Tag: fantasy

Dinosaurs: Natural Weapons and Amour

~ joannerambling ~ 4 Comments

Today we are looking at what type of natural weapons and armour that dinosaurs have dinosaurs did not carry swords or wear metal armour. Instead, many had natural equipment built into their bodies: sharp teeth, powerful claws, horns, spikes and protective bony plates. These features helped them feed, defend themselves and sometimes compete with other members of their own species.

The Tyrannosaurus rex had powerful jaws and thick teeth suited to biting through flesh and bone. Its bite was far more important than its small arms when feeding.

Then we have the Velociraptor which had a large, curved claw on the second toe of each foot. Rather than simply slashing as films often suggest, these claws may have helped it grip and restrain prey. Scientists still debate exactly how they were used.

Moving on to the Triceratops carried two long brow horns and a shorter nose horn. The horns could have helped with defence and contests between individuals, while its large bony frill may also have played a role in display.

Some have spikes, clubs and protective armour such as the Stegosaurus had long spikes at the end of its tail, which could act as a defensive weapon. Its famous back plates were not a continuous protective shield; scientists have proposed roles including display and temperature regulation.

The Ankylosaurus was protected by bony armour embedded in its skin, called osteoderms. Its broad body and armoured back offered protection, while a heavy club at the end of its tail could deliver a powerful blow. Tail clubs may have been used against predators and in competition with other ankylosaurs.

Fossils reveal the shapes of these natural weapons and armour, but behaviour is harder to reconstruct. A horn or spike might have served more than one purpose: protection, display or competition. Dinosaurs were not simply prehistoric fighting machines; their remarkable bodies were adaptations to the challenges of staying alive.

Humans and non-bird dinosaurs did not live together, so dinosaur-mounted warriors and human-made dinosaur armour belong to fantasy rather than prehistoric history.

Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW,Australia

~ joannerambling ~ 5 Comments

When I was young it was considered to be a big deal to go into town to go the movies or to do some shopping and by in town I mean into Newcastle mainly Hunter Street.

So, this week I will write a bit about Hunter Street’s history and present.

Hunter Street is a major road in the Newcastle central business district, in New South Wales. The street, formerly three separate thoroughfares, extends from Pacific Street in the city’s east, to Selma Street in Newcastle West and since 2008 has been the focus of community-led creative enterprises and projects.

Hunter Street runs in the vicinity of an early nineteenth-century track known as Wellington Street that extended from Watt Street (formerly George Street) in the east to Perkins Street in the west. The strip was renamed Hunter Street by Henry Dangar in 1823 and by the mid nineteenth-century commercial and residential properties had been built on most addresses east of Perkins Street.

By 1900, Hunter Street had stretched a long way and had 26 hotels operating along the street. In 1887the first steam trams came into operation by 1898 the first restrictions on vehicular traffic drawn by animals were introduced

Drainage problems and raw sewerage necessitated the sealing of Hunter Street, first carried out with wooden blocks, concrete and asphalt.

After the opening of the Newcastle Steelworks in 1915, Newcastle became increasingly suburban, and Hunter Street developed as a destination for commerce and retail. The size and extravagance of Newcastle’s early twentieth-century department stores demonstrates the popularity of city shopping.

Established as the city’s main street for commercial and retail activity, Hunter Street entered a period of severe decline after World War II. However, it recovered over time.

Hunter Street developed as the commercial and civic hub of the region. Along its spine were the pubs, banks, insurance houses, shops, department stores, and cooperative societies that formed the civic and cultural life of Newcastle.

In 1989 an earthquake hit Newcastle and due to the damage making Hunter Street inaccessible for two weeks.

The in 1990 there was a recession which coupled with record youth unemployment, brought the emptying of Hunter Street to a terrible low in 2008, with the vacancy rate at 20% and chronically vacant properties beginning to deteriorate.

In recent years there have been efforts to clean up and bring life back into Hunter Street, as I haven’t been there myself I can’t say what it is like now.