Dino-babies II

Disclaimer: see previous chapter.

…Nigel reacted to the information that the microraptors had bred as he normally did – with enthusiasm.

"This is truly great!" he told his friends and coworkers. "How did we miss it, though?"

"Honestly, Nigel?" Bob the gamekeeper gave the younger man a look. "The little blighters are some of the least worries for us here. Compared to the marsupials, the Smilodon, let alone the tyrannosaurs or the plant-eating dinosaurs, the microraptors tend to be ignored – they are just gliding overhead like exotic birds of some sort, and that's that, really." He looked askance. "Of course, if you were to go to early Cretaceous China and get some of the food supply of theirs, it would be good. Hm?"

"Don't mind if I do," Nigel said brightly. "Bob, Suzanne – talk to you soon: early Cretaceous awaits!" And he left.

Suzanne shot Bob a look.

"What?" the older man shrugged. "He would've gone there regardless. I'm just giving him a handy excuse!"

Suzanne's mood did not improve. (Even though Bob was right).

/ / /

Back at the marsupial compound, the Thylacosmilus – the marsupial sabretooth – was still asleep, when there was movement in the fur on its' belly, and a much smaller copy of it emerged into the world. It looks around with small but bright eyes, twitched its miniscule nose, and began to move around. Its' first steps were shaky, but determined, and soon the little Thylacosmilus was prancing around, looking very happy, (and probably feeling very brave and adventurous).

Something softly landed on top of the (surrogate) glyptodont shell that was kept there as habitat enrichment: the Thylacoleo. It was not a big cat either, but another marsupial carnivore, albeit one from Australia, not South America, and it was genuinely curious about the newcomer, as it leaned its head downwards and took a sniff.

The tiny Thylacosmilus, almost smaller than just the head of the marsupial lion, cautiously moved forwards, caution warring with curiosity.

With a sudden yowl, the youngster's mother intervened, flashing its', or her, sabres, and swinging its paws at the Thylacoleo's muzzle. The claws of the marsupial sabretooth just were not as sharp as those of the 'true' cats, so the marsupial lion was not seriously hurt, but it did sit on its haunches and emit something of a growl.

Neither of the marsupials were as big as the Smilodon were, for example, but the marsupial lion was still bigger than the Thylacosmilus, and pound for pound, it had much more strength too. The marsupial sabretooth also sat upon its haunches and emitted a sound as well, more wailing than growling, (not that that either of them was big on growling, BTW).

For a few long moments, the two marsupials just stared at each other, and then the Thylacoleo jumped upwards, scaled their enclosure's fence, and was gone.

The little Thylacosmilus trotted over to its' mum, and nudging the latter with its' muzzle, made some sort of an enquiring sound, (vaguely similar to a buzzing). The grown-up replied but it sounded more worried than relieved.

/ / /

The jungle of the early Cretaceous China has recovered from the volcano eruption that had befallen Nigel's previous expedition here – to get the microraptors in question. (He had acquired the titanosaurs for his park at that time as well). The trees still were not as tall as they used to be, but they were tall enough; (and there were already microraptors chirping in them too – and maybe other small dinosaurs or primitive birds), and the undergrowth was also thick and luxurious.

"All right, let's start digging!" Nigel brightly told the field team, (except for those, who were keeping an eye upon the time portal leading back to the park). "The local critters won't uncover themselves for us just because!"

As people began to dig, a pair of eyes as yellow as citron and as big as a pomelo watched them from the undergrowth. There was a hungry mouth, full of serrated teeth, too…

/ / /

"So, the Thylacoleo has escaped," Bob spoke placidly to Suzanne as the two of them watched the Thylacosmilus be alone in the marsupials' enclosure. (The youngster was back in the pouch, so humans could not see it). "Hah."

Neither of the humans were particularly worried; unlike the Troodon or the terror bird, which themselves had to be recaptured recently, neither of the marsupials tended to start problems when they escaped, but rather they just walked around, until returning to their enclosure, period. They didn't really bother another, though there were incidents with the Smilodon, but—

"Here it comes back now," Bob muttered to Suzanne once more. "It may be called a marsupial lion, but I still think that it looks, and acts, more like a wolverine than a wildcat. And… what does it have in its' jaws?"

The Thylacoleo, meanwhile, was ignoring the humans as it quickly climbed upwards, not really slowed down by its load, and then descended into the enclosure, dumping the load before the Thylacosmilus.

It was a baby sauropod, and it was quite dead. The Thylacoleo did not have sabre-tooth, instead it had long and sharp plates of bone, wide, rather than long, designed to crush as well as slice. The dinosaur youngster did not stand a chance.

"…I'm feeling sad, really," Suzanne commented to Bob, as they watched the marsupials interact. The Thylacoleo tore off one of the hind legs and was currently eating it on top of the fake shell, eyeing carefully its South American counterpart. For its' part, the marsupial sabretooth took a few bites from the dead dinosaur, swallowed them, and leaped onto the shell itself, where it licked the Thylacoleo's face, with an almost guilty look on its muzzle.

"…For the dinosaur, I mean," Suzanne concluded. "It's such a pity; Nigel will be so disappointed that we've lost one of the dino-babies…"

"Suzanne?" Bob blinked. "Since when do we have baby sauropods? When did they hatch from their eggs?"

There was a pause, and humans hurried off to the sauropod egg ground to check the damage – and everything else. As they left, they failed to notice the Thylacosmilus youngster get out of its' mother's pouch and re-start its' investigation of the enclosure.

This time, both of the adults accompanied it, to ensure that it did not get into trouble…

/ / /

…Back in the early Cretaceous China Nigel looked at his crew: everyone was ready to leave, while a family of small ornitopod dinosaurs, that hovered at the edge of the clearing where the humans were working, were also ready to move in and to eat some of the bugs themselves – they were slightly omnivorous, it seemed.

"I think that these are jeholosaurs," Nigel commented, eyeing the dinosaurs in a thoughtful manner. "While by the end of the Jurassic the ornithischians – the bird-hipped dinosaurs – began to grow big, some remained small until the very end, when the meteorite came. Jeholosaurus and its' kin were among those small species—"

Nigel did not finish. There was some sound coming deeper from within the Cretaceous jungle. The ornithischians promptly bolted across the clearing into the time portal. Nigel and his team saw something big crashing through the trees – and instinctively followed suit.

The sinraptors – no 'true' raptors, but rather the local version of the allosaurs – followed suit.

/ / /

The ground where the titanosaurs have laid their eggs months earlier was now littered with holes that indicated that the holes were made by the titanosaur hatchlings who have dug their way out from underground rather than by anyone or anything else who tried to dig them out aboveground. There were also baby titanosaur remains, and the characteristic three-toed tracks of the terror bird and the Troodon.

…Currently both of them were back in their enclosure, so between that and the flies it was evident that the sauropod hatchlings have, well, hatched and left several days ago, maybe even more than a week. Where the Thylacoleo have found one of them was another question, for the marsupial, being a mammal, had a better sense of smell and was smarter, (relatively so, but still) than either the Troodon or the terror bird…

"How do we find them now?" Suzanne muttered to Bob. "If they got into the tyrannosaurs' enclosure, for a start-"

"Nigel's back and he's got dinosaurs!" came a cry further down the park.

Suzanne, Bob and the others exchanged looks. "Of course he does," Suzanne muttered. "Let's go then. Maybe he'll have ideas about the baby sauropods while we deal with the new arrivals."

/ / /

Nigel did indeed, and with enthusiasm (especially since the fact that several of hatchlings were already lost got glossed over). "Of course I have an idea!" he said cheerfully. "Are the sinraptors okay, though?"

"Well, both types of dinosaurs got their enclosures, yes," Bob nodded. "It helps that the smaller ones aren't much different from the Ornithomimus, save that they are smaller and like water less. The big carnivores…are not like the tyrannosaurs, actually: while the rexes are currently out and about, feeling antsy, the new couple promptly ate their meal and went to sleep in shade among the trees." He paused and added. "They don't even look like tyrannosaurs, not really…"

"That's because they and tyrannosaurs are only distant cousins to each other," Nigel commented, as he observed the titanosaur herd from a respectable distance. "There, you see?"

The others looked in the indicated direction, and sure enough, the sauropod hatchlings (those that survived, anyhow), were grazing and prancing among the feet of the adult titanosaurs, looking happy and (relatively) safe. "They will stay here, now," Nigel continued brightly. "The adults will protect them from any big predators, and none of the park's smaller predators will bother them either – they aren't smart enough!"

A few of the people, remembering how the Thylacoleo got its' own dinosaur meal and exchanged looks between each other.

The end?