South American Dinosaurs, Large and 'Small;' and a Changing World

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Leinkupal laticauda isn't the smallest known dinosaur. That honor goes to Compsognathus, a turkey-sized fellow you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Leinkupal may be the smallest sauropod, though: and probably among the last of that line....

...Older than the Mountains

(From Jon Sullivan, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Mountains in the Teton Range, seen from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.)

My parents and I visited Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks when I was young, and spent a day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Years later, seeing photos we'd taken, I was surprised that my memories of the Teton Mountains were accurate: They really did look as big as I remembered them.

It was summer when we were there, which may explain why one of the glaciers was noticeably lower on the mountain when we left. The mountains themselves hadn't changed, of course. If I went back there today, I doubt that they would be appreciably different.

Over a human lifespan, or even several generations, mountains remain pretty much as they are: unchanged, apparently-permanent features on the landscape. Maybe that explains why sacred mountains aren't uncommon. In a world where folks are born, live, and die, where rivers may flood or go dry: the mountain is always there.

Or so it seems....

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