1 Brian loved to invent things. His latest idea was a Dinocam. It was a camera that could magically see dinosaurs! He turned the dial to the Jurassic age. That was 155 million years ago. He pushed a red button. Brian peered into the thick lens. What he saw made him smile!
2 Brian saw a thick, tropical forest. Everything was green. Crystal dewdrops sparkled on the huge leaves. The drops were like shiny marbles. All the plants were gigantic!
3 A round egg sat in the oozing, black mud. It was the kind of mud that would make the most scrumptiously dark, chocolate mud pies!
4 Crack, crack! The egg opened. It was a camarasaurus baby. It was working hard to get out. Peck, Peck! At last, a huge piece of shell fell off.
5 "Mom?" Carmen said. She poked her head out of the egg. Her head was shaped like a box.
6 "Yes, dear," Ms.C. stood tall, but she bent down to see her newest baby.
7 "Help! I need to get out!" wailed Carmen.
8 "Push harder!" said her mother.
9 Carmen pushed more. She wiggled and jiggled. Large clumps of egg shell stuck to her body.
10 "Welcome, Carmen," said Ms. C.
11 "Thanks, Mom," said Carmen. Moist air filled her lungs for the first time. She had big nostrils! Some scientists even think she had a trunk like an elephant. No one knows for sure. Fossils only show bones.
12 Carmen pulled herself up. No one knows if her mother would have taken care of her baby. Let's pretend that she did. Carmen had to look way up to see her mother. She was 15 feet tall at the hips. That is about twice as tall as your bedroom ceiling. Her leathery skin was splattered with brown and olive green. Scientists aren't sure about that, either.
13 Carmen studied her mother. She was awesome! Her mother's four legs were like fat posts. It took a lot of effort for her to walk. After all, she weighed almost 20 tons! Her name, camarasaurus, means "chambered lizard." She was about 60 feet long. Her mother smiled down at her. Carmen saw spoon-shaped teeth. She was a herbivore. That means that she ate plants.
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