What seemed like hours, the Wild Kratts soon regain conscious as they groaned and got up.
"What just happened?" Koki asked.
"Ooh. My stomach feels like it's on backward." Jimmy said having a stomachache.
"Aviva, what in the world just happen?" Martin said.
"I don't know." Aviva said. "And I don't understand the Tortuga and the Time Trampoline could start at the same time."
Jimmy then heads to the cockpit, as he got into the chair to set the Tortuga back to Earth for landing. He then noticed that something was completely off and different.
"Huh?" Jimmy frowned. "Uh, guys? Could you come up here for a second?"
Chris, Martin, Aviva and Koki quickly got to the cockpit.
"What's up, Jimmy?" Aviva said.
"Um, I could just be seeing things, but... where are all the continents?" Jimmy said.
The Earth below them wasn't the Earth they know, all they were seeing was a colossal landmass.
"Hey, where's Europe and Asia?!" Koki exclaimed.
"And North and South America?" Martin added.
"Africa, Australia and Antarctica are gone too!" Chris said.
Aviva's eyes then widen. "Wait a minute." She then realized something.
She then runs back to the HQ room, and quickly grabs the mobile trampoline remote and checks the time date.
"220 million years?!" Aviva exclaimed.
"What's wrong, Aviva?" Koki asked.
"I don't know, but the Trampoline somehow caused the whole Tortuga to be sent back through time!" Aviva said. "I must've crossed some of the main wires between the Trampoline and the Tortuga's engine."
"Wait a minute, I know that landmass anywhere!" Chris said. "It's..."
"Pangaea!" He and Martin said in unison.
"Pan-what?" Jimmy frowned not catching it.
"Pangaea." Martin said. "It's a giant supercontinent with all 7 continents joined together."
"Oh, of course." Koki said. "The continents are part of the Earth's tectonic plates, and they are constantly on the move."
All the continents were joined together in 1 giant supercontinent, called Pangaea. Now it was breaking up. North America was tearing away from Africa along a rift parallel to the present-day East Coast. As the rift widened, it gave birth to the Atlantic Ocean, and created a string of freshwater lakes scientists call the "Newark Supergroup".
The Wild Kratts looked at the map of Pangaea, and soon got a location of area where the United States will one day exist.
"Okay, where the United States be, is somewhere around here." Aviva said.
"Weird, not even the Atlantic is here." Koki said.
"Not yet it isn't." Chris said. "But eventually, it will."
"Jimmy, can you takes down?" Martin said.
"Uh, you sure that's a good idea?" Jimmy asked nervously.
"Jimmy, relax, it'll be fine." Chris said.
"Okay." Jimmy said.
Jimmy then begins to fly the Tortuga towards the ancient Earth.
Within a few minutes, they were over the land of the ancient Earth as it was night and they were in pure awe of the scenery.
"Whoa." They all said in unison.
Back then, an evening on Earth looked like a scene out of science fiction.
The Tortuga flew by a volcanic crater spewing smoke.
"Wow." Martin said. "It's like we're on another planet. An alien world."
An eerie silence fills the air as the Tortuga slowly soars through the air, and eventually the sounds of insects fills the silence.
Towards dawn, a layer of mist fills among the trees of an ancient forest. And a strange bellow was heard from a distance.
On the surface, an eerie gloom pervades the atmosphere.
Then, appearing from nowhere was a strange 2-legged creature as it rushed by. And it was unlike any creature in modern times.
Millions of years earlier, a large rock soars through space and was on a collision course with Earth.
About 20 million years earlier, evidence indicates an asteroid crashed to Earth.
The asteroid burns into a fireball entering the atmosphere, and soon hits the planet creating a shockwave clearing the clouds away.
And soon, the blast front spreads across the planet.
The collision triggered the Permian Extinction, which wiped out over 90% of all living things.
The sun begins to rise over the primeval Earth.
Out of the disaster, a new world was born.
The Tortuga slowly soars over an area of lush forest with some lakes which the area looks almost like an area in modern-day New Zealand. And they are in an area that will 1 day become New York.
New York
220 Million Years Ago
"Okay, it took me a while to work this out." Koki said. "But it seems like we're in an area where Manhattan, New York will be 1 day."
But in Triassic New York, it was a vast forest with rivers and lakes. The perfect habitat for many creatures, including for a newcomer of creatures, destined to rule the Earth for 160 million years.
It's the Triassic Period.
In the forest Triassic forest, a reptilian 2-legged creature rushed through the trees.
After millions of years of evolution, conditions are ripe for something new, something different, the dinosaurs.
The dinosaur leaped around the forest floor on 3-toed feet as it scurries around as it hunts.
Triassic trees stood in the forest by the millions, and then the dinosaur appeared revealing having an elongated snout, a jaw full with small sharp teeth, a long neck, long tail for balance, covered in green scales with some yellow patching, and has red coloration around it's eyes. And it was 10 feet long.
The dinosaur chittered as it rushed through the forest, nearby, an early mammal similar a modern Quoll sits on a rock. And then the dinosaur appeared, and the mammal crawls down to a burrow, but the dinosaur saw it, after watching for a moment, the dinosaur strikes and snatches the mammal as it shrieks. And the dinosaur soon swallowed it whole.
Elsewhere, the Tortuga has finally landed on a strip of land by a lake. And the Wild Kratts came out and begin exploring as Jimmy was nervous of leaving the safety of the Tortuga.
And that means encountering new predators.
A freshwater lake is the local watering hole, but the customers don't always mix.
Nearby, the predatory dinosaur lightly squawked and looks around, and then wanders around through the land towards the lake.
Meanwhile, the Wild Kratts were exploring the shore of the lake.
"This place is amazing." Chris said.
"Hard to imagine this will be New York." Koki said.
"Yeah, it's crazy." Aviva said.
"Yeah, it's great." Jimmy said nervously. "Can we head back to the Tortuga now?"
"Jimmy, will you relax?" Martin said.
Then bushes were heard rustling close by as they turn to them, and Jimmy nervously got behind Aviva.
"What is it?" Aviva wondered.
"I'm not sure." Chris said. "There's something in the bushes, this is what normally happens when you're searching for reptiles. You hear them before you see them."
Martin looked through his binoculars watching the bushes. "There's still moving around there. This could be our first creature."
Then, the dinosaur came out from the bushes and wanders across the the shore of the lake.
And the Wild Kratts were shocked of seeing their first dinosaur.
"A dinosaur!" They all see in unison.
"Wow!" Chris said.
"Let's see." Martin said observing it. "Long snout and neck, arms to grab, and 3-toed feet on 2 legs. Thinking what I'm thinking?" He turned to Chris.
"I know exactly what you're thinking." Chris said. "It's..."
"Coelophysis!" They both said in unison.
"Coelo-what?" Aviva frowned.
"Coelophysis." Martin said. "This is actually one of the first dinosaurs to appear."
"Yeah, and it's name means Hollow Form." Chris said. "This is incredible, our first dinosaur."
Jimmy poked his head from behind Aviva. "Is that as big as it gets?"
"Yeah, Coelophysis gets to 10 feet in length." Martin said.
For Coelophysis, danger lurks just below the surface.
Unknown to the Coelophysis, and the Wild Kratts, a large reptile in the lake swims towards the shore.
The Coelophysis rushed over to the shore by the water, the Wild Kratts watched as it squawked and it looks like it was looking for food. A lizard crawls by behind it as the early dinosaur sniffs the shore of the lake. It then hops onto a rock by the water, and looks out and watches the water.
Then water ripples appeared as something was moving underwater.
The Coelophysis looks around as movement was seen in the water, and then suddenly a Gharial-like crocodile launches out of the water with open jaws. And the Coelophysis swiftly leaps out of range from it's jaws reacting like grease lightning.
The crocodile growled as the Coelophysis shrieks loudly at it.
"Whoa!" Chris and Martin said amazement unison. "What a move!"
"Whoa, what is that?" Aviva said. "A crocodile of some kind?"
"Yeah, it's called Rutiodon." Chris said. "A type of Phytosaurid."
"Rutiodon is a serious predator out here." Martin said. "They can be as big as Nile Crocodiles and weigh between 200 or 300 pounds."
Rutiodon is quick, but Coelophysis is quicker.
The Coelophysis continues shrieking at the Rutiodon, but having lost the element of surprise, the Rutiodon turns away and crawls back into the water.
The Coelophysis continued shrieking, and soon runs off into the brush.
"Hey, let's follow him." Martin said.
They begin to follow the Coelophysis.
The Coelophysis wanders through the forest as the Wild Kratts followed it.
The Triassic Period is the heyday of the reptiles.
Elsewhere in the Triassic forest, a Rutiodon rests on the bank of a creek. And another swims in the water.
To exploit the vacuum left by the Permian Extinction, reptiles evolved into a variety of different species. Now they come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are docile plant eaters, others, like Coelophysis, are predators.
A Rutiodon floats at the surface of a river, and at a waterfall above it. The Coelophysis appeared with the Wild Kratts as it drinks from the stream.
The Coelophysis stood by the ledge and watched the pond below.
Coelophysis may look like your average reptile, but it's not, it's unusually fast on its feet, curious, and alert.
The Coelophysis then leaps across the ledge on the rocks, and heads off as the Wild Kratts followed it back into the forest.
The Coelophysis looks around as they knew he was hunting, and soon had it's sights on what looked a lizard with wings. The Wild Kratts watched quietly as the Coelophysis carefully placed it's left foot forward trying to be as quiet as he could.
Lizards are not the easiest to catch even for the fastest of predators.
The Coelophysis slowly begins to inch closer to the lizard, and then caught into a lunging position ready to spring forward. And then the dinosaur lunges forward, but the lizards suddenly flew in the air as the dinosaur missed the snatch. And then the lizard flies out as the Coelophysis chased it by gives up.
"Whoa, what was that?" Jimmy said.
"I think it was an Icarosaurus." Chris said. "They're like modern Draco Lizards."
Icarosaurus is the first reptile to learn how to glide.
Soon, the Coelophysis heads off as the Wild Kratts followed him.
A hungry dinosaur will try anything once.
The Coelophysis rushed across a long, and leaps over some rocks having similar agility to a cat. They followed him through the forest as the early dinosaur was extremely light on it's feet.
Soon, the Coelophysis turns and saw a burrow, and the Wild Kratts watched as he sniffed the entrance of the burrow.
Then suddenly, a mammal pops out as the Coelophysis leaps back in surprise and barks at it.
"Whoa, a Traversodont!" Chris said.
Traversodont is a mammal-like reptile. To improve its chances of survival it feeds at night and sleeps all day in a burrow.
The Coelophysis slowly begins to back away as the Traversodont was too big for it to tackle. And soon it turns away and heads off.
At a stream, a Rutiodon lays on it's bank and it hissed, and another lays close by.
And another lays several yards from them.
At a different section of the stream, a Rutiodon crawls across it.
Then appearing on the bank was a large armored reptile called Desmatosuchus, which is a type of Aetosaurid.
Desmatosuchus is a docile plant-eater. It uses its snout to nip ferns and root out tubers. The armor is for protection, even it's belly is plated. The spikes on its shoulders are a foot and a half long, for good reason.
The Desmatosuchus heads up the stream, but then turns to the Rutiodon coming towards it. And the Desmatosuchus turns towards it as the Rutiodon hissed.
The Desmatosuchus then bellows a grunting sound at the Rutiodon.
And the Rutiodon crawls out of the water.
At 20 feet, Rutiodon is one of the largest predators around. Its legs are short and project outward from its body, which inhibits speed.
The Rutiodon confronts the Desmatosuchus and grunts at it. The Rutiodon then turns away, and crawls off as the Desmatosuchus continues grunting.
Soon the Rutiodon was gone, and the Desmatosuchus begins to relax and drinks water from the stream.
Desmatosuchus is fair game for a worthy predator, but it's too much for Coelophysis.
Then the Coelophysis appeared from the trees with the Wild Kratts, and the Desmatosuchus turns and saw them and quickly goes on the defense.
"Whoa, Desmatosuchus!" Martin said.
The Coelophysis scurries around the armored reptile, and then the Desmatosuchus swung it's tail as the dinosaur quickly jumps over it. The Coelophysis knows the Desmatosuchus is too big for it to take down, but juveniles would make a nice snack.
Soon, the Coelophysis shrieked, and runs off.
And the Desmatosuchus heads the opposite direction as the Wild Kratts watched it leave.
Towards late afternoon, the sun continues to shine over Triassic New York.
Within the forest, a locust flew through the trees.
Insects have been around for over a hundred million years, and some are huge.
Soon, the Coelophysis appeared as the Wild Kratts followed behind it.
This locust can usually fly its way out of trouble.
The Coelophysis soon sighted the locust, and begins to chase after it through the forest.
The locust loses the dinosaur for a moment, and lands on a stump. The Coelophysis moves around the tree and then the locust flies off as the dinosaur chased after it.
The locust through the forest as the Coelophysis chased after it, and the Wild Kratts were struggling to keep up.
"Jeez, this guy is fast." Jimmy said.
The locust lands on a log, and the Coelophysis slowly stalks towards it. The locust then flies off, but then the Coelophysis lunges and snatches the insect in it's jaws and lands on the ground.
"Whoa! What a catch!" Chris and Martin said in unison.
"Amazing!" Martin said. "So Coelophysis can catch and eat just about anything out there. Insects, lizards, small early mammals, and likely even scavenge on carcasses."
The Coelophysis begins to chomp on the insect.
"But how could it be this fast?" Koki said.
"Hmm. Let's see." Chris said and scans the Coelophysis with his CreaturePod.
Coelophysis is built for speed.
Then a holographic screen showed the Coelophysis and it's muscular system.
It's limbs are powered by a large muscle that extends from its thigh bone to its tail.
The scan then shows the skeletal design in it's foot.
Its ankle bones are designed to keep its feet straight while walking or running.
The scan then shows the pelvic bones and they saw the thigh was attached different from reptiles.
A right-angle hip joint and an open socket positions its legs under its body, so it stands upright and moved fully erect.
The scan then moves over to the dinosaur's neck.
Its neck is long and shaped like an "S", lifting its head above its body for greater visibility.
The scan then moves over to the Coelophysis' arms.
Its 4th and 5th fingers are short, turning fore-limbs once used for locomotion into hands that can manipulate food.
"Wow, I can see why Coelophysis is so different from modern reptiles." Aviva said.
With its long legs, and erect gait, it can run longer and faster than any other reptile alive.
"Yeah, reptiles today, lizards, crocodiles have their legs on the side of the bodies." Martin said. "But alligators, including dinosaurs have legs underneath their bodies. So they can cover greater distances."
"Boy, a Coelophysis Power Suit would be great right now." Chris said.
"Already done!" Aviva said.
"Say what?" Chris said quickly turns to her.
Aviva had her M.I.K with her the whole time, and then 2 green Coelophysis Power Discs appeared from the slot.
"Coelophysis Power Discs! Hot off the M.I.K!" Aviva said.
Chris and Martin then stammered in disbelief.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Aviva said handing them the Discs. "It's only gonna happen once!"
"Oh, boy!" Martin said quickly bringing his senses backs. "This is gonna be great!"
They then got their Power Suits on, and inserted the Discs, and then touched the Coelophysis on it's tail and press the Activation Buttons.
The Coelophysis finished eating the locust as then a bright green and blue flash momentarily appeared. The dinosaur looked back and saw the 2 brothers in Coelophysis Power Suits.
"Whoa! This is cool!" Chris beamed.
"Awesome!" Martin said. "I feel so agile and light on my feet."
The Coelophysis chittered and tilted his head staring at what looks to him to be the strangest Coelophysis he ever seen. Probably the strangest thing was seeing the green, blue and black markings on them.
The Coelophysis then turns to Aviva, Koki and Jimmy as they seem even more stranger than the 2 fake Coelophysis. He then went up to them, and sniffs them.
"Wow, he probably thinks we're the strangest creatures he ever seen." Aviva said.
"Yeah, never seen anything like us before, have you?" Koki said.
Jimmy then brought a big piece of beef jerky from his pocket he was saving as a snack, and the Coelophysis quickly saw it. Jimmy was about to eat it, but then the dinosaur quickly snatched it from his hand as Jimmy ended up biting his hand.
"Ow!" Jimmy cried in pain. "Hey!"
The others laughed as the Coelophysis soon swallowed the jerky piece.
"He really is a swift one." Martin said. "Wh- Hey! That's what I'll call ya! Swift!
Swift then squawked and runs off.
They followed Swift the Coelophysis to a nearby river as a basking Rutiodon was on the other bank.
Then, the Rutiodon crawls into the water, and soon vanished underwater.
"Whoa, as much as I would like to try to dodge a Rutiodon's jaws." Martin said.
"I don't think we wanna try that." Chris said.
Soon the old order will slip away, and the dinosaurs will inherit the Earth.
Swift then scratches the side of his face, and knocks a lose shed tooth out and then heads off.
"Whoa, he lost a tooth." Chris said.
"Incredible." Aviva said and grabs it.
"That is definitely going in my Creature Souvenir Kit." Chris said.
The others then laughed.
Water flows gently through a stream.
45 million years after the Permian Extinction, the Earth is once again under siege.
In space, a number of meteors rain down through the atmosphere.
Evidence suggests a comet entered the Earth's gravitational pull and disintegrated. Hurling a stream of fragments toward the surface along latitude 23 degrees.
On the Earth's surface, smoke was carried by the wind.
2 fell in Canada, 1 in France, forming a chain some 3,000 miles long.
A stream of lava pours through the harden volcanic rock.
2 more straight into Minnesota and the Ukraine. With each impact clouds of vaporized rock billowed into the atmosphere, blotting out the sun.
Smoke spewed from a volcanic crater.
Within a valley, a predatory dinosaur called Dilophosaurus wanders through the spring in search of food. It looks a small pool of boiling mud, and then turns to an old carcass, but it was contaminated by volcanic material that could make it sick.
Soon, the Dilophosaurus heads off.
Water flows through a river and waterfall.
Here the Triassic Period ends, and the Jurassic begins.
Now the land belongs to the dinosaurs.
And in time, they'll be bigger and better.
The Dilophosaurus wanders as it walks over a patch of mud, and leaves a trail of footprints in it.
But in time, they'll be fossilized and seen by humans 1 day.
In modern times, Professor Paul Oslen stood by a wall of rock.
Prof PAUL OSLEN
Columbia University
"This is one of the most dramatic kinds of transitions we can see in all of Earth history." Paul said. "From this particular outcrop we actually have the boundary between the Triassic down here, and the Jurassic up here." He gestured to 2 different layers in the ledge. "This layer, these layers especially this white layer and this little black layer which is a coal extent for miles around in this area." He gestured to a white layer and a thin black layer in between. "Within the white layer we found elevated amounts of the element iridium, which is relatively rare in the Earth's crust, but relatively more abundant in asteroids and comets. My colleagues and I have concluded that this white layer is evidence of an impact of a giant asteroid on Earth. There are very few places in the world you can see anything like that and it makes this spot absolutely unique."
Author's Note:
Incase you're wondering, I know very well that it was a major volcanic eruption that triggered the Permian Extinction.
Now I know that Coelophysis fossils were found in Arizona and New Mexico. But if you think about it, that's likely a small area of it's range. So, maybe a 50/50 possibly they might have ranged to New York. Can we at least assume that?