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 did not have to be forever?
We are 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. Alongside biologist and fisherman Jeremy Wade, and Top Gear television presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Ritchard Hammond, his plan is to bring them back to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
On his second mission to the past, Nigel and his colleagues venture in the lands of the Jurassic, in a world dominated by some of the most extraordinaire dinosaurs ever discovered.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary.
Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
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Prehistoric Park is starting to come to life.
Amongst the hills and valleys of this huge reserve, its prehistoric creatures are getting used to their surroundings.
One day, Nigel Marven plans to breed extinct animals in captivity.
But for now, he's starting off by only bringing a few of each species back to see how they get on in the 21st century.
The Park's latest newcomers seem to be settling in well.
All animals were settling well in the park, from tiny fishes to massive phytosaurs, from ancient dicynodonts to dinosauromorphs.
In one of the enclosure, Bob and Clarkson were walking, inspecting the Dimodosaurus inside. The latter was even walking a Labrador alongside him.
« So can you explain why you brought a dog? And what does that have to do with what kind of land rovers we should buy for the park? » Bob asked confused. « You just haven't got the message, haven't you? » Clarkson commented. « What, that this doesn't make any sense? » Bob asked. « No, the message is very clear. Underpants, all right? You can buy a cheap pair from a market store, or you can buy an expensive pair of golden thread in them, or you can do what everyone does, or you can do what everyone does, and buy a Mark Suspenders. » Clarkson explained.
« Well I don't. And still, it doesn't explain the dog. » Bob responded confused. « Then I shall show you. Follow me. » Clarkson then said, as he and Bob reached the entrance of the Dimodosaurus enclosure. There, they found a stand, with one of the park staff bringing a Dimodosaurus. « If you want a pet, well you can have something expensive, like an Demudusour (Dimodosaurus) with a silver necklace, » he said pointing at said Dimodosaurus with a silver necklace, « or you can have something cheap, like an snail, » he then pointed at a small container.
« What snail? » Bob asked. « That snail. » Clarkson responded, pointing at the Eucycloscala subbisertus inside, « or, you can use your common sense, and have a Labradog (Labrador). » Clarkson finished his explanation. A short silence followed. « So what you're saying is- » Bob spoke first, before being interrupted by Clarkson. « Buy a Range Rover. » Clarkson finished the sentence.
« For crying out loud, don't trust the orangutan! He doesn't know what he's doing! » James exclaimed, as he entered the enclosure as well, alongside Hammond. « You clearly lack my visionary genius. » Clarkson shot back. « You clearly lack genius at all. » James shot back. « Says the one with the lowest horsepower in the group. AND the only one which has had problems in our trip. » Clarkson responded.
« You have a point, actually. » Hammond added. « Well being attacked by a non-croc is hardly a car's fault, isn't it? » James responded. « Don't ask me, I'm not that knowledgeable in cars. » Nigel said, as he entered the enclosure, Wade following shortly behind. « I think it's best we leave this discussion behind. » Hammond added.
« With you appearing out of thin air, I'd say you have a plan for our next suicidal mission. » James said. « Well they haven't gone that south yet, haven't they? » Wade asked. « You DO realize you're building real life Jurassic Park, right? » Hammond reasoned. « Hammond you idiot! This is clearly not Jurassic Park! They clearly have things under control! » Clarkson scolded his companion.
« Fun fact about Jurassic Park: in the original movie, only Brachiosaurus was from the Jurassic period, and speaking of Jurassic, I think you sort of guessed where I'm interested in going. Come with me. » Nigel motioned his four colleagues.
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For his next adventure, Nigel plans to go in the Jurassic period, a time where dinosaurs had begun to spread their domination of the planet.
He's in particular interested in what is today known as Colorado
As the five got in the office, Nigel showed his colleagues a map of the Jurassic 152 million years ago. « This is the Jurassic during the Tithonian era. Notice how the continents have begun to split up? It caused the planet to become much wetter compared to the Triassic, and this here, » he pointed at Colorado, « would have resembled modern day savanna. During the Jurassic, some of the most famous dinosaurs evolved, alongside some of the most unique ones. I think they'll all make fine additions for Prehistoric Park. You guys are up to this? » Nigel asked.
« So we're going into a world where dinosaurs have become jumbo sized, right? » Hammond asked. « Well how hard can that be? » Clarkson asked.
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With all preparations made, Nigel, colleagues and crew venture in the Jurassic period 152 million years ago, in a time where giant theropods stalked the land, and even bigger prey walked alongside them.
Nigel, Clarkson, James, and Hammond cars crossed the time portal, and found themselves in a savanna, with plenty of horsetails, ferns, cycads and well-spaced conifers all around. There were several rivers, all connected with what seemed like dried up lakes. In what little water there was, there were many charophytes algae. The climate was warm, dry, and semi-arid.
Clarkson: « Welcome to Colorado, 152 million years ago. No stoners, no alcoholics, no snow, no sports fanatics, no hippies, and no dogs. In exchange, in this savanna, there are giant killer dinosaurs, crocodiles, and aggressive herbivore dinosaurs. Weather's nice at least. »
As the four cars continued to drive in the fern plains, the group noticed something. It was 7 small dinosaurs, 3,3 meters long.
They had a long neck, long, slender legs and a long, stiff tail. Their arms, however, with five fingers on each hand, were short. They had a horny beak and cheeks. They were mostly light yellow-green in colour, with dark yellow tail stripes, spots, flanks, neck and head, and yellow backs. They were feeding on the low vegetation all around them, while occasionally checking if the area was secure.
Nigel: « Barely a minute here, and already our first dinosaurs. There small critters, they are Dryosaurus altus, ornithopod dinosaurs that lived in the Late Jurassic period. Believe it or not, but these animals were iguanodonts, funny to consider these lightweights related with the much bigger Iguanodon. Fossils have been found in the western United States and were first discovered in the late 19th century. In this ecosystem, they were the equivalent of impalas or gazelle, relying on speed to escape predators. Let's see what they're up to. »
The group kept their distance from the herd, in order to not unsettle it. Soon, however, they raised their head in alarm, noticing something among the trees. It soon calmed its nerves, realizing that the animal was no threat for the herd.
It was a small, carnivorous dinosaur, 2,1 meters long. It was a bipedal carnivore. Its head was proportionally small, but heavily built, with a short snout and robust lower jaw. The eyes were quite large.
It had a relatively short neck with a slight S-shaped curve. The tail was long and whiplike, comprising over half of the body's length. It was a short-bodied theropod.
The forelimbs were relatively long, slightly under two-thirds the length of the hind legs, which were fairly short and with three clawed weight-bearing toes.
The back, flanks, neck, legs, arms and head, alongside several stripes on its tail, were dark orange in colour, with the rest and some stripes on the back and some spots on the neck being bright yellow. A light yellow vertical stripe separated the nostril and the chin from the rest of the head, and it had a blue turquoise mask on its eyes.
It was inspecting one of the many rocks in the forest, checking for food.
« Let me guess. Velociraptor. » Clarkson guessed. « Really? Velociraptor? In North America? » Hammond asked disappointed. « In the Jurassic none the less. » May added. « Yeah, you guessed wrong, very wrong. That right there is an Ornitholestes hermanni, a small theropod dinosaur of the late Jurassic of North America. To date, Ornitholestes is known only from a single partial skeleton with a badly crushed skull found at the Bone Cabin Quarry near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, in 1900. It was described by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1903. It probably fed on small animals, lizards, small mammals, frogs, you name it. Funny seeing it during the day, some believe that it might had been a nocturnal animal, but this may be because we're currently in the dry season, and it must be desperate for food. » Nigel explained.
« Why aren't the Dryosaurus running for their lives? » Clarkson asked confused. « I think it's because they know that the Ornitholestes poses no threat. Sure, it can kill a Dryosaurus, but it can't catch it in the open. Dryosaurus used their speed to escape predators, but recent studies showed that Ornitholestes wasn't a fast runner. Their strategy was to simply lay ambushes in the underbrush, attacking with a short burst of speed. Let's see if we can catch it. » Nigel explained, before going out of the car, trying to sneak to the Ornitholestes.
Nigel tried to get as close as possible to the animal, but before he could catch it, the Ornitholestes fled, climbing a tree as fast as it could. Clarkson, James, and Hammond laughed in the car at the scene. « Bet you weren't expecting that! » James commented on the radio. « Nope! I surely didn't! But it has been researched on several papers, apparently it could had been possible for Ornitholestes to climb trees. A useful little skill, if I have to say so. » Nigel laughed as well, clearly not offended.
In the meantime, he had begun to inspect the rocks that the Ornitholestes was checking out. Flipping one, he found himself two dark red skinks, 5,4 centimetres long.
Before they could escape, Nigel was quick to capture them.
Nigel: « Now, aren't these interesting little critters? These little skinks, these are Paramacellodus oweni. Paramacellodus belongs to an extinct family of scincomorphs called Paramacellodidae, which spanned most of Laurasia during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous and represented one of the earliest evolutionary radiations of lizards. They must be common prey for small carnivores. Like lizards, they probably are able to detach their tail for self-defence, however, if we place them in a safe spot, they should be fine. »
Meanwhile, the Dryosaurus herd had decided to move on. « I don't think we'll be able to catch that Ornitholestes any day now. We should follow that Dryosaurus herd, these animals may be small, but they're still an incredible part of our past, we should try to capture at least one. » Nigel proposed. « As long as we can get close enough, that is. » Wade commented.
« This is probably not going to be your time to shine, Wade. Y'know, the Morrinson formation being such a dry place. » Hammond commented. « I know, but as a biologist, I'm still glad to be in this remarkable place. » Wade responded. « I'm excited to be here, and I'm not even a biologist! » Clarkson responded. « It's just like Jurassic Park, except we hopefully don't fuck up and get eaten by some eldritch horror dinosaur. » James added.
« You just HAD to add that possibility, didn't you? » Hammond commented annoyed. « Oh come it off, these aren't movie monsters, a shotgun warning shot will scare them. » James responded.
Following the Dryosaurus herd, the four cars soon found themselves in a large, dry plain, with the original Dryosaurus herd having joined with 30 or so other Dryosaurus.
Nigel: « Common behaviour of herding animals. This is a time tested strategy, forming large groups allows these animals to have more eyes to check for dangers, and in the Morrinson formation, there were plenty. They don't seem scared of us, they obviously have never seen humans or cars before. We must resemble some sort of herbivore for them. We might be able to use this to our advantage. »
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Meanwhile, back in the park, head keeper Bob checks to see if the Placerias enjoy their new home.
Bob: « I built this hide to keep an eye on them, but there's no need. They're happy here. Look at them! They're just wallowing in the water like hippos. They aren't as dependant of water as hippos, but they sure love it. We've given them a real home from home. Oh, they love it. (He then looked at a female, which stayed alone.) Well, except for that one. I'm very worried about it. It's gone completely bonkers. If it's not lying sulking in the shade, it's creeping round the undergrowth, keeping well out of the way of the others. »
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Back in Late Jurassic Colorado, Nigel, colleagues and crew are working on their next plan, to catch a herd of Dryosaurus.
Near a temporary camp they just built, Nigel's crew had created a tunnel of some sort made out of tent.
« All right, so here's the plan. » Nigel begun to explain to his colleagues. « What we're about to employ, is a technique used to capture animal herds in Africa. I need you three to funnel the Dryosaurus herd here. Once you funnelled them to the tunnel, they're going to run straight to the Time Portal. Sounds easy, right? »
The instructions are clear, but Clarkson seems to have something in his mind.
« So you stay here, making sure that the Dryosaurus are funnelled in the tunnel, right? » Clarkson asked. « Yes » was Nigel response. Clarkson then turned to Wade. « Wade? If you're staying here, could you do us a favour? » he asked. « Sure, what is it? » Wade asked, noting that Clarkson seemed extremely nervous. « While we try to funnel the Dryosaurus to the portal, could you act as a sentry? » Clarkson asked.
« Think a dinosaur might sneak upon you three? » Wade asked, concerned by how serious Clarkson sound. « You see… I'm no biologist. But I did read the papers you gave me about what we might found here. And this plain…has very likely a really nasty inhabitant. » Clarkson explained. Both Nigel and Wade soon realized what Clarkson was talking about.
Clarkson: The Morrinson formation is home to what many have dubbed "The lion of the Jurassic": Allosaurus. This top predator needs no introduction, but while his reputation as the king of the Morrinson formation has been somewhat challenged with newer, larger predators, at 28 feet (8,5 meters) in length, it was still a very large carnivore, with sharp claws and many, MANY teeth. It was also one of the most abundant predators of the Morrinson, and fossil evidence shows us it could prey pretty much on anything, one way or another. And the worst part for us, is that recent studies have hypothesized that to avoid competition with other carnivores, it had specialized in open plains. And the Dryosaurus we're trying to funnel in are….in a treeless savanna. One where this killing machine can reach its top speed with little problem.
With the trap having been completed, Clarkson, James and Hammond begun to circle around the Dryosaurus herd. While the animals didn't seem to mind the cars, the trio still kept their distance to avoid to spook them. In the meantime, Wade and Nigel continued to scout the area for any predators.
« Everything good? » Clarkson asked nervously on the radio. « Nothing new as of yet. » Nigel responded. Soon, the trio were behind the herd, and were ready. « Here we go! » Clarkson commanded, as he begun to drive towards the herd. The Dryosaurus, scared of the loud noises and the weird things charging at them, tried to scatter, but with both Hammond and James on the side, Clarkson managed to keep them in the same place as one group.
« Yeeees! There it is! » Clarkson exclaimed happily, seeing the plan working. « No matter what, do NOT slow down! » Hammond exclaimed.
Clarkson: « Turbocharged petrol engine, of course, is what you need in this kind of high-speed chases, that's why Turbochargers were fitted to the TVS Apache and the Aston Martin Valkyrie. »
All seemed to go well so far. However, all of a sudden, something emerged from nearby cycad scrubs.
First emerged a 4,4 meters long theropod dinosaurs. It was mostly dark yellow, with red spots and neck and throat, and a dark red head.
Then came out two 3,4 meters long theropods. They were dark pink-red, with orange stripes on the tail, alongside having small spots and a face mask with a similar colour and light brown arms, feet, belly and throat.
Shortly after, joining the chase, was a giant: a 7,6 meters long theropod. It had a massive skull on a short neck, a long, slightly sloping tail, and reduced forelimbs. The head had a pair of horns above and in front of the eyes. It had a barrel chest.
The forelimbs were short in comparison to the hindlimbs and had three fingers per hand, tipped with large, strongly curved and pointed claws. The arms were powerful, and the forearm was somewhat shorter than the upper arm. Of the three fingers, the thumb was the largest, and diverged from the others. Each foot had three weight-bearing toes and an inner dewclaw. It was red orange in colour with dark red stripes in the head, belly, arms and legs.
Wade and Nigel noticed the four carnivores before either the Dryosaurus or the Top Gear trio could.
« Disengage! Disengage! There's an Allosaurus on the loose! » Nigel warned the three on the radio. And while the Dryosaurus herd continued to run towards the portal, followed by the smaller carnivores, the Allosaurus turned towards the three cars.
« Oh Crickey, it's the Jurassic rozzers! » James cursed at the sight.
Hammond: For such a large and powerful carnivore, Dryosaurus are not that tempting of a prey. But what seems like three large car-shaped herbivores….
The Allosaurus charged at top speed at the trio, which were fast to disengage from the chase and drive as fast as they could.
However, whilst Allosaurus wasn't as fast as a car, here in this unpaved terrain, it held the advantage. Realizing it could not catch Clarkson car, he moved to the second best thing. With a slight turn, he now focused on James's car. « James, step it up, he's catching up! » Hammond cursed. Before James could react, he saw the gaping jaws of the Allosaurus charging at him.
« Oh my god! » James cursed, as the animal bit the side of his car, hugging it with its powerful arms and stopping it to a halt.
Clarkson: Thankfully Allosaurus bite didn't exceed that of a leopard. Still, with a weight of 1.2 tons, it could very easily crush James and his car.
Now that the predator held the car in place, it attempted to flip it, almost as to trying to expose the soft underbelly.
Both Clarkson and Hammond were quick to intervene, trying to gain the attention of the large carnivore. As the Allosaurus turned towards them, Clarkson pulled out his shotgun and fired a shot in the air, scaring the animal and forcing it to retreat. However, as he did, he turned on the camp.
« Lads, you better move it, he's charging towards you! » Hammond cursed on the radio, as the massive theropod moved towards the humans. By this point, the Dryosaurus and the other three theropods had just crossed the portal, and just as some of the crew turned, they were forced to flee towards the portal itself, being chased by the Allosaurus.
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Back in the 21st century, Bob is greeted by a horde of dinosaurs, alongside Nigel crew being chased by the Allosaurus.
« Get to the stairs! Quick! » Bob cursed, as the crew barely managed to escape the jaws of the carnivore. Soon, the Dryosaurus herd and the four carnivores were lured in temporal homes.
« Lads! You all right? » Bob asked concerned. « We're good. It didn't manage to bite us. As for the animals we've captured, I think I know what these animals are. The herd, these are Dryosaurus altus, and Nigel has a pair of Paramacellodus oweni. The other carnivores, I think these are Marshosaurus bicentesimus, Stokesosaurus clevelandi and Allosaurus jimmadseni. However, I think we have a bit of an emergency on our hand. » one of the crew responded.
« What do you mean? » Bob asked concerned. « It's James. The Allosaurus attacked James car and nearly flip it. We don't know how he's faring, but the Allosaurus didn't manage to break inside the car, so he might be fine. » the crew member responded. « Right, I'll get some of the boys to see if he's all right. » was Bob response.
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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.