Walking With Beasts A Prehistoric Safari

Chapter 1 New Dawn Our Earth 49 million years ago -- 15 million years since the mass extinction that saw the end the dinosaurs. All evidence of the environmental havoc left by this event has been erased from the Earth''s surface. This is the Eocene or ''dawn of new times'' The Earth is now a forest planet -- a lush green paradise covered in tropical and sub-tropical jungle. Sea levels are high, as are global temperatures -- you could swim in the Arctic Sea. Magnolias and fig trees thrive in Alaska, elm and beech forests in Siberia, and in Germany lianas wrap themselves round mighty swamp cypresses. The spread of flowering plants that started in the time of the dinosaurs has continued and the tropical forests are now full of fruit, flowers and scents and the insects that evolved to exploit the flowers continue to thrive. Among the larger vertebrates, however, there is a hangover from the age of the dinosaurs. No large predator has evolved to replace the giant marine reptiles and on land mammals have not been quick to occupy the vacant niches. Instead it is crocodiles that hunt along the waterways and huge predatory birds that comb the forests for prey. But mammals are better prepared for the future. They have stayed small and have begun to diversify. Among a range of fur balls on the heavily forested islands that make up Eocene Europe, there are the first primates, rodents, hoofed plant-eaters, carnivores and some have even taken to the air -- the bats. 5 a.m.: The Quiet Time The Eocene jungle is very still just before sunrise. Around a dark lake the forest stacks up in dense green layers washed with an opaque pre-dawn light. A few large bats flap silently between the upper branches, making their way back to their roosts. The hum from insects seems muted and the occasional haunting screech from a primate in the canopy only emphasizes the silence. Suddenly ripples spread across the surface of the lake and waves appear from nowhere. There is a low rumble, which sends birds squawking from their roosts and mammals scuttling through the undergrowth. A series of huge bubbles erupts from the lake, producing a small, sickly white cloud of gas. Beneath it the water stains red. Then it is over -- a short earthquake that leaves the denizens of the forest jumpy but unharmed. Tremors are common here because the lake sits on a large island in the middle of the western Tethys Sea. To the north lies the giant Eurasian continent and to the south Africa is slowly drifting north, squeezing the Tethys in between and causing volcanic activity across the area. The lake itself is the reason for the bubbles and gas. This is its dark secret. It is about 2 kilometres across and more than 200 metres deep in places. At the very bottom is a dense layer of cold water trapped under a thick layer of warmer water. The cold water is stagnant and full of dissolved carbon dioxide. Every so often gas levels build up to such an extent that, when a tremor mixes the two layers, it can trigger the release of clouds of suffocating carbon dioxide which drift towards the shore. This all makes the lake a very dangerous neighbour. On this morning the cloud released is small, but its effects are deadly. A bat swoops low over the water, plucking a caddis fly out of the air, but as it turns it heads into the cloud of gas. After a few metres its delicate wings crumple and it drops with a small plop into the water. As the cloud reaches the reed and lily beds on the eastern shore it is already beginning to disperse. A palaeotis bird sitting on her nest opens her beak in a silent scream as she is suddenly robbed of oxygen. She shakes her head vigorously and staggers to her feet. Before the cloud can finish the job, it is carried on into the fern and palm stands beyond on the morning breeze. The palaeotis puffs her dark brown plumage and settles back on her nest a little confused. The cloud finally disperses as the ground rises. Here, where the understorey thins beneath huge laurel tHaines, Timothy D. is the author of 'Walking With Beasts A Prehistoric Safari', published 2001 under ISBN 9780789478290 and ISBN 0789478293.