The first glimpse of the Round Table Council in Waterfall City is depicted in James Gurney's second book: the World Beneath. In the text and illustrations, both in this part of the storyline and others there is a clear esteem of age and experience. This fact may be a glimpse into the author's partiality towards a utopian meritocracy. One point to be considered is that most dinosaurs in Dinotopia live much longer than the average human thereby making dinosaurs the favored council members simply because of longevity. Whereas a strict utopian democracy would elect representatives based on the popularity of their policies, the utopian meritocracy would seem to be more present.