Drew, Alice and Leon hiked through the dried-out scrub, following the trail of the giant mammal. For three hours, there was no sight of the Paraceratherium but its tracks, or any sign of water plants, or anything other than a vast, desolate expanse of desert; however, after three hours, they got a good look at the Paraceratherium feeding on the last leaves of an almost-dead oak. After a few minutes, however, it had eaten the last of anything edible on the tree, before it moved on. They continued following it, until, several hours later, they came over a hill and saw a small stand of trees, surrounded a large pond. Compared to the desolate landscape that surrounded it, this was positively an oasis; a patch of dark green in the drabness of the desert.

Approaching the oasis, the team began walking through the small stand of trees. The trees, consisting of a mix of oaks and evergreens, were widely spaced, with herbs, large shrubs and bushes growing in their shade. After a few minutes, they entered a clearing to see a small group of animals browsing. They were large, with the biggest being about eight feet tall, and rather odd-looking; like a cross between a gorilla and a panda, with a horse's head. Their forelimbs were much longer than their hindlimbs, giving them a top-heavy look. They had soft brown fur on their bodies, grading to white on the head and belly. On the head, they had dark eye patches, like a panda; this gave them a deceivingly gentle look, which disguised an extremely powerful animal. At the end of their long, muscular forelimbs, closer inspection revealed long, curved claws; that looked like it could disembowel something. They were sitting on their haunches, using their long, hooked claws to pull down branches to feed off leaves, like a panda.

Leon knew what they were immediately, "Chalicotherium. Part of a rather odd group of animals called the chalicotheres; they walked like gorillas, ate like pandas, but are actually more closely related to rhinos and horses. They were browsers; that's what the claws are used for." Drew smiled, "And we've got the perfect opportunity to bring them back to the park..."

Suddenly, the bushes began to rustle and the herd became restless, honking in alarm. The adults rose up on their back legs, swiping their claws in an effort to intimidate the unseen creature. The bushes briefly stopped rustling, before a large shape burst out of the bushes, moving so fast it was practically a blur. The only thing the team could see of it was that it was a large, vaguely dog-like creature. Suddenly, more predators burst out from different angles. The herd turned and fled the clearing, moving surprisingly fast, despite their ungainly appearances.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity this afforded, Drew turned to Alice and Leon and yelled, "Now!" Hurriedly, Alice and Leon set up the portal in the direction to which the herd was stampeding. Not changing their trajectory, the Chalicotherium herd stampeded through the portal, into the present. Alice turned to Drew and said, "That was easy." Suddenly, a loud honk of alarm and a loud whoop, like that of a hyena, alerted them to the clearing.

As they entered, they saw that one elderly Chalicotherium had been left behind. The Chalicotherium reared up on its back legs and swiped at the four predators in front of him, who snarled in reply. The team could now get a closer look at the predators. At first glance, they looked like wolves, but were much bigger; the largest was the size of a Bengal tiger. Their fur was short and sandy brown in colouration, with tan stripes along their backs and tan fur on their bellies. They moved closer and closer, moving the Chalicotherium closer and closer to the bushes, when, suddenly, a fifth predator jumped from the bushes and landed on the Chalicotherium's back, sending it sprawling. Four sets of vice-like jaws clamped the Chalicotherium; one on an arm, one on a leg, and two on the flanks. The fifth, meanwhile, had clamped its jaws around the Chalicotherium's throat. Within seconds, its life was over.

As the predators began ripping into the carcass, yipping and whooping in pleasure, Alice turned to Leon and asked, "What are those things? They look a bit like wolves..." Leon shook his head and said, "They're Hyaenodons. Despite the name, it's not a relative of hyenas; it's part of a group of mammals called the creodonts. They were the first mammalian top predators and were immensely successful before they went extinct in the Oligocene."

Suddenly, one hyaenodon sniffed the air and whooped an alarm; the entire pack stopped ripping into the carcass and began snarling at the bushes. The bushes rustled as a new creature entered the clearing. Drew, Alice and Leon looked intently; was this another Hyaenodon? A rival pack who wanted the carcass? Or was it something else entirely?

Meanwhile, back at the park, Jack and Collete were in the park's Discovery Centre; both were on break and had decided to spend some time together. Collete was sitting on a chair, whilst she watched Jack handle one of the Dinilysia. This Dinilysia, a female, had been named Kaa, after the snake from The Jungle Book, and had formed a particular bond with Jack. Jack was now standing with the snake draped over his shoulder, her head supported by his arm.

Whilst Jack was doing this, he was talking to Collete, "It's weird, isn't it? After the Basilosaurus mission, it's like Drew's back to his old self again." Collete shrugged, "Well, being trapped in the Cretaceous affected him pretty badly. Maybe going on a mission again helped him get through it." Jack sighed, "Yeah. It's weird though he never talked about it with us; it's not good to keep it all bottled up. Maybe that was all part of his coping process, but still..." Eventually, he put the snake back, before turning to Collete, "My next shift's on Mesozoic Tropics; I want to check on how that new Deinosuchus has incorporated into the float." Collete shrugged, "I'll come with you; we need to spend some time together."

As they walked out, they noted Nikolai standing alone, as if musing on something. Confused, Jack asked, "What are you doing?" Nikolai, looking rather miffed, turned to Jack and said, quietly and calmly, "I was thinking." Jack looked at the floor awkwardly, whilst Collete facepalmed. Suddenly, Will Darrow's voice screamed into their walkie-talkies, "We have a situation at Theropod Kingdom! Whoever's closest please come to Theropod Kingdom, NOW!" They all looked at each other; this was something serious.

A few minutes later, Jack, Collete and Nikolai, with tranq rifles and hosepipes at the ready, had arrived at the Tyrannosaurus paddock to see Will Darrow standing by the viewing area. Jack turned to Will and asked, "What's going on?", to which Will pointed into the paddock and said, "That." They turned to see Sharptooth and Zira roaring at each other, whilst Claudandus, Terry, Gigas and Sue spectated.

Jack, Collete and Nikolai each grabbed a hosepipe and began spraying it at the warring carnivores. However, it was to no avail; it looked like this was going to end in a fight. Jack turned to Collete, and whispered "What's gotten into him?! He's been keeping to himself for six months; why go beserk now?" Nikolai stared observantly at the warring theropods, "I think something's wrong with him. If you'll notice, he's lifting the foot which he limps on frequently. I say we tranqullise him and let Linda look at him." Jack and Collete quietly lifted their tranq rifles in response to this.

Three tranqulliser darts sailed through the air and hit the giant tyrannosaur on the flank. After a few minutes, Sharptooth's movements became slower and more laboured, before, finally, falling unconcious to the ground. Jack lifted his walkie-talkie and said, "Linda; we think something's wrong with Sharptooth. We're getting him transported and sending him to you now."

Sep 5Meanwhile, back in Oligocene Mongolia, the rustling of the bushes became louder and the Hyaenodon's snarling and whooping became more pronounced. The team were a little confused; what could scare the apex predators of this area so badly? After a few minutes, a they got their answer, when a strange creature shambled into the clearing. It was about the size of a water buffalo, dwarfing the Hyaenodons, and with terrible power and weight in its deep, humped body. It was a fairly bizzarre creature, resembling a cross between a hippopotamus, an alligator and a warthog.

Drew, Alice and Leon were not ones to hold prejudice against any animal, but it was plain fact that this new creature was not well served by its appearance. It was ugly beyond redemption. Its skin was a tannish brown and itwas covered in bristly hair, like a wild boar or a warthog. The thing had the gait of a hyena, with hunched shoulders, long forelimbs and shorter hind quarters, yet it had cloven hooves on its feet. Its head was a freak-show photo-fit of pinched, squinting eyes, flaring nostrils bristled cheeks and a giant, long-shouted mouth full of spittle and ugly, discoloured teeth the size of tent pegs. It emitted a bovine grunt at the hyaenodons.

Leon knew what they were immediately, "Entelodon. Part of a rather odd group of animals called the entelodonts; they looked like pigs, but actually were more closely related to hippos. They were omnivores; they could eat everything from plants to meat." Drew smiled, "And it looks like that one wants the Hyaenodon's kill..." Suddenly, several more entelodonts emerged from the bushes and roared at the Hyaenodons who whooped, snarled and yipped in response.

It looked like there was going to be a fight...