Prehistoric Wild: Life in the Mesozoic

Lurkers in the Wetlands (92 MYA)

Winton Formation, Australia, 92 Million Years Ago

In the central west of Queensland lies what is now the heart of the Australian Outback. This land is widely known for the vast, dry landscape that permeates much of the continent. The treeless rocky deserts stretch for two million square miles and are blanketed in extreme heat reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Although the world of the Late Cretaceous is similarly hot, this part of the future outback has yet to attain such high temperatures. Currently, the area is more humid with a climate ranging from 77 to 86 degrees. Additionally, this land is much wetter, having a massive river that exceeds the size of the modern Mississippi. With no ice caps at this time, it led to much more water trickling into dry land, creating moist, wetland environments in this greenhouse world.

This change from the scorching outback of the modern day has also resulted in more abundant and varied plant life, much of it adapted for this boggy landscape. Taller plant life towers above all else in the form of the many conifers, ginkgoes, and tree ferns. Tall araucaria trees are present as well, resembling the modern kauri and Wollemi pines that are endemic to modern Australia.

On the ground, lower vegetation thrives, primarily consisting of ferns, cycads, horsetails, and mushrooms. Moss and liverworts also grow on the dirt ground of this extensive wetland, often even clinging onto the trunks of trees. Grass has yet to evolve, but there are grass-like angiosperms called monocots littering the ground. Additionally, some of the earliest flowers are present, but are entirely white as opposed to the plethora of other colors they'd come in millions of years later.

Around the glimmering, daylit waters of this land and its plant life are a cornucopia of smaller organisms. Insects thrive in the form of dragonflies and crickets, their buzzing and chirping permeating the air. These often fall victim to a type of ancient monitor lizard-like reptile, one that prowls across the land and swims through the freshwater. Even the murky depths are home to countless ray-finned fish and lungfish. Residents in both parts of this moistened land are several frogs. When they're not adding to the ambiance with their croaks and ribbits, they're darting their tongues at any insect they find before swallowing them.

Unlike everything else in this land, one local has taken residence below ground. Much of its time is spent in small burrows under rocks, logs, and trees, laced in pure white silk. These are home to ancient funnel-web spiders. Using trip lines that radiate from these tunnels, they're able to detect the vibrations of the world around them. This alerts the spiders not only to prey, but also to incoming predators and potential mates.

Even so, there is much more of the world around them that the spiders are made aware of from their underground lairs. This primarily comes in the form of animals much larger than themselves: the dinosaurs.

One common species is Fostoria, a 16-foot-long, bipedal herbivore. They have long narrow bodies supported by a pair of long, muscular yet gracile legs. Each one ends in three forward-point toes tipped with sharp claws. Forelimbs are present as well, being much shorter, but relatively strong. Three functional fingers grow from these arms along with a stubby thumb spike. A long, stiff tail helps to counterbalance their overall form, starting thick at the base but tapering to a thinner end. The heads are relatively small with a long, narrow snout, two large eyes, a wide, flattened beak, and a mouth full of rounded, leaf-shaped teeth. Their skin is primarily a yellowish sheen green with copper spots mottled all over their bodies and a solid gray underbelly.

Although Fostoria is the more common animal here, their presence is not nearly as felt as another one that roams here. Its passing footsteps create thunderous thuds, vibrations from which if close enough, set off every trip line at a spider's den. The creaking groans of this giant even reverberate for miles around it.