The Appendices
Introduction: Concerning Troodon Formosus, "Troodontids" and the Dinosauroid
The following story is primarily concerned with creatures descended from the dinosaur Troodon formosus. Troodon formosus, a small, theropod dinosaur whose name means "beautiful wounding tooth," lived in North America in the late Cretaceous Period, from about 77 million years ago until 65 million years ago, when all dinosaurs died out. It was most likely feathered, and to a layperson would superficially resemble a Velociraptor of "Jurassic Park" fame (though those Velociraptors are highly inaccurate). It was only about half the height of an average man, and didn't get much longer than seven feet.
Troodon was most likely a hunter or scavenger; its large, forward-facing eyes suggest it may have been nocturnal. Like its distant raptor relatives, it possessed a large killing claw on its second toe. It was named, obviously, for its teeth -- small, but heavily serrated -- but its real claim to fame is its intelligence. Relative to body size, Troodon had the largest brain cavity of any dinosaur yet discovered, and is thought to have been as smart as modern-day birds or dogs. Also like the raptors, Troodon most likely was covered in feathers, and in fact was a distant ancestor of birds.
In 1982, a paleontologist named Dale Russell created a thought experiment called "The Dinosauroid," a model of what could have happened had dinosaurs survived and become civilized, like humans. Using Troodon as a template, Russell created an "evolved" version of the dinosaur that walked upright; had a large, human-like skull; and of course was covered in green, reptilian skin. The experiment was criticized for being too heavily anthropomorphic, among other reasons.
The "Troodontids" are basically Russell's Dinosauroid -- highly evolved Troodons who survived the meteor blast that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and relocated to another planet, Venus.
This story asks two "what if" questions. One: What if Troodons were much smarter than paleontologists think -- that instead of just "bird smart" or "dog smart," Troodons were "human smart" to begin with? What if they built cities before the meteor hit? What if they were prepared to deal with the meteor -- by escaping Earth for another planet?
This is a pretty far-fetched question, but downright plausible compared to the second: What if life -- especially intelligent life -- is common in our solar system, and humans just haven't discovered it because our definition of life is too narrow and the solar system is just too damn big? It's admittedly not likely that nine-foot-tall aliens are flying around in spaceships in the Kuiper Belt on the edge of our solar system -- not likely, but not impossible.
- Dominant species of the inner Solar System (Tier 1)
- Troodontids (Venus)
- Language: Troodontid language continued to evolve over 65 million years. Its chief sounds, consonant and vowel, very much resemble those made by birds, encompassing birdsong all the way up to shrieking and squawking. Contrary to popular belief, these dinosaurs did not growl or roar – and what often sounds to humans like growling is in truth a purr, which cannot accurately be recreated by humans.
For the purposes of this story, the language of the point-of-view species at any given moment has been translated as well as possible into English, except for certain words or phrases (often obscenities) that cannot be accurately translated. In these cases, the sounds of the Troodontid language have been approximated phonetically as closely as possible. An apostrophe (‘) indicates stress, as in Ma’LAK. A troodontid would begin the “ma” sound as a low murmur with lips closed over the teeth, then end in a gentle squawk (LAK).
Vowel sounds are very specific. “A” is always the long A sound in, well, “squawk,” which is basically the noise they’re making. “I” sounds like “E” as in “see” or “feel.” “O” is the long O sound as in “oh” or “open.” “U” is the most flexible: It generally extends or exaggerates the squawk in “A,” or the “O” sound; when by itself it often takes on the “ooh” sound with a “Y” in front – “you.” “E” is the short E in “then.”
The “ra,” “ri” and “rh” sounds hold important distinctions, and none are pronounced as the typical American English “R.” “Ra” is the closest, but the sound comes more from the guttural squawk of the “A” sound than the “R.” Picture a croak-y sounding gull call. “Ri” is a trill, performed high up in the nasal passages in Troodontids, and not easy for a human to replicate. “Rh” – as in The’rhn – is impossible for humans to pronounce correctly. This is the representation of the purring sound described earlier. It occurs entirely in the dinosaur’s throat, which is much different anatomically from a human’s. For the reader’s purposes, “Thair-REN” suffices.
(A note here: When “L” is used, it’s a softer purr, made with the roof of the mouth and the tongue, and is pronounceable to some degree by humans.)