Chapter 3
The Dilophosaurus gives off a low toned hissing sound, showing that it was not going to give up it's kill so easily. It charges the Monolophosaurus, forcing it back a few feet before rearing it's head up just in time to avoid a quick bite to the face. The Monolophosaurus makes it's next move, lashing out with a swipe from it's three clawed hands, which the Dilophosaurus also avoided.
These two theropod species have been natural enemies on the island for years, competing for the same prey in a never ending rivalry.
Unknown to the Dilophosaur, it's rival was not alone.
This individual male was actually one of two brothers who were both after the carcass. The current one was fighting the Dilophosaurus to keep it distracted, making a series of mock charges to throw off it's attack pattern.
As this happens, the other one silently moves in towards the Plateosaurus carcass and begins to eat. While Monolophosaurus is mainly solitary, these brothers work as a coalition. And together, they were capable of stealing kills from Dilophosaurs more easily.
But right when their strategy was succeeding, another Dilophosaurus showed up on the scene. This one was a male, and it was here for the carcass as well.
The Monolophosaurus failed to act in time as the male Dilophosaurus delivered a vicious warning bite to it's neck, forcing it away from the carcass. The shock from the attack left it disoriented as it cried out, shaking it's head from side to side due to the pain inflicted by the bite.
Suddenly, the female Dilophosaurus came charging in, alerted by the noise and aiming for the male that was now eating her hard earned meal, ignoring the Monolophosaurs entirely.
As the two Dilophosaurs begin to fight, the wounded Monolophosaurus takes the opportunity to slip away unnoticed alongside it's brother. Although they lost a potential free meal, there was always next time.
In the meantime, the pack of Coelophysis were in the middle of feeding on the Iguanodon, which had died from blood loss via the wounds inflicted during it's confrontation with the Therizinosaurus. With so many hungry mouths to feed, the Coelophysis would sometimes scramble to get at the best parts of the carcass. In groups like this, intraspecific competition among one another was quite common.
Other scavengers were also looking for easy pickings at this time.
Overhead, flocks of pterosaurs were circling from above, waiting for the opportunity to join the feast. Although their diet consisted primarily of fish, these flying reptiles were more than willing to feed on dinosaur carrion whenever fish were unavailable.
Down on the ground, packs of Compsognathus, the *Elegant Jaw*, gathered alongside the Coelophysis to feed off their scraps. Compsognathus, often called the Compy, was fairly small for a theropod. At 3 feet long, they were even smaller than Coelophysis. As such, they mainly fed on insects and lizards. But like the pterosaurs, they too had no problem with occasional scavenging.
In a way, Coelophysis were pretty much the hyenas of the island, the Compys were the jackals while the pterosaurs stood in as the vultures.
Normally, Coelophysis would chase Compys away from a carcass when agitated by their persistence, but only rarely do they share meals with them as of right now.
In time, they were then joined by some hungry Dimorphodon and Rhamphorhynchus, the *Two Tooth Form* and *Beak Snout* respectively. These small pterosaurs used their teeth to tear off bits of flesh at a time, swallowing them after each bite.
But unfortunately, things were about to change for these scavengers.
Large carcasses like the dead Iguanodon tend to attract more bigger animals.
And here in the savanna, there is no exception.
A pair of Afrovenator, the *African Hunter*. A member of the Megalosaur family, Afrovenator was a mid-sized hunter, reaching 26 feet long in length. Sporting killer jaws with razor sharp teeth and large arms with three fingered claws, they were very dangerous predators. Though they were active in the Northern savanna, they were not as commonly seen here as either Dilophosaurus or Monolophosaurus due to their territories and hunting grounds not overlapping as much. In fact, they are one of the island's many elusive theropods in the North region. Regardless, they were the largest savanna based theropods, though sightings of them living around jungles and near the plains were also frequent.
One of them gives off an aggressive roar, effectively scaring the smaller scavengers away before moving in to claim their prize.
Being bigger than it's two contemporaries meant that Afrovenator was directly focused with preying on bigger herbivores, thus keeping it out of direct competition most of the time by occupying a certain niche in it's habitat.
The orphaned Parasaurolophus was wandering alone through the plains, stopping occasionally to graze on some still edible grass for sustenance. Following the separation from the herd and the death of his mother, he was now completely vulnerable to dangers from all around. Other than running away to safety, young hadrosaurs without parents have no means of fending off predators on their own.
And one such predator was currently waiting to strike.
Acrocanthosaurus, the *High Spined Lizard*, a 38 foot long carnosaur. Named after the row of high neural spines on it's vertebrae, Acrocanthosaurus was one of the island's largest and most fierce carnivores. Among it's preferred types of prey, Parasaurolophus is also on the menu.
The theropod silently waited as the herbivore wandered more and more closer.
Then, the attack was on. The Acrocanthosaurus lunged towards the youngster, forcing him to run. He called out in alarm and panic as the hungry predator pursued him. The chase itself was conducted purely out of desperation by the starving theropod, with the herbivore running as fast as it could to avoid it's gaping jaws.
But fortunately, success was ultimately on the herbivore's side as he eventually managed to outrun the predator. Having used too much energy in the hunt, the Acrocanthosaurus abandons the chase. It roars in frustration as it heads off in search of more prey.
Although the young hadrosaur was able to avoid predation, the time will come where plenty of other predators would hunt him down soon enough. But for now, he would continue the rest of his way unharmed.
Elsewhere, the Deltadromeus pack were still on the lookout for a meal. Having not eaten in the last few hours, they were becoming increasingly hungry. And with the heat overtaking the landscape, chances of conducting a successful hunt would be more difficult.
Pretty soon, they found themselves coming across a partially dried water hole, an area where herbivores often gather to drink. But the only herbivore the pack had spotted was what appeared to be a juvenile Camarasaurus that had collapsed near the edge of the water hole, having died from natural causes. Out of all the island's herbivores, sauropods were ultimately the most susceptible to starvation and thirst in such harsh conditions.
Without any hesitation, the pack approached the carcass and started to tear into it with their teeth and claws. Even though their earlier hunts had failed miserably, at least now they were entitled to a decent meal. With the herbivore already dead, they had no need to worry about attacking it.
In fact, carrion often seemingly constitutes a large portion of a carnivore's diet. Based on comparison, both prehistoric and modern land predators are known to willingly seek out carrion when live prey becomes unavailable on a regular basis, whether if they scavenge off stolen kills or freshly dead animals.
Once the Deltadromeus had eaten their fill, they would not have to eat again until the time came.
Meanwhile, the ceratopsian herd has begun a migration away from the grasslands. With no more food left in the area, they had to move on to find new vegetation.
The juvenile male Triceratops who survived the Deltadromeus attack from earlier was doing his best to keep up. His neck and leg wounds would heal overtime, but as long as he remained with his mother and the herd, he would survive long enough to reach adulthood.
Along the way, they would be accompanied en route by another herd of ceratopsians called Centrosaurus, the 20 foot long *Pointed Lizard*. Similar to the closely related Styracosaurus, Centrosaurus sported a long blade like horn on it's snout. In addition, it also had a pair of smaller horns above it's eyes and two hooked down hornlets on it's head frill. They too were making the same journey from another part of the grasslands themselves to seek out new food sources.
But wherever herbivores go, carnivores will follow.
Stalking the herd was Daspletosaurus, the *Frightful Lizard*. A close cousin of the larger Tyrannosaurus, Daspletosaurus is a deadly killer, notably one who is particularly specialized in hunting tough prey. This male specimen was a veteran ceratopsian killer, having hunted several of them before. He bared scars from previous attacks, with two on his left leg and one across his lower jaw.
He quietly followed with anticipation. His keen sense of smell enabled him to single out a weak member in the herd. As he watched closely, he caught glimpse of his potential target.
An old and sick female Pachyrhinosaurus was struggling to stay with the herd due to lagging behind. In her eagerness to keep moving, she failed to realize the danger.
Seizing the opportunity, the Daspletosaurus closes in for an ambush. He picked up his pace and headed straight for his victim, sinking his powerful jaws into the herbivore's hind leg. He yanked his prey to the ground before moving in to bite the throat, suffocating the struggling ceratopsian.
The herd could do nothing to save their fellow member. Instead, they chose to keep moving.
With his hunt successful, the Daspletosaurus started to feast on his kill. However, with the ceratopsians moving beyond his range, he would be forced to seek out other types of prey.
Chapter 3 is here at last.
I really struggled with working on this one, so most of this stuff will look uninteresting. I'm trying the best I can to explain about how the dinosaurs try to get through this difficult time.
Hopefully I'll be able to do better in Chapter 4.
In addition, I'll be writing another Jurassic Park story on the side while still working on this one.
Later everybody.