

“The only part of the
T. rex
we’ve prepared so far is the skull.”
Tim Tokaryk pointed to the display at the front of the room. “It will take us years to do the whole thing. The skeleton is about sixty-five percent present, and is considered one of the most complete in the world to date. We’ll be preparing the limbs next.”

“How do you figure Scotty died, Tim?” Daniel asked.
T. rex
es seemed so ferocious and dangerous to all the other creatures of the time that he couldn’t imagine something overpowering this top predator. Especially after what he’d seen when he’d somehow gone back into the prehistoric time. What would dare attack a
Tyran-nosaurus rex
?

Tim turned to answer Daniel with a thoughtful look. “Hard to say, really. Even if we had completed the investigation, I don’t know if we’d know for sure. On first examination, there doesn’t appear to be any indication of excessive scarring on the skeleton. No physical reasons. There are no bone injuries, no damage to the skull, or anything of that sort in what’s been studied so far.”

“What about disease?” Daniel thought to ask.

“Nothing that we’re familiar with at this stage,” Tim answered. “But anything’s plausible – disease, starvation. There would be similar factors to those that face animals today.”

Daniel indicated the skull. “Maybe he just died of old age. How old was Scotty?”

Tim laughed. “That’s tough too. We think he was probably a young one, maybe like a teenager! He definitely wasn’t a full-grown adult, because the skull bones are disassociated, but the skeleton is too large to be a toddler either.”

“What does disassociated mean?” Daniel asked.

“Even in humans, when babies are born, there are parts of the skull bones that are not fully attached, which makes the birthing process easier, but as we become older they gradually fill in and develop, along with the growth of the brain, permanent teeth, and changes in facial structure that occur naturally,” Tim explained patiently.

“Something similar happens with dinosaurs. By the time they reach early adulthood, all the bones are fused together, and in Scotty’s case they are not, so we’ve de-duced he’s probably still a young
T. rex
.”

“Cool,” Daniel said. “So then it’s hard to tell what his death was like?”

“We can tell from where the skeleton was deposited that he died near or in a river system,” Tim explained. “The carcass was trapped in an oxbow type of bend. An overbank may have dropped on top of it, and then the dirt and trees acted like a sieve to help preserve it.”

He moved over to the skull on display. “See those?”

“Yeah! Those teeth are deadly!” Daniel said, remembering his private experience when he travelled into the past.

“Kind of like giant bananas,” Tim smiled. “Only with edges like steak knives. The tooth is half root and half chomper!”

Daniel laughed. Then he instantly sobered. He’d seen them in action.

Tim continued his explanation, pointing to the jaw. “The gum line keeps the tooth in place. Usually the teeth are shed when we find the skulls. The teeth shoot out with the pressure of the water, but these stayed with the skull, probably because they were trapped by the debris from overhead.”

Another man entered, acknowledged the visitors, and began working at one of the tables. Tim introduced him as Wes Long, an rsm technician. Pederson wandered over to examine what he was working and to chat with him.

“We also have several volunteers and other staff members that work here from time to time,” Tim explained to Daniel. “We work on other fossils besides Scotty – the crocodile from the Carrot River area, the birdlike creatures, and a new
Mosasaur
find at Diefenbaker Lake.”

“Wow!” Daniel’s mind whirled; so much going on here that he hadn’t realized. Somehow he’d figured they were just concentrating on Scotty’s remains. They walked over and looked at the crocodile fossil.

“This crocodile is a much more rare find than Scotty,” he noted. “We call him ‘Big Bert’ and he dates from ninety-two million years ago. By the way, a later relative of this fellow, like the thirty-five to fifty foot, or ten to fifteen metre,
Deinosuchus,
could bring an unsuspecting
T. rex
to its knees. Their behaviour hasn’t changed much over the ages. They still lie in wait like logs in the water, although these days the biggest ones are only about twenty feet or six metres long.”

As Daniel studied the skeleton, Wes called Tim over to his table to show him something unusual in the plant fossils he worked on. Daniel stood mesmerized in the middle of the lab, thinking again about his wild adventure back in time. He could place all of these creatures in their natural habitat and he felt an awkward moment of terror, as if he was trapped in both times at once. He shook himself as Pederson moved over to join him.

“Well, Daniel, my boy. Seen enough for today?”

“Yes, this is awesome.” He studied the drawing of the
T. rex
. “You know they’ve got this a little wrong, though. The
Tyrannosaurus rex
es have a slightly thinner body right here than that,” he commented without thinking. “And their colour is different too.”

Daniel stopped when he realized Pederson was giving him a peculiar look. He gulped inwardly and clammed up.

“Why would you say that?” the old man asked curiously.

“Uh...” Daniel’s thoughts crashed together. Should he tell Pederson about his adventure? No, that would be introducing too much skepticism about his reliability as an impartial scientist. He wanted people to treat him seriously, not think he was a kid making up stories.

Just then Tim returned and Daniel blurted out, “Do you think it would ever be possible to go back in time to see what the Cretaceous world was all about?”

“I suppose anything’s possible, Daniel, but figuring out how to do it and then proving it would be the challenge,” he answered seriously. “Although you might find it a little outdated, you might want to read a book by George Gaylord Simpson, called the
Dechronization of Sam Magruder.
It’s a story written by an eminent scientist before his death in 1984. He exerted a major influence on bringing paleontology into the modern theory of evolution. In the story, he goes back into prehistoric time.”

Pederson nodded his head. “I’ve read it. I have a copy of it that you can borrow, Daniel.”

“Thanks,” Daniel said, avoiding Pederson’s inquiring gaze. Then he abruptly changed the subject again and addressed Tim. “How well do you think
T. rex
es could see?”

“The latest theory is that they had stereoscopic vision. This means they could see things in full 3d.”

Daniel gulped and stared, deep in thought.

Tim took his reaction to be one of misunderstanding, and explained, “That means they could see three dimensionally, and quite well.”

“Interesting,” Pederson said. “Quite the opposite of what Magruder thought in the book you mentioned. That fellow thought,” he explained to Daniel, “that their eyesight was poor and that all you had to do was jump off to the side of their field of vision. Sort of like you blended into the background or you could be almost underfoot, but they couldn’t spot you.”

Sure wish that was so, Daniel said to himself. He was sure it was pure luck that kept the
T. rex
he’d encountered from seeing him.

“What about their sense of smell?” he asked, curious now.

“Hard to say,” said Tim, “but I suspect they had a heightened awareness. Some scientists liked to think they ate strictly carrion – already dead animals. That’s because of their top-heavy weight and tiny forearms, which some think made it impossible for them to pursue or capture live prey,” Tim explained. “Others argue that they used their massive tails for balance during the chase, and their awesome jaws to subdue supper.”

After seeing the
T. rex
hunting the
Edmontosaurus
, Daniel knew the one set of scientists were dead wrong. He’d seen it move at tremendous speed for its weight, destroying everything in its path. Daniel brought his attention back to Tim’s account.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t walk away from a free meal, but I’m sure they also hunted for their own feasts and weren’t just scavengers. I suspect that they could detect all sorts of animals – reptiles, mammals, rodents, etc. – with their good sense of smell.

“You mean, maybe they could even smell humans?” Daniel asked apprehensively.

“You bet!” Pederson said with another quizzical look at Daniel.

“Humans are mammals, right? So indeed they could. You’d make a nice mouthful,” Tim joked. “One snap and you’d be gone! They had very strong jaws.”

Daniel felt himself go rigid with remembered fear.

Tim seemed to notice, because he added, “I’m sure
they were more interested in the larger herbivores,
though.”

“Like an
Edmontosaurus!”
Daniel thought again of the
T. rex
’s terrorizing kill. How fortunate he was to be alive!

“Exactly,” Pederson and Tim said simultaneously.

“They were complete bullies. They picked on everything and they had the size and meanness to do it!” Pederson said, lifting his eyebrows. “Sounds like some people we know!”

Daniel gave Pederson a tight smile, remembering the Nelwins’ behaviour.

“It’s amazing how humans can reflect animal behaviour,” Tim said, raising his eyebrows in an understanding way.

“Well, Daniel, my boy, time we were off,” suggested Pederson. “I’m sure Mr. Tokaryk has more important things to do than chat with us all day.”

“No problem,” Tim said sincerely, “I always enjoy an enquiring young mind.”

Just then Daniel’s stomach rumbled. “Guess I am hungry,” he admitted with a grin.

“We’ll head to town then.” Pederson turned to Tim. “Thanks so much for your assistance.” He shook his hand. “Seems like museums are a little more approachable than in my early days.”

“I’d like to think they’re a little more open-minded,” replied Tim. “Give me a call any time.”

With a quick nod, Tim returned to his work table covered with bird fossils and a stack of phone messages. Daniel and Pederson made their way out through the labyrinth of fossils and counters.

“Wow, that was awesome,” he repeated again as soon as they were out of the building.

“Sure was!” Pederson agreed as they walked to the parking lot under the beating rays of the hot sun.

“So what did they say about the business idea?” Daniel
asked, striding to keep up to Pederson and scanning the scrubby hillsides. He was always on the lookout for interesting markings or protrusions.

Pederson said, “They gave me some great information and they’re willing to link us to their operation and on their Web site.”

“Great!”

“We still have a pile of work to do and quite a few hurdles to go through before we’re ready for that stage,” Pederson said, climbing into the truck and turning the ignition.

Daniel jumped into the truck and slammed the door.

“I’m sure we can do it!” he said, waiting for Pederson to explain the steps.

“How about if I go over it all with you and your parents when we get back? Right now, I’m parched and a might peckish too.” Pederson reversed out of the parking lot.

Daniel hid his disappointment. Instead, he focused on all he’d seen and heard that day. The more information he took in, the more questions seemed to pop up.

At least now he knew for sure the
T. rex
could have sussed him out through sight and smell and made dinner out of him in one snap of his immense mouth. If it hadn’t already been preoccupied with preying on the
Edmon-tosaurus
, there was no telling what might have happened. But from what Daniel had learned, there wasn’t any way to tell if that
T. rex
was actually Scotty.

As they drove along, he had a feeling that Pederson was suspicious about his holding back something. Should he tell him? He sure wanted to talk it over with someone. But what if Pederson laughed? Or worse, what if he thought Daniel was just a dumb kid and decided that he didn’t want to have him around anymore?

“All right, young man, what’s up?” asked Pederson in his gruff, no-nonsense way.

Instantly, Daniel felt his whole body tense with dread.

“What do you mean?” he asked as innocently as he could. His voice came out barely above a whisper.