1 Brian set up his Dinocam. It was his latest invention. The Dinocam saw dinosaurs! Brian wanted to peek into the late Cretaceous period. He set the dial for 76 million years ago. He pressed the red button. Brian looked into the lens. Everything was black! It was a night scene. He pushed the night vision button. Everything lit up!
2 Brian saw volcanoes. Black clouds poured out of their tops. Orange flames sputtered from the volcanoes, too. The land looked drier. It was not as green as the Jurassic period.
3 Trudy the Troodon was hungry! She needed her dinner. She noticed her brother running by. Trudy followed him. Maybe he knew where she could get something to eat.
4 "Wait for me!" Trudy called.
5 "No!" said her brother, Tom.
6 Trudy ran after him on her hind legs. She ran on tip toes. She was light and fast. Her bones were hollow. She looked like a bird! But Trudy was not a bird. Scientists have called her a bird mimic. A mimic is something that acts like something else.
7 "I'll find food alone!" she snarled. She poked her long snout forward.
8 Brothers could be a real pain!
9 Trudy liked her orange and yellow skin. Some scientists think she had smooth skin. Others think she had feathers! We will never know which idea was true. Trudy was about as tall as your parents. Her clever brain was thinking of a way to catch her midnight snack. She knew that she was a smart dinosaur. Maybe even the smartest dinosaur ever! She had a very big brain.
10 Trudy watched Tom sneak behind a tree.
11 Soon, Tom came back.
12 "I can't find anything to eat!" he groaned. "Let's play tag instead!"
13 "OK," said Trudy.
14 Tom reached his slender arm out and tapped Trudy. He had a big claw on each of his second toes.
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