Nexus - 0214 - New Times Magazine-pages

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16·NEXUS -he sun was beating down mercilessly. It was as hot in Texas as it was in Mexico. I I had crossed the border into Texas at Brownsville a few days before and had stayed at a Ttrailer court that my mother and stepfather owned, though they lived in Arizona.­ I had 'promised them that I would look at the trailer court and make sure that the couple they had hired to manage it were keeping it in good condition, After resting for a few days, it was fortunate that myoid pickup truck was sitting in the parking lot After looking under .the hood, and a few trips down to the local auto parts store, I had the truck running and was now on my way across Texas, heading for Arizona. My first main stop was Big Bend National Park in the south-west portion of the state. Texas has its share of mysteries, lost treasure and ancient civilisations. A number of stone heads and pottery figures have been found in texas, including a ceramic figure found near Cisco, Texas, that was identified in 1946 by three professors from the University of Mexico as the figure of the Aztec god of agriculture, Xipe-Totec. They surmised that the head had been made between the 10th and 12th centuries. Larger, sJone heads have been discovered at Cross Plains, Texas, that wore cronical hats and were "very old". Myself, I was after pterodactyls. "Pterodactyl pens? How far are ,they?" I ll£ked. I shielded the sun from my eyes, and looked at the man with a cowboy hat and blue cotton shirt. "Just nearby, across the creek," said the sun-weathered rancher. He had on a brown cow­ boy hat and a red checkered shirt. I followed him across a bridge that crossed the small creek in front of us and then noticed some rock walls along a cliff. 'These here are the pterodactyl pens," said 'the man pointing to the ancient, crumbling structures. "Why do they call them pterodactyl pens?" I asked. "Well, they have these legends around here about pterodactyls," he said. "I've never seen one around here myself" though. Just in a museum." I stopped and looked at the walls. They were like pens, and since they were against cliffs, they could have been made into cages. Still, they were maybe just the ruins of a SBlall set­ tlement. Though ptCIOdactyl pens was an intriguing notion, it was less likely an explanalion than others. The subject of living pterodactyls is, however, a fascinating subject, and one that is not 'to be shrugged off lightly. Strange and persistent legends abound in 'the south-west of giant winged creatures. These stories have been told since hefore the Spanish arrived and contin­ ue to this day. Some radical theorists have gone so far as to say than Ithese legends and sight­ ings can be attributed to still-living flying dinosaurS=to pterodactyls or, more precisely, pterodons. There are literally hundreds of reports of giant birds and flying lizards showing up around the world. And it is a fact that IDe remains of pterodons bave been discovered at Big Bend National Park. The park was the site of th.e discovery of the skeleton of a giant pteranodon in 1975. It had a wingspan of 51 feetlUld is the largest such fossil of a flying reptile so far discpv~ed. Other pterodactyls were mu.ch sml!J1«