Excerpt from Rich's and my new novel on Scribd.com, PHANEROZOIC DREAMIN'
The following essay constitutes the introduction to the new novel which my literary partner and I have just uploaded to Scribd.com, Phanerozoic Dreamin', now available for download at the Scribd.com store. Enjoy the free. :-)
Paradises Lost -- and Gained
Where did we come from? And are we alone in the universe?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two most vexing questions humanity has ever come up with, they have been asked again and again and again, and, whether stated intelligently or not, have even figured in to modern wars.
Well, we are definitely not alone in the universe. Just ask your cat. He or she has actual speech centers in that feline brain, just as we do. Ask elephants - they paint, and they’ve been doing it in the wild since before we knew about it. Ask spiders, who have this absolute knack for landing right on the heads or in front of the noses of arachnophobes - and they think it’s hilarious.
We’ve never been alone in the universe. Who do we think we are, anyway, to believe we are the only intelligent life on Earth or ever have been, let alone anywhere in the universe?
As for where we came from, well, the same world where all other Earthly life did: Earth, our homeworld. Except . . .
Every so often there is a great mass extinction, a vast dying-off and turnover of Earth’s life, caused by one or another catastrophic event: a stygian ice age resulting from long-term drawdown of carbon dioxide by enormous blooms of photosynthesizing organisms, which happened at least once and perhaps twice during the Proterozoic Eon; a nearby gamma-ray burst from the death of a massive star, which happened at the end of the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era; horrendous global warming and all its consequences, as happened at the end of the Permian Period of the Paleozoic Era; or the impact of an asteroid or comet many miles in diameter, as happened at the end of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era. And when that occurs, global conditions change rapidly, countless species of animals and plants become extinct, and (so far) new ones come into existence to exploit the niches* and habitats** vacated by the former masters of the planet. To paraphrase an old song, when one world dies, there’s a new one born and an age to carry on, carry on.†
Among these transitions, perhaps the most important one was the Cretaceous-Tertiary event, caused by the offshore impact of an asteroid on an area that is now the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The enormous kinetic energy of the bolide, which impacted an area rich in gypsum, a sulfur compound, released vast amounts of sulfur to atmosphere. The results included global acid rains that scalded land and sea, killing off most of the creatures that survived the rain of incandescent rock vapor and molten rock that followed on the heels of the impact, and megatons of airborne sulfur that filled with atmosphere for months or even years, blocking out sunlight and plunging the Earth into a new ice age. With that, virtually all the non-avian dinosaurs died within a few years of the impact, the rest slowly dying off over several hundred thousand years. A host of trees, shrubs, herbs, flowering plants, insects, and countless other Earthly creatures followed the non-avian dinosaurs into the endless dark, never to return.
- But there was a plus, one that intimately concerns us:
The modern mammals, which first appeared at the same time the first dinosaurs did, in the Late Triassic, and like the early archosauria, which gave rise to the dinosaurs, crocodilians, and birds, survived the horrendous Permian-Triassic extinction event which nearly put paid to all complex life on Earth. Up until the end of the Cretaceous mammals were small, rodent-like creatures that scuttled around the feet of giant dinosaurs, made their homes in burrows, and subsisted on anything they could find to eat, from detritus to insects to baby dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs. For 150 years, the dinosaurs reigned on Earth, one of the most successful clades that ever existed. Yet before the End-Permian Event the mammals, were themselves extremely successful animals, many of them huge, equipped with dagger-like teeth and claws and attitudes to match, were as successful as the dinosaurs were after them, their careers only cut short by a world-altering event that couldn’t have been predicted or controlled - one that ultimately freed the early archosaurs to evolve into giants that dominated the landscape and forced the mammals to retreat into the Earth to wait it out until a more fortunate time.
But the End-Cretaceous Event changed all that.
With the non-avian dinosaurs gone, the mammals could finally emerge from their burrows and being to exploit the resources made available to them by the vanishment of their late, gigantic nemeses. Among them were the Plesiadapiformes, rodent-like animals that gave rise to Purgatorius, a genus of creatures comprising several species, one of whom in turn gave rise to the proto-primates. And from the protoprimates came numerous lineages of animals which included the ancestors of Homo sapiens.
Hurry down sundown, get thee gone! The king is dead, long live the king, and a world to carry on!
Here, then, in these pages, are three stories: a tale of Dinosaur Rex, followed by one of the dying king and his dying world - and of the new king, narrowly rescued by the old one from the Second Death of extinction, and the world he inherited. In there lies the tale of our species.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*Ecology is the study of the way living creatures make their living in the world, and what they return to the world in exchange. Think of it as the general study of business administration, not just for humans but for all life. The term “niche” is used for the particular sort of business conducted by a particular species.
**Likewise, a “habitat” is the place where an organism lives and does its business. Location, location, location . . .
†Introduction to Peter, Paul, and Mary’s cover of “And When I Die.” See, e.g., http://www.lyrics007.com/Peter,%20Paul%20&%20Mary%20Lyrics/AND%20WHEN%20I%20DIE%20Lyrics.html. The original lyrics are:
Refrain:
And when I die, and when I'm dead, dead and gone,
There'll be one child born and a world to carry on,
There'll be one child born to carry on.
I'm not scared of dyin' and I don't really care
If it's peace you find in dyin', well, then let the time be near;
If it's peace you find in dying, when dyin' time is here,
Just bundle up my coffin, cause it's cold way down there.
(Refrain)
My troubles are many, they're as deep as a well,
I can swear there ain't no heaven, but I pray there ain't no hell.
Swear there ain't no heaven, pray there ain't no hell,
But I'll never know by livin', only my dyin' will tell
Only my dyin' will tell.
(Refrain)
Give me my freedom, for as long as I be,
All I ask of livin' is to have no chains on me.
All I ask I of livin' is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dyin' is to go naturally
I only wanna go naturally.
And when I die, and when I'm gone,
There'll be one child born and a world to carry on,
There'll be one child born to carry on.
Comin' as I go, and a world to carry on.
There'll be one child born to carry on.
Another of their songs, which may be even more appropriate, is their cover of "Hurry Sundown" (original lyrics by songwriters Earl Robinson and E.Y. Harburgwhich). See, e.g., http://www.lyrics007.com/PETER,%20PAUL%20AND%20MARY%20Lyrics/Hurry%20Sundown%20Lyrics.html:
My seed is sown now, my field is plowed;
My flesh is bone now, my back is bowed.
Refrain:
So hurry, sundown, be on your way,
And hurry me a sun-up from this
beat-up sundown day.
Hurry down, sundown, be on your way;
Weave me tomorrow out of today.
Tomorrow’s breeze now, blows clear and loud;
I’m off my knees now, I’m standing proud.
(Refrain)
My sorrow’s song, now, just must break through,
That brave new dawn, now, long overdue.
(Refrain)
Hurry down, sundown, get thee be gone,
Get lost in the sunrise, of a new dawn.
Hurry down, sundown, take the old day,
Wrap it in new dreams, send it my way!
Send it my way!
Send it my way!
Paradises Lost -- and Gained
Where did we come from? And are we alone in the universe?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two most vexing questions humanity has ever come up with, they have been asked again and again and again, and, whether stated intelligently or not, have even figured in to modern wars.
Well, we are definitely not alone in the universe. Just ask your cat. He or she has actual speech centers in that feline brain, just as we do. Ask elephants - they paint, and they’ve been doing it in the wild since before we knew about it. Ask spiders, who have this absolute knack for landing right on the heads or in front of the noses of arachnophobes - and they think it’s hilarious.
We’ve never been alone in the universe. Who do we think we are, anyway, to believe we are the only intelligent life on Earth or ever have been, let alone anywhere in the universe?
As for where we came from, well, the same world where all other Earthly life did: Earth, our homeworld. Except . . .
Every so often there is a great mass extinction, a vast dying-off and turnover of Earth’s life, caused by one or another catastrophic event: a stygian ice age resulting from long-term drawdown of carbon dioxide by enormous blooms of photosynthesizing organisms, which happened at least once and perhaps twice during the Proterozoic Eon; a nearby gamma-ray burst from the death of a massive star, which happened at the end of the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era; horrendous global warming and all its consequences, as happened at the end of the Permian Period of the Paleozoic Era; or the impact of an asteroid or comet many miles in diameter, as happened at the end of the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era. And when that occurs, global conditions change rapidly, countless species of animals and plants become extinct, and (so far) new ones come into existence to exploit the niches* and habitats** vacated by the former masters of the planet. To paraphrase an old song, when one world dies, there’s a new one born and an age to carry on, carry on.†
Among these transitions, perhaps the most important one was the Cretaceous-Tertiary event, caused by the offshore impact of an asteroid on an area that is now the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The enormous kinetic energy of the bolide, which impacted an area rich in gypsum, a sulfur compound, released vast amounts of sulfur to atmosphere. The results included global acid rains that scalded land and sea, killing off most of the creatures that survived the rain of incandescent rock vapor and molten rock that followed on the heels of the impact, and megatons of airborne sulfur that filled with atmosphere for months or even years, blocking out sunlight and plunging the Earth into a new ice age. With that, virtually all the non-avian dinosaurs died within a few years of the impact, the rest slowly dying off over several hundred thousand years. A host of trees, shrubs, herbs, flowering plants, insects, and countless other Earthly creatures followed the non-avian dinosaurs into the endless dark, never to return.
- But there was a plus, one that intimately concerns us:
The modern mammals, which first appeared at the same time the first dinosaurs did, in the Late Triassic, and like the early archosauria, which gave rise to the dinosaurs, crocodilians, and birds, survived the horrendous Permian-Triassic extinction event which nearly put paid to all complex life on Earth. Up until the end of the Cretaceous mammals were small, rodent-like creatures that scuttled around the feet of giant dinosaurs, made their homes in burrows, and subsisted on anything they could find to eat, from detritus to insects to baby dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs. For 150 years, the dinosaurs reigned on Earth, one of the most successful clades that ever existed. Yet before the End-Permian Event the mammals, were themselves extremely successful animals, many of them huge, equipped with dagger-like teeth and claws and attitudes to match, were as successful as the dinosaurs were after them, their careers only cut short by a world-altering event that couldn’t have been predicted or controlled - one that ultimately freed the early archosaurs to evolve into giants that dominated the landscape and forced the mammals to retreat into the Earth to wait it out until a more fortunate time.
But the End-Cretaceous Event changed all that.
With the non-avian dinosaurs gone, the mammals could finally emerge from their burrows and being to exploit the resources made available to them by the vanishment of their late, gigantic nemeses. Among them were the Plesiadapiformes, rodent-like animals that gave rise to Purgatorius, a genus of creatures comprising several species, one of whom in turn gave rise to the proto-primates. And from the protoprimates came numerous lineages of animals which included the ancestors of Homo sapiens.
Hurry down sundown, get thee gone! The king is dead, long live the king, and a world to carry on!
Here, then, in these pages, are three stories: a tale of Dinosaur Rex, followed by one of the dying king and his dying world - and of the new king, narrowly rescued by the old one from the Second Death of extinction, and the world he inherited. In there lies the tale of our species.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*Ecology is the study of the way living creatures make their living in the world, and what they return to the world in exchange. Think of it as the general study of business administration, not just for humans but for all life. The term “niche” is used for the particular sort of business conducted by a particular species.
**Likewise, a “habitat” is the place where an organism lives and does its business. Location, location, location . . .
†Introduction to Peter, Paul, and Mary’s cover of “And When I Die.” See, e.g., http://www.lyrics007.com/Peter,%20Paul%20&%20Mary%20Lyrics/AND%20WHEN%20I%20DIE%20Lyrics.html. The original lyrics are:
Refrain:
And when I die, and when I'm dead, dead and gone,
There'll be one child born and a world to carry on,
There'll be one child born to carry on.
I'm not scared of dyin' and I don't really care
If it's peace you find in dyin', well, then let the time be near;
If it's peace you find in dying, when dyin' time is here,
Just bundle up my coffin, cause it's cold way down there.
(Refrain)
My troubles are many, they're as deep as a well,
I can swear there ain't no heaven, but I pray there ain't no hell.
Swear there ain't no heaven, pray there ain't no hell,
But I'll never know by livin', only my dyin' will tell
Only my dyin' will tell.
(Refrain)
Give me my freedom, for as long as I be,
All I ask of livin' is to have no chains on me.
All I ask I of livin' is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dyin' is to go naturally
I only wanna go naturally.
And when I die, and when I'm gone,
There'll be one child born and a world to carry on,
There'll be one child born to carry on.
Comin' as I go, and a world to carry on.
There'll be one child born to carry on.
Another of their songs, which may be even more appropriate, is their cover of "Hurry Sundown" (original lyrics by songwriters Earl Robinson and E.Y. Harburgwhich). See, e.g., http://www.lyrics007.com/PETER,%20PAUL%20AND%20MARY%20Lyrics/Hurry%20Sundown%20Lyrics.html:
My seed is sown now, my field is plowed;
My flesh is bone now, my back is bowed.
Refrain:
So hurry, sundown, be on your way,
And hurry me a sun-up from this
beat-up sundown day.
Hurry down, sundown, be on your way;
Weave me tomorrow out of today.
Tomorrow’s breeze now, blows clear and loud;
I’m off my knees now, I’m standing proud.
(Refrain)
My sorrow’s song, now, just must break through,
That brave new dawn, now, long overdue.
(Refrain)
Hurry down, sundown, get thee be gone,
Get lost in the sunrise, of a new dawn.
Hurry down, sundown, take the old day,
Wrap it in new dreams, send it my way!
Send it my way!
Send it my way!