Once more, the new arrivals to the park were placed inside their new homes.
The Stegosaurus herd was placed in a hilly region, while the Camarasaurus were placed in a more forested area. Not all, that is: the injured individual had been sedated, and was checked on by Suzanne.
Suzanne: « The size of the injury is huge, and would had killed any other animal. However, compared to the rest of the animal, it's not too critical. We'll put antibiotics there just to make sure that this guy heals properly, then we'll do something we do with elephants; we'll use a special clay that will allow us to speed up the healing process. Then he'll be able to return to the rest of the herd. »
Meanwhile, Nigel and his crew were ready to depart to their last trip to the Jurassic.
Clarkson: With these magnificent herbivores saved from extinction, it was time to save one last resident of the Jurassic. Which is a bit of a worry.
Nigel: We've saved almost all iconic animals of the Jurassic, from sauropods, to stegosaurus, and many theropods. But there is one last carnivore I intend to save, the lion of the Jurassic itself; Allosaurus fragilis, the most abundant predator of the Morrison formation.
Xxxxxxx
Once more, the crew crossed the portal.
And as they did, they found themselves in an even worse drought than before. « Crickey, the place got worse. » James commented. « It's not that different from Africa, rivers are drying out, and as they do, the flora perishes, and the herbivores suffer. While at first carnivores would take advantage of such a bounty in carrion, eventually they suffer as well. » Wade explained.
Shortly after, a temporal camp was made, manned by some of the crew. But as it was built, Clarkson noticed something in a woody area.
« Hey look, there's an old friend there! » he noted, as he pointed at a small dinosaur. It was an Ornitholestes, with what seemed to be a lizard on its feet, which resembled a glass lizard with the same coloration of a Gila Monster. « I think it has caught a Dorsetisaurus purbeckensis, an ancestor to glass lizards. Let's see if we can get closer. » Nigel said, as he attempted to sneak upon the small critter.
He managed to get quite closed to the small theropod, and offered some meat to the animal, who grabbed it with its jaws. But as it prepared to eat it, Nigel lunged forward, tackling the animal with one hand and capturing the Dorsetisaurus with the other. The rest of the crew arrived with cages for the two small animals.
« All right, saved a small lizard, and also a playmate for our other Ornitholestes. With any luck, it might be a female, and we may get another breeding pair of animals in the park. » Nigel noted happily. « Yup. All good in the Jurassic. » Hammond commented nervously.
Clarkson: Now that we captured more small critters of the Jurassic, we set off to search for the lion of the Jurassic…gingerly.
Nigel and crew continued to drive in the Jurassic plains, until they noticed something in a nearby river bed: it was the massive carcass of a Camarasaurus. All around it, it was teeming with Allosaurus, stripping the carcass to the bone. They were accompanied by other theropods, which were smaller, being barely 7 meters long.
They had powerful hind legs, while their arms were reduced in size. Their heads were quite large in proportion to the rest of their bodies. They had a prominent horn situated on the head midline behind the bony nostrils. In addition to the large nasal horn, they possessed smaller, semicircular, bony ridges in front of each eye. The tails were about half of the animals total length; in the holotype, deep from top to bottom. They possessed small, elongated, and irregularly formed osteoderms along the midline of their bodies.
They were olive green in colour, with light brown spots and belly, dark brown spots on the body, a dark orange eye mask, yellow spots on the head, dark orange horns above the eyes and a yellow nasal horn.
They too were feasting on the dead Camarasaurus, often entering into conflict with the larger Allosaurus.
Nigel: « More iconic dinosaurs from the Jurassic. There's this giant mob of Allosaurus congregated to feed on a Camarasaurus carcass, but there is also another mob of large theropods. They're more than likely Ceratosaurus nasicornis, a medium-sized theropod. They have these deep jaws that support very long, blade-like teeth, a prominent, ridge-like horn on the midline of the snout, and a pair of horns over the eyes. The forelimbs were very short, but remained fully functional. Ceratosaurus gives its name to the Ceratosauria, a clade of theropod dinosaurs that diverged early from the evolutionary lineage leading to modern birds. The nasal horn was probably not used as a weapon, but more likely was used solely for display. According to fossil finds, they probably preferred more aquatic environments, but in this drought, they must be desperate. »
But as time passed, more theropods arrived on the scene.
And none seem interested in sharing.
As more theropods arrived, confrontations between the Allosaurus and the Ceratosaurus, alongside confrontations between members of the same species, increased and intensified.
Wade: « It's almost like…. when a whale dies of old age in the ocean. And in a matter of hours, sharks start to swarm in, feeding on the best bits before other sharks arrive. I think this explain supposed pack hunting behaviour in theropod dinosaurs, there is no pack at all…it's just these extremely territorial animals, used to live alone. But when such a large…such a large animal dies, or become easy prey for these carnivores, especially in this drought, they congregate together. And in such a competitive environment, smaller animals are killed by larger individuals, only to be fed upon and their carcasses also being points of conflict. »
Clarkson: With many individuals not allowed in the banquet, they started to turn on us.
A mob of Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus turned on the cars, curious and intrigued.
« I don't think I like this sort of attention…. » James commented. One of the Ceratosaurus then begun biting his car. « Okay….now it's biting the back of the car…. »
« Turn on the engines, let's try to scare them. » Nigel said, as he turned his car on. He was soon followed by the rest of the team, but instead of scaring the animals away, one of the Allosaurus lashed out on Clarkson car with its jaws, the latter gasping in terror.
« Oh shit! Shit! Shit! » he cursed. « Okay, reverse! Reverse quickly! » Nigel commanded, with the rest of the team doing so as quickly as possible.
Clarkson: As we fled for our lives, the dinosaurs, like any good predators, gave chase.
« Oh my giddy aunt! This is bad! » Clarkson cursed once more, as the dinosaurs started to gain ground. « Adam! This is Nigel! Activate the portal now! We have a mob of dinosaurs after us! » Nigel called Adam on the radio.
As the dinosaurs got close enough to the cars, they started to target Hammond Campagnola, who gasped in terror. « We shouldn't have turned the cars on! That was a mistake! That was a massive mistake! » Hammond cursed. As the cars attempted to dodge the jaws of the carnivores, they attempted to cause them to go left and right to diminish the speed advantage the vehicles. « Just go on a straight line, you bastards! » James cursed.
Soon, however, the group reached the cars, and as Nigel had instructed, Adam had activated the time portal, the cars driving forward at full speed, followed by the carnivore mob.
Xxxxxxx
Back in the 21st century, Bob already knew what to expect. The cars drove forward, followed by the massive mob of theropods. With enough use of trap doors, Bob was able to lure the two mobs in their temporal enclosures, whilst the cars drove to safety.
« And once again, a bloody stampede. » Bob cursed.
But with both Ceratosaurus and Allosaurus now inside of the park, it is safe to assume that all the famous dinosaurs of the Jurassic have been saved.
Xxxxxxx
Once again, the new arrivals to the park are placed in their new homes.
The Ceratosaurus nasicornis mob was put near a river, while the female Ornitholestes was put alongside the park resident.
And last but not least, the Allosaurus fragilis mob was put in another enclosure, near the Allosaurus jimmadseni one.
But as the new arrivals on the park are being placed in their new homes, Nigel has decided to check on another resident of the park.
The female Placerias had given birth to several eggs in a nest.
Nigel: « It's really weird to see these animals laying eggs. All things considered, Placerias are related to us, so you would expect them to give birth to live young. But alas, they're still reptiles, and there are some mammals today that still lay eggs. All things considered, I'm curious to know whenever or not Placerias are capable of breast feeding their young, but I think the only way to know is to wait until the eggs hatch. »
Xxxxxxx
On his next adventure, Nigel and his crew venture in the oceans of the Jurassic, to rescue some of the most magnificent sea creatures, the world has ever known.
Xxxxxxx
Prehistoric Park is not my propriety, otherwise I would have continued the series. It belongs to BBC and Impossible Pictures.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please comment so I can learn your opinion. I'm willing to accept suggestions, so stay tuned. Also remember to like and follow. See you on the next chapter.