Dinosaur Cove Cretaceous 1: Attack of the Lizard King

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Reference material solidifies each narrative, including timelines, quizzes, fact files, and glossaries Dinosaur Club: The Compsognathus Chase will take your child on a Jurassic adventure as they learn about the Compsognathus dinosaur species through fun facts, timelines and quizzes. Subsequent scientific analysis of the fossil material, by a range of scientists including geochemists, palaeobotanists, palaeontologists and geologists, soon revealed more unusual and exciting information. Stress indicators, called ‘lines of arrested growth’, were absent in the hypsilophodontid bones, suggesting that this group had not hibernated like the larger polar dinosaurs. Analysis of the climate revealed mean temperatures as low as -2˚C, leading to the conclusion that the hypsilophodontids may have been warm-blooded. It was soon apparent that Leallynasaura, like birds today, may have maintained a constant body temperature by foraging all winter long. Reference material that contextualizes each narrative, including timelines, quizzes, fact files and glossaries

This article (and photos) is condensed from A Decade of Dedication: the digs of Dinosaur Cove; Issue 6 Australian Age of Dinosaurs Journal, 2008. www.australianageofdinosaurs.com. Further reading Includes reference spreads to extend childrens’ interest in these fascinating prehistoric creatures As so often happens in life, a chain of random events brought Tom and Pat on a collision course with Dinosaur Cove. The first of these was their migration to Australia from the USA in 1973, so that Pat could complete her post-doctoral Fullbright Fellowship at Monash University in Melbourne. Tom soon found employment as Curator of Palaeontology at the Museum Victoria, where he attracted the attention of a group of dinosaur enthusiasts called ‘Friends of The Museum of Victoria’. The ‘Friends’ were hell-bent on holding a dinosaur dig and eventually convinced Tom to take them to an enticing deposit on the Otway Coast, an hour and a half’s drive west of Melbourne.

Dinosaur Club: Escaping the Liopleurodon will take your child on a Jurassic adventure as they learn about the Liopleurodon dinosaur species through fun facts, timelines and quizzes. Exciting adventures in this easy to read series about two boys and the dangerous dinosaurs they encounter – especially the deadly Tyrannosaurus Rex. Jamie’s dad is opening a dinosaur museum in Dinosaur Cove. Jamie expects to find some fossils but never expects to find any dinosaurs alive. After all, they’ve been extinct for years, haven’t they? Soon Jamie and his new friend Tom find themselves desperate to avoid the deadly creatures. Loads of dinosaur fact boxes support the stories making them a useful mine of information too.

To walk in the footprints of these ancient Victorians, we must first rewind to the late Early Cretaceous period. 115Ma to 120Ma, Australia was situated over the South Pole, her southeast coast joined to Antarctica to form the supercontinent, Gondwana. If climatic conditions then were even remotely similar to Antarctica today, the Gondwanan dinosaurs must have experienced cold winters and months of near-darkness – a challenge not confronted by any known reptile. The Dinosaur Cove discoveries revealed that Victoria’s polar dinosaurs thrived in such conditions, some foraging all winter long, rather than hibernating as cold climate reptiles do today. Their story makes fascinating reading, as does the larger story of the trials and triumphs involved in their discovery. This would be no ordinary dig. The Dinosaur Cove deposit was at the base of a steep, slippery, 90m-cliff, subject to huge tides and extreme weather. Tom’s proposal to have amateurs tunnelling into a vertical cliff with hydraulic drills was met with reactions of horror, but with stubborn persistence, he was able to wade through the mountain of red tape needed to appease the authorities and gather the resources required. With the invaluable support of Bill Loads, manager of Victorian operations for Atlas Copco, who provided the drilling equipment, the stage was set for the commencement of a project that would provide a window into the world of polar dinosaurs. Digging begins Dinosaur Club: Catching the Velociraptor will take your child on a Jurassic adventure as they learn about the velociraptor dinosaur species through fun facts, timelines and quizzes. Little ones can learn about the prehistoric world with the Dinosaur Club collection of character-driven adventure stories for children aged 5-7 years old. Down at the cliff face, the camaraderie and one-upmanship saw the girls giving the guys as good as they got. Bill Hopkins notes “All the girls and women seemed to love working with the noisy tools” then adds cheekily, “all the boys and men loved watching them do it”. It wasn’t uncommon to get covered in mud from the water-fed drills, making a dip in Lake Copco at high tide an inviting prospect.

The Dinosaur Cove Series in Order (10 Books)

No sooner had Tom Rich committed to a field trip to Dinosaur Cove, he began to have grave reservations. Travel through time to the world of the dinosaurs in this exciting prehistoric fiction series for children. At the end of this dinosaur fiction book, you’ll find “The Dino Files,” which is a summary of all the scientific facts and discoveries made throughout the story. With fun illustrations, quizzes and a vocabulary list, the value of this educational book is outstanding and great for a classroom read! Dino-crazy kids can follow Jamie and Tess on a prehistoric adventure of a lifetime where they meet Wanna — a new dinosaur friend. However, they soon learn that not all dinosaurs are so friendly when they encounter the T.rex — the King of the dinosaurs! Reference material solidifies each narrative, including timelines, quizzes, fact files, and glossaries.