I'm back!

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The group slowly approached the Chaolicothere. Though it was a plant eater, it could still be a danger.

"Why are we walking toward the Moropus?", asked Mitchelle. "I mean, it's a plant eater, right?"

"Yes," remarked Alice," and anyone who says plant eaters are friendly is an idiot. Plant eaters will fight back if hurt, don't you know? For that matter, hippos are the most dangerous animals in Africa and they only eat plants."

"... Point taken."

"Will you guys please quiet down?" Asked Marcus. "I want to enjoy watching the animals. I can see more types of mammals now and you two are ruining the moment."

He's right. Now there is a great menagerie of animals in front of the group. Browsing side by side with the Chaolicotheres are strange giraffe-like creatures. Grazing nearby were more oreodonts, along with what appeared to be small horses and hippos, albeit some of the hippos had horns. They could also see peccaries nearby, along with mouse deer and what appeared to be antelope. Strangely, they could also see what appeared to be llamas, gazelles and giraffes.

Nearby, there was a lake. Surrounding it were a group of musk deer, as well as various throaty carnivores, among them dogs, bears, weasels, giant wolverines, strange bear-dog things,and something that looked like a cross between a beaver and a gopher.

Finally, at the edge of the forest, there was a pack of large carnivores. They were busy feeding off one of the hippos and fighting each other over the scraps.

"What a sight we have here. There's chaolicotheres, horses, bears, rhinosand the giant wolverine Megalictis, and that's only a fraction of the animals we're seeing," remarked Nigel.

"Rhinos?" Asked Vera.

"The hippo things are rhino called Menoceras and Diceratherium," answered Michelle. "Only the males have horns, and the horns are side by side on there heads."

"Okay, but what are the things eating the dead rhino?"

"Hyaenodon," answered Violet.

"Oh."

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While the group observed them, the hyaenodonts continued devouring the dead rhino. They had been lucky to find the carcass in the first place. Prey was plentiful, but they had trouble catching it.

Unknown to the humans, these were among the last of the hyaenodonts in Morth America. They were losing the evolutionary race. The animals they had once hunted were now growing to big, too fast and too well defended to attack. The hyaenodonts would not disappear without a fight, oh no, but where there had once been thousands belonging to over a dozen species, now there were only a couple hundred divided among three species. The future would belong to the true carnivores that already surrounded the hyaenodonts at the watering hole: the dogs, the cats, the Bears, the weasels, and the bear dogs, though the bear dogs would eventually die out.

Unknown to the other parties, the seven Hyaenodon at the carcass were not alone. Over a dozen more were approaching from inside the forest, for the smell of blood had gone far in these plains. Ever since the rhino had died four days again from internal bleeding, the predators had been attracted to it.

And unknown to anyone, be they the great predators at the carcass, the animals at the lake, the feeding herbivores, or the humans watching them, one more group of animals were watching. The saw the rhino corpse.

And they would fight any animal they saw to take it for themselves.

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Back at the park, some of the animals were acting in interesting ways.

In the Therizinosaur exhibits, the American scythe lizards were exploring new sources of food. Bob is watching and taking notes.

Slowly, one of the giant scythe lizards walked toward the river that ran through its exhibit. Then, it jumped inside. Bob was worried at first, until the animal broke through the surface and started swimming like a master. Occasionally, it's head would did down below the surface, only to come back up with a mouth full of plants.

"That's new, but not unexpected. You see, giant grounds sloths were built just like these animals and they were feet swimmers. I guess they share the swimming trait too."

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Meanwhile, in the marine exhibits, one predator was searching for a resting spot. It looked like Lonch, but bigger.

This was Hybod, a Hybodus. Nigel had rescued the beast while in the Jurassic seas durin Sea Monsters, along with a few other males and females. Right now, most were resting in the corrals to avoid predators, as they were always cautious of predators, even if the predators weren't around.

Unknown to the shark, he and the other sharks were some of the most liked exhibits in the park, if for no other reason than because they were easy to care for. Sharks may have changed genetics over millions of years, but their appearance and behavior hadn't, so anything that worked for modern sharks worked for them.

But Hybod was oblivious to that fact.

...Not that he cared, though.

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Nearby the front gates, one resident was far from home.

On a prairie by the holding pens stood the park's sole Elasmotherium. He had secretly left his exhibit when on of the keepers forgot to properly lock the gates on his paddock. Now, he was grazing here.

While he enjoyed the plant, he couldn't help but feel discomfort at the temperature. His warm fur meant that he was at high risk of overheat in the warmer parts of the park, but the smell of fresh grass had been too attractive for him to ignore.

Right now, though, he didn't really have anything else to discomfort him. I mean, it's not like a giant herd of animals were about to pass by right now, right?

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Back in Miocene America, the group was working on a plan to rescue the animals. They had already set up the portal. Nearby, the rest of the hyaenodonts had appeared and were fighting the others over the carcass.

"So, what next?" Asked Michelle.

"Well-" began Marcus.

At that moment, several huge creatures burst through the trees. They had giant humps and were the size of bison. Additionally, they had a coarse layer of fur covering them.

The most obvious trait on them, tough, was the four large tusks in their mouths.

"Oh dear," remarked Nigel,"those are entelodonts."

"Let me guess: they eat meat?" Remarked Lucas.

"They eat whatever they want!" Remarked Tai.

Tai is not the only one the hogs from hell have made nervous. All of the herbivores are ready to bolt now.

Nigel, however, sees an opportunity. Taking some rope, he starts running toward the rhino carcass.

"IS HE INSANE?" Asks Vera.

"He's done this a dozen times already," remarks Tristan, "so not really."

Still, Nigel is about to run head first into a battle of the uglies. Let's hope his luck still holds.

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AN: Well, that's not looking good.

Yes, America really did have rhinos in it. What are the odds?

Before you ask, the entelodonts are Daeodon shoshonensis, as it was the only one contemporary to the animals hyeanodon are an indeterminate species that survived into the very early Miocene (most were extinct by this point).

Read and review. Poll will be up soon.

This is Flameal15k, signing off.