Fossil Fools

Chapter 23. Temnodontosaurus platyodon

"Hey Bro" how are you feeling? Said Adam, bouncing into the room after football practice.

"Pretty shit"

"Heard you got into a fight, and they sent you home? What happened?"

"Alan Draper's been a shit to me for years. Don't think he'll be giving me trouble for a while. But I got hauled up in front of Mrs Emery"

"Nice one," Adam said proudly "If there is any trouble next time, you need to let me know and I'll sort them out, OK?"

"Cool, but you could have said that years back. It would have saved me a lot of hassle you know."

"OK, Adam, you're right. I'm sorry."

"Are you OK Adam, sure you aren't the one with the head injury? You've never said anything like that to me before."

"Like I said Adam, I'm sorry. Listen, moving on, I've had an interesting email from a dude at a museum. Well, it's probably interesting for you, anyway."

"What does it say then?" I said, puzzled.

"Well, it is from a dude called Professor Jenny Barrett, head of Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum in London"

"Head of Dinosaurs? Cool job! What does he say?"

'Dear Adam, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate you again on the magnificent Ichthyosaur you discovered in the Black Venn Marls, at the collapsed cliff West of Charmouth beach. You are a master fossil hunter!'

"Ha Harrrrr, I'm a master fossil hunterrrrr!!!" he mocked.

"What!!!! YOU!" I shouted. "YOU, it wasn't really YOU, it was us, we found it! You, a master fossil hunter, this is a joke."

"Whatever Jasper. Look, do you want me to read this or not?"

"Er, yes, I want to hear...." I said sheepishly.

"OK, I'll continue. Where was I? ' We believe the specimen to be an....I can't read this bit anyway, it's all Greek to me," Adam said.

"Hand it to me." I snatched the laptop from him. "An Ichthyosaur belonging to the Thunnosaurian Clade ''.

We believe this to be so because the extraordinary specimen exhibits the eyes of Ophthalmosaurus which were huge, and these animals likely hunted in dim and deep water.

This magnificent specimen is a Temnodontosaurus platyodon. This is from the Greek, 'Temno' meaning 'to cut', 'odont', meaning 'tooth' and 'Saurus', meaning lizard.

So you have discovered a 180, 000,000 year old cutting tooth lizard!

The first one found was by Mary Anning herself, the famous victorian fossil hunter. So you are in good company, Adam!'

I almost shat myself. "You, the new Mary Anning!" I laughed. "Do me a favour".

"Do I look like someone who wants to be the new Mary Anning Jasper? You might want that, you great wus, not me."

Adam snatched the computer back.

He read on "I was very upset to hear about your younger brother's injury at the site and hope he is making a good recovery.'

'Adam, as you know, the team at the Museum has been working hard to excavate, extract and preserve the specimen at our laboratory in Kensington.'

We would like to invite you to the museum to see progress, and to join us for a photographic shoot. We will use the images for our website and newsletter.

The specimen has attracted worldwide attention from the very active Vertebrate Paleontology community and we are sending out a newsletter soon.'

"That makes me laugh," he said "the very active vertebrate palaeontology community!"

"Get on with it, Adam!"

He continued, 'We'd like you to join us on the 2nd April between 2 and 4:30."

"That's next Tuesday", I said excitedly.

'Let me know as soon as possible. Congratulations once again and best wishes to your brother.

Yours Sincerely, Professor Katie Barrett. Head of Blah Blah."

"Listen Jasper, to be quite honest, I don't understand a thing he is on about, and I don't want to, either. You are the Bone Boy round here, so I think you should go."

Adam was being suspiciously kind and generous.

"Thank you Bro," I said. "I'd so love to go, but why don't you come with me. Could be really interesting."

"Well, I'll come for the picture, but best if you hang out there with your geeky fossil friends."