Time travel has just been invented.
And, congratulations! You’re being sent
200 million years
back to the Jurassic period.
After hurtling through time and space,
you wake up to chirping birds
and lush trees as far as the eye can see.
The air is warm and moist,
and the stresses of your modern life
are beginning to melt away.
That’s when you hear leaves
crunching behind you.
Your skin starts to crawl and you
can tell you’re being watched.
A Tyrannosaurus rex is deciding
whether to have you for lunch,
so you had better think quick.
This is How To Survive
The Jurassic Period
The Jurassic period is the second
of three periods in the Mesozoic Era,
also known as the Age of Dinosaurs.
It began right after one of the largest
mass extinctions on Earth
and lasted around 56 million years.
So if traveling back home
is out of your hands, you're settling
in here for the long haul.
During this time, the supercontinent
known as Pangea, split apart because
of all the tectonic plate movement
at the Earth’s crust.
The rifting created new continents,
as well as the central Atlantic Ocean
and the Gulf of Mexico.
These conditions allowed for
marine organisms to diversify.
And on land, plants and dinosaurs
began to thrive.
But living alongside dinos wouldn’t
exactly be a walk in the park.
Finding a safe place to
rest your head for the night
won't be an easy task.
Many dinosaurs have strong
nocturnal vision making them
highly capable night hunters.
And others have a keen sense of smell,
so hiding isn’t an option either.
Your best bet is to set up camp
in a far away cave.
Just make sure
it’s not already occupied.
Realistically, a human wouldn't
be able to single-handedly hunt
and kill a dinosaur.
And even if you could,
the massive amount of meat
left behind would attract
too many other predators.
Another option would be to steal
dinosaur eggs for a protein boost.
But only go for the nest
if you’re ready to face-off
with a protective mama dino.
The safest route is to stick
to eating the surrounding vegetation.
Flowering plants haven’t evolved yet,
so you won’t get any tasty fruits.
Hopefully you like seaweed and mushrooms.
The Jurassic period was full of
extremely dangerous predators.
This one is 15 m (50 ft) long
and can swim.
This one hunts in packs,
and this one’s bite is three times stronger
than that of a great white shark.
Since you won’t be able to
outmuscle these massive creatures,
try outsmarting them instead.
Memorize their patterns of behavior
to stay one strategic step ahead
in your newfound existence.
Research suggests that a human
couldn't throw a spear hard enough
to pierce a dinosaur's skin,
so devising slingshots and traps
might be a better use of your time.
Lucky for you, the Jurassic era
is believed to have had
a favorable tropical climate,
much like today’s Central America.
Global temperatures then were
a few degrees Celsius hotter than
modern day because volcanic activity
released extra carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere.
But hot and humid weather
is manageable to withstand,
as long as you stay hydrated.
Until we figure out
how to go back in time,
the chances of you walking with
dinosaurs are slim.
When technology
finally catches up though,
you’ll be ready.
And if time traveling makes
you nervous, don’t worry.
We have a video for that too,
on another How to Survive.