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frigid places, a hypothesis later backed up by discoveries of thousands of dinosaur
bones and tracks in Cretaceous rocks of Alaska that were also in formerly polar en-
vironments.
However, a single sentence in this 1988 paper later shouted at me, showing
some remarkable prescience by the authors. It was a simple sentence, and one that
very easily could have been cut by the authors, peer reviewers, or editor for being
too speculative. Here is what they said:
With the possible exception of the Allosaurus sp., all of the animals were
small enough to have found shelter readily by burrowing.
That particular day, while winding down into the valley carved by Knowledge
Creek, I was not aware of that sentence, nor would I have cared. We were doggedly
trying to get to the shoreline to look at the exposed rocks along the marine platform
toseewhetheranymoredinosaurtrackswerethere.Oncethepathexitedtheforest,
wecrossedthetrickleoffreshwaterthatwasKnowledgeCreek,andmostofussuc-
cessfully avoided the leeches there, wriggling excitedly at our warm-blooded pres-
ence.OurbootsmetCretaceousrocksurfaces,whichextendedoutasaplatformand
met the sea. Successful in reaching our goal, we paused to catch our breath but also
found ourselves gasping in another way at the spectacular cliffs of bedded sand-
stones and conglomerates looming above us. Because this part of the world was en-
teringwinter,thewavesattheshorewerenoticeablyhigherandmorevigorousthan
usual,encouragedbyoffshorewindsthathadjustblownoverandaroundTasmania.
Withlittletimeleftbeforewehadtomeetourtwovehicle-drivingcompanions,
we started looking for dinosaur tracks, bones, or anything else paleontological that
caught our attention. One of our party, Mike Cleeland, was a long-time volunteer
with Pat and Tom in their Victoria-dinosaur endeavors, and despite his great height,
he was legendary for his uncanny ability to spot tiny scraps of bone. Hence, he and
most others there had their “osteo-eyes” switched on, looking for bones and teeth.
Alternatively, my wife Ruth (who had enthusiastically persevered with us through
