There is something missing from our world. The amazing creatures that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back?
What if extinction didn't have to be forever?
We're going back in time on a safari with a difference as wildlife adventurer Nigel Marvin plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. His plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
This time, the team returns to Cretaceous Arizona to rescue a recently discovered ceratopsian, but faces a big surprise along the way.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary.
Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
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With animals ranging from sea scorpions to dinosaurs and mammoths, Prehistoric Park is turning out quite nicely. Animals form the past are slowly adapting to the present. Nigel, however, is always looking for new residents. Today, though, his target has a rather interesting backstory.
At his den, Nigel is once again looking at pictures of dinosaurs. This time, though, Tristan is joining him, and the teen's attention is focused on a photo of a rather odd-looking ceratopsian. Though it has prominent brow horns, it lacks a nasal horn, instead having a pronounced ridge of bone on its nose.
"Now, Tristan, you sure you want to go after this?"
"I'm sure. It's a recent discovery, and we don't have any centrosaurs at the park yet. For Bob's sake, getting something small might be a good idea."
"Small is subjective, but I see your point. Well, guess we've decided on our trget. You get the rest of your team rady, while I finalize preparations."
"Yes sir!"
As the teen runs off, Nigel can't help but laugh. "Kids - so full of energy, even as the turn to teens."
Turning his attention to the camera, Nigel lifts up the picture Tristan was holding. "This is Crittendenceratops - only described last year, this is the first dinosaur from the Fort Crittenden Formation to get described, and it is a beauty. It might be small, but that's hardly a reason to decide against saving it. As for Tristan deciding on rescuing it, well, today's a special day for him - I'm going to let him lead this mission all on his own. See, much as I love this park, I'm not going to be here forever - besides the inevitable march of time and age, I've mine own family, and I'd rather not force my dream onto them. As for Tiberius, well, he has enough responsibilities as is, and believe me, it's hard to find people who are prepared for raising dinosaurs. Now, Tristan is the appointed heir to this place, but I want to give him a shot at leading, see if he can handle it. He's handled himself well enough before, but he's had me to fall back to all of those previous times, or just been in a small group. This time, I want to see how well he does under pressure without assistance. Call this his trial by fire."
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While Nigel finishes up his preparations for the mission (one he will not be attending unless absolutely needed), Bob and Suzanne are at the Big Cat's Climb, tending to all of the various saber-toothed carnivores that now inhabit the park.
Suzanne watches as Sabrina attends to one of her eldest cub. Nearby, the other two play with their father, though they are cautious enough to avoid getting too close to their mother - she may now tolerate them, but her bond has long since been broken. The two juveniles perk up at the sight of Suzanne, who smiles and tosses them a slab of meat. Within moments, the cats tear into the flesh, while a second slab distracts their mother and her eldest cub. Soon, the cats are gorging themselves.
"It's been a while since we rescued the adults and the eldest cub, and so far, all five are doing quite well. I'm not sure if the female will be able to produce any more offspring, though - she hasn't yet shown herself to be fertile. Still, we can try to get more cubs, though I do hope Nigel eventually returns to Pleistocene South America to rescue more of their kind..."
A nearby growl turns Suzanne' attention to one of the other exhibits. There, resting under a tree, are a trio of Homotherium - the Scimitar Toothed Cat. The only variety of saber-tooths that are built for running, these carnivores would've shared the Americas with their more well known cousins. Nigel was not able to encounter any during his mission to Pleistocene South America, but his expedition to La Brea yielded better results. The growl was the response of a young male to an older female getting too close to him in an effort to find shade - it is not breeding season, and he has no interest in her companionship.
Any further conflict, though, is interrupted by Bob arriving in a flatbed truck...which has the carcass of a bison (or more specifically, a beefalo) inside. Backing the car up to a third exhibit, he and one of the park's natives carefully lower the carcass inside. A moment later, the park's North American Smilodon rush the corpse and start tearing into it.
"...Whose idea was it to feed them a beefalo?" asked Suzanne, surprised by the choice of food.
"His," replied Bob, pointed to his native assistant.
"Well, why then? Wouldn't it be easier to acquire a cow?" asked the perplexed head vet.
"Do you plan to, eventually, return these beasts to the lands they came from?" asked the islander.
"Yes, eventually. Though we need to be sure we have stable breeding populations, of course."
"Then shouldn't you feed them with creatures they would hunt in the wild?"
"...Fair enough," conceded the head vet.
Bob watched as the carnivores fed, before turning his attention toward another truck, this one also loaded with a beefalo. "Much as I'd like to watch them feed, I need to get this carcass moved - need to make sure some of the birds are fed-"
Before Bob can finish, a huge, black feathered form descends upon the carcass. In an instant, the teratorn has buried its head in the beefalo's flank, and is soon joined by more of its kind. A squabbling match ensues, whilst Bob, upon recovering from the shock, pulls out a radio and calls up the teratorn caretakers.
"Sorry, they got out when we were cleaning their pen."
Bob could only sigh. "Well, come over as soon as you can. We need to get them back inside their pen before they try to eat the smaller residents."
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In order to rescue their target, the team will need to go back to 73 million years ago, to what is now Arizona. At this time, the truly giant hadrosaurs, ceratopsians and tyrannosaurs had yet to fully conquer the American West. Hopefully, the team won't have to face anything too challenging!
As the portal opens, Tristan turns toward Michelle. "Sure you don't want to come along?"
Michelle merely nods. "Still need to earn that Dryptosaurus' trust. I might join up if I finish early."
"...Well, good luck."
With that, the team makes their way into the past. Once the are gone, Michelle sighs before grabbing the spare portal device, then makes her way to one of the park's jeeps and heads toward the Dryptosaur exhibit, a goat carcass in the rear seats.
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On the other side of the portal, the team finds themselves in a scrub desert - dry plants extend all around them, though behind them is the edge of a rather thick forest. Such an environment is hardly suitable for ceratopsians, something the team is well aware of. More importantly, though, they have already come across evidence that a creature has passed by - footprints by a tree lead North from where the portal deposited them, parallel to the treeline. Without hesitation, the teens and children advance, always on the lookout for creatures, be they predator or prey.
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Back at the park, the residents are going about their daily routines. For many, though, this means intermingling with creatures they never knew existed.
At the foot of a giant Redwood, Willow forages for food. The tiny herbivore is not alone, for nearby, more of his kind are searching for food. Though Terence is certainly a source of valuable protein, the smaller herbivore cannot get all of his food from the tyrannosaur or his exhibit, and the ornithopod has proven more then capable of escaping his exhibit to get what he wants.
Sudden movement, however, turns his attention toward a nearby tree, where a mammal unlike any he has seen is on the move. Crawling down the trunk, the creature tenses up for a moment, before pouncing. A moment later, and its target, a small mouse, goes limp. Now able to satisfy its hunger, the creature takes a brief moment to stare at the herbivores, then begins climbing.
The Didymictis is, ironically enough, closer to Willow temporally than it is to humans. The viverravid, a creature ancestral to all modern carnivorans, was one of the first mammals to evolve after the dinosaurs went extinct. It's kind arose before the creodonts began to appear, but unlike those predators, these would have a legacy.
The small carnivore knew none of this, of course, and was more interested in feeding. Yet all around it, strange creatures were on the move - above, pterosaurs of the genus Sinopterus now searched for fruit, while below, a trio of Diadectes were gorging on mushrooms sprouting from a fallen tree. In the distance, a mastodon was making its way over to browse., while a gomphothere was drinking from a pond.
In the first week after it arrived here, the tiny mammal had been terrified of all the strange creatures that it shared its new home with. Now, though, they were hardly worth noticing. Occasionally the giant birds would try to descend upon it in hunger, but wwith a lack of harpy eagles, they were completely incapable of hunting in the tree line. Ground hunters were rare and easily avoided. And the giant herbivores often provided opportunities for meals when they stomped by.
For this tiny predator, life was good.
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
