Once again, the various animals were placed in their forever homes.
The Proterochampsa barrionuevoi was placed in a large enclosure, with ferns and a lot of water, and was immediately fed. The Syntomiprosopus sucherorum enclosure was far smaller, and was filled to the brim with ferns. Both were placed in the reptile house.
The Gyrolepis albertii were placed in a large tank of water, with water plants at the bottom and a stick in the middle. The Teffichthys stoschiensis were placed in another tank with a lot of branches where to hid. The Lasalichthys stewartia were all placed in a tank with some aquatic plants but plenty of rocks, a similar enclosure to the Lophionotus kanabensis. The Semionotus howelli were placed in a deeper water environment. Both were placed in the park's aquarium.
The Apachesaurus gregorii was placed in a fairly large tank, with large rocks were to rest, pebbles at the bottom and a lot of fern. The Metoposaurus fraasi was instead placed in a large mudbank with plenty of water. Both were placed in the park's herpetarium.
The park is continuing to grow. But once again, the team has returned without the Placerias, and now that the drought has worsened, so have the Placerias conditions.
But once more, Nigel proposed to arrive when the drought is even worse.
« The drought has reduced the Placerias habitat, but that damn river continues to be a thorn to our side. Even if the Proterochampsa didn't attack, there was no way we could had reached them, the river was still too deep. So what I'm thinking is we go when the drought is even worse. If we look at modern rivers, during intense drought they can become nothing more but a trickle of water, something the cars can surpass easily. » Nigel explained.
« But at the same time, what if the Placerias are dead? If there is no water, there's no place for them to wallow. » James noted. « Their skin is probably not as sensitive as a hippo. They should be able to survive none the less. » Nigel noted.
Xxxxxxx
Hammond: Once more, we return to Arizona in the Triassic, and the environment has completely changed. Gone were the swamps and marshes that impeded the cars movement. Now, it was all dry scrublands with barely any water left. Thanks to this, the cars could go even faster.
After a while, the group reached a place where to camp. It was not too far from a pond, perfect place for a Placerias herd.
Wade: Being this close to a pond of water with prehistoric hippos, I am not exactly comfortable, just like my colleagues. Despite their lumbering look, these animals could easily flip a car over, if well motivated. With powerful tusks for weapons, they could easily gore us.
Just as the group sat down to plan their next move, a huge Placerias came out of the bushes. It was the same one with the shoulder injury that Clarkson, James, and Hammond saw.
« Oh boy this is not good. » Hammond cursed. « No sudden movements. » Nigel commanded, but the animal seemed to be angry. As it prepared to charge, however, Clarkson was quicker to react. He grabbed a shotgun from his car and shot in the air, the loud noise terrifying the Placerias, who ran off, back in the bushes.
« GO! GO! GET OUT OF HERE! » Clarkson shouted at the animal. « Good call there. And thanks for not killing it. there's already few Placerias, if we start killing them, it's not going to help. » Nigel said. « I do not think we should be staying here for too long. » Clarkson commented. « The drought must be making them extremely aggressive. With so little water, they are becoming fiercely territorial. » Wade noted.
« I think we should head for the pond. The Placerias must be congregating there, and if anything, we should be able to find other animals as well. » Nigel proposed.
Hammond: Once more, we were on the move, and soon we reached the pond.
How the mighty have fallen. The one rich river ecosystem was now replaced by a small pond, shallow enough that people could walk in it. Of course, the group did not stay near the water edge, knowing that phytosaurs and other large carnivores laid in ambush. In the meantime, Nigel found another burrow, and once again placed a trap in front of it.
As they waited, Wade decided to see if there was anything left in these waters, and threw his rod in the water. Not long after, something caught the bait.
Soon, Wade had a good view of the animal.
Wade: It is a shark, but not one that I've ever seen before.
Soon, Wade was able to get it out of the water, and as he did, it attempted to bite everything.
It was, indeed, a shark, 60 centimetres long. It had a long dorsal fin, as well as a large spine projecting from the top of the head, which was a modified dorsal-fin spine. It was light green with large dark orange spots and stripes and yellow belly, spine, and gills.
Wade: « This is a Triodus moorei, a xenacanthidan shark. It was a freshwater shark, and fossils have been found in the Chinle Formation and Black Prince Limestone of Arizona, the Petrified Forest Member of New Mexico, and the Tecovas Formation of Texas. »
Soon, Wade put the animal in a tank, and continued to wait for the Placerias. It was possible to get somewhat close to the water in some spots, where Nigel spotted some peculiar creatures. They were fishes, about 6,5 centimetres long. They had a deep-body with a covering of thick ganoid scales except for the posterior part of the body. They were light red in colour, with light pink-red spots, pink back and belly and a dark pink-red spot on the side.
Nigel: « Another peculiar creature of the Triassic. These are Hemicalypterus weiri, a prehistoric ray-finned fish. Fossils have been collected in the southwestern United States, including Utah and New Mexico. Hemicalypterus belonged to the family Dapediidae, and like other members of its family, it was a deep-bodied fish with a covering of thick ganoid scales. It differed from other dapediids in lacking scales on the posterior part of the body, and in possessing unusual, multicuspid teeth. These teeth were similar to those of modern-day herbivorous fish, which indicates that Hemicalypterus may have been a herbivore as well. Should be easy to capture with a net, now that the water is shallow. »
Swiftly, Nigel captured the little creatures and placed them in a tank.
And as the group continued to wait for the Placerias, the sound of the trap caught Nigel attention. Finally, it captured its targets. Two Kataigidodon venetus were now trapped inside, much to Nigel's joy.
Nigel: « About time the trap finally worked. What we have here, are two of the very first mammals on the planet. All mammals living today descend from small creatures such as these. And they will continue to remain small, as the reign of the dinosaurs will arrive shortly after the Triassic. »
As Nigel placed the two little critters in a cage, the sound of rustling caught their attention. « Another Placerias? » Clarkson asked worried. « No, this looks like a smaller animal. » Wade noted. Then, it emerged from the bushes.
It was a small reptile, around a metre and a half long. It was lightly built, with a narrow snout with forward-pointing nostrils, and large eyes. It was yellowish orange beneath, and brownish-red colour above. Soon, it was followed by other of its kind, and in less than ten minutes, there were 20 of them near the pond.
Nigel: « And speaking of extraordinary, these creatures, these are the closest relatives of the dinosaurs that we have seen yet. These are Kwanasaurus williamparkeri, silesaurid dinosauromorph reptiles from Colorado. Kwanasaurus had a deeper, stronger skull and greater specialization for herbivory compared to other silesaurids. It also possessed many unique characteristics of the snout, ilium, and lower part of the femur. »
The animals wandered near the group with little fear, having never seen a human before. Some even begun to lick the shoes of the crew, likely looking for food. Then, loud bellowing could be heard. At first, only the Placerias emerged from the bushes, desperate for water. Then came true giants.
It was a herd of actual dinosaurs, almost eight meters long. They had a small head, a long and flexible neck, a stocky body, and a long, mobile tail. The arms were very short. However, they were strongly built, with hands adapted for powerful grasping. The hind limbs were held under the body, with slightly flexed knees and ankles, and they walked on their toes. The tail was muscular and with high mobility.
The head small and narrow, rectangular in side view, and nearly three times as long as it is high. Its eyes were directed to the sides, rather than the front, providing all-round vision to watch for predators.
They were yellow green in colour, with a dark yellow green back, with light yellow green stripes and belly, and dark orange feet and hands.
There were seven of them, attracted by one of the very few watering holes left, the humans looking in awe at the sight. « That is, an herd of dinosaurs. » Clarkson noted. « Yes. Yes, they are. » Hammond added. « Not just any dinosaurs. Some of the very first to become giants. These are Dimodosaurus poligniensis, a plateosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Central and Northern Europe. Dimodosaurus is an early sauropodomorph dinosaur, a so-called "prosauropod". Dimodosaurus was a bipedal herbivore with a small skull on a long, flexible neck, sharp but plump plant-crushing teeth, powerful hind limbs, short but muscular arms and grasping hands with large claws on three fingers, possibly used for defence and feeding. They must had migrated here prior to the dry season. I would not be surprised if they are going to depart soon. » Nigel explained.
As he said that, after drinking as much as they could, both the Placerias and the Dimodosaurus begun to move on.
It is very likely that these animals have begun to move on from these dry lands. If Nigel and the crew wants to bring this herd back to the 21st century, they must follow it closely.
As the two herds moved on, Nigel, Clarkson, James, and Hammond followed en suit, keeping a distance in order to not provoke the animals. « So, what's the plan to capture these? » Clarkson asked on the radio. « If we manage to spook them, we could drove them towards the portal. We'll need as much noise as possible though. » Nigel proposed.
However, just as he said that, James smelt something funny. « Hang on, you guys smell that? » he asked. The whole group smell it, and was familiar. In the meantime, however, the animals had smelt it too. And they were not happy about it.
Hammond: The animals, being smarter than us, recognize the smell immediately. And it is not a good sight.
« Oh cock! » James cursed as he recognized the smell. As further clue as what it was, smoke could be visible nearby.
Clarkson: The Petrified Forest National Park is one of the richest fossil sites in the world, and it gives us a clue of the dangers of this world. In such a dry environment, wildfires must had been common, and dangerous.
« Oh shit, I see the flames. » Clarkson cursed at the sight. He then contacted Nigel on the radio. « Get your foot down, I think this is a big wildfire. »
«We need to get the hell out of here, lads. » Hammond added. « Without a doubt, just let me see if I can lure the animals towards the portal. » Nigel responded. As he said that, he accelerated the car as best as he could, just like the rest of the cars, surpassing the Placerias and the Dimodosaurus herds. In the meantime, the fire was spreading quickly, and the animals were running for their lives.
Luckily for Nigel, they were running towards the portal. Alongside them was the Kwanasaurus herd, which was feeding on the scrublands.
Clarkson: With the animals crossing the portal, we hit the road…. hard.
Xxxxxxx
Back in the 21st century, Bob was greeted by a welcoming sight. None other than the Placerias, running for their lives. « About time he brought those home! » Bob laughed. However, his good humour was interrupted by the Dimodosaurus herd running past him. « What the-Nigel! What have you brought here!? » he cursed, as he also saw the Kwanasaurus herd running past, followed by the four cars.
« Nigel! What have you done!? » Bob cursed. « We brought the Placerias, that is what we did! » Clarkson responded. « God in heaven that was frightening. » James commented. « Wait, what happened? » Bob asked concerned. « There was a massive wildfire! We could have died! » was Hammond response. « And I thought Alabama was the most dangerous Confederate state. We got speared by prehistoric pigs, bitten by prehistoric crocodiles, and now we almost burned to death. Other than that, pleasant experience! » Clarkson added.
« What else have you got? » Bob asked. « Well, we have got a herd of giant dinosaurs, Dimodosaurus poligniensis, two tiny cynodonts, Kataigidodon venetus, a group of butterfly fishes, Hemicalypterus weiri, a herd of dinosaur relatives, Kwanasaurus williamparkeri, and a freshwater shark, Triodus moorei. Also call Suzanne, I think we have an injured Placerias. » Nigel responded. « Got it. » was Bob response.
After several trials and errors, finally, Nigel and his team has managed to save the Placerias from extinction. But now he must prevent them from dying, now that they got to the park.
Veterinarian Suzanne Mc Nabb is quick to arrive at the scene, after the Placerias bull was put to sleep with a dart.
Suzanne: « The skin is far harder and less moist than the one of a hippo, meaning I should be able to get a few stitches in there. There isn't any sign of infection, but better safe than sorry, I'll clean the wound first in order to avoid gangrene. Then we will let it rest in this temporal pen for a while so that he can recover, this is a strong bull, and the injury isn't that severe. »
A few days later, and the new animals are ready to receive their new home.
The Dimodosaurus herd was placed in the Prosauropod swamp, a large swampland where they can feed and swim.
The Kataigidodon venetus couple were placed on a smaller enclosure, with plenty of ferns and places where they could dig. They were placed in the park small mammal house, where all small mammals will be placed.
The Hemicalypterus weiri were placed in a rocky water tank with plenty where to graze. The Triodus moorei was placed in another tank with some algae in the bottom. They were placed in the park aquarium.
The Kwanasaurus williamparkeri were placed in the Silesaurid hill, with an elevated position, ferns, a sandbank, and some trees.
And last but definitely not least, the reason why Nigel and the team ventured in Arizona during the Triassic, the Placerias hesternus herd was placed in a fern field swamp with an island in the middle where they could rest. They were the last to be released because of the injury in the bull, but they were getting used to their new home.
With the Placerias saved, alongside plenty of other creatures, it is safe to say that Prehistoric Park has had a splendid start so far.
But this will be far from the ending of the park, as Nigel is already planning his next adventure.
Xxxxxxx
In his next adventure, Nigel plans to travel back in time in the Jurassic, in a time where dinosaurs had begun to flex their muscles as the dominant species of the planet, with carnivores getting big, and herbivores getting even bigger.
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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.