After having drove the various animals to their new enclosure, Clarkson, James, and Hammond could now have a good look at the new enclosure.

The Arganodus dorotheae, a male, and the Ceratodus tunuensis were placed on a large tank of water, with a large log at the bottom and several aquatic plants all around. They were now in the park's aquarium, where all species of fishes will be placed from now on.

The two Anaschisma browni were placed on a larger enclosure, with moist ground, large plants, a huge log they could climb and plenty of water where to swim. They were placed on the park's herpetarium, where all amphibians will be placed.

The Vancleavea campi group had a large enclosure with several islands, large logs, and rocks at the bottom and plenty of water. The Fraserosphenodon latidens female lived on a large enclosure with several trees it could climb, alongside plenty of plants to eat. The two phytosaurs were placed together in a large lake surrounded by a large sandbank. The Ancistronychus paradoxus and the Skybalonyx skapter were placed on a large vivarium with ferns, a large tree and plenty of ground where to dig. All these reptiles were placed on the reptile house of the park.

The Eucycloscala subbisertus were placed on a small tank, still huge by their standards, with gravel at the bottom and some aquatic plants in the middle. They were placed on the bug house of the park, which will host all invertebrates of the park.

The Desmatosuchus, Calyptosuchus wellesi and Stagonolepis robertsoni herds were placed on a large fern-field, with several large horsetails growing all around them, with a sand section where they could sunbathe. There was also a swamp where they could swim. They were in the newly built aetosaur fern-field.

The Poposaurus gracilis were now on a floodplain with spots of vegetation being interrupted by several river flows. This was the Poposaurus river, their new home.

As the group admired the enclosure, the Top Gear trio felt a little bit nervous about the phytosaurs. « Okay….so you had to deal with these? » Hammond asked nervously. « Yup. The river kings of the Triassic, the phytosaurs. » Nigel explained. « How did you even manage to capture them? » Clarkson asked confused. « They followed us through the portal when they were chasing some Vancleavea. Luring them to the temporal enclosure was a pain, with them being this big. » Wade explained.

« Yes, I can see that. They are not crocs! They are dinosaurs! » James explained. « They are neither. They are a completely different animal. » Nigel explained.

Clarkson: Now that the animals were in their new homes, it was time to plan our next expedition to Arizona. And with our previous experiences, we decided to make some changes to our planning.

« The main problem we faced was the fact that one, we were completely defenceless against the local fauna, and two, your cars had trouble moving around the marshes. » Nigel explained. « It was virtually impossible to drive in many situations. Too muddy, too much water, we would have sunk had it not been for some patches of dry land. » Clarkson explained.

« Which means that there are two changes of plan. First, we need weapons. » Nigel explained, as he pulled out some shotguns. « It is best if we use them as a last resort weapon, and even then, I would prefer if we shot in the air. The noise should be able to scare most animals away. Then, we will calibrate the time portal to bring us a few months in the drought, when the ground is going to be drier, this way the cars will have far more freedom of movement. » Nigel continued.

« Sounds like a plan. » Clarkson responded.

Xxxxxxx

As Nigel, Wade, Clarkson, James, and Hammond crossed the time portal, they found themselves in a world different from their previous expedition. By this point, only the vegetation around the river remained lush.

Clarkson: Just as Nigel predicted, the environment was far drier, and we could display our speed. But in our quest to save the Placerias, we still need to be dangerously close to the water. And as we arrived in the middle of the dry season, many carnivores are going to be hungry, T-rex sized phytosaurs as well.

« Not going to lie, seeing those phytosaurs back at the park was terrifying! » Hammond commented. « We need to stay away from the water, but the problem is that Placerias will be very likely near said water. » Wade added. « If we keep the right distance, we should be able to see where the Placerias are and plan something out. » Nigel explained.

After a while, Nigel motioned the group to stop, as he saw something on the ground near the river. There were several tracks, and the terrain was all dug up, very likely from the Placerias. « This looks like a good place where to wait for the Placerias. These animals, they were just like hippos, they needed the water probably just as much, if not because of soft skin because the temperatures might be unbearable for these animals. So, what we'll do is we'll wait for the herd to arrive and cool off, and then we'll follow it and make a plan of some sort. »

« So, we are playing the waiting game, huh? » Clarkson asked.

James: Knowing that the Placerias would keep us waiting for a while, we decided to spend the time aiding good old Jeremy Wade by capturing some fishes, or anything in the water really.

« There you go, gentlemen. » Wade said, as he handed three fishing rods to his colleagues. « Welcome to Prehistoric Park. » Clarkson joked.

As the group exited their cars and waited for the herd, Nigel noticed something near the river bank. It was a tiny hole, no more than 3 centimetres wide.

Nigel: « I've seen animals using similar structures before, this is very likely a burrow, most likely from none other than Kataigidodon venetus. These animals were likely nocturnal, sleeping through most of the day. If I place a small trap in front of it, I should be able to capture it. »

With that said, he placed a small trap on the front of the entrance. But as he placed the trap, he noticed something was moving underneath some bushes.

It was a small animal, about 75 centimetres long, with a short snout. The lower jaw was short and almost as broad as it was long, meeting with a U-shaped curve at its tip. The lower jaw was robust. It was orange in coloration.

Nigel: « Another peculiar creature from the Triassic. This here is a Syntomiprosopus sucherorum, an archosauriform, possibly a crocodylomorph, and unlike crocodiles, it would have fed on plants. Syntomiprosopus was unusually short-snouted, comparable to the Late Cretaceous notosuchian Simosuchus, and is regarded as an example of convergent evolution between Triassic stem-archosaurs and Cretaceous archosaurs. Just like any other animal here, it would make a good addition for Prehistoric Park. »

As the animal continued to graze, it failed to notice Nigel sneaking upon him, until the human was above him, quickly restraining it before bringing it to the camp.

« Anyone has any cages? » Nigel asked, before Adam arrived with one to contain the animal. He then turned to Wade, Clarkson, James, and Hammond, who were sitting on folding chairs, fishing in the prehistoric river. « Any luck so far? » he asked. « None to speak of. » was Clarkson response, before preparing another launch with his rod, only to fail.

« Oh fuck. » Clarkson cursed annoyed, while James chuckled. « What are you struggling with? » Wade asked. « Everything. » was Clarkson response, as he prepared once more, this time almost hitting James. « No! Watch it! Can you watch behind you when you do that? » the latter complained. As Nigel watched the scene, he noticed something.

« Hammond? Why are on your car? » he asked. « I am in the car, because the phytosaurs are in that river. » was Hammond response. « This might be a good idea. » Wade commented. « They were crocs before crocs took the water! They can sit underwater-these are machines for killing and eating that can take on a Placerias whole! And then there is the rausuchids. There are the giant killer amphibians. » Hammond added.

Taking Hammond as an example, everyone got on their cars to fish.

Wade: We might be in the dry season, but rivers such as these still are still a roll call of fish species. And soon, our previously bad luck begun to turn.

Suddenly, Wade caught something. It was not that big, so it was brought to land relatively easily. It was a 30 centimetres long fish with scales being a combination of brown, green and grey.

Wade: « I know this specie, this is Gyrolepis albertii, a prehistoric ray-finned fish what is now Europe. It is known both from complete specimens and isolated skeletal elements, such as scales or teeth. Lovely to see one here. »

Swiftly, the fish was placed in a tank. Then, it was Clarkson turn to catch something. It was far smaller, being only 13 centimetres long, and was pale greyish-brown with irregular pattern of roundish spots on the back. « So, what do we have here? » Clarkson asked. « That looks like a Teffichthys stoschiensis, another ray-finned fish. Fossils have been found in Madagascar and China, and possibly also in Angola, Canada, Greenland, and Svalbard. » Wade explained.

The animal was placed on a separate tank. « This is a bit like a fairground lucky dish. » Wade joked. Then James caught something. « Got myself a Gyrolepis! » he exclaimed. Then James caught a Teffichthys. After a while, the four had captured 5 Gyrolepis and 5 Teffichthys.

Wade: « We might still be in the dry season, but this region really seems like a melting pot of different species even further away than Arizona, such as Europe, Madagascar and China. »

Then, Wade caught something bigger. He managed to pull out a large salamander, around 40 centimetres long. It was near identical, other than size, to the Anaschisma, and was light brown in colour with several dark orange stripes and spot on the body and green limbs.

Wade: « Never thought I would capture a salamander with a rod. The animal I just caught, it very likely ate the fish that took the bait, this is Apachesaurus gregorii, metoposaurid temnospondyl amphibian, just like Anaschisma. »

Just as Wade placed the animal inside a water tank, Nigel noticed something in the water, in the shallowest part. It was another giant amphibian, 3 meters long. It had small, weak limbs, sharp teeth, and a large, flat head. It was green with dark yellow-green stripes on the back and several yellow spots in the belly.

« There is something big there. » Nigel commented. « What do you think is that? » Wade asked. « That must be Metoposaurus fraasi, a stereospondyl temnospondyl amphibian, known from Germany, Italy, Poland, and Portugal. This mostly aquatic animal mainly fed on fish, which it captured with its wide jaws lined with needle-like teeth. Many Metoposaurus mass graves have been found, probably from creatures that grouped together in drying pools during drought. It would be a great addition to Prehistoric Park, and I think we can capture it while it is in the shallows. » Nigel explained.

« Just like the Anaschisma. All right you three, you keep doing what you are doing, we will try and capture that thing. » Wade instructed his three colleagues. « Try not to die out there! » Clarkson warned him. Wade and Nigel got close to the giant amphibian, and just like the Anaschisma, they jumped on its back, preventing it to escape or bite back.

Soon the rest of the crew arrived to restrain the animal, which was placed on an extremely large cage. With that done, Wade returned to the car. « So, how's it going? » he asked, as he watched his colleagues catching many fishes. « Surprisingly good, we have got a lot of carps here. » Clarkson added. And indeed, it was a lot of carps. In the time it took Nigel, Wade, and the crew to restrain the giant, Clarkson, James and May had captured around 90 fishes.

« Holey Moley! » Wade exclaimed at how many fishes they captured. They could be divided in three groups.

One group was made by 14 centimetres long fishes with a streamlined, tuna-like body shape with thick, ganoine-covered scales. The dorsal and anal fins were large, positioned opposite from each other, and shifted back, close to the tail. They were dark grey in colour.

The other two groups were similar, with one being made by 6,8 centimetres long fishes olive green in colour, while the others were 30 centimetres long with dark red colour.

Wade: « I can see three different species here, these are Lasalichthys stewarti, Lophionotus kanabensis and Semionotus howelli. Lasalichthys, it is a Redfieldiiformes, an order of ray-finned fish. Redfieldiiforms were typical Triassic fish in overall anatomy. The maxilla has small teeth and is strongly connected to the preopercle, a boomerang-shaped bone whose edges form the posterior and lower margins of the cheek region; this would have allowed a deep gape to assist in ram feeding. Redfieldiiforms were primitive 'subholostean' fish, more primitive than holosteans such as gars or the bowfin, with uncertain relations to neopterygians. Some studies draw comparisons to 'perleidiforms' or ptycholepids, while others consider redfieldiiforms to be early neopterygians related to pholidopleuriforms. Redfieldiiforms were exclusively freshwater fish which became prominent in southern Gondwana, including Argentina, Australia, southern Africa, during the Middle Triassic. By the Late Triassic they had become a major component of freshwater ecosystems in western Laurasia, most specifically in North America and Morocco, though they were much rarer further east. The last member of the order, Redfieldius, lived in the Early Jurassic of eastern North America. The other two species, Lophionotus and Semionotus, they are ray-finned fish found throughout Northern Pangaea, becoming extinct in the Early Jurassic. »

Just as Wade explained to the cameras, there was splashing in the water. « Hold on! What was that!? What did that!? » Clarkson panicked. Then, there was silence. « Whatever it was, it went underwater. » Wade commented. Then, something emerged from the water. « Look at that! » James exclaimed. « There it is! » Clarkson also exclaimed. « Yes, it is! » Hammond cursed.

While not as big as the phytosaurs, it was still huge, around five meters long. It had a long, crocodile-like head. The posterior portion of the head was wide while the snout was very narrow. It also had a downturned snout and dermal armour. It was green with yellow-green stripes on the back.

« What is that!? » James exclaimed, realizing it was not a phytosaur. « I think I may know. That is a Proterochampsa barrionuevoi, a proterochampsid archosauromorph from the Ischigualasto Formation in northwestern Argentina and the Santa Maria Formation in southeastern Brazil. Just like phytosaurs, it filled an ecology like crocodiles. » Nigel explained. « That is moving towards us, isn't it? » Clarkson noted. « Yeah! » Hammond cursed.

« Did you read last week about that one that ate a Bentley whole complete with a man in it? » Clarkson joked. « Yeah, but it spat the Bentley out. » James commented. « Not by a Proterochampsa, it did not! » Nigel joked as well.

Wade: If we keep out of the water, it should ignore us.

However, as the group continued to observe the Proterochampsa, the characteristic grunting of the Placerias could be heard from the other side of the river. Soon, the group of animals descended from the forest and went in the water. « There they are! The Placerias! » Nigel exclaimed at the sight of the herd. « And I think it is the same we saw before. I recognize one of the bulls, it was attacked by a Poposaurus and has that deep wound on the shoulder, nothing major, but it does help identifying it. » Clarkson added.

Wade: So much we were focused at the Placerias herd moving in the water, we did not notice the Proterochampsa moving in.

Before anyone could react, the predator jumped out of the water and grabbed the front of James car. « Oh cock! » he cursed, as the animal attempted to drag the car into the water. « You are joking! » Hammond cursed as well.

Wade: Driven by desperation, the Proterochampsa has confused James's car for an animal. And with a weight of almost 3000 pounds, it could very easily drag it underwater.

« All right, we have a problem here! » Hammond cursed.

Hammond: James and the crew were ready to abandon ship, but as they did, the Proterochampsa turned on them.

As James got out of the car, the Proterochampsa charged at him. « Bloody hell! » James cursed as he narrowly dodged the attack. « It must be starving. It is desperate, this drought, it probably has not eaten much. » Wade explained. « All right, someone open the portal, we are skedaddling out of here! » Nigel issued.

Adam opened the portal behind them, and everyone got in one of the three cars. They managed to run in time, but the Proterochampsa, driven by desperation, chased after them.

Xxxxxxx

Once again, Bob is greeted by the sight of the three cars running for their lives. This time, however, their chaser was much more "contained" in size. And once more, it is lured in a temporary pen, while Nigel, Wade, Clarkson, James, and Hammond unload their other catches.

« So, what have we got this time? » Bob asked. « No Placerias, unfortunately, but we managed to capture various interesting critters. As you can see, we lured a salt water croc sized Proterochampsa barrionuevoi in desperate need of food, an herbivorous croc, Syntomiprosopus sucherorum, many species of fishes, Gyrolepis albertii, Teffichthys stoschiensis, Lasalichthys stewarti, Lophionotus kanabensis and Semionotus howelli, and two giant amphibians, Apachesaurus gregorii and Metoposaurus fraasi. » Nigel explained.

« Have the lands found it easier to drive? » Bob asked. « Absolutely. I think we might continue to do our operations in the drought, this way we can drive easily in the terrain, and the Placerias have less places where to hide. » Nigel responded.

Xxxxxxx

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.