The start of the Jurassic period was signalled by the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. With many species dying out, there were large ecological niches that would be filled over time. During the Jurassic the supercontinent Pangea broke up into two separate land masses, Laurasia in the North and Gondwana in the South. The climate at the time was much warmer than that of today, with no land at the North or South poles.

Marine crocodiles, dolphin-like ichthyosaurs and the plesiosaurs dominated the oceans. All reptilian, whales and dolphins would not enter the seas for millions of years to come. The Jurassic also saw a large increase in planktonic species.

During this time many of the 'classic' dinosaurs evolved. Long-necked herbivores such as Diplodocus and Apatosaurus were feeding from the abundant ferns, cyads and conifer trees. Their enormous size would have been a deterrent to predators and would also allow them to browse vegetation at levels that other animals could not reach. With such a long and flexible neck an animal such as Diplodocus would have been able to feed on almost all vegetation growing at the time. Large Tyrannorsaur-like therapods were also living at this time, possibly hunting sauropods. Little is known about the behavior of dinosaurs as so many fossil specimens are incomplete. During the late Jurassic the first birds evolved from smaller bipedal dinosaurs.

The Cretaceous period started around 145 million years ago and lasted until the extinction of the dinosaurs, around 65 million years ago. During the Cretaceous period the continents continued to break up and started to resemble that which we see today. South America, Antarctica and Australia all moved away from Africa forming the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The planet continued to cool in temperature, although remaining much hotter than current climates. Tropical average temperatures would have averaged at around 37 degrees centigrade, with deep sea temperatures sitting around 20 degrees hotter than they do today.

The Cretaceous is notable for the spread of flowering plants, or angiosperms. Along with the development of flowers was the evolution of bees and other pollen-spreading insects. This flourishing ecosystem is an excellent example of where two organisms can greatly accelerate eachother's development, commonly known as coevolution. Many leafy trees also began to show up during the Cretaceous, and plants started to look much more like they do in modern times.

The dinosaurs would continue to evolve and thrive during the Cretaceous period with many of the most well-known species flourishing during this period. Tyrannosaurus was the top land predator along with smaller bipedal dinosaurs such as Velociraptors. Pterosaurs would face increasing competition from birds and would dwindle significantly in numbers towards the end of the Cretaceous. Mammals were still restricted to smaller nocturnal creatures. At this point in the sea sharks and rays had fully developed and would remain the same even millions of years later.

The Cretaceous period was ended by a huge mass extinction event known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. It is thought that the extinction was brought on by a huge meteorite impact, the crater of which can be found on the Chicxulub coast in Mexico. The impact would have kicked up a huge dust cloud, blocking much of the sun's light. The impact crater shows that the meteor struck the coastline and so would have caused massive tsunamis, which would have proved fatal to all animal life caught in them. Evidence of tsunamis is prevalent across the USA, with marine sand found a long distance in land. The impact produced a cloud of sulphur dioxide which would have caused reduced sunlight as well as acid rain. This would have killed plants and plankton, severely harming the ecosystems that depended on them.

The only survivors of the event were omnivores, insectivores and carrion-eaters. Ecosystems that were based on consuming detritus would have been able to survive, and mammals with their warm blood and diet of insects would have been able to live through events that killed the larger reptilian dinosaurs. Crocodiles also survived the extinction event, this is thought to be due to their ability to live as scavengers and go for months without food.

After this mass extinction killed off the vast majority of the dominant life-forms a vast number of ecological niches were left open for mammals and birds to fill. The next era is known as the Paleocene Epoch and would see the growth of mammals across the planet.

It was really fun.. we went out in the car down to Norden and got the steam train to Swanage! It was my first trip on a train!! We sat in a little compartment next to a nice lady and gentleman who were having a day out too. I was sitting on mummy's knee, next to the lady, and she tickled me and let me lick her - she told mummy that they'd lost their dog a while ago because he was very old.

This is mummy and I at the station - I was very well behaved even though everyone wanted to talk to me and we met lots of dogs and children!! (This will probably be a little tiny photo because mummy doesn't like being in photographs!)

After we left the station we walked down through the town - talking to lots of people and dogs on the way - and to mummy's friend's shop "Jurassic" (do click the link to have a look and if you're in Swanage go there - it's a really cool shop, they sell all sorts of camping and hiking gear, and some really nice clothes for humans). They didn't mind me going in because there's usually a dog called Tucker who has his own chair out front! Daddy bought mummy a nice pink fluffy cosy Weird Fish top and got me a travel water bowl and a special doggy towel. The doggy towel is sort of like an oven glove and it's really good for getting my paws and legs dried off. I'm still not sure about the water bowl, but it's pretty nifty as it will squish flat to go in a pocket.

After that we went for a walk at Durlston country park and I had my lunch outdoors!! That was really fun, having it outside instead of at home.

After my lunch we went down to the sea where I had a paddle - I even found a fish on the beach, which had a really funny smell and made me go all peculiar!

Mummy and daddy pretended to be grockles and had some chips and then we sat outside a pub and they had a beer. I had a tiny bit as well.. maybe when I'm all grown up they'll let me have a bit more than a little lick!

We got the train back to Norden and then went back home for a rest! I was really tired but we went out in the evening for a little walk - my favourite one round Winterborne Stickland through the fields and down to the stream, where I had a paddle - and then we went to Ibberton where I had my dinner out in a pub garden and then we went indoors so mummy and daddy could have their dinner, while I slept under the table. I like eating my dinner outdoors, it's really fun!

RS LINK

As mentioned, this week has been a week of multiple 'first-times'! I've unknowingly attempted so much that i've not planned for and the feeling, after going through it all , is just GREAT. I was watching a hongkong movie today on Chn 62 and i was unexpectedly enlightened! One of the lead actresses mentioned something about life being full of fears and we should take every single possible opportunity to overcome these fears before gets too late to regret those great things we could have done, but retreated due to our lack of confidence and fear. Sounds like a logic that almost everyone knows, but fail to put into practice till our deathbeds. And we lie there , in that wooden box buried 6 feets under wondering what we could have done for those past times.

The first activity that zoomed the week was the Flying Trip @ Malaysia last saturday. It was spectacular. Initially it was kinda weird cuz most of the guys who went for the trip were like super engineering students who were particularly keen on aviation. Man, i bet they were wondering what on earth was an arts student like me doing in the midst of this 'we-love-engineering' group. But well oh well, putting such differences aside, i must say i thoroughly enjoyed myself that day, although personal flight time was only 30 minutes. The day started with some introductions , followed by some Voice procedure briefings and introduction to some ground school lessons. The flight started with the instructing pilot controlling the key controls while we steer the direction of the plane. Take off was smooth but as the plane ascended, my heart started to pounce faster and faster. The thrill started when i tried to descend the plane just a little, it felt so much like a roller coastal fall . You know, the feeling of having your heart in your mouth. Words can't describe how great the feeling of controlling the plane yourself is, although i was a little paranoid.The highlight of the flight for me , was definitely the air acrobatics that the pilot performed. And guess what, I was sitting right in the cockpit ! We did sharp manoeuvres , fast flypast many weird and really exciting moves that got me pretty much in shock actually.The plane certainly didn't look capable of carrying out such high-speed stunts! The biggest thing that i experience was the plane fall! Or at least, it felt like a plane fall. The plane just dived right towards the woods below with me feeling as if i'm in Jurassic Park 3 with my 747 crashing right into the woods , totally bounded only by the straps of the safety belt.My headset flew right to the back behind me totally.All the force was just totally brought up to my head!As scarey as it sounds, its still a DAMN cool experience, i have never experienced such weird force effects before.. superb experience of the year. Kudos!

Next up ..'work stuff'..totally no mood to talk about it now but hmm in short. I received a new jobscope and a new 'working environment'. i am adapting slightly well so hope things go smoothly till i finally 'FINISH my BOND'. So thats something totally new for me too.

And today i did something really stupidly new too, that was being emcee for a event. It was kinda stressing, considering this was my first time doing it. Handling such a role with no prior experience in such a rather massive event.. i have to admit i was superbly nervous through out and i tried my best although i screwed up a couple of times...i got pissed off at times too and i felt bad for my mistakes. But sometimes i wonder if its worth the the point of feeling bad for these people above us because they have to answer for our mistakes. But who knows , maybe we're just simply their stepping stones to higher grounds. I'm not sure about this, but i certainly hope these guys aren't like that.but still, i can't believe someone fussed me over a stupid little small error!! Oh my..please don't give me so many first times in a week ok?! Its just super pants-peeing.

And yeah.. we also duped the guard at the entrance of the reserve into letting all 14 of us for the price of 5 people.. That was smooth.. 

We also ruined someone else's great day there.. But thats another story... 

We had quite a few of our seniors with us to assist us in this endeavour.. as can be seen from the photograph above...

The weather was just perfect. And to top it all, the teachers didn't have a clue as to where we were...

We could've stayed all day over there but returned fearing our teachers would call the police...

So yesterday we went visiting various places along the 'Jurassic Coastline' of Dorset. I must say, there are some really quite phenomenal places along there, including the Durdle Door (above) and Lulworth Cove (below).  These places strike me as quite amazing simply because they are completely natural. Handmade but not by us. The Durdle Door for example is amazing to look at, this huge stone arch in the middle of the water, the centre arc eroded and now it looks like this. Goodness knows how long it took for this to happen. And Lulworth cove, once completely land, the sea has eaten away at it and made it what it is now. All along the walkway there are little coves forming and little arches in the stone walls beginning to be created and you can see these. In the whole of my lifetime they will probably look exactly the same, but here is the evidence to compare in many years to come.

These are the sort of images that we see on postcards and on TV, never thinking that we will see them all with our very own eyes. However, when we do see them we realise that the sights before us as too big to comprehend.

The Quarry Where the Fossils Were Found

An excavation of the area revealed at least four sauropods, long-necked, long-tailed, herbivorous dinosaurs, and two carnivorous ones.   There may also be a stegosaurus.

Animal burrows and petrified tree trunks 6 feet in diameter were also found nearby. The site does not contain any new species, but offers scientists the chance to learn more about the ecology of that time of the late Jurassic.

The fossilized dinosaurs are all from the same late Jurrasic, much like those at Dinosaur National Monument, which is partially in Utah.   The site measures roughly 50 yards wide by 200 yards long and was excavated by a team from the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois.  The bones were found in a sandstone channel of an ancient river.  Thanks to the depth at which the bones were found, "The preservation of these dinosaurs is excellent," Scott Foss, a leading paleontoloist said.

The mix of dinosaurs, trees and other species in the area may help scientists fill in the blank spaces of how the area and life which resided there looked like 145 million years to 150 million years ago, including details about the ancient climate.

Dal sito del National geographic (link)

"Amazing" Dinosaur Trove Discovered in Utah

The Bureau of Land Management announced the find Monday, calling the quarry near Hanksville "a major dinosaur fossil discovery."

Read it

Adam should be writing this. That's all there is to it. My brother has preached the gospel of Stan Winston for longer than I can remember. When I wanted to make movies in order to best Spielberg and Lucas and Cameron, Adam was driven to the dream by one man. The man who rendered animated our finest dreams and made our nightmares beautiful. He built the T-100, sculpted the ultimate interplanetary trophy hunter, machined Tony Stark's armor, brought dinosaurs into my living room, and revolutionized creature effects before I could cuss:

and again as recent as 1999:

Winston was a hero among heroes who never failed to bring class and humor to the table while showing the world a creative spark the likes of which we have hardly ever seen. His talents brought into being a neo-cryptozoological world that is recognizable around the Earth. A teenager in Taiwan may or may not know what a Golden Retriever looks like, but show the same kid a picture of the Predator and he'll give you a short list of the creature's weapons, tell you what color his blood is and clue you in as to his personal favorite kills perpetrated by said creature.

The man gifted us with textures that simply were not possible before him.

I look forward to a long conversation with Adam concerning Stan Winston's passing. I know how his heart dropped when he heard the news. He's his John Lennon. I loved the man for what he gave me and the world is a lesser place to be without him. When I first read of his passing moments before beginning this post I started mourning him as a loved one without even realizing it. When friends and close relatives have died, one of my strongest reactions was to hurt because I would never again be able to do a certain thing that we had done together - or something they or I had promised the other. And as much as I know the fourth installments of Terminator and Jurassic Park are going to be horrible and thus (yeah, I just said 'thus') enrage me without end - I absolutely knew that Stan Winston would craft for me visual spectacles which would make my brain explode with the purest of geeky joy. He had promised me that... then cancer took him from me.

He was only 62. I wasn't done with him yet. My heart's a little emptier now. He deserves something far more poetic than what I've got here or even what I've read other places.

Stan, we loved you as a friend because you were in it for all the right reasons. Thank you for showing us magic again.

Sad story today, one of the last beaming lights that brought us amazing effects from Aliens to The Terminator has passed on after suffering from multiple myeloma for seven years.

You may not know the man by face but you would certainly recognise anything he's created over the past forty years.

Some of his credits include:

Aliens

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Jurassic Park

Batman Returns

Edward Scissorhands

R.I.P Stan Winston 1946-2008

-Jason

The rocks have been tilted under the sea in places so the rocks are resting on progressively older strata (250 million years in age) - this made the boat trip a journey through time as we observed the constantly changing coastline of England's only Natural World Heritage Site.

From Sidmouth we sailed past Weston Mouth, then Branscombe - and around the wreck of the Napoli, then on to the Beer Quarry Caves and Hooken landslide towards Beer itself. We then continued on to Seaton, we passed the Bindon landslide and sailed along the National Nature reserve beach, past Pinhay Bay and ended up at the coastline of Lyme Regis, before returning to Sidmouth.  It was utterly spectacular. It was a bit cloudy on the way so most of the pics were taken on the return trip when the sun had come out to play with us!

Take a look at a few of the pics (the add image button has been playing up so some of the photos had to be medium sized before the system would let me display them! Grrrr!):

A nice cool drink while waiting for the boat to arrive at our favourite sea-front watering hole.

What'll you have to drink?

A 30 second stroll down to the sea-front for 12.30 midday

Just a few minutes to study the map before the boat arrives

 Here it comes:

Ready to embark? Helpful staff and refreshments on board!

This is the coastline we're sailing round: Triassic rocks formed in baking deserts 250 million years ago.

Do you remember that walk we did a few weeks back? It was along the coastal path at the top of these same cliffs! We walked over the 3 hills you can see here (no wonder we were tired!!!)

 Below: Where two tides meet - the line of colour in the water is created by one tide going one way and another tide going a different way.

Approaching the Chalk cliffs at Beer, a mere 90 million years old. The chalk cliffs appear to be in the wrong place because a landslide caused them to drop down a level. The combination of impermeable clays and porous sandstones and chalk gives rise to the landslides.

The underlying Triassic rocks soon re-appear:

Below: Colourful beach huts at Seaton

Below: Beer Head 

Towards Branscombe (on the way back) 

The bay at Beer on the left: 

Below: Hooken landslide 

 Below: Branscombe beach huts

 Notice how the rock face slopes down below? The thin grey/blue lines in the rock face are layers of fossilised water.

Approaching Sidmouth again:

The Esplanade, Sidmouth 

Disembarking:

Home for Earl Grey tea and cakes!

Jump Man – oldest school DOS Tandy 800, one floppy floppy – This is the game that led me to ruin. All my wasted hours spent playing games can be traced back to this life drain. Purpose of the game? Run around the screen collecting large X’s while avoiding autonomous 4 pixel bullets. Awesome.

Gears of War – The reason why your game sucks is because it isn’t Gears of War. I’ll probably get a lot of heat for this one, but only from small little boys too intimidated to hazard their hand at controlling some of the manliest, most like-myself (no one can handle myself

like…myself) characters ever created in gaming. This game is so good that as soon as I finish some other game, Gears goes right back in. Co-op Gears is probably the pinnacle of gaming. The game looses some of it sheen in verses when you say hello and are immediately greeted by two very angry kids yelling at you to suck their massive cocks and to fuck off. Uncalled for to say the least. And I only said hello, imagine if I said I had just fucked their mothers. Which I did by the way, but I didn’t tell them that.

Half Life 1 – Good game, fun. Everyone knows this. The only bad thing about this game is that it’s on every list made since its release. I’m debating leaving it off just for that reason. Yup, gone.

Freedom Fighters – Combine solid ragdoll physics, a hint of over the shoulder Gears combat, fun mission planning, no polish, lackluster AI and no multiplayer on PC and what do you get? One of the most fun crappy games ever. This game is responsible for some of my favorite single player gaming experiences. I’m pretty sure this game was relegated to 7.5 status which normally means it’s a PS3 game, but in regards to Freedom Fighters, a 7.5 actually refers to this game’s girth. Let’s just say this is the Ron Jeremy of gaming, it’s unattractive, short and not too bright, but for some reason, chicks love this game.

Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast – Finally a Star Wars game that almost nails what it might be like to be a light saber wielding, ass severing Jedi. The combat was fast, furious, fluid and almost spot on. I say almost because at times it did feel like you might as well be swinging a baseball bat around and the gun play is relegated to the backseat but I’m willing to forgive these slip ups simply because Wayne Brady can force choke a bitch.

No One Lives Forever 1 – The first and only FPS to properly implement stealth and humor into a solid combat mechanic. Many games have tried; this is the only one to do it properly. Not even the solid NOLF 2 compares. This is the first game I remember that toppled Half-Life 1 for intelligent AI that was fun and worthy of battle.

FEAR – This game is really NOLF 1 but without the stealth mechanic. Or the humor. Some of the most memorable and frenetic combat scenarios I’ve played are from this game. This game has arguably the finest display of single player combat AI in a FPS. The only hang up I’ve found with this game is that many of the AI enemies are placed in compromising positions that a seasoned FPS player can exploit to wipe the level clear of enemy jerkbutts without too much trouble. Give em a chance though and they will put up an entertaining fight.

Jurassic Park on Sega Genesis – You play a Raptor in this game. About as rad as it gets.

Aladdin on Sega Genesis – One of the first games to incite a console skirmish the likes only to be matched by the present 360 vs. PS3 battles. I remember overhearing post playground convos between SNES Aladdin players defending their poop version against the infinitely superior Genesis version. It started innocently enough, the unsuspecting but confident Sega kid meandered into the lunch room after recess only to be jumped by three SNES kids brandishing their copies of B-team Aladdin, throwing apples and trying to jump on the poor kid’s head. It came to blows. Dazed and down but not out, the Sega kid pulled his secret weapon from his ragged pants, a 5 foot scimitar. With one circular swing through his attacker’s torsos the Sega kid was met with a satisfying pop as the three SNESers poofed into smoke. He then jumped on a carpet and flew off into a rock. I’m sure that didn’t turn out how he had planned, but then what does? That was a tough stage.

Games that were considered but were ultimately left off –

Ninja Gaiden on XBOX – The reason I bought an Xbox. It would be moved onto the list if only I could come to grips with putting “unadulterated fun” and “relentlessly hard” into the same sentence. Nonetheless, Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of the main reasons I got a 360 over the PS3.

God of War on PS2 – The reason I ever played a ps2 game from start to finish. Was kept off the list for no legitimate reason.

Mario 64 – This game was recommended to me for this list. Was kept off the list because I didn’t like this game. Same with Ocarina of Time. Same with pretty much any Mario or Zelda game except for Wind Waker. Yes, I am the guy that liked Wind Waker.

GTA 4 – Kept off because while it was great fun, a great game and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I really don’t see myself playing through the story mode again.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – Kept off the list because even though I played this game through probably 20 times and got to the point were I could beat the game in about 3 hours, in the end, I have beaten this game probably 20 times and can finish it in about 3 hours and after all that, I don’t really want to have anything to do with this game anymore.

pics of "Jurassic marine fossils found in Iran" from PressTV.com :

news link : PRESS TV

Jurassik Park est un jeu d'aventure en vue "par dessus" où l'on incarne Alan Grant qui doit faire beaucoup de missions afin d'empêcher une invasion de dinosaure et enfin s'enfuir de l'île !

Découvertes :
- les raptors peuvent utiliser les ascenseurs et un bateau (???)
- un bolas + une fléchette sédative transforme un dilophosaurus en raptor qui pionce
- les sprites de raptors peuvent apparaître comme par magie
- un rocher ça fait mal
- une grille électrifiée aussi
- ça sert à rien de jouer à jump-pony dans jurassic park
- les gallimimus morts c'est marrant
- aller retour vers le bateau c'est chiant
- la fin elle est nulle
- y'a une salle secrète assez sympa
- le FPS super nintendo c'est plus beau que medal of honor GBA
- Dennis Nedry c'est un connard
- Mais les autres t'aident
- la musique elle est pas mal
- les morts peuvent parler

Près de 4h de jeu avec la soluce de GameFaqs et adios les dinos, n'empêche c'était bien :-D.

Bon je vous laisse avec des photos.

Preuve qu'on la fini ! :-D

Tableau des scores, Mat c'est lui LC c'est moi

La cartouche maudite, 15 ans pour la finir, vive la Super Nintendo !

Musique mythique de la montagne cliquez ici !

Pics : C'est écrit ! :)

Quote : "Ta mère elle est tellement grosse qu'elle rompt les signaux wifi !" (Satanos - 2007)

In the background is the sea of Lyme Bay and the fossil-rich Jurassic Coast.

An article published recently in Nature explored the routes of diversification taken by early mammals, but particularly caught my attention due to its excellent mammalian family tree.

Reprinted by permission from Macmillan
Publishers Ltd: Nature, 450, 1011-1019, 2007.

Only those lineages extending to the far right of the diagram have survived to the modern day. In the smaller inset the thickness of the bands for each group illustrate how common it was in various time periods. You can see the multituberculates, notable for their unusual tooth anatomy, were very common until the early Paleocene. Historically these were the dominant group of mammals, existing in the largest numbers for the longest time--and now long extinct. Their contemporaries, the spalacotheroids and eutriconodonts, were successful in the early Cretaceous but were in decline by the end of that period. At the root of the tree the groups shown in blue are mammaliaforms--not true mammals yet, but very similar. This group first appeared in the Jurassic and did not survive the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous ended with a global extinction that eradicated the dinosaurs, and many stem-mammals suffered the same fate. Others lingered into the Paleocene only to become extinct, possibly outcompeted in the rapid radiation of the therians.

Since the mammaliaforms evolved from egg-laying therapsids and the monotremes still preserve egg-laying, it's likely that the early mammals reproduced by laying eggs up until node 3 on the diagram. The skeletal structure of the multituberculates suggests that they bore immature live young similar to those of the marsupials. Since the monotremes produce milk, but secrete it through pores, it's likely that nipples evolved at node 3 or sometime after. This may have happened as late as the divergence of the eutherians and marsupials, but probably came earlier. Some researchers think that milk secretion originally evolved as a means of hydrating the thin, leathery shells of basal mammals' eggs, and was only secondarily used as a means of feeding hatchlings. With viviparity there would be a strong selective drive towards formation of a nipple to more efficiently feed the young. Evidence for this hypothesis will be found if it is discovered that monotremes secrete milk to coat their eggs.

The mammals have been furry since their beginning. The first fur preserved in the fossil record belongs to Castorocauda, a Jurassic mammaliaform with a resemblance to modern otters or beavers. This animal had a double-layered coat, with an undercoat and longer guard hairs. It is likely that fur evolved long before Castorocauda, and might pre-date the mammaliaforms. Unfortunately integument does not often leave traces in fossils, so most of the time we see no traces of fur, feathers, or scales.

We tend to think of extinct groups as more "primitive" than extant groups, but the mammals radiated rapidly and many niches occupied today were occupied by now-extinct forms in the past. The next diagram shows some of the niches available and how they have been filled at various times. The presence of a gliding mammaliaform in the Jurassic is especially interesting.

Reprinted by permission from Macmillan
Publishers Ltd: Nature, 450, 1011-1019, 2007.

Currently the information is more complete for Jurassic (more ancient!) species than Cretaceous, but this will change with new fossil discoveries. In the past twenty years we have about doubled the number of Mesozoic mammal genera known, and characterization of these groups has vastly improved.

The tree of life is rather like a dense bush, on which we see the outer foliage, but there is much more beneath the surface if only we will look.