And at some immeasurably remote time beyond
human caring the whole uneasy region might
sink again beneath the sea and begin the cycle all
over again by the slow deposition of new marls,
shales, limestones, sandstones, deltaic conglomerates,
perhaps with a fossil poet pressed and silicified between
the leaves of rocks.
from: Heart of the Desert Wild
quote by: Wallace Stegner
I talk all the time about the pre-historic nature of our desert region when I hike with friends. I talk in numbers that can hardly be fathomed; like 350 million years ago our beautiful red rock was formed by oceanic pressure. I talk of volcanic action that took place 10 thousand years ago!! We have the most amazing dinosaur tracts that grace the ground, practically in my own back yard!! Zion Canyon was carved by water thousands and thousands of years ago...
And then....
Every once in a while we stumble across these bizarre creatures swimming in a stagnant pool of water that was captured in the rock from a recent rain storm. These creatures look like a Hollywood special effects job!!! Steven Spielberg would be proud!!!
These little guys are called Tadpole shrimps, or can also be known as Triops, dinosaur shrimps or shield shrimps. They're not really dinosaurs, but they have been on earth for about 300 million years.Wrap your brain around this if you can: When these crustaceans first appeared on earth, there were no birds, no dinosaurs, and definitely no humans or other mammals. They are the oldest surviving group of animals.
I know I feel lucky when I spot one of these critters swimming in a shaded pool of rain water...and a little creeped out as well!!!
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