Geoscience Reference
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ing day, realization strikes the audience. A large see-through glass container filled
with water occupies the stage. The buzz turns to murmuring, followed by shocked
silence as the
Muttaburrasaurus
emerges, splashes into the water, and swims from
left to right. It is quickly followed by a hundred small ornithopods and theropods
which, from the right side, dive one after another in a perfect domino-like effect,
then paddle in unison to a blaring waltz-like number, their toes delicately touching
thebottomofthepool.TheplayhasbeentransformedintoanEstherWilliams-style
aquamusical.
“Bloody hell! It's a pool!” someone shouts. “They're swimming!” someone
elseyells.“Themusicandchoreographyaredreadful!” screams athird.“Where are
thesharks?”demandsafourth.Pandemoniumdescends,theplaycomestoanabrupt
end, and police—who are waiting in the wings, expecting trouble—politely escort
everyone out before the unrest escalates. Needless to say, the reviews are awful.
So with these dramatizations in mind, imagine the first part—large theropod
causes a stampede among more than a hundred smaller dinosaurs—being retold
thousands of times. Think of this story generating museum dioramas, artwork,
a rollicking song, computer-animated recreations, dramatic scenes in mainstream
movies, and a specially designed building with national-heritage status in Australia
tohelppreservethedinosaurtracksitethatinspiredit.Except…whathappensifthe
last plot twist is inserted—large theropod was actually a peaceful herbivore—after
having been told with a different ending for decades? Even worse, what to do with
the remake, with its shocking aquatic take on the tale? Furthermore, what happens
when the new stories are scrutinized and found lacking in details, further confusing
matters for anyone who wants to know what really happened at Lark Quarry? Not
thatanythingwilleverbestraightforwardabouta98-millionyear-old“crimescene,”
and especially one with no bodies left behind.
The History of the Mystery of Lark Quarry
MaybeavisittoLarkQuarrywillhelpustobetterunderstandtheconflictingstories
gleaned from the dinosaur tracks there. Lark Quarry Conservation Park—the full
