Kaisumi Ishiara couldn't help but smile, her green eyes agleam, as she watched the ten quetzalcoatlus in their aviary at Hell Creek formation. At that moment, nine of them were feeding on the remains of a cow, whilst one of them was feeding on several chicken carcasses separately from the rest of the group. She couldn't help but direct a sympathetic look towards the lone individual. This was Cirrus – the smaller of the two adolescent males. The larger one, Zephyr, had been bullying Cirrus frequently during feeding time, even stealing his food, meaning that Cirrus had to be separated.

She then found herself smiling briefly. It had been Adrian who'd brought the matter to Kyle's attention, and the two had resolved to feed Cirrus separately. And from what she had heard, Adrian had visited Cirrus frequently – the two had formed quite a close bond. She nodded her head. It was acts of kindness like this that contrasted with his otherwise seemingly gruff and aloof exterior that made Kaisumi feel very glad indeed that she and her close researcher friends Will and Matt had chosen to let him be their friend.

The sound of squawking got Kaisumi to return her attention to the adzharchids, each pair splitting off to their territories. It was in that moment that she took note of how the three adult pairs mostly kept to their own sections of the aviary, unlike the adolescents. Unlike some pterosaurs, fossil evidence for adzharchid reproductive behaviour was scant – it seemed that quetzalcoatlus, at least, formed territory-holding pairs.

However, one of the young females, named Nimbus, made her way towards Cirrus while holding a large strip meat in her beak. After about a minute, Cirrus stopped eating and turned his head towards Nimbus, a confused low squawk coming from his beak as he noticed her standing nearby. Nimbus warbled and gently placed the strip of cow meat down nearby the remains of the chickens Cirrus had been feeding upon. Cirrus looked down at it, and then back up at Nimbus, warbling in seeming confusion, before pausing for a moment, lowering his head and snapping up the offering Nimbus had given to him and letting out a warble of thanks.

Kaisumi couldn't help but smile at this. This was a pleasant surprise – especially when one considered how Cirrus usually tended to behave around those he didn't really trust.

She nodded her head as she had this thought. Now that she really thought it, Cirrus reminded her a lot of Adrian at times – they were both aloof and reserved, with a softer side they only showed to those they trusted. In a way, it made perfect sense for the two of them to end up bonding. It seemed a lot of people were; she, Will and Matt hadn't, but she didn't want to give them any reason to feel jealous.

She nodded her head. In all honesty, she hadn't known them as long as they had known Alice Denham, but she'd become fast friends with them shortly after they'd joined Novum. And to this day, she was very glad indeed that she'd managed to befriend them – it was almost as if she'd been friends with them her entire life. They were like the brothers she never had. She was also pleased to have befriended Alice, her younger brother Jack, and Adrian.

The sound of additional low warbling squawks attracted her attention back to the quetzalcoatlus in time to see Cirrus and Nimbus rubbing their heads together in a seemingly affectionate style. She smiled again at the sight of this. Deep down, she'd always been something of a romantic.

A harsh squawk from elsewhere in the aviary caused Kaisumi to look in the direction the noise was coming from just in time to see Zephyr perched atop a small cliff within the aviary and glaring with narrowed eyes towards Cirrus and Nimbus. Kaisumi narrowed her eyes at the sight of this. "And to think we didn't have enough reason to keep an eye on him," she thought to herself. It was already bad enough that Zephyr had been bullying Cirrus away from foo – if he started trying to fight Cirrus over Nimbus, then things could very likely get even more unpleasant. She filed the information away, making sure to take note that she'd be wise to report this.

"I may like pterosaurs," she whispered to herself as she continued to keep a close eye on both Zephyr, Cirrus and Nimbus. "But hooboy can they be a hassle to deal with every now and then." And even as she had these thoughts, she couldn't help but wonder just what her two close friends and fellow members of the Prehistoric Park research division were up to at that particular moment.

. . . . .

Matt Thompson stayed as quiet as possible, scarcely even daring to breathe as he carefully observed the dimetrodon from just outside the boundary of their paddock. It had been almost two weeks since their mating season had started, and he was pleasantly surprised to see that things were so far unfolding smoothly. All six of the younger dimetrodon were peacefully napping near the river within the paddock. One of the adult females was sleeping on a large rock nearby the entrance to the dimetrodon holding area. The other six adults of the group, however, were all moving calmly about the paddock, searching for food.

In particular, he was focused on Rommel and Otrera, whom he could now see searching for food together. Matt couldn't help but chuckle happily at this, "It's been almost two weeks since they started displaying," he whispered to himself under his breath. "And clearly their bond is still going strong. I'll bet Mr. Taymor and Dr. Eberhart will be happy to hear this."

He nodded his head, smile still on his face as he rubbed his right hand through his chestnut brown hair. From a young age, extinct non-mammal synapsids had interested him – Dimetrodon, particularly, had been his favourite prehistoric animal. Naturally, the fact that he'd since gotten to personally work with Permian synapsids alive and in the flesh made the whole business a dream come true for him. Of course, the dimetrodon, like most of the other animals, had not proven easy creatures to take care of. All the hullabaloo that had ensued over their mating season a couple weeks ago was proof enough of that. But at the end of the day, once the drama was over, it was clear that the pleasure made up for the headaches.

And the dimetrodon weren't the only synapsids he'd come to enjoy working with either. The sphenacodon were also animals he'd come to enjoy interacting with – especially Fafnir. And he certainly couldn't forget the secodontosaurus, who had recently started displaying themselves. Even the edaphosaurus were endearing - and whilst he hadn't studied the ophiacodon that much, he was looking forward to the opportunity.

He nodded his head, sighing in content. His observations were important - the research division worked closely with the keepers, because little had been known about most of the animals prior to their being brought back. The research division observing behaviours and reporting them gave the keepers a clear idea on what to expect from them and how to take care of them. Will was doing the same with the Pleistocene mammals and Kaisumi with a lot of the pterosaurs.

He chuckled and nodded his head at the thought of Will and Kaisumi. He'd met Will and Alice when he'd gone to Britain for college – or university as they called it. They'd all become close friends – Will was almost like a brother to him now, and Alice was like the sister he'd never had. He and Will had met Kaisumi more recently, after they'd all joined Novum, but she'd quickly become close friends with him and Will – the three were inseparable nowadays.

The sound of hissing from within the dimetrodon paddock drew his attention back to his observations just in time for him to see an annoyed looking Rommel and Otrera standing firm near the river that had long since served as the unspoken border for Rommel's personal 'territory' snarling at an interloper. At the sight of this, Matt leaned closer, observing the proceedings. "This could get serious," he thought to himself, his brown eyes narrowed intently. But fortunately, after a few tense minutes, the 'lower ranking' male dimetrodon turned away and left. Matt briefly mused, with the mating season soon to end, whether the females were gravid – perhaps he'd ask the vets to check.

Matt nodded his head. "A crisis averted," he said to himself. He checked his watch just to make sure that he wasn't behind schedule. Thankfully, he still had a few more minutes to spare. "Yep," he stated to himself. "So far so good."

. . . . .

Will Darrow sighed in contentment, his chin resting on his right hand as he leaned against the front wall of the arctodus paddock, watching the five bears feed on a cow carcass. It had been at least two months now since the La Brea, and he was honestly surprised by how smoothly things seemed to be sailing. In fact, from what he knew about most modern bears, and the disputes that had happened among the arctotherium, he was honestly surprised that the arctodus hadn't already gotten into a fight by this point. But regardless, he certainly wasn't about to question or complain against a stroke of good luck.

He continued watching the bears, making sure to mentally take note of as much as he could. He'd always had a healthy interest in animals from a young age. However, bears had always been a particular favourite of his. And of course, the fact that he'd also gotten to work at the park alongside his close friends Alice, Matt, and Kaisumi had only sweetened things even further.

He nodded his head, his black eyes agleam and his ash blonde hair shining in the sunlight as he let his smile widen at the thought of his close friends that he was now working with – Alice, in particular. Unlike Jack, Alice had had someone else as a friend - Will. They'd known each other since childhood and, even in university, their bond had remained strong. They'd met Matt Thompson, an American studying overseas at that time too – and they'd become friends with him. It had been all the happier when they'd all become employed at Novum. And on their first day, he and Matt had found a new friend in Japanese student Kaisumi Ishiara, who he now sort of viewed as being like a sister. And at Prehistoric Park, he had become friends with unexpected people – such as the bird specializing rescue team member Adrian Sky and the assistant veterinarian Yolanda Hall. Hell, he'd even managed to get to know Alice's younger brother Jack a bit better.

He shook his head side to side. Sometimes it honestly surprised him just how well he'd gotten on with Alice from when they'd first met, at eight years old. In general, he'd always been shy and mild-mannered – he didn't like drawing attention to himself or talking to people. However, he'd instantly felt drawn to Alice the instant he'd met her – and they'd remained close ever since.

Then he thought about Adrian, and his eyes briefly narrowed. For some reason, whilst he liked Adrian, he still couldn't quite tell what to think about him. Sometimes, he found himself feeling what he could almost swear was… jealousy. He'd sometimes felt the same about Matt – it was strange. Why on Earth would he have any need to feel jealous of either of them?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Not the time.

The sound of growling from within the paddock only further emphasized this fact, and he hurriedly looked back in the paddock in time to see that the three females and one of the males were now tensed up and glaring at the other male. This was Smokey, the largest bear in the paddock – and, next to Kronk, the largest carnivorous mammal in the park.

But fortunately, upon further observation, it turned out that the bears were getting irked over a minor dispute over portions of the carcass. After a few tense moments, Smokey proceeded, with a silent snarl almost like a sneer, to use his jaws to rip off an entire leg from the cow carcass, which he then dragged past the large and gnarled tree that served as the boundary for his territory. The other four bears glared at him, yellow eyes narrowed, before they then started ripping off portions of their own to eat in their respective territories.

Will let out a big sigh of relief at the nonviolent conclusion – as surprising as it was that there hadn't been any genuine fights among the arctodus, it was still a relief. Judging by the state in which Diego had been after a near-fatal battering from Smokey, he did not want to see the bears angry.

Even without knowing that, Smokey was intimidating at the best of times. Whenever one really wished to see him in an unpleasant mood, one needed only to see him after seeing, smelling or hearing Diego the Smilodon. Any time this happened, even the other arctodus knew to avoid him. And it seemed to be reciprocal on Diego's part.

Will shook his head in bemusement. In general, he didn't like to think of animals in any way that overly anthropomorphized them too much. He was a scientist after all. But even so, he couldn't help but conclude that Diego and Smokey really hated each other.

As if in answer to his thoughts, Will suddenly heard a lion-like roar from the sabre-tooth paddock. Will winced, grit his teeth, and closed his eyes. "Speak of the Devil," he thought to himself as he mentally counted down from ten. And sure enough, the sound of Smokey's thunderous roar filled the air. Will sighed, shaking his head side to side. "Another day at Prehistoric Park," he whispered to himself under his breath. He shook his head. Well, at this point all he could do now was stay where he was and see what happened.

. . . . .

Khatin von Schorzberg watched carefully, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he observed the small pterosaurs before him. He was currently inside the forest building that housed all the smaller animals rescued from the Morrison formation, observing the pterosaurs. He nodded his head, trusty notepad and pen still firmly clutched in his hands as he kept watching the pterosaurs.

At this thought, he chuckled – this was the Holy Grail to a palaeontologist. How the great palaeontologists – Marsh, Cope, Brown, hell, even Darwin himself – would have envied the chance to study the animals they had studied in the flesh, even if it meant, as he had recently done, nosing through sauropod droppings in order to look at dietary preferences according to the different species.

Before Prehistoric Park, Khatin had been a palaeontologist and a quite prolific one at that – he had published many papers on various groups of extinct animals. A lot of his research was funded by Novum grants, so he was well-acquainted with the company – perhaps that was why Theodore Richardson had approached him, with an offer to serve as head of research at a private facility he was making. Initially thinking this was some kind of museum, he'd accepted - he was astounded to learn what Theodore was really planning.

What had attracted Khatin was the opportunity to study extinct creatures as flesh and blood animals; the idea that, for the first time, he could conduct his observations on living specimens would be revolutionary, allowing him (and, eventually, others) to answer questions of behaviour, biomechanics and taxonomy that had never been assessed before, with only the bones to go by.

However, the discovery of previously unidentified species was somehow even more enjoyable. Even now, at least two or three months after their rescue, there were still some undiscovered species from the Morrison Formation that he and his team were still classifying. The lizard-like terrestrial crocodilians alone had consisted of fifteen species in seven genera – many of which were still, as of yet, unnamed. It had been hard classifying them all - but then again, that was part of the fun.

Nevertheless, he and his team had made good progress on classifying many other undiscovered species that had been rescued over the past months. The megalorachne had been fairly easy to classify – as had the undiscovered Devonian anomalocarids. The three new lizard-crocs from the compsognathus rescue mission were European species of genera from the Morrison formation – Hallopus minor, Fruitachampsa europaeus, and Hoplosuchus lourinhensis. All that remained so far were the lizard-crocs from the Morrison formation and the undiscovered Jurassic pterosaurs. And he'd already made progress on classidying the latter.

The first to be named were the Morrison formation ctenochasmatids, which had both, under close examination, been determined to be of the same genus, named potomapteryx, after their freshwater habits. The red coloured ones were Potomapteryx rufus while the salmon pink ones were called Potomapteryx morrisoni. The two new Morrison scaphognathines had followed shortly afterwards, with the reddish-brown and crested species named Coryphonycterus denhammi and the crestless ones with the bigger and sharper teeth named Piranhapteryx centrum. And as for the Morrison wukongopterids, all five species were part of the same genus – petaloudactylus after the butterfly-like colours of their wings. The species names were all based on the colours of their crests.

The undiscovered pterosaurs from the Lourinha formation had also been classified. The ctenochasmatids had been identified as European representatives of potomapteryx, with the shorter and woollier species being classed as as Potomapteryx borealis and the larger species being classed as Potomapteryx regalis. The three Lourinha scaphognathines had been easy to classify, with the ones covered in yellowish tan fur currently being referred to as Flavodactylus lourinhensis and the gray colored ones with blue crests and red skinned heads currently being referred to as Argentopteryx caelum, with the pair that were covered in greyish white fur and red faces had been named Sanguirostrum niveus. The flock of wukongopterids rescued alongside Broken Jaw and his family, now living in an aviary near to their paddock were now named Dentiscalpiopteryx europaeus. However, the three additional species of Lourhina wukongopterids still needed classifying.

He smiled, greenish brown eyes agleam as he wiped a brief bit of sweat off his brow. It was another busy day – and he couldn't be happier for it. He checked his watch, taking note of the time. He then looked at the coryphonycterus and piranhapteryx, still feeding on the goat carcass.

Khatin chuckled - there was a lifetime's work to do here.