AAA 2024 – BATTLE 2
A wide river with fern and metasequoia groves lining it provides huge amounts of suitable habitat for all varieties of species. Herds of hadrosaurs and Pachyrhinosaurus move across the land, searching for the vast quantities of food to fill their enormous diets. These hundreds of herbivores provide ample prey for carnivores like Albertasaurus. Smaller animals, like the dromaeosaur Boreonykus and troodontids, act as scavengers and predators of smaller dinosaurs, mammals, and lizards. Pterosaurs fly overhead and either hunt for small animals or swoop down to pick fish from the lakes and rivers.
Patiently watching all these goings on is a creature much more suited to waiting for its meal. Borealosuchus is a 4m long crocodilian who is very skilled in ambushing small animals as they come to drink or swim in the river for fish. Currently, this crocodilian is lounging on the shore, absorbing the heat of the sun, and digesting a small mammal it caught earlier. This bank is a favourite of the Borealosuchus, as it is sandy enough to absorb heat well but not too much, and it is soft enough to sleep on. It also has nearby overhanging trees, should the Borealosuchus feel like it needs to cool off in the shade.
This lazy afternoon is disturbed when a crashing sound comes from a grove of trees. A huge, armoured dinosaur, a Tarchia, pushes its way out of the undergrowth and walks right towards where the Borealosuchus is dozing. The Tarchia has been eating ferns all morning and is in search of a drink. Being a nearly 5-ton animal with bony armour, the Tarchia doesn’t fear many animals. Unlike most species, it doesn’t try to sneak up to the water to avoid detection.
This disturbance wakes the Borealosuchus and it watches the ankylosaur walking closer, right towards it. As the moments pass, the Tarchia not turning away, the Borealosuchus breathes out in a hissing way, hoping to scare the Tarchia away. This sudden sound doesn’t faze the Tarchia, who keeps walking forward.
Resigned, the Borealosuchus stands up and slips back into the water. Swimming away, it hears the squish of sand and slurping of water. These signs tell the Borealosuchus that its favourite sleeping spot is now being churned up by a 5-ton animal, and that once the ankylosaur has drunk its fill, the Borealosuchus will need to spend days perfecting its sleeping spot again.
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Tarchia Wins!
