Let's see what the catch of the day is.
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Tristan continues reeling in his catch. Whatever it is, it's obviously very strong.
"What do you think he's caught?" asks Vera.
"I don't know. It could be a fish, but the only ones around at this time were jawless fish. Maybe it's a eurypterid?"
Before they can debate further, Tristan finally pulls in his catch, revealing a strange sight: at the end of the line is a lobster-like arthropod, colored a mix of red, blue and green... and a fish of similar size, with a blue and silver striped pattern on its scales.
Also, the fish has teeth.
"Looks like I caught two for the price of one."
Tristan begins to examine his catch, failing to notice Alice and Vera gawking right behind him.
"He caught a fish. With jaws. How did he o that?" whispers Vera.
"I don't know. I didn't think they'd evolved yet." answers Alice in an equally hushed tone.
"Of course they'd evolved by now, it's the Silurian," remarks Tristan, still examining his catch. "And you guys need to try harder with whispering, there's very little background noise to hide your voices on this beach."
Alice and Vera stare at him, faces red, embarrassed at their failure to hold a covert discussion.
"Anyways, this little fish is some kind of Acanthodian. These guys are the first jawed fishes, making them our ancestors. They've been around since the beginning of the Silurian, and were at the tail end of it, so they should be all over the world now. I think that one of them is currently ruling the Chinese seas."
"As for my other catch, it's a Eurypterus. This guy is the state fossil of New York, as well as one of the most common eurypterids found here. This guy is normally a surface sifter, but he might have been attracted to the bait. Afterall, he doesn't seem to be trying to eat the fish."
His examination finished, he places the fish and eurypterid into a pair of tanks provided by Nigel, who's still busy with his other plan. The aquatic creatures soon regain their strength in the water, and initially try to escape, before calming down.
"So," remarks Alice, examining the eurypterid, "this is what we came here to rescue?"
"Well, this guy and some others. There's at least seven types of eurypterids here, this guy is just one of the more common ones. New York is one of the eurypterids hotspots of the world, and these guys absolutely dominate here. You'll see ones no bigger than a crab dinner living with ones the size of crocodiles."
Upon hearing the last part of that statement, Alice and Vera go pail: neither liked meeting Ben the Arthropleura and they really don't want to meet another arthropod as big as he is.
"So, are you going to go fishing again?"
"Yeah, but not here: we'll only catch small fry like these guys. If we want to catch the bigger specimens, we'll need bigger bait. SO let's get moving!"
While Tristan goes off to find a bigger bait item, Alice and Vera exchange a nervous glance.
"I can't believe we decided to be a part of this," remarks Alice.
"Me neither. Well, come on, then: we need to help Tristan find some bait."
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While the younger recruits look for larger bait, Nigel's checking his traps.
Nigel is connecting a hook to one of the traps. They're so large that they need to be carried back to the surface by winch. Once he's secured the trap, he returns to the surface and signals for the crew to raise the trap.
As soon as it breaks the surface, Nigel examines his catch. Among them are some jawless fish, a few trilobites...
And five eurypterids the size of crocodiles.
"YES! These are what I came here for: Pentecopterus, the earliest known eurypterid, and also one of the biggest. These arthropods are the apex predators of the region, and they are SPECTACULAR!"
Nigel quickly moves the various animals he's caught into separate holding tanks, before returning to the water to begin raising another trap.
It looks like the younger team isn't the only lucky ones today.
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Meanwhile, back at the park, Tai is dealing with some rather playful cats.
Tai is at the Smilodon exhibit. He's playing with the cubs while the adults are gorging on a goat carcass.
Nearby, Violet and Marcus are watching them play, amused expressions on their faces.
"So, you really aren't surprised by this, are you?"
"No, not really. Tai's always one to have fun."
"That he is."
Then, Marcus starts laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Well," begins Marcus, "we're on an island being used as a preserve for extinct species, ones that used to rule the Earth, and yet here they are, acting like animals at the zoo."
"You were expecting something different?"
"Well, yeah. I guess I was. I mean, I knew they'd act like animals, I just didn't expect that they'd be so similar to the ones that live with us today."
"Well, I guess some things never change, do they."
"Yeah, some things never change."
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Back in Prehistoric New York, Tristan, Alice, and Vera are combing the beach, looking for good bait.
"So, what should we use?" asks Vera.
"Something big. Dead fish will only attract animals about the size of dogs, maybe ones as big as lace monitors at the largest. If we want to catch something big, we'll need big bait...Like this!" remarks Tristan.
The target of his attention is a giant trilobite, almost as big as a sheep.
"This?"
"Didn't you guys watch Sea Monsters? Nigel's used these before to get giant orthocones, so maybe we can too."
"Fine," remarks Alice, whose already begun lifting up the eurypterid. "Let's get the raft started up, then."
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AN: Read and review. This is Flameal15k, signing off.
