Oh boy!
You wake up because the ground is shaking.
Ah, nothing new - a Diplodocus has just passed by your house.
You look out of the window - oh, no!
Yet another T-Rex chasing your doggy!
Nope, you haven't somehow come round in Jurassic Park.
That's what your life would’ve been if the asteroid had hit Earth just several seconds
later.
Yep, I mean the very asteroid that collided with our planet about 65 million years ago,
causing havoc across the globe and wiping dinosaurs out.
But it turns out that if this asteroid had fallen a mere 10 seconds later, you wouldn't
recognize the Earth these days.
Let's see what your day in this new (even though only for you) world would look like!
You open your eyes in the morning and immediately shut them again because the colors are too
bright, and sunlight hurts your unprepared eyes.
Well, it might be surprising for you, but it's nothing new for the people who were born
and live on the planet alongside dinosaurs!
The thing is that dinos had a color vision, and it was more difficult for them to blend
in.
That's why there were very few animals colored black and white, like modern zebras.
Most dinos were multicolored, which helped them to hide in the environment they lived
in.
For example, field dinosaurs were most likely of different shades of green to blend into
the grassy background.
But dinos being so great at camouflaging themselves made human vision much sharper.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to notice well-disguised animals.
Anyway, still pondering on your advanced eyesight, you get up from your bed and almost step on
a cat-sized creature.
It manages to dash from under your foot at the last moment.
Shocked, you look at the creature, and it stares back at you with apparent indignation.
I'm afraid I have to break it to you: that's your pet dino.
And although the thing is tiny, it's also very smart.
In the real world, before the asteroid hit Earth, the biggest part of the planet was
covered with tropical forests.
Vegan dinosaurs roaming there were huge, slow, and clumsy.
Most plants on their diet were ferns and conifers, such as pine-trees, firs, and yews.
This food wasn't filling and took a lot of time to digest.
That's why dinosaurs had to eat tons of leaves to keep going.
But in our imaginary world, the asteroid let dinosaurs live to see the in nutritious plants
evolve into something much better — flowering plants, berries, and fruit.
This food was much easier to digest and way more filling.
It means that there was no need for dinos to grow so gigantic.
They were becoming smaller and smaller until a big part of them moved to live on trees
and started to drink nectar.
People managed to tame some of these miniature animals — that's where the pet you found
under your bed comes from!
But even though you're unprepared and bewildered, you can't spend the whole day locked inside.
So, you open your wardrobe and stare for a minute at weird-looking bright clothes.
Lots of them have dino prints, and others are decorated with unusual patterns.
You choose a more or less discreet outfit and step outside...
Oh my, look at that!
Never in your life have you seen so many unusual animals.
Soon, you find out that the survival of dinosaurs changed not only the Earth's history but also
the history of the human race.
By following their evolutionary route, dinos prevented mammals from evolving and developing.
That's why in the dino-world, people appeared much later than in our real world.
On the Earth you're used to, Antarctica got separated from South America some 34 million
years ago.
It influenced the direction of ocean currents and made the world a much colder and drier
place.
On the bright side, there started to appear fields and grass-eating hoofed mammals (such
as the ancestors of modern-day deer and antelopes), as well as predators hunting them (like lions,
wolves, or cheetahs).
Besides, some species evolved into hordes of small bouncy animals that found it very
comfortable and safe to hide in dense grass.
As for the world where you're now, even though the asteroid was several seconds late, the
planet was developing pretty much in the same way.
Antarctica and South America still split, and fields were still swarming with lively
beaked or horned animals — but these animals were herbivore dinosaurs!
They were hunted by dangerous predators: carnivorous dinos.
As for the hoofed animals, mammals, and most predators that live on our planet today, they
didn't appear at all.
You also find out that dinosaurs have evolved into thousands of different kinds and species.
There are tiny dinos that spend most of their time in holes and burrows, just like our moles
and lizards.
Some dinosaurs lost their plumage and grew fur.
The plumage of others, on the contrary, became thicker and denser.
A big part of ancient reptiles and dinosaurs left the land and chose to live in seas and
oceans, adapting to the underwater lifestyle and growing fins.
And right now, brace yourself!
Because over there, not so far away, you see a group of two-footed compact dinosaurs walking
toward you.
They seem to be wearing something that resembles clothes, and they’re... talking to each
other?
Oh, don't panic!
Those are the descendants of Troodons — dinosaurs with a surprisingly big brain.
Since this species wasn't wiped out by the asteroid disaster, Troodons slowly but surely
evolved into sentient beings.
They have arms and hands that they skillfully use, but their language sounds like birds'
chirping.
At the same time, most descendants of ancient reptiles haven't evolved into thinking beings.
They adapted to civilization just as animals in our real world did.
People have domesticated some of them, others live in natural reserves, and the rest try
to stay close to people, just like pigeons or rats.
You can't help but notice some other difference between life in our world and the one in the
world full of dinosaurs.
For example, since there are no cows and other hoofed animals, and dinos can't produce milk,
there are no dairy products in supermarkets.
Or if there are some, they're considered to be something exotic and cost a fortune.
Culture is different as well, and you can notice these dissimilarities in everything,
from fashion to comic-book heroes.
That's why instead of admiring Spiderman, people are crazy about T-Rexman.
Well, it sounds like an amazing world — and so different from the one we live in!
Sound off in the comments below whether you would want to sneak a peek at the dino-Earth!
But I wonder: how could just one event that didn't happen change the fate of the whole
planet so much?
Remember I mentioned that ill-fated asteroid?
By crashing into Earth, it caused an abrupt temperature drop and the disappearance of
three-fourths of all animal species that were living on our planet at that time.
But if the asteroid had fallen several seconds later, it would have landed in the deep ocean.
The water would have taken the edge off the collision, and the hit wouldn't have had such
dramatic consequences.
That's why most dinosaurs would have survived.
At the same time, they would have had to adapt to the rapidly changing climatic conditions
very fast.
But it didn't happen.
The asteroid fell exactly where it fell, and the Earth's atmosphere didn't manage to slow
it down, what with the invader being as big as it was!
It hit the ground at the speed of 20 miles per second and blew clouds of dust, soil,
and rocks into the air.
This debris not only went up to the upper layers of the atmosphere but also reached
space.
Huge amounts of dust completely blocked sunlight for weeks and months on end.
Lots of plants couldn't survive these conditions and disappeared, disrupting the food chain.
Rocks that were hurled into the atmosphere in the first hours after the collision returned
to Earth in the form of burning fireballs.
They heated the surface of the planet to boiling temperatures, and even though it lasted just
for several minutes, it was enough to wipe out most animals and plants.
Sea inhabitants were more protected from the disastrous after-effects of the collision.
But not for long.
Plankton couldn't live without sunlight, and when it disappeared, small fish that fed on
it didn't survive either.
Of course, with the number of smaller fish getting lower every day, bigger sea predators
had less and less food until there was none left.
Those animals who were hibernating during the moment of impact or lived in burrows survived,
but they also had a hard time trying to fend off hunger.
As for the poor dinos... well, you don't see any around these days, do you?
Yeah, the Dinos are pretty sore(saur) about that.
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