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| A Jurassic World; Dinosaurs shall inherit our world | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 9 2017, 02:13 PM (4,044 Views) | |
| RoyalPsycho | Feb 9 2017, 02:13 PM Post #1 |
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Adolescent
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A Jurassic World Is Made: It all began with Ingen and a wild dream of a park that featured prehistoric animals. In 1993 that dream was realised thanks to fantastic new discoveries in the fields of genetic engineering and clever innovations made specifically for the project the genius scientific teams were undertaking. Within a matter of years not only had the company successfully reconstructed a close approximation of the genome of numerous dinosaur species – filling in the gene sequence gaps with compatible material from other, modern species – but had also managed to create and hatch living specimens. The attempt to display the park on Isla Nublar before experts in order to alleviate safety concerns ended disastrously. In 1993 the park was closed after numerus deaths. In 1994 an attempt to extract reconstructed dinosaurs from the production facility on the nearby island if Isla Sorna ended in a similar disaster thanks to sabotage and short-sightedness. The rampage of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in San Diego practically ended Ingen. In 1998, following the death of company founder John Hammond, Ingen and all its assets and patents were bought by Indian businessman Simon Masrani, the CEO of the Masrani Global Corporation who had been interested in acquiring the company since 1997. An idealist and believer in Hammond’s original dream, Masrani invested massively in the development of a new park on Isla Nublar. Dubbed Jurassic World, the park was an unprecedented success. Opening in 2005, Jurassic World saw continuous success with new attractions opening up on a regular basis, new species successfully recreated and new technological developments being made, all of which enriched the park, the Masrani Corporation and Ingen. It was in 2015 that a brave new step was taken by all three institutions to push the boundaries of the technology they had pioneered. Worried about a stagnation in park attendance and a mild decline in profits, Ingen and Masrani commissioned the creation of an original, hybrid species that would be unlike anything seen in natural evolution. The undertaking was massive but nowhere near impossible and soon the new Indominus Rex, a terrifying, artificial hyperpredator with no precedent in the fossil record, was announced. Despite being set to debut in the Christmas Season, the announcement of a never before seen hybrid drew unseasonably large crowds to Isla Nublar. Though people were scared by the viciousness of the creature and some concerns were raised, thrill-seekers more than compensated for the worried visitors and the Indominus exhibit was a rousing success for the company. Reinforcement of the enclosure was necessary after a near breakout but the situation was, thankfully, handled by security and the park was spared a catastrophic disaster. Now free from the restrictions of having to provide accurate – in so far as public expectations allowed them to be – depictions of dinosaurs, Ingen began producing new and spectacular species. The first great expansion of Ingen’s hybrid program was when a successful military contract was made for engineered attack beasts. Though there were objections from Masrani himself as well as other influential figures in the company the contract’s opportunities eventually won the majority around. The first derivatives of the Indominus Rex were developed. Training techniques pioneered by Owen Grady on the park facility at Isla Nublar were developed further to help keep the animals under control. The attack dinosaurs were a success in the field though there were still concerns about how much control the handlers had over the animals. The next generation of animals were developed with more domestic temperaments that still preserved their capacity for violence and intelligence when released into the field. With this success the proverbial floodgates had been opened. Proposals were made for all kinds of new hybrids. Plans were made for new model species that could be displayed in parks in colder climates. Soon Dinosaurs of the Ice Age themed parks were opened both offshore and on the mainland of other countries and furry dinosaurs were exhibited to the public to great acclaim. After seeing massive success in these new facilities the original park was pressed to introduce new tropical animals. As new parks appeared, many of them being given new themes, competition emerged between the different facilities. As the 2010s moved into the 2020s and further on, an ‘arms race’ emerged within Masrani’s genetics institutions. In 2027 the next great phase in genetic leisure products began. Despite protests from various groups Ingen began to release engineered dinosaur pets. Miniaturized versions of the company’s authentic species as well as their artificial ones and even brand new designs were released to the public in the US. They were even more successful abroad in Europe, Australasia and Japan. This was followed by a period where the rich would also buy specially designed specimens for private zoos and menageries. For years these fantastic new creatures were sold to the public and governments to great success. Few companies were able to match Ingen and Masrani but some new pets and products were made to match their expertise. It was this that would doom humanity. In 2034 an epidemic bloomed in South Asia. It spread quickly, crossing borders into the developed world and drawing international attention. Proposals were just being drafted when it became clear just how far and fast the disease was spreading. Entire populations were infected with no-one being spared, people began to die in droves and as the disease spread, it infected people faster. Speculations emerged that the disease was artificial and one laboratory studying infected victims did manage to reach a reasonable conclusion that it was though no-one could tell where it came from or how to counter it. By 2035 the majority of humanity was dead, by 2037 they were all gone and so was the disease. It was surprising how quickly the entire species was rendered extinct. Untended, the artefacts of civilization rotted away and collapsed and the wild environments humanity had cut back returned, swamping cities and monuments. Animals kept in captivity escaped into the wild and bred and amongst the natural creatures that had been held in cages were the engineered creatures, now forced to find their place in the new ecosystem. In the post-human world there was chaos as the ecosystem tried to reach a balanced equilibrium. Indigenous wildlife battled with transplanted wildlife and artificially created wildlife for niches. After 1000 years the new ecosphere has been somewhat stable for centuries and man’s creations have risen to dominance. This is a new age of dinosaurs. A real Jurassic World. Here's something that came to me after marathoning the franchise and rereading the TV Tropes page for Jurassic World. It got me thinking. What would happen if the Indominus Rex situation hadn't happened as it did in the movie? What if they did shrink it down and sell it to the military? If they can make bizarre hybrid dinosaurs, then what are the limits of what they can and will design? This is an exploration of that and what they might do if humanity was then taken out of the picture. |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 25 2017, 04:00 PM Post #31 |
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Adolescent
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Rostromentia Horridus (horrid beaked mind): Jurassic World Brazil wanted a new exhibit to define itself in its fifth year of opening and created an attraction that had never been seen before. Rostromentia was originally planned to be a product for a saurosapien exhibit that was then reworked to fit within the Great Aviary. After a lot of hard work, the sapient dinosaur that had been planned long ago was created with an avian exterior added to it. Rostromentia, unlike the equally intelligent Deinonecos, has a fully erect, upright stance that is more similar to a human’s gait, though still hunched forward. A heavy, bent tail was engineered to counterbalance this unique stance but the limb doesn’t have much purpose beside that. They are also covered in heavy feathery coats that often appear ragged and have an unsettling black colouration. Some of the plumage, especially on a massive mane around the neck, are much more colourful though, often having subtle differences depending on individuals. Standing at nearly two metres when standing normally and appearing even taller when fully straightening out, the Rostromentia are lithe and slender creatures that appear decrepit and delicate at an initial glance. The ragged nature of their plumage and the wrinkles and scaly texture on their exposed skin give them an aged and worn look that further enhances their fragile appearance. The heads of the Rostromentia are also bald along with their necks until they reach the thick mane around their shoulders. This overall appearance did lead to one of the Ingen officials jokingly calling them the Skeksis online shortly after their debut in Jurassic World Brazil. Rostromentia primarily inhabit forested areas, preferring to hunt prey through ambush tactics. They are an almost completely carnivorous species though some tribes have been shown to gather fruit from trees at times to supplement their diets. Due to having smaller claws than their chief rivals the Deinonecos, the Rostromentia are able to wield tools more effectively. Their stance and more developed shoulders also allow them more adaptability to their tools use. Rostromentia, due to their stance, are surprisingly slow which forces them to resort to either hunting slow prey, set up simple traps for smaller animals or perform elaborate ambushes. They normally hunt with spears formed of wood, flint or bone which they launch with an atlatl to provide further reach. The hunting strategies of the Rostromentia are elaborate due to their relatively slow speed. They need numerous hunters in various positions in order to confine the prey and inflict as many wounds as possible on it before it escapes their reach. They will then follow the injured animal until it has bled out and can be carried back to the nest. When feeding the alpha is permitted to take the portion for himself, his mate and his hatchlings first before the rest of the tribe are permitted to take their own. Like the Deinonecos, the Rostromentia raise their young in communal groups, leaving a single individual to guard the nest and alert the rest of the tribe should a significant threat appear. Tribes normally consist of around fifteen to twenty individuals on average with many young leaving to join or form new communities. They are strictly hierarchical with a male alpha holding the dominant position with a regular mate. Mated pairs are somewhat permanent though it is not uncommon for intermingling between pairs on occasion. During mating seasons the males will develop temporary feathers in their manes to impress females with. They will also engage in elaborate dances that serve to attract receptive females during their first mating cycle. Once a female has accepted and bonded with the male they form a semi-permanent pairing. Rostromentia do lay eggs which can take up to six months to hatch with a preceding two months of development. Communication between Rostromentia is entirely vocal with the species possessing sophisticated vocal chords. They are able to produce a variety of complex calls that most tribes have been able to develop into a system similar to a proper language. There aren’t many noticeable dialects due to the low range of the species but the continued development of these vocal communication systems has made them even more sophisticated with time and has added to the cacophony of noise that permeates South America’s forests. Though they do not need to, Rostromentia have been observed to make clothing from the hides of their larger prey. This clothing often takes the form of leathery panels of dinosaur hide that are then sewn together into cloak-like garments that are worn over the shoulders. Feathers, animals teeth and pretty stones can then be threaded onto the cloaks as well. It is common for these decorations to be found by the actual wearer and so the more elaborate garments serve as a testament to their luck or skill in acquiring trophies. Despite their many advantages, the Rostromentia are fighting a losing battle. Deinonecos have been on the continent as long as they have but there was a clear divide between the two and the relativley low populations kept conflict to a minimum. Now the Deinonecos are spreading further whilst the Rostromentia remain in their traditional regions. Now the avian tribes are losing ground to their faster and more adaptable rivals and the future looks bleak for their kind. |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 26 2017, 01:41 PM Post #32 |
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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Nice work! I wonder, will we be seeing some more military hybrids sometime soon? Ooh, or what about pets? |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 27 2017, 12:52 PM Post #33 |
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Adolescent
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Tyrannobear – Ursutyrannus Brutus (brutal bear tyrant): The infamous Tyrannobear was one of the most bizarre and iconic creatures produced for Jurassic World Canada. Though it wasn’t as immediately recognisable and marketable as the Woolly Mammopod or the sabre-toothed tyrannosaurs, the Tyrannobear quickly became a recognisable feature for the park and its unique menagerie of Ice Age dinosaurs. After the debut of the sabre-tooths, the management of Jurassic World Canada needed another major attraction. After a session of creativity, one of the geneticists proposed they take inspiration from another major predator of the Ice Age, the short-faced bear. The Tyrannobear was designed to be a slow predator that scavenges carcasses, drives smaller predators from their kills or hunts the slower animals of Canada. They are quadrupeds that stand nearly three metres at the shoulder and are nearly five metres from snout to tail. Their heads are massive with jaws that reach a metre and a half long and are supported by powerful neck muscles. Their teeth, like tyrannosaurs, are curved and flat, designed for rupturing skin and breaking bone. Their jaw muscles are very powerful, can crush steel and serve as their primary hunting weapon. When actively hunting prey the Tyrannobear will attempt to ambush them from covered terrain and inflict wounds on the prey animal as quickly as possible. The Tyrannobear will then hang back and wait for shock or bloodloss to weaken the prey and then move in to finish it off. Like the short-faced bear, the Tyrannobear has forelimbs that are almost as long as their hindlimbs, keeping their stance level. Though they are capable of rearing back on their hindlegs for short times, the Tyrannobear is incapable of bipedal locomotion and is too heavy to run for extended periods of time. The gait of the Tyrannobear is a loping jog that can carry it over long distances though at a slow pace. Their eyesight is poor but their senses of smell are acute and allow them to track prey or search for mates. Tyrannobears are solitary and quite nomadic, often roaming along individual routes that often follow the migratory patterns of North America’s northern megafauna. They primarily roam amongst forested regions where the foliage can provide them plenty of opportunities to ambush prey. During the mating season females will become temporarily sedentary in order to construct a nest and let out low mating calls to attract wandering males. Males will compete by bringing a carcass to the female to entice her and make her more receptive. Fights between competing males are common but few ever escalate into lethal combat. Mated couples last until the female is several weeks into her pregnancy and then the male will be driven off. The females will then build a mound to incubate the eggs she lays shortly after the male is gone. The eggs are brought to term in about five to six months. The young, once they are hatched, will stay with their mother until they reach sexual maturity in about five years. They will then either abandon their mother or be driven off to begin their solitary lives. Normally, an adolescent Tyrannobear will be large enough to either hunt for themselves or drive off other predators from carcasses by the time they are sexually mature. The Tyrannobear is covered by a thick insulating coat of fine feathers that work like the fur of a mammal. The colouration is naturally dark though some species have possessed a lighter brown coat. In summer the animals will moult most of their coat, revealing a lighter and thinner undercoat that grows out as autumn and winter approach. When young the coat will initially be similar to feather down that will quickly grow out in their first year. Despite intense competition from the other surviving Jurassic World Canada’s the Tyrannobear’s have carved a successful niche out for themselves in North America. Their range is still limited by climate but some populations have shown a remarkable amount of adaptability and are making headway in the Rocky Mountains as sufficient prey animals continue to populate the region. With these developments, the future of the Tyrannobears is secured. |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 27 2017, 05:21 PM Post #34 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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You did not disappoint with the tyrannobears. Bravo! I wonder, did Jurassic World Canada make any parallels to giant ground sloths and/or terror birds? What about to Australian megafauna? |
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Quotes Spoiler: click to toggle Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse! My Projects Spoiler: click to toggle Coming Soon Spoiler: click to toggle My dA page. My Fanfiction.net page. | |
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| Yiqi15 | Feb 27 2017, 06:15 PM Post #35 |
Prime Specimen
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Beautiful, just beautiful. All the mammal-mimics are amazing. Also, I would pay to see a graphic novel or movie about the conflict between the Rostromentias and the Deinonecos. |
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Current/Completed Projects - After the Holocene: Your run-of-the-mill future evolution project. - A History of the Odessa Rhinoceros: What happens when you ship 28 southern white rhinoceri to Texas and try and farm them? Quite a lot, actually. Future Projects - XenoSphere: The greatest zoo in the galaxy. - The Curious Case of the Woolly Giraffe: A case study of an eocene relic. - Untittled Asylum Studios-Based Project: The truth behind all the CGI schlock - Riggslandia V.II: A World 150 million years in the making Potential Projects - Klowns: The biology and culture of a creepy-yet-fascinating being My Zoochat and Fadom Accounts - Zoochat - Fandom | |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 27 2017, 06:26 PM Post #36 |
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Adolescent
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I don't want to give away too much but I will say that a lot of Jurassic World Canada herbivores that I've planned, barring Ungulasaurs, are somewhat based on Diprotodonts and other prehistoric marsupials of Australia as well as mammoths and Litopterns.
I've been thinking about writing passages chronicaling such a conflict but I'm afraid I can't come up with names for things in whatever hypothetical languages they have that don't sound like something from a bad B-Movie. Also that hypothetical story would probably incorporate this music since the Rostromentia are fighting a losing battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S07l65sa0qs Edited by RoyalPsycho, Feb 27 2017, 06:53 PM.
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| Yiqi15 | Feb 27 2017, 07:01 PM Post #37 |
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Prime Specimen
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Could you mind listing the names for both of the species so I can judge them for myself? Besides, sometimes I myself don't B-Movie cheese. Dinosaurs and bad B-Movies always seem to go together after all. |
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Current/Completed Projects - After the Holocene: Your run-of-the-mill future evolution project. - A History of the Odessa Rhinoceros: What happens when you ship 28 southern white rhinoceri to Texas and try and farm them? Quite a lot, actually. Future Projects - XenoSphere: The greatest zoo in the galaxy. - The Curious Case of the Woolly Giraffe: A case study of an eocene relic. - Untittled Asylum Studios-Based Project: The truth behind all the CGI schlock - Riggslandia V.II: A World 150 million years in the making Potential Projects - Klowns: The biology and culture of a creepy-yet-fascinating being My Zoochat and Fadom Accounts - Zoochat - Fandom | |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 27 2017, 07:22 PM Post #38 |
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Adolescent
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This is all I really had in mind. I came up with them after a short session of trying to make up words by imitating bird calls and the dinosaur noises from the Jurassic Park movies and games. They're phonetic spellings, difficult to pronounce more than once and murder on the vocal cords as well. Deinonecos:-derived from the local dialect of the languages that the Deinonecos are developing. Auu'ram Auu'rall-developing into a primarily feminine name in the local language. Eee'ille Eir'rekk Ei'all Uar'ak Rostromentia:-derived from the most widespread Rostromentia 'language'. Au'all Cur'eec Sii'ak Sii'all |
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| Yiqi15 | Feb 27 2017, 07:34 PM Post #39 |
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Prime Specimen
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I love the languages of both species. Honestly, they wouldn't sound out of place in an 80s cartoon. |
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Current/Completed Projects - After the Holocene: Your run-of-the-mill future evolution project. - A History of the Odessa Rhinoceros: What happens when you ship 28 southern white rhinoceri to Texas and try and farm them? Quite a lot, actually. Future Projects - XenoSphere: The greatest zoo in the galaxy. - The Curious Case of the Woolly Giraffe: A case study of an eocene relic. - Untittled Asylum Studios-Based Project: The truth behind all the CGI schlock - Riggslandia V.II: A World 150 million years in the making Potential Projects - Klowns: The biology and culture of a creepy-yet-fascinating being My Zoochat and Fadom Accounts - Zoochat - Fandom | |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 28 2017, 12:42 PM Post #40 |
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Adolescent
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Koccinotromos Foedus (ghastly red terror): These is no creature more infamous in Australia than the Koccinotromos. Made to be the top predatory attraction of Jurassic World Australia, this immense theropod was made to be as visually terrifying as it is powerful. After the ecosystem finally stabilised, Koccinotromos found itself at the top of the food-chain as Australia’s largest, unmatched top predator. Koccinotromos was made to be powerful and aggressive and it was only the expected costs of security measures that kept Jurassic World Australia from also making it highly intelligent. The baseline genome of Koccinotromos was a Tyrannosaurus that was given additions from a variety of other predators. The immense theropod stands at nearly four metres tall and is over twelve metres long from snout to tail. Its skin has almost crocodilian armour along its back that is punctuated by spiked osteoderms. The most impressive ornaments are the pair of half metre long bull-like horns that extend out from the side of its head, just above the eye sockets. The skin on the top of its body and head and the outside of its arms is a deep crimson and a mottled grey on the underside. This colouration, combined with their spiky, armoured bodies gives the Koccinotromos a hellish appearance that strikes fear into any animals that see them. These super-predators are designed to hunt the larger prey animals that now roam Australia. They aren’t able to effectively prey upon the massive invertebrates of the continent but are the top hunters of Australia’s sauropods, ornithischians and similarly massive dinosaurian hybrids. Despite their size and armoured bodies, the Koccinotromos are endurance predators and have stamina. Due to their size they hunt by isolating their prey over great distances and will inflict terrible wounds on them before waiting for the prey to bleed out. Koccinotromos’ teeth are curved like a Tyrannosaurus but are also serrated and naturally sharper. This allows them to effectively employ their favoured hunting tactic of bleeding them out. Their heads are specifically designed to allow them binocular vision and, due to a minor configuration of their eye sockets and horns, give them an aggressive profile. They also have long arms with effective manipulator hands. Whilst their claws are not as large as other predators, they will often use them as weapons to wound their prey and have even been seen to walk on their long arms on occasion. Their tails are especially thick and long in order to counterbalance their large heads and arms. Koccinotromos, due to their great size, are normally solitary creatures who hold massive territories. Their need for large prey constricts their range to the grasslands and open forests of Australia. Males hold larger territories than females and often overlap with the territories of female Koccinotromos. This allows the males to access local females during the mating season. Young males will often be found roaming through established hunting grounds and often live fraught, nomadic lives until they are strong enough to carve out their own areas for themselves. Females often have to do the same but it is common for related females to cooperate with one another. Mating battles are common and due to their high aggression, often lead to direct confrontations. Mating battles are savage and regularly result in injuries though rarely is a combatant killed in the actual fight. Subsequent deaths from injuries – whether by infection, incapacitation or dying by being weakened in future hunts or fights – do often take place though. Most individuals sport scars from their violent lives and some will even have noticeable disfigurements that will either be poorly healed or too extreme. Some specimens have been seen to regenerate lost limbs on occasion due to the inclusion of cuttlefish and lizard genetic material in their genomes. After mating, females will build nests to incubate their eggs and then defend them from the numerous and voracious predators that will attempt to raid them. They will then raise the hatchlings until their fourth year where the young reach sexual maturity. The abandoned young will then begin their nomadic adolescence until they are able to establish a more stable territory for themselves. Though they face intense competition, the Koccinotromos are the undisputed top predators of Australia. Even with their low numbers, no other predator has been able to truly oust the Koccinotromos, the devil kings of the continent. Edited by RoyalPsycho, Feb 28 2017, 03:01 PM.
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| Fazaner | Feb 28 2017, 01:24 PM Post #41 |
Шашава птичурина
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Koccinotromos is truly devil of Australia, and I can easily imagine visitors being scared upon visiting his exibit. When are you going to tell us about Megacarcinus and rest of them, I cant wait. |
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Projects (they are not dead, just updated realy slowly, feel free to comment): -World after plague After a horrible plague unleashed by man nature slowly recovers. Now 36 million years later we take a look at this weird and wonderful world. -Galaxy on fire. They have left their home to get out of war. They had no idea what awaits them. My Deviant art profile, if you're curious. Before you get offended or butthurt read this | |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 28 2017, 04:04 PM Post #42 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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It's a bigger, armored Indominus. I love it! Can't wait for more of this project, dude! The sauropods of Australia have me interested as well. Do they take BRONTOSMASH to the next level, I wonder, with armor plating and sharp spikes on their necks, or even venomous spines? |
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| RoyalPsycho | Mar 2 2017, 03:44 PM Post #43 |
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Adolescent
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Valley Of The Ancients: Africa’s Archaic Titans: The noon sun hangs high over the northern regions of what was once Mozambique. It has rained recently and the low lying grasslands of the east are lush with well watered growth. A local river rushes by, filled by rainwater that is flowing down from the uplands to the west. Scrawny trees line the swollen banks of the river, several of which had died in the drier season and had fallen into the waters. The rains had been late this year and the local wildlife are making the most of the fresh water. Several antelope line the water’s edge, drinking liberally from the fast flowing waters. The creatures are cautious as local predators have been just as likely to come to the waters to drink but for now things are safe and calm. Large buffalo have also come to the river to drink as well, several adolescents playfully wading in the shallows of the banks. The herds leisurely drink and cool themselves by the stream as other members pick at the foliage around them. The local vegetation is lush and green once again and the river has attracted many of the local herbivores and the countless smaller animals that accompany them. Birds alight themselves on the antelopes and buffalo along with some small pterosaurs, many of which have abnormal, bat-like wings with multiple fingers dividing the skin-flaps. They pick at the bugs that swarm around the larger animals, flitting over the water to grab flies and dragonflies from the air. The atmosphere suddenly grows tense as a new scent enters the air around the river. Animals raise their heads and sniff the air to try to identify the unfamiliar scent that is approaching them. Those with more sensitive noses quickly turn to face the direction the scent is coming from as the soft breeze changes direction and wafts it over to them. As the finally see the new arrival, fear quickly begins to permeate around the river. A massive reptilian beast slowly stalks over to the river. It is an immense beast, standing on to pillar-like legs and with an obviously theropodal animal. Unlike other dinosaurs, however, this creature stands almost fully erect at an impressive eight metres tall, its bulky, muscular tail dangling underneath its massive body and almost dragging on the ground beneath it. Its head is a Tyrannosaurus’ as is its overall build but unlike the mighty predators once exhibited in Jurassic World Costa Rica, this creature appears like something from an out of date, mid-20th Century palaeontological text. It is Archaeotyrannus Megas, also once known as the Greater Gwangi. Originally the creature was supposed to be the great attraction of Jurassic World South Africa but the cancellation of that project left it and many other animals languishing in the holding facilities they were bred in. After the Red Rot pandemic, it and many other archaically designed beasts broke free and began to terrorise Southern Africa and at the top of the new food chain is the Gwangi. As the Gwangi approached the river the other animals began to back away, instinctively backing away from such a massive creature. Most of the other animals also knew that the creature was a dangerous predator and began to edge away from the portion of the river that the Gwangi walked towards. The Gwangi is an alien creature in these lands. His kind, built in Ingen facilities to the south, have never roamed this far before, preferring to stay in the regions where their preferred prey like elephants and other dinosaurian hybrids can be found in far greater abundance. This lone male is a young traveller, displaced from his familiar stomping grounds by other competitors and forced to trek north into unfamiliar territories. Only having just grown into his full size, the young Gwangi is far from home and unfamiliar with the land around it. The environment is familiar, as are most of the local animals, but its somewhat poor memory cannot recall the surroundings it finds itself in. Bending down, its tail rising higher into the air to balance its top-heavy body, the Gwangi began to drink. It doesn’t notice that its side of the bank has become virtually abandoned as all of the herbivores, even the mighty buffalo, have fled its presence. Some herbivores bolt quickly whilst others slowly amble down the river bank, away from the massive dinosaur. After several large draughts, the Gwangi was satisfied and began to wander away from the river. Whilst it could easily kill anything by the river the creatures are not its preferred or familiar prey and so the young adult was cautious around them. Instead it heads away, into the grasslands in the hopes that it may come across elephants, Archaeotriceras or other large animals that it knows it can hunt. The Gwangi wanders for hours, coming across other smaller mammals and strange, low-sling and rotund creatures it has never seen before until it crests a hill and finally spots a herd of massive animals. Swaggering through the brushland, plucking at the shrubbery around it, was a herd of large reptiles. The new creatures were almost three metres long with wide bodies that hung off the ground on thick pillar-like legs. Their bodies are largely bare though there are some small osteoderms that run from their shoulders down to their thick, stubby tails. Their heads, however, are wide and triangular with thick bony protrusions and spines running around its skull and cheeks. The new beasts are Elginia, the largest artificially reconstructed pareiasaurs that Ingen created for Jurassic World Kenya. Like the Gwangi they are travellers from distant lands that have come in search of new grounds to inhabit. To the Gwangi, however, the Elginia are a welcome sight. Though they are still unfamiliar they are closer in appearance to the kinds of prey the young male is comfortable with and, driven by hunger, the massive tyrannosaur begins to stalk them. Due to its size and the instincts bred into be nurture and genetic design, it does not bother hiding itself. Instead it strides along the hill, watching the herd for any sign of agitation and the possibility of one of the Elginia breaking away in a panic. The Gwangi is used to fighting for its next meal and watches the herd carefully. It doesn’t matter if its potential prey is a small adolescent, a strong adult bull or a sickly straggler, all it needs to be is alone and vulnerable. As it waits, the Gwangi observes the herd as they slowly make their way towards the river. The young male slowly follows after them, sniffing the air to make sure the wind does not change and carry his scent down to the herd. The Gwangi knows that its familiar prey, the Archaeotriceras, that the Elginia resemble, relied on smell to detect threats rather than sight and assumes the new animals rely on similar senses. Not noticing the predator and unfamiliar with the lands, the Elginia continue to leisurely browse the scrubby foliage around them. Young remain close to the adults but some of the larger animals do start to roam further afield. The Gwangi remains still, watching the bulk creatures closely as they spread out across the scrubland. Suddenly the Gwangi darts forward. One of the large bull Elginia had finally moved far enough from the rest of the herd as it browsed for the enormous tyrannosaur to decide now was the time to strike. Charging forward on its powerful legs, its thick tail swinging behind it, the Gwangi bears down on the large pareiasaur. The sounds of crushed underbrush and the roar of the Gwangi finally alerts the herd to the predator’s presence. The younger animals panic as an unfamiliar smell fills their nostrils and their poor eyes begin to notice a terrifyingly massive shape running at them. The larger adults, however, come closer together and form a wall of scaly hide, thick flesh and bony heads. The lone adult, too far away from the herd to quickly join the wall. Instead it stands its ground and begins to groan and roar at the approaching beast. The Gwangi, ignoring the display, runs at the massive herbivore and reaches down, taking a massive bite out of its flank. The Gwangi looms over the Elginia as it strikes, reaching over the other animal’s head and around so that it can reach its sides. Normally, the Gwangi would employ such a tactic to dodge the weaponry its usual prey employs such as elephant tusks and Archaeotriceras horns. It does not notice that the animal it is currently attacking has no such defences and continues to savage it as it normally would. The Elginia begins to roar in pain as the Gwangi tears more chunks out of its side, blood spraying liberally as sharp teeth slice through thick scales and osteoderms with terrifying ease. The Elginia finally expires from shock and blood-loss, collapsing onto its side and allowing the Gwangi to bring its enormous jaws around its neck and deal the final, fatal blow. Its kill made, the Gwangi lets out a loud roar of dominance and then straightens up to its full height. The herd of Elginia have already shied away, the smell of blood and the sight of such an alien killer unsettling them all. Slowly they begin to move away from the scrublands, heading towards the smell of water and away from the sight of the deadly predator. The Gwangi spends a moment to see if any other predators will approach to challenge it for the kill. The theropods life is a surprisingly violent and confrontational one and it has learnt that many other carnivores would gladly risk a fight rather than make the effort to hunt for itself. Thankfully, nothing approaches and the Gwangi bends down to begin feeding. As it rips a large section of flesh from the dead Elginia’s flank, the first scavenging birds and pterosaurs already flocking to the smell of fresh blood, the Elginia makes a decision. This new land, with water and abundant prey, will be its new territory. Well here is another narrative piece finally introducing some of the creatures that roam Africa. On another note I am aware that Gwangi was actually an allosaurus but the name was too fitting for a large retrosaur theropod. Also, whilst I do have a few entires already prepared for writing - including the Megacarcinus - would anyone like to make any requests for the updates that will be coming soon? |
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| GlarnBoudin | Mar 2 2017, 05:07 PM Post #44 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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I'd like to see some more things from Jurassic World Europe and Costa Rica. Would be interesting to see how Ingen's updated its classic dinos, or if they even have at all.
Edited by GlarnBoudin, Mar 2 2017, 05:08 PM.
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Quotes Spoiler: click to toggle Co-creator/corporate minion for the Pop Culture Monster Apocalypse! My Projects Spoiler: click to toggle Coming Soon Spoiler: click to toggle My dA page. My Fanfiction.net page. | |
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| RoyalPsycho | Mar 3 2017, 04:17 PM Post #45 |
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Adolescent
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Megacarcinus Armatus (armoured great crab): In 2024, shortly before the tenth anniversary of the first Jurassic World, the newly opened Death World exhibit of Jurassic World Australia decided to make a momentous decision. In order to make the new and frightening exhibit more unique, they would use genetics to finally make the monsters that had been in people’s imaginations since the 1950s, giant invertebrates. Megacarcinus was specially developed with a crab’s baseline genome that was manipulated further in order to produce a giant arthropod. The greatest challenges to producing such a large invertebrate were its respiratory and skeletal systems. In order to overcome this, the more imaginative geneticists employed several techniques that had never been attempted by any Jurassic World facility. Ambitiously wanting to start off with something truly big as an attraction, the park endeavoured to make an animal as big as they feasibly could with what was available to them at the time. The Megacarcinus was a product of that. A massive crustacean based on the genome of a crab, the Megacarcinus is a huge grazing herbivore that can reach sizes of nearly five metres and can match most sauropods in terms of bulk. Proportionally it looks similar to its smaller relatives, simply grown up to the much larger scale, with the exception of its limbs. It primarily walks around on six of its legs which have an erect stance underneath its body and are thick in order to support its bulk. Two of its limbs are devoted to tilling the earth, ripping grass out of the ground and lifting it up to the two smallest, manipulator limbs that bring the grass up to its mandibles. This arrangement allows the animal to properly support its bulk and gather the large amounts of food it needs to remain healthy. The Megacarcinus has a specially built, internal endoskeleton to support its exoskeleton as well. Though the bones are formed of a calcite material the body can process and form, these bones are further reinforced by the exoskeleton which has become thinner and somewhat weaker as a result of this new support system. The exoskeleton is strongest in the legs which need as much strength as they can to support the rest of the crustaceans bulk and is weakest around the joints and underside of the body carapace. The legs and back of the Megacarcinus are heavily armoured and difficult for predators to break open and the clawed forelimbs are incredibly strong and capable of dealing terrible blows. A Megacarcinus is at its most vulnerable when it sheds its exoskeleton. In order to be even possible for such a massive beast, the Megacarcinus was engineered to do this in stages, allowing the shell to moult in separate pieces, often starting with the legs so that the new shell can strengthen on such important body parts. The massive section of shell on its thorax and abdomen is often the last portion to be shed. It is normal to see massive pieces of shed Megacarcinus shell littering the Australian grasslands. It is often common for many regular predators of Megcarcinus to attack them whilst they are moulting, risking the huge grazer’s claws in order to inflict wounds on their exposed regions. Another feature engineered into the Megacarcinus was a pair of bellows lungs to replace the inefficient book lungs of their crustacean relatives. These organs, like their old books lungs, are primarily located in their abdomen and protected by the heavy exoskeleton armour of that portion of their body. Megacarcinus reproduction is an awkward affair as the animals still lay soft-shelled eggs that require to be laid in water. They will often migrate to lakes and rivers they know are unlikely to dry up over the year and will lay vast amounts of jellied eggs that are then fertilised by males. It is common, at these times of years for these bodies of water to almost gain a gelatinous skin over the top of them as the eggs are laid in their thousands. A fraction of these are expected to actually hatch and a fraction of the emergent young will survive to adulthood after that. Young Megacarcinus are much more vulnerable to predation due to their smaller size and weaker exoskeletons. They will commonly move into forests where they can find cover until they are large enough to avoid most predators. At this point in their lives they feed on the more diverse foliage of the forests. Once they are large enough they leave the forests to adopt the grazing lifestyles of the adults. Megacarcinus normally travel in small herds of unrelated individuals. These herds rarely exceed seven adults and variable numbers of adolescents once they emerge from the forests. These herds are rather loose affair and it is normal for members to stray far from one another when feeding in an area. They will come closer together either when travelling or threatened by predators. Megacarcinus can be found across Australia, wherever there is grass to graze. To the Deinonecos that inhabit those portions of Australia, they are sacred animals that are venerated for their strength, size and majesty. For now, their populations are stable, with few predators willing or able to hunt them living but things are about to change. The dinosaurs, which have always been stiff competition, are gaining the upper hand and there are creatures that have learnt howto hunt these immense crustaceans down. Though Megacarcinus is far from being endangered, they are on the verge of more difficult times. Credit to Sheather’s Everest Grovecrab which was part of the inspiration behind this creature. |
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