Phineas and Ferb's Dinosaur Adventure – Chapter 4: Jurassic Exploration
A/N: In this chapter, Phineas's group will continue to explore the fern prairie, where they will have a close encounter with a very interesting species reptile . . . if they don't attract the attentions of the hunting Ceratosaurus, of course. Meanwhile, the Fireside Girls are exploring the redwood forests and they'll discover a lot of the interesting plants and animals that live there. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Phineas and Ferb.
The Ceratosaurus bounded swiftly after its prey. It was was a medium-sized predator, standing eight feet tall and about 18 feet long. The dinosaur had a large skull in proportion to its body size, blade-like teeth protruding from its jaws, powerfully built forearms and a long tail. It possessed a blade-like crest on its snout, and two more above the eyes, giving it a menacing appearance. The skin on the upper half of the body was was covered in brown-colored scales and faint brown spots.
"Phineas! You said small carnivores!" Candace said.
"I said most were small, there are still quite a few big ones," Phineas explained. "Besides, he's not even looking in our direction. He's busy hunting the Dryosaurus."
"I hope they get away," Vanessa said.
The Dryosaurus ran as a fast as their legs would allow before splitting up, scattering themselves in various directions. The Ceratosaurus picked up speed and selected a juvenile Dryosaurus, one that it deemed slower than the rest. The little herbivore noticed that it was the carnivore's target and squawked loudly in fear. As the predator got closer to the smaller dinosaur, it suddenly jinxed to the right, causing the Ceratosaurus to close his jaws on nothing but air. The Ceratosaurus saw its chances at catching a meal were hopeless by this point; little Dryosaurus was too fast for the carnivore to catch. The Ceratosaurus roared in fury, watching its prey escape.
"Yes! He made it!" Vanessa exclaimed.
"I wish Mom would move that fast when I'm trying to bust the boys," Candace told herself.
"Most predators miss their prey," Baljeet said.
Phineas got out his binoculars to get a closer look at the Ceratosaurus. The animal stood out in the open for several seconds, probably catching its breath after the unsuccessful chase. "Man, after a run like that, I bet he's exhausted," Phineas said.
"Yeah, he should try picking on somebody his own size; someone who's big and slower than he is," Buford suggested.
Baljeet looked up at Buford. "Do you think you'd ever consider you're own advice?" Buford poked him in the shoulder. "Ouch!"
"Shh!" Phineas said. "We don't want to alert the Ceratosaurus."
The group watched as the Ceratosaurus growled to itself and began walking calmly back toward the forest; it never even knew it was being watched.
Phineas gasped. "Oh my goodness! I was so busy watching the hunt, that I didn't even take any pictures." Ferb held up his camera and after loading up his photo gallery, he showed the others several photos of the Dryosaurus and Ceratosaurus. "Thanks, bro."
"Let's get out of here before that Sarahsaurus comes back," Candace said.
"It is called a Ceratosaurus," Baljeet corrected. "Sarahsaurus is a medium-sized species of Jurassic sauropodomorph and–"
"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get a move on."
Isabella led the Fireside Girls, Jenny and Stacy into the forest. The forest was made up of tall coniferous trees; unlike the monkey puzzle trees in the prairie and at the edge of the forest, most of the trees in the forest were thick in diameter and covered in reddish bark, not unlike modern redwood trees. Beneath them grew ferns that were specially designed for the dark conditions beneath the forest canopy. A thick cloud of fog and dew blocked some of the sun's light from trickling down onto the forest floor, giving an almost mystical look to the forest.
"Wow! Look how high the trees are!" Milly exclaimed.
"They're almost like the sequoias I saw on my vacation to California," Jenny said.
"What were you doing in California?" Stacy asked.
"It was for a 'Release of the Doves' celebration. Think we'll find any doves here?"
"I doubt it, Jenny," Isabella said. "The Fireside Girl Field Guide To the Jurassic states that–"
"You have a handbook for exploring the Jurassic?" Stacy asked. "Man, you guys are prepared."
"It says here that no bird fossil remains have ever been found in the layer of Jurassic rocks in which the area we are exploring now represents. However, there are birds in other parts of the world, like Archaeopteryx of Germanyand Anchiornis of China."
Stacy snapped several pictures of the redwood trees. The sounds in the forest were quite different from the bellowing and moaning of dinosaurs and other reptiles; instead, they heard the sounds of the occasional droning insect and squawks and chirps from nearby animals. "I can't believe Danville used to look like this," Stacy said.
Jenny said, "This is going to be the most awesome photo journal ever." She was also taking pictures. "I just love the color of these trees."
Gretchen looked over at Ginger and noticed a new patch on her sash. "What's that patch for?" she asked.
"I think I've finally earned my 'I Just Saw a Cute Boy' patch," Ginger said.
The other girls groaned. "Not Baljeet again," Holly said as she removed Ginger's patch.
"Hey!" Ginger exclaimed.
A nearby squawking sound was heard.
"What was that?" Holly asked.
"I'm not sure," Isabella answered. "While we're here, we might as well look for a few things. Let's see if we can find evidence of dinosaur-activity–"
No sooner had the words left her mouth did a small flock of Othneilosaurus scamper toward them along a thin forest trail. The dinosaurs called to each other as they darted past the humans before disappearing in the undergrowth.
"Wow, more Othneilosaurus," Katie said.
"Hey, girls! Look at this!" Ginger exclaimed. The group walked over to where Ginger was and saw that she was standing at the base of a large redwood tree that had fallen to the ground sometime before they came. "Now we can see just how huge these trees are!"
"This thing's humongous!" Gretchen said. "You could drive a car right through one of these things."
"What could have knocked it over?" Stacy asked. "Are the dinosaurs able to knock down trees this big?"
"Let me check," Isabella said. "The Fireside Girl Field Guide To the Jurassic states that, 'Despite the fact that Jurassic redwoods can grow to 100 meters tall' – that's about 300 feet – 'their roots are shallow, only a few yards deep. Just like today, they would have been susceptible to being blown over by very, very strong winds.' Oh, and listen to this, 'Ferns and redwoods are very resilient to wildfires; redwood trees have tough bark to protect them from the flames and ferns can sprout back quickly after a fire.' So to answer your question, Stacy, no, dinosaurs can't knock down trees this big."
Ginger climbed on top of the fallen tree, followed by Adyson and Milly. "This trees so big, we could probably build a whole log cabin out of this thing!" Ginger said. "Hey! There's a hole in here."
"What kind of hole?" Isabella asked.
"It looks like one that some kind of animal would live in."
The other Fireside Girls clambered on top of the hardy redwood to observe the hole. Suddenly, a small furry anteater/armadillo and rat-like mammal about the size of chipmunk hopped out of the hole and scampered away from the girls.
"Aw-w-w-w!" the girls cooed. "It's so cute!"
Despite the fact that it was as cute as a chipmunk, it was still very different from the aforementioned rodent; for example, it lacked buckteeth, a feature characteristic to rodents.
"What is the cute little guy?" Gretchen asked.
Adyson got Isabella's field guide and began flipping through it till she saw the pages focusing on Jurassic mammals. "Looks like we've got a fruit . . . fruita . . ."
"Let me see that," said Katie. "It's pronounced Frutafosser."
"What on earth is a Fruitafosser?" asked Holly.
Adyson got the book back from Katie. "It says that Fruitafosser was recently discovered in Fruita, Colorado. It lived in the Jurassic and ate insects."
The girls looked in the Fruitafosser's direction and saw it further down the tree trunk. It began using its forearms – which bore strong claws – to break into the bark, just like a modern anteater or pangolin. Then it stuck its snout into the hole it had made and it seemed to be eating something.
Milly began to approach the little creature. "I wonder what it's eating . . ."
"No, don't get to close," Isabella cautioned. "You'll scare him. This is what binoculars are for."
After retrieving her binoculars, Isabella stared through them and got an up-close look at what Fruitafosser was eating. Around the hole the mammal had created were dozens of little insects – termites or ants – and they seemed to be panicking. Now Isabella understood; the animal was much like an anteater in behavior: they both eat ants and termites, and to access them, they use their strong claws to rip the nest apart and expose the insects before lapping them up with their tongues. "Isn't it so cute!"
Adyson took a picture with her camera. "Now it's saved for our photo journal."
"Hey, Stacy, Jenny," Isabella called, "you might want to come up here and have a look at this little guy. It's so cute!"
Silence.
Isabella and the other girls looked around the area, but Stacy and Jenny were gone.
Isabella sighed, slightly irritated. "Alright, where's Stacy and Jenny?"
Stacy and Jenny continued taking more pictures of the beautiful redwood trees.
"Wow, these are going to look good when I upload them to Instagram," Stacy said. "I bet I can put a few dinosaurs on there too." She stood in front of a redwood to take a selfie.
"People will probably think they're fakes though," Jenny said. The same peculiar squawking sound they heard earlier sounded again. What was the creature responsible for making that noise?
"Probably a dinosaur," Stacy said.
"But we don't know what type. Think it's a large meat-eater?"
Stacy shrugged. "Isabella has the book. Isabella? Isabella? Um, Jenny, I hate to say this, but I think we've lost our group."
Jenny's eyes went big as she looked around the area. Isabella and the others were nowhere to be seen. "Great, we're lost."
"Yeah, we are."
Jenny snickered. "You know what Candace would say right about now? 'Give me a break, we're not lost! I'm sure we're . . . somewhere, near the others.'"
Stacy laughed. "You sound just like her. But really, I don't think we're too far away from the others. They're probably down this path."
The two girls walked hastily down the path, hoping they were going the right way. Then they came across a small clearing and a mound at its center. They never saw this before.
"Maybe we should head back into the fern prairie," Stacy suggested.
Jenny listened; she heard a high-pitched squeaking sound. "I hear a squeaking sound," she said softly. "You hear that?"
Stacy listened and nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"Stacy! Jenny!" they suddenly heard. "Where are you guys?"
"We're over here!" Stacy exclaimed.
The Fireside Girls came into view. Isabella put her hands on her hips and said, "We really need to stay together girls."
"We didn't mean to go wondering off," Jenny said, "we sort of lost track of how far away we were from you guys. I think there's a squeaking sound coming from this mound."
They all quietly approached the mound – it was a couple of feet high and consisted of decomposing leaves and other vegetation and mud. Squeaking sounds were definitely heard from inside the nest.
"Well, it looks like there's something going on here," Adyson said. She took a picture of the mound.
"Hey, what if it's a nest?" Ginger suggested.
"Could be, Ginger," Isabella said. "It could be."
"Alligators make nests like this; they lay their eggs and pile dirt and vegetation over them. Over time, the vegetation rots and and produces heat, so that it acts like an incubator."
"When did you have time to learn all that?"
"Baljeet was telling me about it earlier."
"That figures."
"I wonder if there are little baby dinosaurs inside," Jenny said. "Not sure the mother would be happy if we uncover her brood though."
"Yeah, we'd better let it be. Speaking of which, we should probably leave the area before the mother comes back. We don't want her to think we're stealing her eggs."
Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet, Buford, Candace and Vanessa continued across the fern prairies. Over time, they noticed that the amount of ferns on the ground grew less and less. They must be getting closer to the plains.
Candace began panting heavily. "Gosh, it's getting hot out here," she said. "Why didn't anyone bring an umbrella?"
"Well, we didn't think we'd need one," Phineas responded.
Suddenly, a large shadow was cast overhead. Phineas glanced up and saw a beautiful flying reptile with large wings. It had a beak filled with needle-sharp teeth and a long tail that ended in a diamond-like shape. A low bony crest started at the back of its head and ran all the way down to the tip of the beak. The animal's body was covered in a brown fur and had a wingspan of about eight feet.
"Yikes! Pterodactyl!" Vanessa exclaimed.
"Oh, it's not after us," Phineas said.
The flying reptile squawked and continued onward, hardly noticing the human observers below.
Baljeet opened the dinosaur book and began flipping pages.
Phineas looked through the binoculars to get a better look at the animal. "We're in the Jurassic, so it's not a Cretaceous Pteranodon; we're in North America, so it's not Rhamphorynchus . . . and Rhamphorynchus doesn't have a head crest anyway–"
"It's a pterodactyl guys," Buford said. "What's with all the confusion?"
"Buford," Baljeet began, "'pterodactyl' is the informal name often given to flying reptiles; their correct name is pterosaur."
With that, Buford picked up Baljeet by the back of his shirt collar and held him up in the air, causing him to drop his book, and he rapidly bobbed him up and down to give the impression he was flapping his arms to fly. "Hey look everyone, it's Baljeetosaurus the pterosaur!"
"Buford! Put me down!"
Buford obliged and Baljeet brushed himself off.
"What's the book say, Baljeet?" Phineas asked.
Baljeet picked up the book again and found the section dealing with pterosaurs. "Well, there is only one pterosaur described in this book with the exact dimensions, head crest and locality of the pterosaur we see in the sky now: Harpactognathus, a member of the rhamphorynchid family."
The pterosaur circled above them, squawking loudly.
"Kind of a weird-looking critter, isn't he?" Vanessa said.
Candace opened her backpack and fished out her leftover hotdog from the Slushy Dawg restaurant she got earlier and began to eat it. "I thought there was only one type of pterodac . . . I mean, pterosaur."
"There are hundreds of species, Candace," Phineas said, "some are smaller than Harpactognathus, while others are huge, like Quetzalcoatlus, with its 33-foot wingspan!"
"I can imagine what that pterosaur ate. Glad we haven't seen any."
"And we won't. They live in the Cretaceous."
Suddenly, the Harpactognathus started flying in the group's direction. It squawked and fly straight at Candace!
"Ahh!" Candace said as she started running away. The others ducked and the pterosaur flew right over them – it was definitely aiming for Candace.
"That is funny, I thought Harpactognathus ate fish," Baljeet said.
The group rushed to Candace's aid, but the pterosaur was already on her. She screamed as the animal pecked at her head before snatching her hotdog and flying off with it.
"Hey, you! That's my lunch!" Candace exclaimed.
"Oh, so it wasn't after you," Phineas figured out, "it wanted your hotdog."
"Yeah, and now it stole my hotdog."
They watched the pterosaur fly high into the sky with it before disappearing over a nearby rocky ledge.
"We should probably get that back," Phineas said. "We don't want a hotdog wrapper becoming the next fossilized exhibit at the Danville Museum."
Buford, Phineas, Ferb, Vanessa, Candace and Baljeet hurried in the direction of the pterosaur. Fortunately, the pterosaur had flown in the direction they were headed. As they went around the ledge, they realized that they were finally leaving the fern prairie behind for good. They saw wide open plains before them; these were the same ones Phineas saw when he was on top of the Apatosaurus. These plains were much different from the fern prairies – while ferns were present along the ground, they were in patches here and there and scattered around the area. There were also several tall mounds made up of dirt, some of them over ten feet tall. Also scattered around the area were lots of small trees, shrubs and cycads. These plains were where many dinosaurs were roaming at present.
"Would you just look at this place!" Buford said. "No wonder Danville's not here yet, there wouldn't anywhere to build it with all these dinosaurs around."
"They'd probably get eaten before building too much anyway," Vanessa said.
Nearby, a large herd of peaceful medium-sized ornithopods were grazing on ferns. Flocks of Dryosaurus darted across the landscape like a herd of gazelle, only briefly stopping to eat. A herd of Apatosaurus was also present in this area not too far away. The mighty behemoths' bellows filled the air.
"What are those guys in the distance?" Candace asked.
Phineas squinted; to the left of the Apatosaurus herd were a trio of some more sauropods, but these were different from the Apatosaurus. Their necks stuck vertically out of their bodies, giving them a height of 40 feet; they had more compact heads and their front legs were slightly longer than their back legs. Also, they were much bigger than Apatosaurus.
"Oh! I know what those are called!" Baljeet exclaimed. "Those are Brachiosaurus."
The Brachiosaurus herd munched away at some trees. Past them lied what must have been miles and miles of more open plains, and beyond that was the forest, barely visible.
"Come on, guys, let's go," Phineas said. He ushered for the group to follow him and they all entered the plains. That's when an all too familiar squawk was heard from above. Everyone looked to the left and saw the Harpactognathus sitting on a tall rocky ledge, eating the hotdog. Unlike a bird, the pterosaur was on all four legs, it walked sort of like how a vampire bat does when on the ground.
Candace glared at the creature. "There you are . . ." she said.
Ferb walked up to the ledge and began climbing.
"Think he'll get the wrapper back?" Vanessa inquired.
"Ferb's an expert when it comes to dealing with animals," Phineas said. "Besides, I doubt that pterosaur wants the wrapper anyway."
Harpactognathus squawked one more time and leaped into the air. He spread his wings and took flight, joining other members of its species already in the air above. It left a small piece of hotdog and the wrapper, both of which were retrieved by Ferb.
"Way to go, Ferb!" Vanessa exclaimed.
With that, Ferb climbed back down.
"All he did was go up there and get it," Candace said. "He didn't really do too much."
"That time it didn't," Phineas explained. "Reptiles of that size can be quite unpredictable. A lot of modern ones far smaller than Harpactognathus can be quite aggressive when you invade their personal space."
"Was all that really necessary though?"
"Well sure," Phineas responded. "If littering is bad in the present, then it's worse in the past. Who knows what changes to the future might occur if we left the wrapper here. True, it might not have had an effect on the future – our present – but we don't want to take that risk."
"Fair enough."
Phineas turned around to look at the medium-sized ornithopods. "I wonder what those guys are."
"I was going to say Iguanodon, but they are too small," Baljeet said. "The two look similar. I bet they are related."
Baljeet found the page he was looking for in his book. "Aha! They are called Camptosaurus, and they are smaller relatives of Iguanodon."
"Cool," Phineas said. "I wonder what they're up to."
A/N: How did you all like this chapter. For this part of the story, I decided to include Jurassic animals that aren't very well known, like Harpactognathus and the furry mammal Fruitafosser. Harpactognathus was a pterosaur that was only discovered in 2003. When you think of a pterosaur, the genus Pteranodon probably is what comes to mind. But there are so many other species that aren't very well known. Fruitafosser was only discovered in 2005. It's unique because before it was similar in many ways to modern anteaters and pangolins. Like them, it used its sharp claws to rip apart insect nests. In the next chapter, expect more from Doofenshmirtz and Agent P and Irving might also make an appearance. Until the next chapter is up, please be sure to follow, favorite and review on my story and I'll see you next week. R&r!