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Triassic Switch
Topic Started: Sep 25 2016, 05:46 PM (1,133 Views)
lamna
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His whole body ached, ravaged by time and years of hard living. His head was mass of scars, his prey seldom went down without a fight, but they always went down.

Still, for an animal supposed to be dead for dead for two hundred million years, the bull Postosuchus was doing well. He has little understanding what happened to him, one day he was living in the late Triassic, the next, in the 21st century.

His world was turned upside down. Tiny flying dinosaurs swarmed in the sky, while strange long-limbed, fleet-footed synapsids ran across the earth. But strangest of all were the myriad buildings, roads and cars, totally alien to him and full of the scent of a strange synapsid. The smell was everywhere, and lingered for years, but he never found one.

Still, strange as this world was he still needed to eat. For a month he subsisted on meat found in shops and homes, trapped pets and their carcasses and bodies not yet tainted with preservatives in morgues and funeral homes.

He traveled south, though this was the same land he had walked millions of years ago, it was much changed, cool, dry and high.

As he traveled he found he was not alone, other Postosuchus had found themselves cast away in time, as had other animals from the Triassic. Many of the herbivores were weak from hunger, unable to feet on the strange plants of the 21st century.

Eventually he arrived at King Ranch and found a place to call home. Cattle and Triassic refugees provided him with easy pickings as he adjusted to this new world.

Two decades later the world has changed greatly. Humanity will cast a long shadow, but already the earth is reclaiming their works. Roads crumble, cars rust into hulks while cities fall into ruins.

The bull has fed well, having brought down a young Collared Peccary only two days ago. He walks down to the old reservoir, dropping to all fours to drink, pushing aside the blooming water hyacinth that almost totally cover the water's surface. After a drink he slides into the water to escape the midday heat, resting his head on the bank.

Alligators live here, but they are mostly younger animals and they all give him a wide-berth. Drowsing, he watches his kingdom. A herd of bovids soon arrive, some clearly bison, others clearly cattle, most some blend of the two. They drink quickly, wary of an ambush and then leave to graze.

Whistleing ducks punt along the waters, calling to one another. In the shallows the snow white egrets are joined by a speckled juvenile Coelophysis. She hasn't seen them, but a flock of turkeys dither at the waters edge, thirsty but fearful. The Coelophysis gives up without catching anything and stalks off into the woods.

The turkeys rush get a drink before being scattered by a battle. The bull perks up at the scent of blood. Two Nilgai males are fighting, the stronger one pushing the other closer to the stream. The males kneels and jostle, smacking each other with their heads.

The bull pulls forward, disturbing the crown of butterflies that had been sipping his tears. If he were to strike now he could catch one of the Nilgai before...

SMACK

A black shape crashes into him, he turns to bite the attacker and sharp claws grapple him. Whatever it he's going to...

CRUNCH

He never sees what attacks him. Death is instant. Postosuchus are huge, with vicious crushing jaws and thick armour. But they are no match for a Jaguar. As the black panther drags the carcass away from the water the Nilgai fight on, unaware a new king has arrived.
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34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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GlarnBoudin
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Question: Will these posthumans go extinct by the Cretaceous? Because if they don't, there is going to be some serious timeline fuckery involved.
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lamna
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I don't know if the Late Jurassic would be all that different to the early Cretaceous. Obviously posthumans would always be humans, but what I was asking about is would there be a point where they transition from Dixonian nightmares to just looking like normal mammals.

The posthumans will survive a long time, beyond the K/Pg. They get small pretty quick and many stay that way.
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Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural


34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur.
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Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna?
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Righteous Whale
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Just to clarify, modern humans, with all their knowlesge have been thrown into the Triassic? Because I'd love just to see what cultures and societies develop from that! And domesticated Triassic life sounds amazing...
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DINOCARID
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This is amazing... But I don't see a selective advantage for reduced intelligence in humans. That actually makes about as much sense as ancient hunter gatherers in our timeline going animal.
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