Jurassic Park

Ladies and gentlemen: The Velociraptor
a dinosaur with the wow factor
like Spielberg took his famous shark
and dumped it in Jurassic Park
(clever girl said poor Bob Peck
just before he got totally wrecked
as they used their claws to good effect
just feeling peckish I suspect )
but I looked ‘em up in National Geographic
who says their description is problematic
for one thing the creature was covered in feathers
not quite so mean as a villain in leathers
also they didn’t hunt in packs
so poor Bob Peck could’ve probably relaxed
they were actually the size of beefed-up turkey
a little less evil, a little more quirky
(and I don’t know if it’s particularly relevant
they could run as fast as an African elephant)
so all in all they’ve had a bad press
but they’re all extinct so they couldn’t care less
just a raptor supremely adapted
(and I wish I wasn’t so easily distracted)

A dog
is a variety of Tetrapod
(We call this one Stanley
just ‘cos it’s handy)

Tetrapod means four feet
which as getting about goes is pretty neat
even if the early human
learned to walk on only two of ‘em

Another interesting fact about Stanley
he’s a perfect example of pentadactyly
the same hand bones you’d find in the flipper
of something like a primitive mud-skipper
our earliest common ancestor
in what is probably now Manchester
no doubt it was nervous
when it first broke surface
but found it wasn’t so difficult after all
to waggle its flippers and learn to crawl
(honestly I’ve no idea why
finger bones should number five
– something to do with the structure of the wrist?
you’re better off asking an ichthyologist)

anyway – if it works, why fixit?
who the hell needs a surplus digit?

and as Jeff Goldblum once famously said
before half the Park was screaming or dead
Life finds a way
oh-kay
thanks Jeff – that’s great
but it’s raining, it’s late
and I think the power just went off at the gate