You are in the volcanic forested lands of South Africa, 195 million years ago.

The air in the early Jurassic plains was warm and humid, smelling of damp ferns and cycads. You were hidden behind a cluster of giant horsetails, watching a small herd of Massospondylus feed along the edge of a slow-moving river. One adult—a graceful, roughly 5-meter-long creature—reared up on its sturdy hind legs, its long neck reaching high into a conifer tree, stripping foliage with its small, sharp teeth.

While it was primarily bipedal, it occasionally dropped to all fours to maneuver toward a new patch of ferns. Its small head and disproportionately long neck made it look like a precursor to the true giants that would come millions of years later.