Chapter 1 - T. Rex Returns Part 4

Back in the Cretaceous, they were following the river as they saw several more Quetzalcoatlus flying above them. They knew along with the Dinosaurs, the pterosaurs, small reptiles, mammals, amphibians, fish, and plants that support this ecosystem will be gone as well.

French Narrator: "It's not just the dinosaurs that will be wiped out by the meteorite hit. The gang knows that everything they see around them will be devastated."

They hear squawking and see more Quetzalcoatlus flying above them.

Thomas: "What a magnificent place! Look Pterosaurs swooping overhead. You can hear them calling all the time. And sweet water. It's hard to believe that this stream will be choked with ash and dust. The meteorite will hit not too far away. Time is running out. We are determined to save some T. Rex for Paleo Park."

French Narrator: "There are lots of dinosaur tracks to follow, but the group is interested in one set in particular."

Tish: "There's something strange with these tracks. Look. The toes have been dragged along."

Thomas: "Good eye Tish, My guess, I think it's the female T. Rex that was gored in the stampede. We're close to where the Triceratops and herbivore stampede was. She's dragged her toes. She's injured and she'll be moving pretty slowly. If we head downstream and follow these tracks, we may catch her up.

French Narrator: "The track takes them down river, where they are hoping to gain ground on the T. Rex. With any luck, her leg injury will make her slower and a little easier to catch."

They were peeking from behind a large tree, cautiously observing the slow-moving river… which was alive with crocodiles and other marine reptiles. At the shore directly in front of them, they could see a float of large reddish-brown scales crocodiles that looked like saltwater crocodile-sized gharials, they were also covered with black stripes along the back, black spots dotting the rest of the body, and pale underbelly, whilst on the opposite side, there was a float of gray-scaled crocodiles that resembled Nile crocodiles with a white underbelly and black stripe and blotch spot markings over its body. Swimming in the water was a float of gharial-like creatures they were dark yellowish green with pale spots over its body, a circle around the neck region, and stripes on the tail, on the pale underbelly there were black spots, and jaws were striped black all the way to the tip of its snout. Also in the water were two species of turtle. Ten of the turtles resembled African softshell turtles, they were dark yellowish green with bronze yellow stripes on the shell, black stripes and spots on the feet and head, and a pale underbelly, whilst the other nine were covered in brown scales and had flat brown with light brown spots, shells, webbed turtle-like feet with light gray claws, a white underbelly with brown spots, a pale beak, and tortoise-like heads. swimming under a group of lily pads nearby were eight large frogs that resembled African-clawed frogs; they were grayish brown with blakc stripes on that run down the back, and a white underbelly. Rather curiously, there was a cluster of black logs floating idly near the turtles, what could they be?

Charlie: "What do the guides say about these reptiles and amphibians?"

Thomas: "The crocs that are in front of us are Thoracosaurus meaning "Chest Lizard'', an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph which existed during the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene in North America and Europe. Its long, thin snout and conical teeth were suited for snatching fish, ironically this animal is similar in appearance to the modern gharial of India. It was between four and five meters in length, or more depending on the species, as some could reach exceeding lengths of eight meters, being the biggest crocodylomorph known from the Hell Creek Formation, it can grow up to more than 20 feet in length and lives in what is now Europe and North America, swimming in both salt and freshwater like today's saltwater and American crocodile as their remains were found in both freshwater and marine deposits. It likely would have lived like the modern-day False Gharial based on similar jaws. False Gharials catch fish by waiting for them to pass by and catching them by quickly whipping their heads sideways. It's believed to be a primitive member of the gavialoid line that includes the modern-day gharial of India. Although considered a gavialoid, very recent studies seem to suggest that the similarities between Thoracosaurus and gavialids are just a product of convergent evolution and that Thoracosaurus may actually not have been a crocodilian as previously expected, being a stem-crocodilian instead, more related to the contemporaneous Borealosuchus, also believed to be a stem-crocodilian, under the same study. However, it has been recently tested again if Thoracosaurus could indeed be a basal crocodilian, however. It was a survivor g in the last days of the Late Cretaceous period, surviving the infamous K-Pg (Cretaceous-Paleogene) Mass Extinction event 66 million years ago, and thrived up until the Early Paleocene epoch of the Early Paleogene period around 62 million years ago.``

Charlie: "Quite chompy, it's my turn now and those ones in the water are Champsosaurus meaning "Crocodile lizard," quite appropriately named after Joseph Mellick Leidy. Although both Champsosaurus and Thoracosaurus, Champsosaurus having less dermal scales than Thoracosaurus. The morphology of Champsosaurus resembles that of gharials, with a long, elongated snout. Though less common than the other crocodilians, Champsosaurus are still ubiquitous throughout the waterways, snatching fish with their long, thin snouts. Although their group is now entirely gone, this animal did survive the great extinction and right through into the Eocene, some 64 mya. Champsosaurus was the first member of the Choristodera to be described. Champsosaurus was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1876, from isolated vertebrae found in Late Cretaceous strata of the Judith River Formation on the banks of the Judith River in Fergus County, Montana. Cope named several other species between 1876 and 1882, also based on isolated vertebrae. Barnum Brown in 1905 described the first complete remains of Champsosaurus, and noted that one of the species was attributed to Champsosaurus by Cope in 1876. Fossils of Champsosaurus have been found in North America (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Wyoming) and Europe (Belgium and France), dating from the Upper Cretaceous to the late Paleocene, another extinction survivor. Champsosaurus is extremely similar to crocodilians in body form and behavior. However, this animal is not a crocodilian, but a member of a far more ancient brand of reptile that has left no living relatives. Although their group is now entirely gone, this animal did survive the great extinction and right through into the Eocene, some 64 mya. The skull of Champsosaurus is dorsoventrally flattened, while the temporal arches are expanded posteriorly (towards the back of the skull) and laterally (away from the midline), giving the skull a heart-shaped appearance when viewed from above. The snout is greatly elongated and gharial-like, making up around half the length of the skull, and at least four times as long as it is wide, with the opening of the nostrils at the end of the snout. The openings of the ears are located on the underside of the skull. The braincase of Champsosaurus is poorly ossified at the front of the skull (anterior), but is well ossified in the rear (posterior) similar to other diapsids. The cranial endocast (space occupied by the brain in the cranial vault) is similar to that of basal archosauromorphs, being proportionally narrow in both dorsoventral and lateral axes, with an enlarged pineal body and olfactory bulbs. The optic lobes and flocculi are small in size, indicating only average vision ability at best. The olfactory chambers of the nasal passages and olfactory stalks of the braincase are reasonably large, indicating that Champsosaurus probably had good olfactory capabilities as in sense of smell. The nasal passages lack bony turbinates and the semicircular canals are most similar to those of other aquatic reptiles. The expansion of the sacculus indicates that Champsosaurus likely had an increased sensitivity to low-frequency sounds and vibrations. The absence of an otic notch indicates that Champsosaurus lacked a tympanum, and probably had a poor ability to detect airborne sounds. Champsosaurus belongs to the Neochoristodera, a clade within Choristodera, the members of which are characterized by elongated snouts and expanded temporal arches. The group first appeared during the Early Cretaceous in Asia and is suggested to have evolved in the regional absence of aquatic crocodyliforms. Champsosaurus, like many of its fellow neochoristoderes, features teeth with striated enamel of the tooth crown with enamel infolding at the base. Anterior teeth are typically sharper and more slender than posterior teeth. Like other choristoderes, Champsosaurus possessed palatal teeth (teeth present on the bones of the roof of the mouth), with longitudinal rows present on the pterygoid, palatine, and vomer, alongside a small row on the flange of the pterygoid. The palatine teeth of Champsosaurus are located on raised platforms of bone, though the wideness of the platforms, the sharpness, and orientation of teeth vary between species. The orientation of the teeth varies in the jaw, with the posterior teeth being orientated backward. The palatal teeth, likely in combination with a fleshy tongue, probably aided in gripping and swallowing prey. Skin impressions of Champsosaurus have been reported. They consist of small (0.6-0.1 mm) pustulate and rhomboid scales, with the largest scales being located on the lateral sides of the body, decreasing in size dorsally, no osteoderms were present. Champsosaurus is thought to have been highly specialized for aquatic life. Erickson 1985 suggested that the expanded temporal arches, which likely anchored powerful jaw muscles, and elongated snout allowed Champsosaurus to prey on fish akin to modern gharials, with these adaptations allowing rapid movement of the head and jaws for prey capture. A study in 2021 found that the middle and posterior neck vertebrae of Champsosaurus were adapted for lateral movement and that Champsosaurus may have fed by laterally sweeping its head, using its slender jaws to grab individual fish from shoals, akin to how modern gharials feed. The mechanism of head movement is different from that of gharials, where lateral movement occurs at the head-neck joint. It is unlikely that Champsosaurus fed by inertial feeding (where the prey is temporarily let go and the head moved forwards in order to force the prey deeper into the throat), but that the prey was moved down the throat by the tongue in combination with the palatal dentition. Erickston 1985 proposed that the position of the nostrils at the front of the snout allowed Champsosaurus to spend large amounts of time at the bottom of water bodies, with the head being angled upwards to allow the snout to act like a snorkel when the animal needed to breathe. However, later studies suggested that the neck vertebrae of Champsosaurus only had a limited ability to flex upwards. Champsosaurus co-existed with similarly sized aquatic crocodilians and at some Paleocene localities with fellow neochoristodere Simoedosaurus, though in assemblages where Champsosaurus occurs where long snouted gharial-like crocodilians are absent, suggesting that there was niche differentiation. Previously, two species of Champsosaurus were identified from the Tullock Formation in Montana. However, these differences are now thought to be sexually dimorphic, with presumed females possessing robust limb bones. Non-deformation related fusion of the sacral vertebrae is also observed in specimens with robust limb bones. These are hypothesized to be related to breeding behavior, with the more robust limb bones and fused sacrals of the females allowing them to move themselves onto land to lay eggs.

Tucker: "Those Crocodiles in the water are Borealosuchus meaning "Boreal crocodile." This extinct genus of crocodyliforms that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene in North America. It was named by Chris Brochu in 1997 for several species that had been assigned to Leidyosuchus. Borealosuchus was a mid-sized crocodyliform; and most abundant of them all. This animal lives much like the crocodiles of today, lurking below the surface of swamps and rivers, waiting to ambush prey that venture too close to the water's edge. This ancient species is close to the ancestor of all modern crocodilians, and its genus survived long after the extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs."

Lana Loud: "Whoa! Now it's my turn to see what those frogs are. Maybe Hops will like them as friends?" (Picking up the guide and reading it) "Palaeobatrachus meaning "ancient frog" in Greek."

Thomas: "It seems Palaeobatrachus resembled xenopus or African clawed frogs, that I used to keep two of them as pets long ago. Its name is derived from the three short claws on each hind foot, which it uses to tear apart its food. Although not closely related, it would have superficially resembled the present day African clawed toad Xenopus. But what I find weird is that this frog species lived in Europe that existed from the Thanetian stage of the Eocene to the middle Pleistocene period. It could be possible that they dated back earlier as fossils to the late Cretaceous as fossil materials were found in North America."

Lana Loud: "Those sound quite interesting, it says here Palaeobatrachus had a relatively broad skull the shape of a Gothic arch. Its body was relatively large, ranging from 8 to 10 centimeters (3.1 to 3.9 in) in length, and females were usually larger than the males, Its skeletal remains are plentiful in freshwater sediments in western Bohemia, in Geiseltal (west Germany) and in east Germany. They are sometimes preserved very well indeed, with impressions of internal organs, muscles, nerves, blood vessels and epidermis, and with traces of coloring. Tadpoles and eggs have also been found. These frogs lived permanently in water. Their bag-shaped lungs, on the dorsal side of their body, enabled them to remain submerged for long periods. They inhabited through-drainage basins or swamps where brown coal deposits were formed. Like the African clawed toad, they probably lived on small crustaceans, insect larvae and small fish and themselves provided sustenance for many other animals. The climatic change at the beginning of the Pliocene was a real catastrophe for Palaeobatrachus, which required warmth, and, being specialized, was unable to adapt itself to the altered conditions. Water-rich and warm environments that existed in the area of the Netherlands, acting as a refugium for Palaeobatrachus, made it possible for one species, Palaeobatrachus eurydices to survive in western europe as recently as the early Pleistocene. In addition a species persisted in southern Russia until the mid Pleistocene. Sounds sad."

Lincoln: "True, But that's all gonna change now once we bring me to Paleo Park and what about the turtles?"

Charlie: "As for the turtles, Those softshell turtles are Axestemys, meaning "axe turtle", is an extinct genus of softshell turtle that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene in western North America and the name suggests, these animals lack the bony scutes found on the shells of most turtles like its modern relatives, it probably had leathery, pliable skin at the sides. Despite living several million years ago, Axestemys would have looked very similar to its modern relatives like modern day Florida and Yangtze Softshells, with a long neck, a sharp beak, and three toes on each foot. All species of Axestemys grew to a large size, especially Axestemys byssina, that could reach a total length of 2 meters (79 in) or more, being larger than any modern day species of softshell turtle with a carapace length of up to a meter or more. Based on the diet of modern softshell turtles, it was an omnivore, eating water plants, invertebrates, and perhaps small fish."

Filburt: "As for the big turtles, although they have features of a tortoise are Basilemys meaning "Royal or king turtle", they have been found in rocks dating to the Campanian and Maastrichtian subdivisions of the Late Cretaceous and is considered to be the largest terrestrial turtle of its time. Basilemys is solely found in North America. The family Nanhsiungchelyidae, which Basilemys belongs to, made its first appearance in the Lower Cretaceous, in what we now call Asia. Because of Basilemys, we know that this family appeared in North America in the Upper Cretaceous. It is possible that Basilemys and other nanhsiungchelyids are immigrants from Asia. They might have arrived in North America by passing through what we now call the Bering Strait somewhere during the Cretaceous. An analysis made by Sukhanov on a new Nansiunghelyid turtle from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, it was demonstrated that Asian nanhsiungchelyids gave rise to the North American nanhsiungchelyids. Basilemys shares some traits with another member of nanhsiungchelyidae, Zangerlia, which is similar to Basilemys in, for example, skull proportions. However, Basilemys has a more complex triturating surface that includes well-defined pockets on the dentary, and it also has tooth-like projections on the triturating surface of the maxilla. From the species in nanhsiungchelyidae, Basilemys is considered to be most similar to tortoises. Many paleontologists have described the behaviors of Basilemys to likely be comparable to that of tortoises, due to living in terrestrial habitats and consuming tough plants. Moreover, the complex triturating surface of Basilemys indicates that they are similar to tortoises in being terrestrial herbivores. Basilemys is easily distinguishable from other fossil turtles due to how thick its shell is, the intricate sculpture of rows of triangular tubercles separated by pits, and its reduced inframarginal scales. The fossil record is abundant with material from the shell and with appendicular, but cranial and cervical material is quite rare for Basilemys. Basilemys is a bit of an enigma, with a carapace shape similar to aquatic turtles but the limbs and beak of a terrestrial herbivore, like a tortoise. Unlike its mostly aquatic turtles, Basilemys occupies the Hell Creek floodplains, feeding on low growing plants. It is also a relatively large animal, matching Axestemys in size, with shell lengths averaging around a meter."

May: "So how are we gonna get them through the portal?"

Thomas: Here's the plan, the strong and agile members can use that tree as a bridge so that you can get behind the champsosaurus, thoracosaurus, and borealosuchus and use fish to bait. thoracosaurus. Once the crocodilians are all out of the way, we can figure out a way to take care of the frogs and turtles. and we gotta hurry Armageddon's in 36 hours and that's a day and a half.

The group consisting Lynn, May, Muscleman, Charlie, Jake, Finn, Skips, Mordecai, etc. used canned fish to bait while splashing the water with sticks and all three crocodilian floats came charging through the portal to the park. Lana Loud caught the frogs carefully draping the net over where the eight palaeobatrachus were resting, hauled them in, and opened the portal as the frogs hopped out from under the net and went through the portal. As for the turtles, they don't seem to be going anywhere. Looking away, they saw the axestemys swim towards where Filburt was positioned. The basilemys, meanwhile, continued browsing peacefully. Filburt, without saying a word, waited for the axestemys to reach him, allowing them all to calmly waddle through the portal as they climbed out of the river. But they overlooked something else, they were interrupted by a massive cacophony of splashing, followed by a low, crocodilian hiss. Our heroes immediately turned their heads, surprised, to see the basilemys trying to desperately swim away from the nine logs...or, rather, a float of black scaled with pale yellow underbellies, and black stripes on the lower belly, alligator-like crocodilians.

Charlie managed to get a brief glance inside the jaws of one to notice that its teeth were oval-shaped, with rounded tops as they all yelped.

Charlie: "Brachychampsa, meaning "Short Crocodile" an extinct genus of alligators, possibly a basal caiman. This ancient relative of modern alligators and caimans survived the massive extinction of 66 mya, much like the larger Borealosuchus. This crocodilian can be distinguished by its wide, rounded snout and bizarre blunt teeth which it utilizes to crush the hard shells like crustaceans and crack through turtle shells.``

Filburt gulped when he heard what Charlie said, he didn't want to be in the jaws of that Alligator, especially his shell.

Heffer: "Nervous, Fil?"

Lori: "Great, just great. This is going to be literally difficult?!"

Carver: "Yeah, girl I don't want to get in those gators' jaws!"

Charlie: "Not necessarily. Right now, the brachychampsa are in a frenzy; they're fighting each other over who gets the prey. That could work to our advantage…"

Thomas: "Right, and we can use the turtles right over there! Use that to lead to the portal!"

Sure enough, they could now see the basilemys swimming towards the shore where the rocko's group were positioned. In a flash, Rocko had his portal open in time for the turtles to start swimming through. But as this happened, he noticed something.

Rocko: "Wait! There's only eight of them!"

They see one Basilemys struggling to keep up with the Alligators inching closer and closer.

Filburt: "I'll go get it!"

He runs to get the lagging Turtle as he picks it up and heads back on shore. Suddenly. One of the Brachychampsa grabs Filburt's shell by the jaws and tries to pull him and the turtle with him.

Filburt: "Help! Help! It's got Me! It's got Me! Tell my wife and kids that I love them!"

Charlie: "I got you Filburt!"

Soon Charlie grabbed his hands and it was a tug-o-war joined by Rocko, Heffer, Thomas, Dawn, Skips, and Amanda as they pulled harder. The Brachychampsa let go of Filburt as they fell to the floor as the turtle was placed back on the ground and hurried straight into the portal. The Alligator float, seeing their prey got away crawled out to the shore of the river, and entered the portal. After that ordeal some of the medics likeBrock, Danny, Numbuh 3, and Iris were attending Filburt's injured shell by wrapping bandages on his shell.

Thomas: "It's gonna be alright Filburt. Those cracks will heal."

Filburt: "Yeah, I hope so."

. . . . .

Meanwhile at the park, Travis and his team at the land-based holding pens couldn't help but stare at what had just unfolded before them. Seconds ago, the portal had opened followed by nine alligator-like crocodilians. And at this point, everyone assembled was gaping at the sight of the crocodilians, now thrashing and writhing in the holding pen.

Travis: "This is an interesting bunch, Turtles, Frogs and crocodilians. You gotta understand it's not just dinosaurs, But creatures like them that share the same habitat. We can easily look after them because we have modern day relatives and similar animals for references in their husbandry."

. . . . .

Back in the Cretaceous, as the group followed the river, they came upon another clearing. They saw two species of ankylosaur browsing. The larger kind was thirty feet long, and heavily armored, with gray large armor plates covering the body, except for the belly. Their scaly armor was brown, which was pale and some bits of bristle fuzz. The head was wide and heavily armored; even the eyelids were armored. The tail ended in a large, rounded club, which swished smaller kind, only about twenty feet long. They lacked a club and their pale colored black tipped armor was less elaborate – they were also more reddish-brown in color grading to a lighter grayish brown on the flanks, tail, legs, and head, had narrower muzzles and long shoulder spikes which were black tipped.

Rocko: "Look over, Ankylosaurus!."

Thomas: "Indeed it is Rocko, Ankylosaurus magniventris named by Barnum Brown in 1908, You see in 1906, an American Museum of Natural History expedition led by American paleontologist Barnum Brown discovered the type specimen of Ankylosaurus magniventris in the Hell Creek Formation, near Gilbert Creek, Montana. The specimen found by collector Peter Kaisen consisted of the upper part of a skull, two teeth, part of the shoulder girdle, cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, ribs, and more than thirty osteoderms (armor plates). Brown scientifically described the animal in 1908; the generic name means "fused lizard", "stiff lizard", or "curved lizard", derived from the Greek words ankulos ('bent' or 'crooked'), referring to the medical term ankylosis, the stiffness produced by the fusion of bones in the skull and body, and sauros ('lizard').While specific name magniventris, means "great belly" is derived from the Latin: magnus ('great') and Latin: venter ('belly'), referring to the great width of the animal's body. A handful of specimens have been excavated to date, but a complete skeleton has not been discovered. Through other members of Ankylosauria are represented by more extensive fossil material, Ankylosaurus is often considered the archetypal member of its group, despite having some unusual features.``

Thomas brings out two images from his bag that resemble the smaller kind while the other resembles more of an Ankylosaurus.

Thomas: "The first images depict the skeletal reconstruction accompanying the 1908 description restored with missing parts in a fashion similar to Stegosaurus, and Brown likened the result to the extinct armored mammal Glyptodon. The skeleton is more similar to those smaller ankylosaur kinds."

Heffer: "Why is that?"

Double D: "When you don't have many fossils, You have to use fossils of other animals of mostly related species to fill in the gaps until more fossils are found. In contrast to modern depictions, Brown's stegosaur-like reconstruction showed robust forelimbs, a strongly arched back, a pelvis with prongs projecting forwards from the ilium and pubis, as well as a short, drooping tail without a tail club, which was unknown at the time. Brown also reconstructed the armor plates in parallel rows running down the back; this arrangement was purely hypothetical. Brown's reconstruction became highly influential, and restorations of the animal based on his diagram were published as late as the 1980s. In a 1908 review of Brown's Ankylosaurus description, the American paleontologist Samuel Wendell Williston criticized the skeletal reconstruction as being based on too few remains, and claimed that Ankylosaurus was merely a synonym of the genus Stegopelta, which Williston had named in 1905. Williston also stated that a skeletal reconstruction of the related Polacanthus by Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa was a better example of how ankylosaurs would have appeared in life. The claim of synonymy was not accepted by other researchers, and the two genera are now considered distinct. The first reconstruction doesn't have the club tail and stegosaurus was a distant relative of Ankylosaurus as they both shared a common ancestor. Brown considered Ankylosaurus so distinct that he made it the type genus of a new family, Ankylosauridae, typified by massive, triangular skulls, short necks, stiff backs, broad bodies, and osteoderms. Ankylosauria and Stegosauria are now grouped together within the clade Thyreophora. This group first appeared in the Sinemurian age, and survived for 135 million years until disappearing in the Maastrichtian. They were widespread and inhabited a broad range of environments."

Thomas: "Thank you for that info Double D, and it wasn't until in 1910, an AMNH expedition led by Brown discovered an Ankylosaurus specimen in the Scollard Formation by the Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada. This specimen included a complete skull, mandibles, the first and only tail club known of this genus, as well as ribs, vertebrae, limb bones, and armor giving a much better picture of Ankylosaurus in this second image. Most of the known Ankylosaurus specimens were not scientifically described at length, though several paleontologists planned to do so until American paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter redescribed the genus in 2004. Carpenter noted that Ankylosaurus has become the archetypal member of its group, and the best-known ankylosaur in popular culture, perhaps due to a life-sized reconstruction of the animal being featured at the 1964 World's Fair in New York City. That sculpture, as well as the American artist Rudolph Zallinger's 1947 mural The Age of Reptiles and other later popular depictions, showed Ankylosaurus with a tail club, following the first discovery of the feature in 1910. In spite of its familiarity, it is known from far fewer remains than its closest relatives. In 2017 the Canadian paleontologists Victoria M. Arbour and Jordan Mallon redescribed the genus in light of newer ankylosaur discoveries, including elements of the holotype that had not been previously mentioned in the literature (such as parts of the skull and the cervical half-rings). They concluded that though Ankylosaurus is iconic and the best-known member of its group, it was bizarre in comparison to related ankylosaurs, and therefore not representative of the group,in fact, Ankylosaurus was the largest-known ankylosaurine dinosaur and possibly the largest ankylosaurid."

Charlie: "That was some history, here is something you should know as we're seeing with these traditional popular depictions show Ankylosaurus in a squatting posture and with a huge tail club being dragged over the ground. Modern reconstructions show the animal with a more upright limb posture and with the tail held off the ground. Likewise, large spines projecting sideways from the body similar to those of nodosaurid ankylosaurs are present in many traditional depictions, but are not known from Ankylosaurus itself. The armor of Ankylosaurus has often been conflated with that of Edmontonia earlier referred to as Palaeoscincus; in addition to Ankylosaurus being depicted with spikes, Edmontonia ironically has also been depicted with an Ankylosaurus-like tail club (a feature nodosaurids did not have), including in a mural by the American artist Charles R. Knight from 1930. The Jurassic world Ankylosaurus is didn't have spikes on the sides and the amor more a turtle shell than thick skin."

Lisa: "Another thing, it hasn't that big in the movies either, Carpenter in 2004 estimated that the individual with the largest-known skull, which is 64.5 centimeters (2 ft 1+1⁄2 in) long and 74.5 cm (2 ft 5+1⁄4 in) wide, was about 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in) long and had a hip height of about 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in). The smallest-known skull was 55.5 cm (1 ft 9 + 3⁄4 in) long and 64.5 cm (2 ft 1+1⁄2 in) wide, and Carpenter estimated that it measured about 5.4 m (17 ft 9 in) long and about 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) tall at the hips. The American paleontologist Roger B. J. Benson and colleagues estimated the weight of the small specimen at 4.78 metric tons (5.27 short tons) in 2014. In 2017, based on comparisons with more complete ankylosaurines, Arbour and Mallon estimated a length of 7.56 to 9.99 m (24 ft 9+1⁄2 in to 32 ft 9+1⁄2 in) for the large specimen, and 6.02 to 7.95 m (19 ft 9 in to 26 ft 1 in) for the small specimen. Though the latter is the smallest specimen of Ankylosaurus, its skull is still larger than those of any other ankylosaurins. A few other ankylosaurs reached about 6 m (20 ft) in length. Because the vertebrae of the small specimen are not significantly larger than those of other ankylosaurines, Arbour and Mallon considered their upper range estimate of nearly 10 meters (33 ft) for large Ankylosaurus too long, and suggested a length of 8 m (26 ft) instead. Arbour and Mallon estimated a weight of 4.78 t (5.27 short tons) for the small ankylosaurus specimen, and tentatively estimated the weight of the large ankylosaurus specimen at 7.95 t (8.76 short tons).The three known Ankylosaurus skulls differ in various details; this is thought to be the result of taphonomy changes happening during decay and fossilization of the remains and individual variation. The skull was low and triangular in shape, and wider than it was long; the back of the skull was broad and low. The skull had a broad beak on the premaxillae. The orbits' eye sockets were almost round to slightly oval and did not face directly sideways because the skull tapered towards the front. The braincase was short and robust, as in other ankylosaurines. Crests above the orbits merged into the upper squamosal horns, their shape has been described as "pyramidal", which pointed backwards to the sides from the back of the skull. The crest and horn were probably separate elements originally, as seen in the related Pinacosaurus and Euoplocephalus. Below the upper horns, jugal horns were present, which pointed backward and down. The horns may have originally been osteoderms that fused to the skull. The scale-like cranial ornamentation on the surfaces of ankylosaurs skulls is called "caputegulae", and were the result of remodeling of the skull itself. This obliterated the sutures between skull elements, which is common for adult ankylosaurs. The caputegulum pattern of the skull was variable between specimens, though some details are shared. The caputegulae are named according to their position on the skull, and those of Ankylosaurus include a relatively large, hexagonal (or diamond-shaped) nasal caputegulum at the front of the snout between the nostrils, which had a loreal caputegulum on each side, an anterior and posterior supraorbital caputegulum above each orbit, and a ridge of nuchal caputegulae at the back of the skull.``

Tucker: "Here's some interesting stuff about its sense of smell. The snout region of Ankylosaurus was unique among ankylosaurs, and had undergone an "extreme" transformation compared to its relatives. The snout was arched and truncated at the front, and the nostrils were elliptical and were directed downward and outward, unlike in all other known ankylosaurids where they faced obliquely forward or upward. Additionally, the nostrils were not visible from the front because the sinuses were expanded to the sides of the premaxilla bones, to a larger extent than seen in other ankylosaurs. loreal caputegulae—strap-like, side osteoderms of the snout—completely roofed the enlarged opening of the nostrils, giving a bulbous appearance. The nostrils also had an intra-atrial septum, which separated the nasal passage from the sinus. Each side of the snout had five sinuses, four of which expanded into the maxilla bone. The nasal cavities or chambers of Ankylosaurus were elongated and separated by a septum at the midline, which divided the inside of the snout into two mirrored halves. The nasal chambers had two openings, including the choanae, the internal nostrils, and the air passage was looped. The maxillae expanded to the sides, giving the impression of a bulge, which may have been due to the sinuses inside. The maxillae had a ridge that may have been the attachment site for fleshy cheeks; the presence of cheeks in ornithischians is controversial, but some nodosaurs had armor plates that covered the cheek region, which may have been embedded in the flesh. In 1977 the Polish paleontologist Teresa Maryańska proposed that the complex sinuses and nasal cavities of ankylosaurs may have lightened the weight of the skull, housed a nasal gland, or acted as a chamber for vocal resonance. Carpenter rejected these hypotheses, arguing that tetrapod animals make sounds through the larynx, not the nostrils, and that reduction in weight was minimal, as the spaces only accounted for a small percent of the skull volume. He also considered a gland unlikely and noted that the sinuses may not have had any specific function. It has also been suggested that the respiratory passages were used to perform a mammal-like treatment of inhaled air, based on the presence and arrangement of specialized bones. A 2011 study of the nasal passages of Euoplocephalus by the Japanese paleontologist Tetsuto Miyashita and colleagues supported their function as a heat and water balancing system, noting the extensive blood vessel system and an increased surface area for the mucosa membrane (used for heat and water exchange in modern animals). The researchers also supported the idea of the loops acting as a resonance chamber, comparable to the elongated nasal passages of saiga antelope and the looping trachea of cranes and swans. Reconstructions of the inner ear suggest adaptation to hearing at low frequencies, such as the low-toned resonant sounds possibly produced by the nasal passages. They disputed the possibility that the looping is related to olfaction, their sense of smell as the olfactory region is pushed to the sides of the main airway. According to Carpenter, the shape of the nasal chambers of Ankylosaurus indicate that airflow was unidirectional (looping through the lungs during inhalation and exhalation), although it may also have been bidirectional in the posterior nasal chamber, with air directed past the olfactory lobes. The enlarged olfactory region of ankylosaurids indicates a well-developed sense of smell.

Though hindwards retraction of the nostrils is seen in aquatic animals and animals with a proboscis, it is unlikely either possibility applies to Ankylosaurus, as the nostrils tend to be reduced or the premaxilla extended. In addition, though the widely separated nostrils may have allowed for stereo-olfaction (where each nostril senses smells from different directions), as has been proposed for the moose, little is known about this feature. The position of the orbits of Ankylosaurus suggest some stereoscopic vision."

Luan: "I get to say this part, The structure of much of the skeleton of Ankylosaurus, including most of the pelvis, tail, and feet, is still unknown. It was quadrupedal, and its hind limbs were longer than its forelimbs. While the feet of Ankylosaurus are incompletely known, the hind feet probably had three toes, as is the case in advanced ankylosaurids. A prominent feature of Ankylosaurus was its armor, consisting of knobs and plates of bone known as osteoderms, or scutes, embedded in the skin. These have not been found in articulation, so their exact placement on the body is unknown, though inferences can be made based on related animals, and various configurations have been proposed. The osteoderms ranged from 1 centimeter (1⁄2 in) in diameter to 35.5 cm (14 in) in length, and varied in shape. The osteoderms of Ankylosaurus were generally thin walled and hollowed on the underside. Compared to Euoplocephalus, the osteoderms of Ankylosaurus were smoother. Many smaller osteoderms and ossicles probably occupied the space between the larger ones, as in other ankylosaurids. The osteoderms covering the body were very flat, though with a low keel at one margin. In contrast, the nodosaurid Edmontonia had high keels stretching from one margin to the other on the midline of its osteoderms. Ankylosaurus had some smaller osteoderms with a keel across the midline. Like other ankylosaurids, Ankylosaurus had cervical half-rings (armor plates on the neck), but these are known only from fragments, making their exact arrangement uncertain. Carpenter suggested that when seen from above, the plates would have been paired, creating an inverted V-shape across the neck, with the midline gap probably being filled with small ossicles (round bony scutes) to allow for movement. He believed the width of this armor belt was too wide to have fitted solely on the neck, and that it covered the base of the neck and continued onto the shoulder region. Arbour and the Canadian paleontologist Philip J. Currie disagreed with Carpenter's interpretation in 2015 and pointed out that the cervical half-ring fragments of the holotype specimen did not fit together in the way proposed by Carpenter (though this could be due to breakage). They instead suggested that the fragments represented the remains of two cervical half-rings, which formed two semi-circular plates of armor around the upper part of the neck, as in the closely related Anodontosaurus and Euoplocephalus. Arbour and Mallon elaborated on this idea, describing the shape of these half-rings as "continuous U-shaped yokes" over the upper part of the neck, and suggested that Ankylosaurus had six keeled osteoderms with oval bases on each half-ring. The first osteoderms behind the second cervical half-ring would have been similar in shape to those in the first half-ring, and the osteoderms on the back probably decreased in diameter hindwards. The largest osteoderms were probably arranged in transverse and longitudinal rows across most of the body, with four or five transverse rows separated by creases in the skin. The osteoderms on the flanks would probably have had a more square outline than those on the back. There may have been four longitudinal rows of osteoderms on the flanks. Unlike some basal ankylosaurs and many nodosaurs, ankylosaurids do not appear to have had co-ossified pelvic shields above their hips. Some osteoderms without keels may have been placed above the hip region of Ankylosaurus, as in Euoplocephalus. Ankylosaurus may have had three or four transverse rows of circular osteoderms over the pelvic region, which were smaller than those on the rest of the body, as in Scolosaurus. Smaller, triangular osteoderms may have been present on the sides of the pelvis. Flattened, pointed plates resemble those on the sides of the tail of Saichania, and may have been distributed similarly on Ankylosaurus. Osteoderms with oval keels could have been placed on the upper side of the tail or the side of the limbs. Compressed, triangular osteoderms found with Ankylosaurus specimens may have been placed on the sides of the pelvis or the tail. Ovoid, keeled, and teardrop-shaped osteoderms are known from Ankylosaurus, and may have been placed on the forelimbs, like those known from Pinacosaurus, but it is unknown whether the hindlimbs bore osteoderms. It was so armored even its eyelids were armored."

Lynn: "Well, let's not forget it's tail club, the guide says the tail club or tail knob of Ankylosaurus was composed of two large osteoderms, with a row of small osteoderms at the midline, and two small osteoderms at the tip; these osteoderms obscured the last tail vertebra.

The only tail club of specimen from the American Museum is known, the range of variation between individuals is unknown. The tail club was 60 cm (23+1⁄2 in) long, 49 cm (19+1⁄2 in) wide, and 19 cm (7+1⁄2 in) tall. The club of the largest specimen may have been 57 cm (22+ 1⁄2 in) wide. The tail club of Ankylosaurus was semicircular when seen from above, similar to those of Euoplocephalus and Scolosaurus but unlike the pointed club osteoderms of Anodontosaurus or the narrow, elongated club of Dyoplosaurus. The last seven tail vertebrae formed the "handle" of the tail club. These vertebrae were in contact, with no cartilage between them, and were sometimes co-ossified, which made them immobile. Ossified tendons attached to the vertebrae in front of the tail club, and these features together helped strengthen it. The interlocked zygapophyses (articular processes) and neural spines of the handle vertebrae were U-shaped when seen from above, whereas those of most other ankylosaurids are V-shaped, which may be due to the handle of Ankylosaurus being wider. The larger width may indicate that the tail of Ankylosaurus was shorter in relation to its body length than those of other ankylosaurids, or that it had the same proportions but with a smaller club. The tail club of Ankylosaurus seems to have been an active defensive weapon, capable of producing enough of an impact to break the bones of an assailant. The tendons of the tail were partially ossified and were not very elastic, allowing great force to be transmitted to the club when it was used as a weapon. Coombs suggested in 1979 that several hindlimb muscles would have controlled the swinging of the tail, and that violent thrusts of the club would have been able to break the metatarsal bones of large theropods. A 2009 study estimated that ankylosaurids could swing their tails at 100 degrees laterally, and the mainly cancellous clubs would have had a lowered moment of inertia and been effective weapons. The study also found that while adult ankylosaurid tail clubs were capable of breaking bones, those of juveniles were not. Despite the feasibility of tail-swinging, the researchers could not determine whether ankylosaurids used their clubs for defense against potential predators, in intraspecific combat, or both. Other studies have found evidence of ankylosaurids using their tail clubs for intraspecific combat. One specimen of Tarchia showed signs of injury on both the pelvic and tail area and the club was found to be asymmetrical, possibly due to restricted bone growth caused by the strikes. In 1993 Tony Thulborn proposed that the tail club of ankylosaurids primarily acted as a decoy for the head, as he thought the tail too short and inflexible to have an effective reach; the "dummy head" would lure a predator close to the tail, where it could be struck. Carpenter has rejected this idea, as tail club shape is highly variable among ankylosaurids, even in the same genus. With its low center of gravity, Ankylosaurus would have been unable to knock down trees like modern elephants do. It was also incapable of chewing bark and thus unlikely to have practiced bark stripping. As an adult, Ankylosaurus does not appear to have congregated in groups (though some ankylosaurs appear to have congregated when young). It is therefore improbable that Ankylosaurus was able to modify the landscape of its ecosystem in the way elephants do; hadrosaurids may instead have had such an "ecosystem engineer" role."

Tish: "The guide also says as more complete specimens and new genera have been discovered, theories about ankylosaurian interrelatedness have become more complex, and hypotheses have often changed between studies. In addition to Ankylosauridae, Ankylosauria has been divided into the families Nodosauridae, and sometimes Polacanthidae, these families lacked tail clubs. Ankylosaurus is considered part of the subfamily Ankylosaurinae, members of which are called ankylosaurines within Ankylosauridae. Ankylosaurus appears to be most closely related to Anodontosaurus and Euoplocephalus. Because Ankylosaurus and other Late Cretaceous North American ankylosaurids were grouped with Asian genera in a tribe the authors named Ankylosaurini, Arbour and Currie suggested that earlier North American ankylosaurids had gone extinct by the late Albian or Cenomanian ages of the Middle Cretaceous. Ankylosaurids thereafter recolonized North America from Asia during the Campanian or Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous, and there diversified again, leading to genera such as Ankylosaurus, Anodontosaurus, and Euoplocephalus. The theory explains a 30-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American ankylosaurids between the ages."

Thomas: "Just like what we're seeing now, like other ornithischians, Ankylosaurus was herbivorous. Its wide muzzle was adapted for non-selective low-browse cropping, although not to the extent seen in some related genera, especially Euoplocephalus. Though ankylosaurs may not have fed on fibrous and woody plants, they may have had a varied diet, including tough leaves and pulpy fruits. Ankylosaurus probably fed on abundant ferns and low-growing shrubs. Assuming it was endothermic, Ankylosaurus would have eaten 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of ferns per day, similar to the amount of dry vegetation a large elephant would consume. The requirements for nutrition could have been more effectively met if Ankylosaurus ate fruit, which its small, cusp-like teeth and the shape of its beak seem well adapted for, compared to for example Euoplocephalus. Certain invertebrates, which the small teeth may have been adapted for handling, could also have provided supplemental nutrition. Fossils of Ankylosaurus teeth exhibit wear on the face of the crown rather than on the tip of the crown, as in nodosaurid ankylosaurs. In 1982 Carpenter ascribed to baby Ankylosaurus two very small teeth that originate from the Lance and Hell Creek Formations and measure 3.2 to 3.3 mm (1⁄8 to 17⁄128 in) in length, respectively. The smaller tooth is heavily worn, leading Carpenter to suggest that ankylosaurids in general or at least the young did not swallow their food whole but employed some sort of chewing. Since adult Ankylosaurus did little chewing of its food, it would have spent less time in the day foraging than an elephant. Based on the broadness of the ribcage, the digestion of unchewed food may have been facilitated by hindgut fermentation like in modern herbivorous lizards, which have several chambers in their enlarged colon. In 1969 Austrian paleontologist Georg Haas concluded that despite the large size of ankylosaur skulls, the associated musculature was relatively weak. He also thought jaw movement was limited to up and down movements. Extrapolating from this, Haas suggested that ankylosaurs ate relatively soft non-abrasive vegetation. Later research on Euoplocephalus indicates that forward and sideways jaw movement was possible in these animals, the skull being able to withstand considerable forces A 2016 study of the dental occlusion (contact between the teeth) of ankylosaur specimens found that the ability for backwards (palinal) jaw movement evolved independently in different ankylosaur lineages, including Late Cretaceous North American ankylosaurids like Ankylosaurus and Euoplocephalus."

Dexter: "There have been reconstructions of ankylosaur forelimb musculature made by Coombs in 1978 suggest that the forelimbs bore the majority of the animal's weight, and were adapted for high force delivery on the front feet, possibly for food gathering. In addition, Coombs suggested that ankylosaurs may have been capable diggers, though the hoof-like structure of the manus would have limited fossorial activity. Ankylosaurs were likely to have been slow-moving and sluggish animals, though they may have been capable of quick movements when necessary. The squamosal horns of the largest Ankylosaurus specimen are blunter than those of the smallest specimen, which is also the case in Euoplocephalus, and this may represent ontogenetic variation related to growth development. Studies of specimens of Pinacosaurus of different ages found that during ontogenetic development, the ribs of juvenile ankylosaurs fused with their vertebrae. The forelimbs strongly increased in robustness while the hindlimbs did not become larger relative to the rest of the skeleton, further evidence that the arms bore most of the weight. In the cervical half-rings, the underlying bone band developed outgrowths connecting it with the underlying osteoderms, which simultaneously fused to each other. On the skull, the middle bone plates first ossified at the snout and the rear rim, with ossification gradually extending towards the middle regions. On the rest of the body, ossification progressed from the neck backward in the direction of the tail. Lastly, the armor which are actually osteoderms which in ankylosaurids were thin in comparison to those of other ankylosaurs, and appear to have been strengthened by randomly distributed cushions of collagen fibers. Structurally similar to Sharpey's fibers, they were embedded directly into the bone tissue, a feature unique to ankylosaurids. This would have provided the ankylosaurids with an armor covering that was both lightweight and highly durable, being resistant to breakage and penetration by the teeth of predators. The palpebral bones over the eyes may have provided additional protection for them. Carpenter suggested in 1982 that the heavily vascularized armor may also have had a role in thermoregulation as in modern crocodilians.

Luan: "Whoa! Those are some facts, We can armored into our minds, But what about those smaller ones?! Are they babies?"

Thomas: "Actually, They're a smaller separate species, A nodosaur. You can tell they have no tail clubs at the end."

Lori: "It says they're called Denversaurus schlessmani, meaning "Denver lizard" quite obvious why, the generic name refers to the Denver Museum of Natural History at Denver, Colorado while the specific name honors Lee E. Schlessman, a major benefactor of the museum and the founder of the Schlessman Family Foundation. In 1922, Philip Reinheimer, a collector and technician employed by the Colorado Museum of Natural History, the predecessor of the present Denver Museum of Nature and Science, near the Twito Ranch in Corson County, South Dakota discovered the fossil of an ankylosaurian in a Maastrichtian age terrestrial horizon of the Lance Formation. In 1943, American paleontologist Barnum Brown referred the find to Edmontonia longiceps. In 1988, American paleontologist Robert Thomas Bakker decided to split the genus Edmontonia. The species Edmontonia rugosidens he made into a separate genus Chassternbergia and the Denver fossil was named and described as a new genus and species. Robert T. Bakker considered Denversaurus distinct from Edmontonia and Chassternbergia in having a skull that was wide at the rear and a more rearward position of the eye sockets. The holotype skull has a length of 496 millimeters and a rear width of 346 millimeters. In the referred specimen these proportions are less extreme, measuring 395 millimeters long with a rear width of 220 millimeters. According to American paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter, the greater width of both the holotype and the referred specimen was due to crushing. In 2010, American paleontologist Gregory S. Paul estimated the length of Denversaurus at six meters and its weight at three tonnes. Vertebrate anatomist and paleontologist Michael Burns in 2015 published an abstract that concluded that Denversaurus was different from Edmontonia but similar to Panoplosaurus in having inflated, convex, cranial sculpting with visible sulci, or troughs, between individual top skull armor elements, but is distinct from Panoplosaurus in having a relatively wider snout. Unlike Ankylosaurus, Denversaurus had a narrow muzzle snout meaning it had a selective diet.``

Lynn: "So what's the plan?"

Lisa: "I'll tell you fifth eldest sibling, Since they have poor sense of vision, sight, and hearing.

The plan with these Ankylosaurs and denversaurs is we make some noise and attract their attention. When they move towards us, we open the portal and I know who will do this one."

Then shows Lynn and Luan standing in front of the herd with the athlete girl holding an airhorn.

Luan: "Why did I volunteer for this?"

Lynn: "Because, you're perfect for this one because, you got a talent for funnies, and also getting on people's nerves."

Luan: "Right," (Clears her throat) "Hey armor tanks and club tails! Over here! Did you hear about the dinosaur who accidentally stepped on an explosive? It was Dino-Mite!"

The ankylosaurs got annoyed with this. As Lynn lifted her horns and began blaring, the ankylosaurs became more and more angry, before they all came charging towards the two Loud sisters. Lisa quickly grabbed the portal remote, causing the portal to whirr into life. The ankylosaurs all charged through the portal, into the present.

Luan: "How did I do?"

Lincoln: "I think you did well."

Lynn: "Hey! I helped too?!"

Luan: "Sure ya did."

Charlie: "It's getting late looks like we have to turn in for the night and set camp."

The team agreed as they set up camp, they knew tomorrow will be their last day before the impact, as they saw the night sky with stars, one of them, an orb that isn't a star is hitting towards earth. The Team must pick up the pace if they were to rescue a . The very next day, the rescue team cleared up the camp immediately after they'd finished eating some apple slices for breakfast. One way or another, this would be their last day in the Cretaceous. Once the entire team was ready, Thomas positioned himself in the center of the clearing.

Thomas: "Alright guys, Now, I know we all talked about it last night, but we need to pick up the pace." (He pointed up towards the sky.) "This is the last day of our time in the Cretaceous. See that up there?," (pointing at the orb,) "That is the DoomBringerTM, ready to hit us sometime this afternoon. So we need to finish this."

Tucker: "Judging by the meteor's current positioning and speed, I'm estimating we've got about five or six hours before it arrives and based on new recent analysis studies, when the disaster happened, it was around June so it happened during late spring and early summer. For the next two hours, we have to find anything else within these forests and our T. Rex."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement. As they continued to walk, the latter of the group made sure to take a glance up at the dreaded asteroid's positioning in the sky every now and then just to be safe. After about fifteen minutes, they finally found their first animals. Perched on a log nearby a small river was a 19-strong flock of cormorant-like birds. They were covered with gray feathers with their wings black-tipped and tails with a barred black stripe ending with white tips, the white underbelly had black spots, bronze yellow webbed feet and beak ending with a black tipped hook, black marking stripe around the eyes and reddish orange earrings. They all currently appeared to be intently watching the water, in search of prey.

Double D: "I remember reading about these, (he whispered as he pointed at the birds.) These are Brodavis meaning "Brodkorb's Bird," a relative of hesperornis, a genus of freshwater hesperornithiform birds known from the Late Cretaceous possibly Campanian and Maastrichtian stage of North America and Asia. These include famous members of this group, like Hesperornis, are large, flightless, seagoing animals. However, being a small and primitive member of this group, retains wings and is still able to fly. Despite this, it still spends most of its time on the water, diving for fish.``

Thomas: "They'll certainly make good residents for the park, Think you can get them through? Double D?"

Double D: "I could, if I had some assistance."

Ed: "Ooh! Pick me!" (While raising his hand)

Eddy: "Alright, we'll help!"

Then Double D carefully drew out three cans of tuna from his backpack. Once he had all three cans opened, he allowed the tuna's scent, plus some whistling, to attract the attention of the flock. Curious, the birds turned to face Double D and Ed and opened tuna cans, hopped off the log, and waddled over. Once they'd all started eating, Double D calmly drew out a fourth can and opened it as well. Once the brodavis had finished eating, Eddy opened the portal.

Ed: "come on birdies into the portal!"

The birds briefly reared back, flapping their wings and squawking in surprise. However, Double D got their attention in time for them to see him send the contents of the can through the portal. Their instincts triggered, the birds jumped off the ground and flew through the portal, into the present.

Eddy: "How was that?"

Double D: "It's a job, Well done."

Sucy: "Guys, have a look at this!"

The sound of a small splash turned the group's attention to the river, turning to see two small fins cut through the water. They noticed more animals as they got closer. Gathered around upon a small log were a group of small amphibians with brown smooth skin with dark brown blotchy spots over their bodies and a white underbelly salamanders with long tails resembling fire salamanders, only much longer. Nine other amphibians that resembled giant sirens, benign grayish brown with black spots, a dark blakc face, and pale pink external gills were swimming around underwater nearby, as were a swarm of bronze yellow horseshoe crabs, a school of gars, bronze yellow with black spots, transparent fins, black barred stripes around the snout, several guitarfish and paddlefish, with guitarfish being light brown with dark brown bands running down the pectoral and pelvic fins, and paddlefish being light gray with black fins and spots around the white underbelly throat, several large bowfins, dark brown on top with black spots, a dark yellowish green layer around the lateral line, a pale underbelly, and yellowish green fins, and a shiver of small freshwater sharks, countershaded with dark brown on the top with grayish brown spots becoming more dark brown on the tail, a grayish brown layer with a white underbelly, the dorsal fins had long sharp visible spines at the front, small hornlets above their heads, and their fins black tipped.

Double D: "I remember reading these in the guide, Those in the water are Scahperpetons, the most common salamander in the area as well as one of the largest. This relative of modern mudpuppies and olms can reach over a meter in total length. Although this long bodied salamander is adapted for aquatic habits, it is not a swimmer. Possessing relatively long, robust limbs it instead inhabits damp terrestrial habits such as stream-sides and swamps, acting more like a lizard than a typical salamander. The ones that look like sirens, a type of amphibian are Habrosaurus meaning "graceful lizard", an extinct genus of prehistoric salamanders, and the oldest known member of the family Sirenidae, which the only limbs they have are the forelimbs.

It was one of the largest lissamphibians of all time, comparable in length to modern giant salamanders at about 1.6 meters, as estimated from its trunk vertebrae length (up to 2 cm long) even larger than Scapherpeton, but unlike Scapherpeton, Habrosaurus is mostly aquatic. Based on our location,This is the type species Habrosaurus dilatus. They have bulkier teeth crowns and exhibited heavy wear facets and it may have preyed upon arthropods with hard carapaces as well as mollusks. But be careful, They might deliver a nasty bite if threatened."

Thomas: "Thank you Double D, for the other aquatic creatures, I can easily reorganize those are horseshoe crabs called Casterolimulus, they appeared since the middle Ordovician having changed little during their 480 million–year history. The freshwater guitarfish are Myledaphus

that probably reached a length of 3 feet (91 cm), being a flatfish, it had large flippers to keep this animal close to the bottom of the water, perfectly camouflaged under the sand and algae, and had teeth adapted for a durophagous diet of animals such as clams. The most common remains of this fish are teeth and vertebrae. A study performed on a Myledaphus vertebra from Alberta in 2013 revealed that Myledaphus had an estimated maximum age of 16 years. This means that Myledaphus had a shorter lifespan than that of the modern common guitarfish, by a difference of 8 years.``

Lana: "Those over there are a paddlefish called Paleopsephurus mostly filter feeder feeding on microcrustaceans and insect larvae that they filter from the water by their gill rakers when they swim and that bowfin fish are called Melvius very similar to the modern bowfin; at over 1.5m long, Melvius is a formidable ambush predator with their sharp teeth and fast ferocity to catch other fish, and the sharks are Lonchidion, a genus of extinct Hybodont Shark. Fossils attributed to Lonchidion are known from as early as the Triassic to as late as the Cretaceous. Lonchidion has been mostly associated with North America and Eurasia, hinting at a very wide distribution for the genus across different species. Hybodonts like Lonchidion are seen as being generalists, capable of hunting and efficiently killing anything from fish and cephalopods, to shelled crustaceans. It is this adaptability which is seen as the main reason for the success of this genus during the Mesozoic, and it is also mirrored within some of the related genera to Lonchidion such as Hybodus."

Misty: "And finally those Garfish are Lepisosteus occidentalis. They have modern day relatives under the Lepisoteus genus like the Spotted Gar, Longnose Gar, Short-nose Gar, and Florida gar. The genus Lepisosteus is a long-lived genus with fossils known from as early as the Jurassic and four species still living today. The hard scales of this primitive fish are some of the most common fossils found in Hell Creek. Like the modern species, Hell Creek Lepisosteus inhabit shallow, slow moving waters in the floodplain. Being ambush predators, they seek areas with a high abundance of aquatic vegetation which is used for cover."

Lor: "How do you recommend we get all these through the portal? Considering the time limit?"

Tino: "Until they've finished making that device the science team is designing, we're just going to have to make do with these nests."

Thomas: "Good thinking Tino, It's worth a shot!"

After a couple tries, the group managed to get the hang of it and, after connecting the portal to the freshwater holding tanks, managed to get first the amphibians, then the fish, and finally the casterolimulus through the portal and to the safety of the park.