Prehistoric Wild: Life in the Mesozoic

Young Hunters (68 MYA)

Hell Creek Formation, Montana, 68 Million Years Ago

Here in western Montana lies a land populated by some of the most well-known creatures of the Late Cretaceous. Gone is the arid landscape of the state's famous badlands. In its place is a humid, forested wetland, filled with many types of trees including redwoods, ginkgoes, palm trees, bald cypress, and conifers. All these create a canopy made up of many shades of green leaves and various shades of brown tree trunks. The sounds of crickets, frogs, and early birds fill the ambiance of this moist forest. The ground below the trees is made up of mostly brown dirt covered in moss, tree roots, and loose bark. Most of this is shielded by masses of ferns, cycads, quillworts, and horsetails.

Scattered in the vegetation beds is a different kind of plant. The stem is green like everything else, but it is the head that differs. Its top is made up of white outer petals with reddish stems and a yellow core in the middle. These are what we recognize today as Magnolias, one of the earliest flowers. They evolved earlier in the Cretaceous but are already on their way to becoming as common as they are today. For now, they are just part of the diet of one of Hell Creek's larger residents who uses its beak to bite off the Magnolias.

Feasting on the ground vegetation is a Torosaurus, a relative of Triceratops that is as long as two cars and as heavy as a school bus. It's a quadrupedal animal with a short tail, and sprawling, four-toed feet. A blend of greenish-brown dyes it's dry, scaly skin with a creamy, beige underbelly. Just like its more famous cousin, Torosaurus has three keratinous, cream-colored horns adorning its face. One is quite short and bump-like, lying on top of its nose. The other two rest above its eyes, stretching out nearly 4 feet with a slight downward curve. The main way it differs from Triceratops is in its frill which is longer and rectangular with an inward groove at the top. Short, wide bumps adorn the top and sides of this frill with thicker and longer cheek hornets below the bottom. Since this is a male, the frill is stained in bright orange with two black circles outlined in yellow.

The days of this horned vegetarian are primarily spent munching on the plant beds. This process is made easier by the deep, narrow beak at the end of its jaws, allowing it to bite off even the toughest of plant matter. Batteries of teeth in the back of its mouth help to grind up this vegetation, preparing it for easier transport into the Torosaur's stomach for digestion. The chewing sounds of this behemoth are loud and crunching, drowning out its occasional huffs and grunts.

Little does this herbivore know that something lurks not far from him. Hidden behind a taller batch of cycads is a pair of two-legged carnivores, watching with their golden-colored eyes. The Torosaurus stops chewing for a moment, witnessing their three-toed feet step out from the thick vegetation. As they emerge, the peering sunlight makes their identity ever clearer and more visible. They are the most famous carnivores to have ever lived. The apex predators of Cretaceous Montana. The tyrant lizard kings. Tyrannosaurus Rex... juveniles, no more than 10 feet long.

Their snouts, legs, tails, and overall bodies are long and slender, standing no taller than the average 7-year-old human. Both of their famous, two-fingered pairs of hands are pointed toward each other and no longer than their mouths. Above each of their eyes are keratinous bumps that stretch the entire length of their eyelids. Feathers cover the top of their backs, the side of their bellies, and behind their necks.

For the slightly smaller of the two, Scratch, his feathers are reddish brown with short, horizontal streaks of black throughout. His exposed skin is a blend of black and brown, with a yellowish beige on his underbelly and lips. The bumps above his eyes are a brighter shade of reddish-brown, signifying that he's a male. His name comes from a series of scratches and bite marks scarred on his exposed skin.

The slightly larger of the two, Shade, couldn't be more different from his brother. He has far fewer scars with only one thin, barely visible line across his snout. By far the most striking difference is that the colors of his skin and feathers are replaced with various shades of black and dark gray, a byproduct of melanism. As it does with many modern-day predators, this mutation allows him to blend in the shadows more easily.