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Tales from a tropical Bristol

A day in the life of Triassic sharks under the feet of the dinosaurs

By Oliver JamesPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Tales from a tropical Bristol
Photo by Gerald Schömbs on Unsplash

Gleaming sunlight reflects off the surface of perfect blue waters and the rocks of the palest grey cliffs. Vegetation, sparse but vibrant green, is sprinkled across the area of the small islands. Small reptiles scuttle across the white sands at the base of the cliffs sloping gradually into the shallow waters. Winged creatures are reflected in the waters as they swoop after fluttering dragonflies.

The scene could be mistaken for the Bahamas but those winged creatures, pterosaurs not birds, betray the archipelago of Somerset some two hundred million years ago. The resident dinosaur, the Thecodontosaurus, rummages among the verdant thickets, stripping fern fronds of succulent foliage. Tiny furry creatures peek timidly from under the bushes, looking up at the creature that its relatives would one day surpass.

Below the steady waves, flashes of silver shoal between the armoured turtle-like placodonts and slender crocodile doppelgangers. Larger fish swim lazily amongst the shoals while others pick and peck at shells on the seabed.

And flitting through the waters chasing shoals of small fish, a shark. Short and grey with spines forward of its dorsal fins and two more small spines on either side of its head. They lead it on a winding chase into the cove of the island and back out into more open water, the shark matching the frantic weaving of the fish it pursues. A quick snap at one of the escaping fish, its sharp teeth closing around nothing. The shark slowed to glide casually through the water, its short burst of energy depleted.

Below the chaos another shark, similar in shape but flatter and sandy coloured, swims low against the seabed. It buries its head into the sand, tossing it up occasionally until at last it finds its target. The clam is tossed upwards, jaws clamping down, the shark’s blunt teeth crushing the shell with a few bites. One tooth hits the hard shell at an odd angle, breaking and falling amongst the sediment, to be replaced in time. The shark moves on, scanning the seabed for more shelled creatures. It finds a large, coiled shell and makes to clamp its teeth around its girth. The smooth teeth slide off the shell of the sea snail and it’s pushed into the sand. The sandy shark tries again but only manages to completely burrow its prey.

A sudden shadow. The sandy shark freezes, barely camouflaged. Torpedo shaped; the ichthyosaur cruises effortlessly above, easily four times the length of any of the sharks. With a burst of speed, it shoots towards the distracted grey shark, snatching it from its hunt and quickly devouring it. Macabre debris is showered down around the bottom feeding shark.

The shark stays put a while, long after the great shadow has moved away. The cove becomes still, its residents slowly poking their heads from their hiding places.

A slight rumbling issues from the ground triggering a trembling in the water. The shark flees towards the rocky safety near to the island shores. The sediment shifts, being pulled downwards along a straight line, a small crevasse opening beneath the sand. The shell, the tooth and the remains of the grey shark are pulled down with it.

And two mass extinctions and many ice ages later, some of the relatives of those timid furry creatures quarrying stone for their houses find these remains of familiar yet oh so different animals, and piece together their lives from what little they can find. The lives of ancient fish and reptiles and mammals and sharks.

Based on scientific studies on the Rhaetian of the Bristol area describing the fauna and the habitat (Wall & Jenkyns, 2004; Whiteside et al. 2016; Cross et al. 2018).

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About the Creator

Oliver James

Sci-fi and fantasy - I love writing it as much as I do watching and reading it!

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