Dinosaur Songs, Part II

[Amado Narvaez <anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu>]

When the teachers at my school presented me with a list of dinosaurs the 
children would be learning facts about, they asked for my comments and 
suggestions. After first pointing out that "Pteranodon" is not a 
dinosaur, I told them, "These are all from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. 
You need some from the Triassic." I suggested Coelophysis, Plateosaurus 
and Herrerasaurus. They opted for the first two. (Has anyone seen _any_ 
Triassic dinosaur models? I think the Carnegie models are all Jurassic 
and Cretaceous.)

Anyway, to help the kids learn facts about Coelophysis and Plateosaurus, 
I wrote these songs. (Again, commercial publication and recording rights 
are reserved by yours truly, Amado Narvaez. Feel free to sing them in 
school or community productions, or around the campfire.)

        Coelophysis
(to the tune of "Darling Clementine")
 
Coelophysis--Coelophysis!
A Triassic dinosaur!
And I might add, he's the grand-dad
Of a lot of carnivores!
 
He was this high, just a small guy,
But quite vicious just the same!
He was very, very deadly--
Coelophysis was his name!
 
Coelophysis often hunted
Little lizards--insects, too.
But at times he was the dinner
Of a phytosaur or two!
 
Coelophysis, Coelophysis
Left a three-toed, bird-like track!
And he'd hunt, too, like the wolves do--
In a very deadly pack!
 
Coelophysis, Coelophysis--
A Triassic dinosaur!
That was then, though, and we all know
They don't live here any more!

        (I was a little hesitant to depict Coelophysis as a vicious 
hunter, although Greg Paul in "Predatory Dinosaurs of the World" on page 
260 suggests that as pack hunters they could have brought down "fairly 
large prey." Then, too, eating your own young is kind of vicious. --But I 
didn't tell the kids they were sometimes cannibals.)
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        Plateosaurus
(to the tune of "Yankee Doodle")
    (The first line matches the melody for the version that goes:
        "Father and I went down to camp
         Along with Captain Good'n") 

Plateosaurus is my name!
I lived in the Triassic.
I'm not well-known because I came
Before the great Jurassic!
 
        Other herbivores could not
        Reach as high as me-ee!
        My long neck could help me reach
        The leaves up in a tree-ee!
 
Plateosaurus is my name--
Triassic dinosaur!
I sometimes walked on two legs
But I mostly walked on four!
 
        Brontosaurus came from me--
        One of my descendants!
        All the sauropods in fact
        Were sort of my dependents!

(I used the name "Brontosaurus" rather than Apatosaurus because it fit 
the music better, although you can probably sneak an extra syllable in 
for that line. Also, in the next song, the lyrics talk about the two names.)
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        Apatosaurus excelsus
(to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell")
   (I provided the teachers with this note about Apatosaurus excelsus 
that they could use when teaching the kids Apatosaurus facts. Please 
correct me if you see any errors in any of the lyrics or notes about 
them. Thanks!)

   Apatosaurus ajax was discovered in 1877. A similar but larger dinosaur 
was discovered in 1879 and named "Brontosaurus excelsus." Twenty-four 
years later paleontologists realized that the animal discovered in 1877 
was a juvenile version of the animal discovered in 1879, and according to 
the rules of naming animals, the older name was the correct one, and 
Brontosaurus excelsus was re-named Apatosaurus excelsus.)

Apatosaurus e!
Apatosaurus e!
Here trod a sauropod--
Apatosaurus e!
 
He's 70 feet long!
He's 70 feet long!
This dinosaur was maybe more
Than 70 feet long!
 
A quarter ton of leaves!
A quarter ton of leaves!
The experts say he ate each day
A quarter ton of leaves!
 
He had another name!
He had another name!
Apatosaur--or Brontosaur--
The dinosaur's the same!
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     As I said, the kids learned the songs fairly quickly, as well as the 
facts that went with them. The teachers told me that their knowledge of 
dinosaurs was a surprise to the guides at the Smithsonian when they went 
there on a field trip.

Next installment: Diplodocus and Allosaurus


----- Amado Narvaez
      anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu