Around sixty-five million years ago a meteor struck Earth with the almighty force of one hundred million megatonnes, obliterating the earth and wiping out seventy percent of the Earth's life. This apocalyptic event is termed the Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction or more commonly the K-T Event. The mighty dinosaur was erased from the planet, but the tiny toad continued on his merry plodding way. It is a fact that has baffled scientists for generations, the tiny toad however, did have some cards up his reptilian sleeve. Firstly, it was better to live in the water, as ninety per cent of land species were destroyed as opposed to only ten percent of their water-based contemporaries. Water offered protection from heat and flame and provided sustenance in the bleak landscape that prevailed after the meteor struck. In addition, the new world was more easy to negotiate when you were a small creature who was flexible in diet and indeed did not require much fuel to survive. Their leathery skin allowed for great water retention, a great device during lingering droughts. In addition, they are a cautious creature, which burrows and they can change their skin colour chameleon like to hide from predators. They have other tricks up their sleeves - they are comfortable on both land and water, can play dead, excrete poison and treble their size to prevent being swallowed. So, although comparatively tiny, the toad possessed the ammunition for surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, while the mighty dinosaur fell, a lesson in there for modern times, methinks.
Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source Russell Shortt, http://www.exploringireland.net/escorted-tours-page.html http://www.visitscotlandtours.com/tours/escorted-tours.html
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