Prehistoric Wild: Life in the Mesozoic

The Shadow of Drought (152 MYA)

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Tendaguru Formation, Tanzania, 152 million years ago

In our modern day, East Africa's Tanzania is often a capricious land. Lush, vegetated rainforests around the coast are surrounded by far-reaching savannahs, often going months without rainfall. Even miles away, the continent's biggest mountain, Kilimanjaro, can be spotted towering over the horizon.

Though such an iconic feature is absent here in the Late Jurassic. At this time, the East African rift system has yet to form in the continent. Thus, the famous mountain will not form for nearly 140 million years. Additionally, the continent is not a solitary one, but rather the northeast of the southern landmass known as Gondwana.

Like modern Tanzania, this is a land where lush vegetation thrives. However, the rising orange light of dawn reveals the current state of the plant life and the area around it. Trees such as conifers, cypresses, araucarias, and ginkgoes are few and far between. Ferns and cycads are present around them, but are nearly as scarce along with withering into dull browns and beiges. Such parched shades nearly match the color of the scorched sand coating the ground. Some grains are occasionally whisked away by the wind, forming temporary clouds in the air.

Normally, water flowing from intercepting rivers would sustain this landscape. Unfortunately, as is with the rest of the Late Jurassic world, such a resource is heavily scarce during the dry season. The largest river especially has dried up, making it just a steep, empty ditch dug into the earth. Long, decayed bodies of fish lay in these canals, buzzing flies already being attracted to them in large swarms.

These insects begin to scatter as the shadow of something bigger wooshes over them. They're not the only organisms scavenging on the dead fish. Now, with the flies gone, something bigger and more alien is free to descend and feed.

Landing in the canal is a handful of Tendaguripterus. These are members of the pterosaur order of flying reptiles. With wingspans no more than 100 centimeters, they're rather small compared to their many relatives.

Like all pterosaurs, their bodies are streamlined and relatively robust with a thick torso. Meanwhile, their wings are thin and membranous, connecting to the tips of their forelimbs, the sides of their bodies, and even down to the knees of their hindlimbs. One thing that makes them different from many others in their famous order is a short, slender tail that tapers to a point. Their heads are large and elongated, ending in a prominent beak full of conical teeth. They also have a thin, bony ridge running from their forehead to the back of their skulls, the bright red coloration of which is also seen on their beak. In contrast, the rest of the leathery, scaled skin on their face is a dark, violet-blue. Their bodies are covered with taupe brown, hair-like pycnofibers while the exposed skin of their hands and feet is a light beige. The same skin color is seen in their wing membranes yet dominated by the color of their pycnofibers.

While the drying up of sources has left little space for aquatic life to live, it has created a new opportunity for the Tendaguripterus to feed. Like many other pterosaurs, these flyers primarily eat fish. Now, in a land with dwindling resources, they seize a rare chance to feed on the stranded remains.

Though their feeding isn't entirely peaceful. Some of the Tendaguripterus are highly aggressive with the ownership of their food. Thus, when another of their kind so much as comes close to the corpse they claim, the flyers will resort to biting at them. With resources as scarce as they are in the dry season, sharing is something most won't be willing to do.

Tendaguripterus aren't the only animals forced to survive through such conditions. One group manages to hold on here, despite being one of the far smaller ones to be found. It's a type of mammal called Brancatherulum. Like many others of their kind during this time, they're shrew-like in appearance and just as miniscule at only 6 inches long. Their compact, stream-lined bodies have strong yet relatively short limbs ending in sharp, curved claws. The tails of these tiny mammals are moderately long and taper to a point. Their heads are small and delicate, with a short, pointed snout that gently narrows toward the nose. Light brown fur coats their entire body, nearly blending them in with the dry dirt and sand around them.