Health, injuries, and sicknesses

[Noname]

We see injuries often enough in the films (1st movie, plus movies 5 and 6, at least one TV episode), a sickness in the 4th movie, and a minor ailment in the 9th film.

Now, we have seen that certain characters know some things about illnesses (the old one in movie 4), and they might be able to pass on certain pieces of information, such as "eat (this plant) and you will recover from (this illness)", but they probably don't know how the plants act as medicine...

[Serris]

I do believe it is canon that the dinosaurs would have a knowledge of medicinal plants or maybe even minerals much as chimpanzees do.

But I don't believe that dinosaurs would know how it works.

ASIDE: I pushed the tech level of the LBT universe in Twilight Valley to roughly Paleolithic levels (think artifacts from 600,000 years ago).

[Kor]

They seem to know certain plants make your breath smell better, prevent or reduce swelling. If you have a cold rub this one on your beak, if you have gotten stung put this leaf on the spot, but likely not the idea of medicine since that would take having technology, and science or at least alchemy (which came before chemistry).

[Noname]

Right; they know cause and effect, but not HOW it works... or if something causes pain, avoid it...

[Coyote_A]

I wonder if dinosaures from LBT have a witchdoctor profession.

[Kor]

They don't show much religion on lbt.  It could be they (the writers, directors producers, ect) avoid this to get anyone angry or it could be the dinos do not have those sorts of beliefs in gods & such.  Though some places may have something like witchdoctor who has some beliefs that do work, like certain plants, and some that do not.  It may be a mix of things that some work and some do not, like you eat this plant, but only as the moon is shining overhead or something like that which would be the part that does not work since the plant will help you if you eat it regardless of what time of day or night it is eaten.

[Coyote_A]

They don't show much religion on lbt.

And what about the Great Circle? They even celebrate a festival in it's honor in TV series.

[Kor]

It may be one, since Grandpa Longneck did tell a story of the day and night circle before in one of the movies or episodes.  So they may  have some beliefs concerning those.

[Malte279]

I guess the most spiritual parts of LBT are scenes with morals such as "Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart". They also have a set of legends of somewhat religious quality (lone dinosaur, the cause for a solar eclipse, and the story from the TV series with a personified version of the wind). The kind of spiritualism that can be found in LBT is strongly based on nature though and (mercifully) lacks the intolerant elements of most of the more established religions of mankind.

[Kor]

Part of it may be to not upset anyone, and or to keep things simple for the target audience.  Also one could say that the dinos do not think the way many humans do who seem to need a god or gods, or spirits and such in their belief system.  Some ways that the LBT dinos think may be very similar or identical to humans, and some may be a bit different and others very different.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

I don't know, I think Petrie is acting borderline-religious in "The Great Circle Celebration", saying things like "Great Circle always watching over us, so we must say thank you," or "Is Great Circle mad at us?" Bummer was that the episode's plot didn't knock him off his high horse, but felt like Cera needed to be taught a lesson for not worshiping the Bright Circle.

[Kor]

Perhaps, but she wasn't in the area near where the fire started, the rest of her friends were.   Maybe that could be a lesson to the others.

[rosie]

Maybe the sharpteeth believe in the great sharptooth in the sky who roars at time when it rains or they roar at it.  Seriously.... I am surprised there isn't many sickness or injuries. The sharptooth seem to be the ones suffering from injuries.  Don't any of flatteeth die? Don't the long necks and three horns fight each other? There is a lack of things that could cause problems like high winds or overgrazing.

[lbt/cty_lover]

Why would any sentient being without a knowledge of biochemistry know HOW a plant make things better? I don't think that even humans knew that radiation was bad until decades after it was discovered. As for religion, doesn't that deserve another topic?

[Kor]

Likely the lbt dinos would not know how or why certain plants are useful or help in certain things but they may find out by observation.  After all some parts of some medicine people, shaman and wise women ( & men) and herbal medicine had some parts that did work that modern technology can isolate the active drug and make medicine.  With the lack of science & tech they may observe certain things like if I chew on this bark or leaf the pain I had from a sprained ankle didn't hurt as much, ect.  They then teach others and their kids, it gets passed on, ect.

[Noname]

That's probably correct; even though they do not know the actual biology behind the medicine, the characters probably know to do things like "if you are sick, eat this plant" through trial and error, as well as observing the result...

[Vaan360]

Exactly, like us in some accasions

[Noname]

What kinds of injuries do you think would be the most common in the Land Before Time? The most common that we have seen are foot-related ones; we see this in three TV episodes, and in movie 10 (first, when Pat gets burned in movie 10, when Cera hurts her ankle while trying to play a log-rolling game, when Littlefoot steps on a sharp plant and when Ruby hurts her foot while trying to meet her family.) It makes a lot of sense considering that shoes haven't been invented...

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Cera and Spike seem to ram their heads into solid objects a lot.

[Noname]

But does this cause them injury? One would think that a Triceratops would have a skull which could withstand that kind of injury...