Visitors to the Land

Land of the Lost was a 1974-1976 TV series relating the adventures of the Marshall family (including Willy and Holly and their father, later replaced by their uncle). The Marshalls become trapped in a pocket universe populated by dinosaurs, ape-like creatures called Pakuni, and lizard-like creatures named Sleestak. This article concerns these characters, along with other human and alien visitors to the Land of the Lost. Land of the Lost title screen Land of the Lost (1974–1976) is one in a variety of popular, uniquely produced childrens television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. ...

Travel to the Land of the Lost is almost always accidental, via glowing or misty "time doorways". Time doorways sometimes appear to open and close spontaneously, but they can also be opened and controlled by some Pylon crystal matrix tables and by a matrix table in the Lost City. Time doorways obey a form of temporal energy conservation law; whenever something enters the Land of the Lost via a time doorway something else must then leave it, though not necessarily at the exact same time (the episode "Circle").

Also, at least one Pylon periodically travels to other universes acting as a sort of "interdimensional elevator", triggered by a conjunction of the Land's moons that occurs every three to four years. One of the universes it stops at along the way appears to be the Marshall's home Earth.

The Marshalls

Left to right: Holly, Will and Rick Marshall. Rick is manipulating a crystal matrix table located in the Lost City.

Rick, Will, and Holly Marshall are characters on the television series Land Of The Lost Screenshot from the Land of the Lost, showing the Marshalls (first two seasons) at a crystal matrix table. ... Screenshot from the Land of the Lost, showing the Marshalls (first two seasons) at a crystal matrix table. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Land of the Lost, the 1945 childrens radio series by Isabel Manning Hewson Land of the Lost, The Sid and Marty Krofft 1974 science fiction television series Land of the Lost, The 1991 remake of the 1974 series Land of the Lost is the name of an album by...

Rick Marshall, his son Will and his younger daughter Holly, were rafting in a high mountain river when they were caught in "the greatest earthquake ever known." The river was diverted over a cliff, and as the Marshalls' raft plunged over the resulting waterfall they struck a time doorway partway down. Trapped in the Land of the Lost with only the minimal camping equipment they'd had on the raft, they make their camp in a natural cave partway up the face of a cliff they called the High Bluff. Although the cave was secure from most local dangers, they were frequently pestered by Grumpy the tyrannosaurus who was tall enough to see inside. Whenever he made an appearance the Marshalls would ram a sharpened log they called the "flyswatter" into Grumpy's open mouth and drive him away. Holly speculated that Grumpy continued to return due to the large quantities of a ground-hugging fern-like plant she'd dubbed "dinosaur nip" that grew in the area ("Follow That Dinosaur" episode).

The three of them are from California ("Downstream" episode), though Rick grew up on Ford Street in Indianapolis and attended Fillmore High there ("The Zarn"). The Marshalls formerly lived in Harrisville, though the state is not specified ("Split Personality"). Mrs. Marshall died of unspecified causes when Will and Holly were very young, neither of them remembers her very clearly. Rick described her as being headstrong and beautiful, just like Holly, and apparently loved her deeply ("The Search"). Will and Holly frequently suffered bouts of sibling rivalry, though they would overcome such issues when the situation became difficult enough. Will was the most adventurous of the Marshalls, frequently taking "shortcuts" as an excuse to explore new territory and tampering with Pylons to determine their function. Holly suffered from a fear of heights. State nickname: The Golden State Official languages English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Senators Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 4. ...

At the beginning of the third season, Rick Marshall unexpectedly returned home via a time doorway; Will and Holly's uncle Jack Marshall, who was searching for them in the mountains where they'd originally disappeared, fell through to take his place. This event caused an earthquake that buried their cliff dwelling, so the Marshalls moved their base of operations to the Builder Temple near the Lost City instead.

The series ended without showing the Marshall's ultimate fate, though there are some ambiguous suggestions of it. In "Elsewhen", an adult version of Holly visits via a time doorway from the future, and in another episode a mysterious "repairman" confidently predicts that the Marshalls would someday get out of the Land of the Lost.

An alternative universe version of the Marshalls (who wear clothing that "our" Marshalls lost upon entry into the Land of the Lost, and who did not suffer the loss of their mother) appear in "Split Personality."

It is discovered in the last first-season episode ("Circle") that the Marshalls were their own counterbalance; their escape from the Land of the Lost in that episode was what caused the time doorway that drew them there in the first place to open. "Circle" was intended to serve as a "final episode" in the event that the show was not renewed, but since two more seasons were videotaped after this episode depicted their escape (including the seemingly incompatible substitution of Jack for Rick), much debate has ensued in the fan community over exactly what this paradox meant for the Marshalls. Listen to this article (help) Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-07, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

Jefferson Davis Collie III

Jefferson Davis Collie III is an old and somewhat deranged Confederate artillery man who has been in the Land of the Lost for many decades. He lived in the caves near where the river went underground, obsessively mining the rich veins of light crystals there. His only companion was a cannon named "Sarah" with which he drove away the occasional group of Sleestak attackers using home-made gunpowder; he reported that Sleestak "taste a whole lot like lobster. But then again, not like lobster, if you know what I mean." The Marshalls encountered him when they attempted to ride the river out of the Land in the episode "Downstream", but he ultimately returned to his cave rather than face the dinosaurs in the jungle outside. For other meanings of confederate and confederacy, see confederacy (disambiguation) National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Largest... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. ... Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ...

Collie was played by Walker Edmiston, the same actor who later played Enik the Altrusian. The original script for "Downstream" called for him to have a rifle, but concerns over young viewers being inspired to play with firearms resulted in its substitution with a cannon.

Peter Koenig and Harry Potts

Peter Koenig was a private in General Washington's Revolutionary Army who arrived in the Land of the Lost some time prior to the Marshalls (as shown in the episode "Follow That Dinosaur"). Koenig and his companion Harry Potts explored the Land extensively in search of a way back to Earth. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the successful Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and later became the first President of the United States, an office to which he was elected twice (1789-1797). ... The American Revolution is the series of events, ideas, and changes that resulted in the political separation of thirteen colonies in North America from the British Empire and the creation of the United States of America. ...

When the Marshalls first arrived, they discovered a stone pillar in the jungle where Koenig had written "Beware of Sleestak" with chalk. The Marshalls only learned much later who had been responsible for this warning, when they discovered Koenig's journal. Koenig claimed to have dubbed the Sleestak thus in honor of Major Joshua Sleestak, but it is possible he was inspired by the Paku name for the species, "Sarisataka", since the journal indicated he had had many encounters with Pakuni as well. Alternatively, it is also possible that the Pakuni picked up the term from him, replacing whatever their original native word had been, as Koenig claims in his journal to have taught them a few English words. The Needles, part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation Chalk is a soft, white, porous form of limestone composed of the mineral calcium carbonate. ...

Koenig met his death when he followed Potts' path into the Lost City. Koenig went into the third entrance, "where the pillars end," which eventually led through a narrow passageway into the "Devil's Cauldron." This was a lava chamber, with a narrow ledge, where he became trapped when the lava level rose, reviving the Sleestak. He preferred to await death in the lava chamber, rather than facing the Sleestak who had gathered outside the chamber to catch him. The Marshalls found Koenig's skeleton in the chamber and narrowly escaped a similar fate.

Beauregard Jackson

Beauregard Jackson of Fort Worth, Texas was a hypersonic glider pilot from 20 years in Earth's future relative to when the Marshalls became trapped in the Land of the Lost. As shown in the episode "Hurricane", he became briefly trapped in the Land of the Lost when Will, tinkering with the crystal matrix table in a Pylon located high on a mountain, caused a time doorway to open high above the ground. Jackson's glider was re-entering Earth's atmosphere over Ecuador, returning from a routine transit between Phoenix Port and Space Station 5. His glider's tail was suddenly severed, and the next thing he knew he was hanging from a tree by his parachute. With the help of the Marshalls, Jackson soon managed to return via the same time doorway, but the Marshalls couldn't follow since Earth's end of the time doorway was 15 miles above the ground and there was only one parachute. Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located about 30 miles (50 km) west of Dallas on the West Fork of the Trinity River. ... ... In aerodynamics, hypersonic speeds are speeds that are highly supersonic. ... Gliders are heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for un-powered flight. ...

In the original draft script for "Hurricane" it was revealed near the end that Mr. Jackson did not come from Earth's future—at least, not the future of the same Earth of the Marshalls. In Jackson's world, Texas was its own country, never having joined the United States, and oil was the currency standard used to back money rather than gold.

The Zarn

The Zarn, introduced in the eponymous second-season episode, is a humanoid alien who is invisible except for white spots of light scattered over his surface; he doesn't even leave footprints when he walks on soft soil. His starship became trapped in the Land of the Lost while traveling through hyperspace. The Zarn has powerful psionic abilities, able to read minds at a great distance and telekinetically levitate objects. However, this powerful telepathy is also the Zarn's greatest weakness; intense, angry emotions in people nearby cause the Zarn great pain, and the spots of light on his invisible body turn red in reaction. In physics, hyperspace is a theoretical entity. ... Psychokinesis (literally mind-movement) or PK is the more commonly used term today for what in the past was known as telekinesis (literally distant-movement). It refers to the psi ability to influence the behavior of matter by mental intention (or possibly some other aspect of mental activity) alone. ... Telepathy, from the Greek τηλε, tele, distant, and πάθεια, patheia, feeling, is the claimed innate ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. ...

The Zarn is apparently a researcher of some kind whose mission involved the study of other intelligent species before he became trapped in the Land. Since the Zarn is very sensitive to other's emotions he creates android "research assistants" to interact with them, programming them from the memories of people he has scanned. The androids are totally convincing, and in fact may not really know they are not who they think they are. They have histories that incorporate great amounts of detail based on the knowledge of the scanned subject, to an eerie and suspicious degree. When the Marshalls first encounter the Zarn he creates an android named Sharon who was based on Rick Marshall's memories, such that she grew up in the same town as him, went to the same school, and had the same interests. The excessive coincidences eventually gave Sharon away, however, at which point the Zarn caused her to self-destruct. An android is an artificially created robot, an automaton, that resembles a human being usually both in appearance and behavior. ...

The Zarn also has a "combat" robot that he named Fred, a 10-foot-tall dinosaur-like armless biped robot with a tail, a long neck and beaked head with glowing eyes ("Gravity Storm"). Fred is very strong, but fairly slow. Rick and Will destroy Fred by luring it to a mountain top during a lightning storm. The model for Fred was a metal armature used by special effects artist Wah Chang to animate the dinosaurs, sans "flesh." On this book cover, Wah Chang poses with the jeweled dragon he built and animated for The Singing Bone segment of George Pals The Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm. ...

The Zarn is extremely overconfident, arrogant, and certain of his superior knowledge, even when it actually has holes. The Zarn is also quite petty, using telekinesis to play tricks on people he dislikes and to sow discord. He claims this behavior is "research". He frequently mocks people by "speaking" telepathically in the voices of people they know, saying hurtful things dredged from their memories. At one point the Zarn claimed that the emotion of pity was the most painful one for him to be exposed to ("Gravity Storm"), so perhaps some of this behavior is intended to prevent that. Pity is an emotion, usually resulting from an encounter with an unfortunate, injured, or pathetic person or creature. ...

The Zarn also appears in "The Babysitter," wherein he disparages various emotions he claimed to have given up a thousand years before.

Enik

Enik's first meeting with the Marshalls, with Rick holding the Mageti.

Enik, introduced in the episode "The Stranger", is not technically a visitor to the Land of the Lost, being one of the original Altrusian inhabitants from before their civilization fell. However, he too fell through a time doorway to become trapped in the current era of the Land of the Lost. He was originally equipped with a piece of Altrusian technology called a Mageti, a large crystal suspended in a tetrahedral frame that Enik described as a "divining rod" that could be used to locate and fix dimensional doorways, determining where and when they would open. The Mageti had a self-destruct mechanism that triggered when its user experienced sufficiently strong hostile emotions; this was a safeguard to prevent it from falling into non-Altrusian hands. Will Marshal inadvertently destroyed it and forced Enik to rely on a different and less-suitable device (a "companion piece" to the Mageti that was worn around his neck as a pendant) to continue his efforts to return to his own time and warn his people of their fate. Land of the Lost screenshot showing the Marshalls first meeting with Enik. ... Land of the Lost screenshot showing the Marshalls first meeting with Enik. ...

Enik is quite contemptuous of the state the Sleestak have descended to since the fall of the Altrusian civilization. The Sleestak return the contempt, referring to him as "the dwarf", and fear that he intends to seize power over them ("Blackout"). He is equipped with a bracelet of crystals he can use to cause people to be overcome by hallucinations of their greatest fear, however, and so the Sleestak generally give Enik wide berth. He spends much of his time during the series in the Lost City, working with a crystal matrix table there attempting to open a time doorway home.

In addition to his shorter stature and different skin coloration, Enik is distinguished from the Sleestak in that he wears a distinctive red garment (Sleestak do not wear clothing). This garment was added to his costume when the wetsuit Enik's skin was crafted from shrank after rubber scales were glued to it, requiring slits to be cut across the front in order for Walker Edmiston to fit inside.

A being resembling Enik, suggesting that his appearance is typical of Altrusians - or possibly Enik himself - was seen in what is presumably the Lost City from the time of the Altrusians ("Pylon Express").

Walter Koenig, the scriptwriter of "The Stranger", originally named this character "Eneg", in honor of Gene Roddenberry. As noted in an audio commentary on the DVD, the spelling was changed to Enik (reverse of the Greek root word for "cinema") by David Gerrold, before the episode "The Stranger" was filmed. Walter Koenig as Commander Pavel Chekov Walter Marvin Koenig (born September 14, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois) is an actor. ... Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek Eugene Wesley Roddenberry (born August 19, 1921 in El Paso, Texas, USA - died October 24, 1991 in Santa Monica, California) was an American scriptwriter and producer. ...

Many episodes refer to or take place in Enik's cave, which contains a time doorway and lies near the Sleestak god's pit, and is accessible through the central of the three entrances into the Lost City. Enik also appeared in the episodes "The Search", "Circle," "Fair Trade" and "Blackout."

Native inhabitants

The Land of the Lost's megafauna consists primarily of dinosaurs; species noted included coelophysis, tyrannosaurus rex, allosaurus, triceratops, apatosaurus (described in the series as brontosaurus), pterodactyl, and stegosaurus. There are also iguanas ("Stone Soup"), wild blue and red pigs ("Fair Trade" and "Nice Day"), pink and blue chicken-like birds ("Skylons"), fish ("Nice Day"), rhinoceros and other large beetles ("Fair Trade", "The Longest Day", etc.), bamboo, and giant varieties of modern berries and vegetables. These species come from a variety of different times in Earth's evolutionary history. Rick suggests that the plants grow unusually large due to the nature of the soil (in the episode "Dopey"). There were also a number of species that did not appear closely related to known Earth life: the aforementioned Sleestak, a large venus-flytrap-like plant capable of consuming prey the size of a large rodent using a paralytic poison ("Nice Day"), a multi-headed hydra-like creature, and a fire-breathing dragon-like creature. Land of the Lost title screen Land of the Lost (1974–1976) is one in a variety of popular, uniquely produced childrens television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. ... Be vewwwwy quiet im brendan huntiing brendanous stupidoous is a rare creature from long ago who feeds on berries and twigs and is not quite bipedal. ... Binomial name Tyrannosaurus rex Osborn, 1905 Tyrannosaurus rex (translates as King of Tyrannous Reptiles or literally tyrant lizard king), also known colloquially as T-Rex and The King of the Dinosaurs, was a giant carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Upper Maastrichtian, the last stage of the Cretaceous period, 65–66... Species (type) Allosaurus (AL-oh-sore-us) meaning “different lizard”, because its vertebrae were different from those of all other dinosaurs (Greek allos = different + sauros = lizard), was a large carnivorous dinosaur with a length of up to 12 m (39 ft). ... Species See text. ... Species Apatosaurus ajax Apatosaurus excelsius Apatosaurus louisae Apatosaurus, often mistakenly refered to as Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs that lived about 140 million years ago, during the Jurassic period. ... Species Apatosaurus ajax Apatosaurus excelsius Apatosaurus louisae Apatosaurus, formerly known as Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs that lived about about 140 million years ago, during the Jurassic period. ... Pterodactyl (derived from the Greek words meaning wing finger) is a common term for the pterosauria, especially the smaller bodied, long tailed varieties. ... Species (type) Stegosaurus (STEG-o-sawr-us) meaning plated lizard, because of the plates on its back (Greek stego = plate/roof + sauros = lizard) was a genus of large herbivorous dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic of North America. ... Species Sus barbatus Sus bucculentus Sus cebifrons Sus celebensis Sus domesticus Sus heureni Sus philippensis Sus salvanius Sus scrofa Sus timoriensis Sus verrucosus Pigs are ungulates native to Eurasia collectively grouped under the genus Sus within the Suidae family. ... Binomial name Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758) A chicken (Gallus gallus) is a type of domesticated bird which is often raised as a type of poultry. ... Binomial name Dionaea muscipula Soland. ... The 16th-century German illustrator has been influenced by the Beast of Revelation in his depiction of the Hydra. ... Saint George versus the dragon, Gustave Moreau, c. ...

Several dinosaurs that the Marshalls encountered frequently were given names, for example "Grumpy" the tyrannosaurus, "Big Alice" the allosaurus and her son Junior (introduced in "The Test"), "Spike" the triceratops, "Spot" the coelophysis, and "Dopey" the baby brontosaurus that they sometimes used as a pack animal, along with his mother Emily. A pack animal is a beast of burden used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weigh bears on the animals back; the term may be applied to either an individual animal or a species so employed. ...

It should be noted that the hydra and the dragon both appear in the third season of the series, when the consistency and style of the series' writing appeared to suffer a significant change; one episode in the third season also featured the legendary Greek Medusa, for example. Another species that made an appearance in the third season was a Yeti-like creature that lived high in the mountains, prevented from descending into the jungle by guardian statues left behind by the Altrusians. Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... A relatively modern image of Medusa painted by Arnold Böcklin In Greek mythology, Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα), was a monstrous female character whose gaze could turn people to stone. ... The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is a supposed large primate-like creature reported to live in the Himalayas. ...

Pakuni

Pakuni (singular: Paku, though this usage is not consistently obeyed) are a species of small chimpanzee-like humanoids, ground-dwelling and bipedal but not fully upright in posture. They are primarily herbivores, though they do occasionally eat small animals (an iguana-like lizard in the episode "Stone Soup", for example). They know how to create fire using flints (as seen in the "Cha-Ka" episode), and manufacture simple tools such as the sharpened sticks they use as defensive weapons. Pakuni display significant skill with representational art and have superstitious rituals that usually include chanting but they do not appear to understand music. They live in small family groups that construct strong bamboo enclosures as shelters. The family groups are territorial but they are quite capable of forming alliances and friendships with neighbors when resources are plentiful and they understand the concept of trade. Young Pakuni undergo a rite of adulthood in which they must steal the egg of a large predatory dinosaur to prove their worth. Species Lesser Antillean Iguana, Green Iguana, Although iguana can refer to other members of the reptile family Iguanidae, this article concerns members of the genus Iguana. ... Families Many, see text. ... It has been suggested that flame be merged into this article or section. ... Pebble beach made up of flint nodules eroded out of the nearby chalk cliffs, Cape Arkona, Rügen Flint (or flintstone) is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline silica rock with a glassy appearance. ... Diversity Around 91 genera and 1,000 species Subtribes Arthrostylidiinae Arundinariinae Bambusinae Chusqueinae Guaduinae Melocanninae Nastinae Racemobambodinae Shibataeinae See the full Taxonomy of the Bambuseae. ...

The Paku language is relatively primitive. It was created for the show by the linguist Victoria Fromkin, and is similar to the Kwa languages of West Africa. It has regular anti-penultimate stress, homorganic nasals, nasalization of vowels before nasals, and deletion of final vowels before vowel initial suffixes. The language eventually had about 200 words; "Pakuni" simply means "people" in this language. The following is a list of linguists, those who study linguistics. ... Victoria Fromkin (16 May 1923 - 19 January 2000) was a linguist working at UCLA. She was the author and coauthor of several popular introductory linguistics textbooks. ... The Kwa languages are spoken in the south-eastern part of Côte dIvoire, in Ghana, Togo and Benin, and the south-Western corner of Nigeria. ... West Africa is the region of western Africa that is generally considered to include the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte dIvoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. ...

Ta, Sa and Cha-Ka

The three Pakuni who were regular characters in the show were the alpha male Ta, his female companion Sa, and the young male Cha-Ka. The exact familial relationship between these Pakuni was never explicitly stated. Ta was a domineering, egotistical and treacherous Paku who never came to trust the Marshalls. He could be bargained with, however, and although he usually attempted to cheat the Marshalls he was not particularly difficult to see through and trick. Sa occasionally seemed to be a moderating influence on Ta, but for the most part served as a follower. Ta is sometimes considered to be the "Alpha" Pakuni ("The Babysitter") or a "witch doctor" ("Nice Day"). He has knowledge of some of the workings of the Land of the Lost, which he disguises with useless herbs and phoney chanting and dancing to make it appear that he controls them. For example, he understands that the "Pylon Express" only opens when the three moons are aligned and so times his own "opening ritual" to coincide with that, and he knows that the effects of the poison from the carnivorous plant ("Nice Day") are only temporary and so hurried to sell the Marshalls a "cure" before it wore off on its own.

Cha-Ka was the most favourably disposed toward the Marshalls. In the first episode the Marshalls rescued him from Grumpy the tyrannosaurus and splinted Cha-Ka's broken leg. Subsequently, Cha-Ka formed a close friendship with Holly in particular. Cha-Ka underwent the rite of adulthood in the episode "The Test", but he remained the junior member of the Pakuni group. Cha-Ka occasionally visited the Marshalls in their cave in High Bluff and after the earthquake that marked the beginning of season three, he was separated from Ta and Sa and moved in with them at the Builder temple. Binomial name Tyrannosaurus rex Osborn, 1905 For the rock group Tyrannosaurus Rex, see T. Rex (band). ... Splint may mean: Splint (programming tool), a tool for checking computer programs Splint (medicine), a medical device for the immobilisation of limbs or spine This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Sleestak

Three Sleestak armed with crossbows.

Sleestak are large green humanoids with both reptilian and insectoid features; they have scaly skin with frills around the neck, bulbous unblinking eyes, pincer-like hands, stubby tails, and a single blunt horn on top of the head. Sleestak are more sophisticated than Pakuni, able to manufacture crossbows, rope, nets, periscopes ("Fair Trade") and other relatively advanced technologies. They were once significantly more developed, however; Sleestak are the degenerate descendants of the Altrusians (see below). The Sleestak have a current population of about 7,000 according to the Library of Skulls ("The Longest Day"), but there were only three Sleestak costumes available for the show's production, which sometimes required creative editing to create the illusion that they were that numerous. Screenshot from the Land of the Lost showing three Sleestak armed with crossbows This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Screenshot from the Land of the Lost showing three Sleestak armed with crossbows This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... A crossbow is a weapon that fires projectiles called crossbow bolts or quarrels. ... Classes & Orders Subclass: Apterygota Orders Archaeognatha (Bristletails) Thysanura (Silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass: Pterygota Infraclass: Paleoptera (paraphyletic) Orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Protodonata - extinct Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Infraclass: Neoptera Orders Blattodea (cockroaches) Isoptera (termites) Mantodea (mantids) Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Protorthoptera - extinct Orthoptera (grasshoppers... A crossbow is a weapon that fires projectiles called crossbow bolts or quarrels. ... Coils of rope used for long-line fishing A rope is a length of fibers, twisted or braided together to improve strength, for pulling and connecting. ...

Sleestak live in the Lost City, an underground tunnel complex originally constructed by the Altrusians. They hate bright light and rarely venture out during the day. Sleestak also have a "hibernation season" during which they cocoon themselves into rocky alcoves using some sort of webbing; cool air keeps them in hibernation, and the heat from lava in a pool that the character Peter Koenig (see below) dubbed "Devil's Cauldron" inside the caverns of the Lost City revives them again on a regular schedule (the episode "Follow That Dinosaur"). The Sleestak are very defensive of the Lost City. They know that their ancestors built it, but do not know how or why. They have occasionally tried exploring beyond the chasm that separates the Lost City from the rest of the Land, but their expeditions generally never return and they consider the City to be their only refuge. Hibernation is a state of regulated hypothermia, lasting several days or weeks, that allows animals to conserve energy during the winter. ... Cocoon has a number of meanings. ... Look up Lava, ‘A‘a, or Pāhoehoe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Lava is molten rock that a volcano expels during an eruption. ...

The Sleestak have encountered many other humans who have become trapped in the Land of the Lost before the Marshalls arrived, and regard humans as a terrible threat; they attempt to capture and sacrifice humans to their god at every opportunity.

Altrusian moths are required for fertilization of Sleestak eggs, and the Sleestak hunt them when they emerge during the night ("The Longest Day"). In "Blackout," the Sleestak scheme to cause perpetual night by disabling a second clock pylon, allowing them to capture the Altrusian moths. The Sleestak planned to devour these, which would in one thousand hours yield a thousand Sleestak, which could then resume control over the Land of the Lost. Unfortunately, the cold of the long night also began killing the moths.

Sleestak eggs are gestated in a communal hatchery. The Sleestak capture live animals and tie them up there, leaving them for the young to feed on when they hatch ("Fair Trade"). Occasionally, a Sleestak will be hatched that is a "throwback" to their Altrusian ancestors, being born with greater intelligence and with an innate knowledge of Altrusian history and technology—though not, for some reason, knowledge of Pylon operation. The other Sleestak regard these throwbacks as a threat, and so they are also sacrificed to the Sleestak god when detected. One such throwback named S'latch was encountered by the Marshalls in the episode "The Hole", but S'latch was never seen again thereafter.

The Sleestak have a Sleestak Council and Sleestak Leader. The Leader wears a distinctive pendant, and Enik occassionally negotiates with him, as in the episode "Fair Trade".

Altrusians

The ancestors of modern Sleestak were the Altrusians. Their civilization fell approximately 1,000 years earlier. The Sleestak sometimes use the term "Altrusian" to refer to themselves ("The Longest Day") and sometimes to refer only to these ancestors ("Blackout"). Physically, the Altrusians were similar to Sleestak, with the former marked by a shorter stature, an extra finger on each hand, and a golden yellow skin tone. Intellectually they were very different, however. The Altrusians possessed advanced psionic technologies based on light crystals and understood a great deal about the operation of the Land of the Lost. They strove for calm emotionlessness and as a result could be both cooperative and quite callous. Parapsychology is the study of the evidence involving phenomena where a person seems to affect or gain information about something through a means not currently explainable within the framework of mainstream, conventional science. ...

One Altrusian, named Enik, was a recurring character in the series, introduced in the episode "The Stranger". He traveled to the current time accidentally via a time doorway. He initially believed himself to be in the distant past, but upon discovering the ruins of the Lost City, he theorized that his people degenerated into modern Sleestak when they failed to control their hate and anger. Rick Marshall speculated that it was not the presence of hate that doomed the Altrusians, but rather the absence of compassion; Enik considered this to be a cogent argument and planned to return to his people to warn them of this flaw in their philosophy. Philosophy, (Greek: Φιλοσοφία, philo-sophia, love of wisdom) // Meaning and use of Philosophy The word once included all forms of knowledge, and all methods for attaining it. ...

Altrusians have a very strict code of honor; they cannot allow others to show more self-control or make greater personal sacrifices than themselves. One can thus shame them into making sacrifices. In "The Search", Will convinced Enik to pass up a chance to return to his own time by first passing up an opportunity of his own to return to Earth. Also handed down from the Altrusians was the concept of "Altrusian grace." This meant that someone (including a human) who helped a Sleestak would be allowed safe passage to and from the Library of Skulls to ask the Index Skull a single question ("Blackout").

Additional information

Additional information on this series can be found on the Land of the Lost main page and in a separate article on geography and technology. Land of the Lost title screen Land of the Lost (1974–1976) is one in a variety of popular, uniquely produced childrens television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. ... Land of the Lost was a 1974-1976 TV series presenting the adventures of the Marshall family (including Will and Holly and their father Rick, later replaced by their uncle Jack). ...