Big Walker

No reason, except I found this fascinating. The largest dinosaur that we know of was Argentinosaurus. It probably weighed about 80-90 tons...roughly equivalent to a Blue whale, but it walked on land.

Well, they've done a computer model of how it might have moved, and have deduced that it had a top speed of about five miles per hour. Of course, why move fast when you're so big?

Touchstones

One reason I really enjoy looking at Ebay from time to time is that I'll find something really cool. I tried to land a copy of this some time back when I was working on writing THE FLOCK, but I couldn't find one. But last month I just happened upon one in a random search. It was very cheap, so I nabbed it.

Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History.

I really do wish I'd had access to this when I was working on the manuscript--it wouldn't have made any real difference in the plot or construction of the novel, but it would have been nice to be able to look at the contents of this issue as I wrote. It would have served as a kind of touchstone, I reckon.

So now I have a copy. And although the book is long since published and a sequel will see print in 2013, I'll keep this slim bulletin by the computer. Who knows what dreams it will inspire?

The wing bone of Titanis walleri.