by JB Rowley
bilby: small Australian marsupial with rabbit-like ears similar to a bandicoot. Because of declining numbers bilbies are protected in Australia.
dicynodont: a plant eating animal about the size of a cow that existed 250 million years ago and became extinct about 20 million years ago.
Diprotodon: the largest marsupial known to have existed, sometimes called ‘giant wombat’, that lived about 1.6 million years ago and became extinct about 46 000 years ago.
Gondwana was a southern supercontinent that existed from 510 to 180 million years ago. Africa, Antarctica, Australia, India, Madagascar, South America and The Arabian Peninsula were all together in one landmass called Gondwana (also known as Gondwanaland) before it began to break up approximately 180 million years ago.
Some experts say the word Gondwana is from the Sanskrit word ‘gondavana’ meaning forest of the Gonds. The Gonds are a tribe of people of central India.
The Gondwana in Trapped in Gondwana is not the real continent of Gondwana. It is a creation of Gondvan, the master of the Gondwana adventure. However, the plants and animals in Gondvan’s Gondwana were once part of the real Gondwana or Gondwana continents.
lizard dragon/Komodo Dragon: The Komodo dragon is the largest living species of lizard and is found on several Indonesian islands. Scientists believe they may have descended from the very large varanid lizards that once lived across Indonesia and Australia about 4 million years ago.
lycophyte: an ancient group of plants extending back over 400 million years.
numbat: small Australian marsupial also known as the banded anteater.
pygmy possum: pygmy possums can be found in New Guinea, Indonesia and Australia. Their ancestors lived over two million years ago. The Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus) is a small, mouse-sized marsupial of Australia. It is critically endangered and there are only around 2000 Mountain Pygmy Possums left.
platypus: an Australian monotreme that lives in water and on land. It is fur covered, has the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver and the feet of an otter.
pterosaur: flying reptile that existed 210 million years ago.
quoll: a carnivorous marsupial found in Australia and New Guinea.
Simiosaur/monkey lizard: strange reptiles with monkey-like tails that lived during the late Triassic period.
Triassic: a geologic period that extends from about 250 to 200 million years ago.
tuatara: a New Zealand reptile whose ancestors lived about 200 million years ago.
wombat: Australian marsupial with short legs and a muscular body that lives in a burrow.
What adventures await Nellie and Meg in Book 3?
Come and chat to me at my blog. I’d love that! http://trappedingondwana.wordpress.com/