Land of Giants part 2

                                                                                       Land of Giants part 2


6 months later. After months of incubation and predator attacks, the eggs are ready to  hatch. The eggs start to crack and  break and baby Camarasaurus  come out. They seak and and chirp as they use their tiny foot claws to dig out of their nests.  Each hatchling is the size of a rabbit.  But, on this dry plain, they are too exposed to predators. They must find their way to the safety of the forest.  And they must go quick. The predators are already rushing in. The hatchlings start to run for the forest.  But, due to their short legs, the can only amble towards the forest urgently.  The predators, with their long legs and longer lower legbones than upper legbones, are much faster.   An Ornitholestes instantly catches up to one and grabs it with it’s clawed forelimbs.   The hatchling starts squealing and struggling to get out of the carnivore’s grip. But, then, it puts it  in its jaws and shakes it to death. It then uses its serrated teeth to rip chunks out and swallow it whole.  Other predators, like the ones that raided the nests, do the same thing to other hatchlings . But, they won’t be able to kill them all.  The reason being the hatchlings outnumber the predators, and they can’t eat everyone.  Soon after, the hatchlings make it into the forest.

We will focus on one male in the story named Ed. The hatchlings rest after such a stressful journey to get to the forest.  Then, they start looking for food. The brain of a dinosaur works like a switch.  It focuses on one thing at a time.  Their minds right now are on food. Ed, using his sense of smell and large nostrils, finds a grove of ferns and strips the eaves off to eat.   The other hatchlings do the same.  Most of their lives will be spent eating. They will pack on 1 ton a year until they weigh 20 tons like the adults.  That will require 5 pounds of  vegetation per day.  They also will have to dodge hungry predators. A Coelurus is walking through the forest floor, looking for small prey. The baby sauropods disappear into the ferns, using their dark green skin as camouflage to blend in with the vegetation.  The Coelurus passes right by them, unaware of their existence.  Once the danger has passed, they continue eating.


1 year later. Ed and his siblings have grown.  They are 3 meters long and weigh as much as half a ton.  They are feeding on ferns and other soft plants at the edge of the forest. However, being close to the edge of the forest, they run the risk of meeting larger dinosaurs. Stegosaurus, a 9 meter, 7 ton herbivore, moves in to feed. Although he is a plant-eater, he is still dangerous. Not for the double row of 1 meter tall diamond shaped plates on his back, they are used to display to predators and rivals. But, for the meter long spikes on his tail.    These are called Thagomizers. Stegosaurs use them as a last resort against predators to deadly affect.  Ed and siblings, not wainting to be on the receiving end of a Thagomizer, move further away from the Stegosaurus.  But, they are unaware they are being stalked. Two Ceratosaurus, a 6 meter, 1 ton killer, is eyeing  the group. Ceratosaurus possess a fairly large skull with two horns above its eyes along with a blade-like appendage on its snout. These structures are not weapons, they are display structures to intimidate rivals and impress mates.  Ceratosaurus comes from a very primitive group of dinosaurs. Now, they are the last of their kind.  They mostly hunt small-to-mid-sized herbivores.  But, small sauropods with no obvious defensive structures are too good of an opportunity to pass up. They move downwind so not to alert them.  

The Sauropods continue to feed. Then suddenly, a Ceratosaur leaps out at a youngster. He uses the smaller, stubbier teeth in his lower jaw to anchor himself. Then, he brings down his upper jaw of larger, more bladelike teeth and uses them as a meat-slicer to rip out a chunk of flesh.  The Camarasaur yelped in pain and collapsed  as it started to bleed to death. The others started to run. They run passed the startled Stegosaurus to get to cover. The other Ceratosaurus is chasing them. She would like a Camarasaurus hatchling as well. There is only one problem: Stegosaurus.  The Stegosaurus flushes blood into his plates, turning them red, turns to the side and bellows. This is to make the Ceratosaurus think it is much larger than it actually is.  But, the Ceratosaur can see passed this display and isn’t buying it.  The Stegosaur then swings it’s tail back and forth to show the predator it’s arsenal.  But, the Ceratosaurus then charges on the attack. But, the Stegosaurus swings it’s tail and makes contact with the carnivore’s leg. The 2 thagomizers pierce into it’s thigh.  The Ceratosaur screams in pain as the Stegosaur swings out the Thagomizers.  The Ceratosaurus limps away in agony. It knows now to mess with a Stegosaurus.