Dinosaur Hunter

by Steve White

  Further north, the freshwater slough gives way to brackish water environments and the cypress is replaced by mangroves; these form a frontier with the ocean. The mangroves cover many of the small islands or rise in clumps along the tidal flats that form the frontier with the sea. These islands provide nesting sites for pterosaur colonies while the submerged root systems are nurseries for many fish and marine reptiles that come inshore to breed. These nurseries attract various predators, including Spinosaurus, various species of shark and predatory marine reptiles, particularly small to medium-sized Pliosaurs.

  There are also large swathes of oyster banks along the tideline, which provide food for the Azhdarchid pterosaur, Alanqa and the terrestrial crocodile, Libycosuchus.

  The wet season sees Bahariya produce high levels of rainfall; this, combined with storm surge coming in from coastal waters, raises water levels across the reserve, presenting the threat of flooding that inundates the sloughs and wetlands. Many of the meadows to the south are flooded. The coastline is also lashed by frequent tropical storms coming in off the Tethys Sea; hurricane-force winds and storm surges can seriously damage the forest coverings of smaller hammocks and mangrove islands.

  However, the wet season is when much of the Bahariya’s wildlife breeds, making use of the growth spurred on by the increased availability of water and the resulting effect this has on the ecosystem. The dry season sees these water levels dropping considerably and many of the small watercourses desiccating to cracked mud.

  The Bahariya is unique amongst the MHC® reserves in that it requires special equipment. While rebreathers remain a necessity, the riverine conditions mean that walking is often difficult to impossible. Accordingly, hunting parties are equipped with electrically powered skiffs or skimmers, small two-person boats with very shallow drafts that enable the vessel to negotiate the wetlands, flatwoods and even the flattened fern and palmetto meadows. They are also quite capable coastal vessels and stable gun platforms.

  LICENSED TARGETS

  You are licensed to hunt the following species in the Bahariya:

  SPINOSAURUS

  A Spinosaurus plies his way through coastal mangroves. A Sirrocopteryx soars overhead.

  Length: 50ft

  Weight: 20 tons

  One of the true giants in the pantheon of large Theropods, Spinosaurus is also very unusual in its physical form, being one of the few true dinosaurs adapted for a life in water. While the figures above are general for its size, larger individuals are suspected.

  In appearance, it’s not a million miles from a sail-backed crocodile; its narrow, elongated jaws also feature a quite crocodilian kink and tooth plan, with large teeth restricted to the tip of the snout, where they (and the jaws) interlock. The nostrils are unusual in being quite far back, allowing the snaring teeth to be held below the water’s surface. A small crest is also present between the eyes, set far back and raised high in the skull. All these features seem related to aquatic adaptations and while its function does not pertain to any kind of swimming or feeding activity, the crest reflects a similar feature seen in the very distantly related crocodile-like Phytosaurs (see the Chinle section), where males possess a distinct crest along the midline of the skull.

  The limbs are also very different to those of most Theropods, with an almost quadrupedal layout. The forelimbs are large and well muscled, and sport a large hooked talon, bigger in the males; this claw is used in hunting and defence against large predators it may have cause to cross paths with, such as Carcharodontosaurus. Males also use them to spar during the mating season while females put them to good use discouraging males away from nests and young during the breeding season. The feet are slightly webbed.

  The rear legs are unlike any other Theropods. They are surprisingly small, only a little larger than the forelimbs, so that the Spinosaurus body plan really is little different from that of a crocodilian. The generally reduced size of the hind limbs restricts locomotion on dry land, although it puts into shore to rest or, in the case of the females, nest.

  However, the most striking feature of Spinosaurus is its great sail, formed from the extremely long neural spines of the animal’s back vertebrae. Broadly similar to the sail of another famous (but non-dinosaurian and much earlier) predator, Dimetrodon, its structure is not designed for thermoregulation but, with much of its time spent in water, for display and fat storage; the stores are built up in the dry season, although the females also use their sails to store fat prior to their breeding season fast (see below).

  The sails are also distinctly sexually dimorphic. Male Spinosaurs are generally smaller than the females but have proportionally larger sails that are also far more brightly marked; the males use them in colourful displays that are used in preference, where possible, to physical contests, fighting being really only a last resort and involving a clash of jaws and slashing attacks with the large claws. The males also use them to signal to females, who use their own to signal their willingness or indifference to mating, as well as warning curious males away from eggs or young.

  As would be expected with such a well-adapted semi-aquatic animal, fish is a Spinosaur’s primary prey. The Bahariya offers a wealth of large fish types on which to feed, including the very common Lepidotes and tuna-like Paranogmius, both of which can grow huge, the latter to over 12ft. It will also take gar, lungfish, hybodont sharks and sawfish, all of which are abundant in the waters of the Bahariya. They will also take small crocodilians, even turtles, especially the soft-backed types.

  During the dry season, Spinosaurus is found most frequently amongst the creeks, bayous and channels of the slough and cypress wetlands, where it feeds on the large numbers of fish and aquatic vertebrates trapped by the season’s receding waters.

  At the start of the wet season, the Spinosaurs move out into the more open sloughs and mangrove flats. Spending so much time in water, the sail takes on its primary function, that of sexual attractor; the colours change, becoming bright and, to the females, more alluring. The females spend the latter part of the dry season fattening up; this is when Spinosaurs are most likely to be found on land, as they make their way to shrunken pools or wallows where fish have been trapped or suffocated; they will also use their massive claws to dig out lungfish. Once the wet season arrives, they are able to eat well on the many fish drawn into the watershed to breed.

  After mating, the females choose small hammocks or islands, usually quite isolated, on which to nest and lay their eggs. They also fast during this period.

  Laying in such isolated spots keeps the nest relatively safe; the main threat comes from terrestrial crocs who also happen to be excellent swimmers, and who will put ashore on these small islands if they find an unattended nest or a distracted female.

  The real threat, though, is from cannibal males, who often swim out into the watershed to hunt young and eggs. This leads to frequent battles, although the smaller males often get the worst of any conflict.

  Once the young are born, they are abandoned by the female, who continues to fast until a week or so after hatching; the young stay amongst the mangrove roots or in shallow water, where they hunt insects and small fish.

  The hungry females now prowl the mangrove flats or head back inland to hunt. They also threaten pterosaur colonies, coming ashore to plunder nests for eggs and chicks. They will even take adults if hungry.

  Spinosaurs are very rarely social; the only time they may be seen in numbers is if they gather to feed on a mass stranding of fish or the occasional marine reptile; this is when they are also most likely to encounter other large Bahariya Theropods. However, such encounters rarely end well for the Spinosaurus, ironically out of their depth on land, and vulnerable to the likes of such giant predators as Carcharodontosaurus, who will also take young Spinosaurs, unafraid to attack them in the water.

  CARCHARODONTOSAURUS

  The sharp end of a Carcharodontosaurus.

  Length: 40ft

  Weight: 8 tons

  The terrestrial
apex predator of the Bahariya, Carcharodontosaurus is in general appearance a typical large Theropod – long-legged and long-tailed, with a relatively stocky frame and short but powerful forelimbs, including a large claw on the first digit. The head is large, with a large lower jaw and triangular skull. Its senses are well developed, particularly smell and hearing, which are more effective in its preferred habitat: the dense forests of the Bahariya interior and the hammocks of the wetlands and swamps. It is also very comfortable in water and a capable swimmer.

  Carcharodontosaurs regularly hunt in water, especially in the dry season when they will quite happily attack large fish trapped in shallow water; they’ll also kill young Spinosaurs. In fact, for this apex predator, virtually nothing is off Bahariya’s menu. Their primary prey is Iguanodonts and Sauropods. To hunt and kill these, Carcharodontosaurus employs the classic ‘land shark’ stratagem, ambushing from dense cover, and using its scalpel-shaped tooth pattern to make slashing wounds. This is further aided by the blade-like serrated teeth, not unlike those of the great white shark (hence the name), which are extremely adept at slicing open flesh.

  Unless the prey is sufficiently small to be overwhelmed in the initial attack, the Carcharodontosaur then withdraws and lets blood loss and shock take its toll. If need be, it will stay with the prey and deliver further attacks until the victim is completely incapacitated and easily dispatched. These predations can take many hours, even days, and make for a long, lingering death for the prey, which can end up being virtually eaten alive. This method means that even the largest animal of the Bahariya, Paralititan, is not immune from attack.

  The forelimbs are limited in mobility – they aren’t even capable of scratching the animal’s neck – but they are quite capable of pulling prey close to the body, where the jaws can really go to work. This is probably most effective against small prey, and in dismembering carcasses.

  The wet season sees many Carcharodontosaurs moving north into the hammocks, cypress domes and sloughs of the flatlands and watershed, following the Sauropods and Iguanodonts who come to browse on the fern meadows and amongst mangroves. However, following a short and usually brutal mating season, the females remain in the denser, less well-watered forests to nest. They stay with the large clutches of eggs until they hatch, then escort the precocial young into dense cover where they abandon them.

  The pups have a high mortality rate (especially from males of the same species) but grow very quickly, subsisting on insects and other invertebrates initially, but soon capable of hunting small mammals and the juveniles of other dinosaur types whose breeding seasons coincide with that of Carcharodontosaurus. The young are also quite capable swimmers and will take small fish, frogs and other amphibians, the long wet season making food plentiful.

  The dry season sees adults moving to the more forested interior, where they stay close to permanent fresh water and the prey animals it draws to it. They also enjoy wallowing in croc pools and mud holes (these provide excellent hunting opportunities) during the heat of the day.

  RUGOPS

  A Rugops paddles across a coastal channel, kicking up silt that draws the attention of a passing Pliosaur.

  Length: 20ft

  Weight: 1,600lbs

  A member of the strange clade of Theropods, the Abelisaurs, Rugops bears many of the physical hallmarks of this family: longer than average legs and tail, short trunk and very bizarrely stunted forearms with four stubby fingers; the head is short, deep and square while the roof of the snout sports a pair of raised ridges, between which is a rough, thickened plate of bone extending across the top of the skull. The lower jaw, however, is slender and the numerous teeth small. The musculature of the jaws is such that though the bite force is not strong, they can snap together with surprising speed, a feature best suited for catching small, nimble prey.

  Rugops is generally terrestrial; it is comfortable in the water, as the environment requires, but is not quite as aquatic as the likes of Carcharodontosaurus. It generally hunts animals smaller than itself, running down small or juvenile dinosaurs, terrestrial crocodiles and turtles. A favourite tactic is to ambush pterosaurs, seizing them before they can get airborne. The primary offensive weapon are the jaws, despite their seemingly reduced size; the peculiarly atrophied forearms are more or less useless in the handling of prey, and seem to serve virtually no function at all except providing a notion of stability to the male when he mounts the female during mating.

  Rugops’ small size gives it greater freedom of movement in the thick riverine forests, dense hammocks and cypress domes of the Bahariya that is its primary habitat. It is also, by nature, a solitary predator with large territories; however, pairs will stay together following successful courtships. The particularly thickened skull roofs of the males are used in head-banging jousts to secure mates. Such physical prowess has selectively made the males larger than the females.

  The successful pair raise the young together, two parents being more likely to see off larger predators. The nest is built in the densest part of the forest that remains accessible; parents take turns to make hunting trips and bring back meat to the young after hatching. The number of eggs laid is fewer and the young less precocious. They stay in the nest longer than other Bahariya Theropods, while the nest is often chosen to be near nesting colonies of Iguanodonts or Sauropods, making prey plentiful.

  On leaving the nest, the young are bigger than many juvenile dinosaurs and they will stay with their parents until a few weeks old, when they will be abandoned and the parents go their separate ways. The young Rugops stay in the thick forests and swamps until they are big enough to venture out into more open flatlands and sloughs. These juveniles, without established territories, will sometimes head out as far as the watershed and coastal flats, hunting fish and raiding pterosaur colonies; they are also not at all averse to scavenging (adults will also quite happily scavenge from Carcharodontosaur kills and rob smaller predators of a meal).

  Once big enough, they usually return to the interior and seek to establish territories for themselves, usually with at least one female’s territory overlapping it.

  OTHER FAUNA

  BAHARIASAURUS

  Little is known of this large but rare Theropod. Not much smaller than Carcharodontosaurus, at 35ft long and weighing 21/2 tons, it is more gracile and seems much more at home in a terrestrial environment. As such, it is found largely in the dense jungles of the Bahariya interior, seldom venturing into the flatwoods and meadows of the wetlands, so sightings are rare.

  Being lighter and more agile than its contemporaries, its main hunting strategy would appear to be high-speed ambushes on small to medium prey; its favoured prey appears to be Iguanodonts.

  Little is known of social life or reproduction. It appears to be a solitary but effective hunter but little can be said on its behaviour.

  SAUROPODS

  Bahariya is home to two Sauropods, both members of the Titanosaur group.

  Aegyptosaurus is the smaller but more common of the two. Adults reach about 50ft in length and can weigh up to 5 tons; like many Titanosaurs, they are armoured, with backs and flanks covered in osteoderms embedded in the skin. This species is a low-browser, preferring to feed in the more open fern and palmetto prairies; it will also graze on floating ferns in shallower watercourses, where it is less vulnerable to larger predators (particularly crocodilians) that are generally restricted to deeper creeks and channels.

  Herds of Aegyptosaurus are frequent visitors to the sloughs and hammocks closer to the Bahariya coast, especially in the wet season; they rarely venture into the cypress and mangrove flats, which would require them to travel or swim in open water and run the risk of attack of aquatic hunters; instead they are regular prey for Carcharodontosaurus. Moving in herds make them less susceptible to attack.

  Breeding season for Aegyptosaurus is at the start of the wet season. It nests colonially, on sand spits or treeless islands, running the risk of storm surges and rising water levels to build nests in
damp sand; the colony sites are usually in close proximity to marshland and densely vegetated hammocks. Large numbers of eggs are laid; the adults stay within the vicinity of the nests to provide protection from thieves. Hatching usually takes place at dusk which provides enough light for the young to scatter to the cover of the marshes and thick vegetation of the riverine understoreys. They grow rapidly and when large enough, groups of juveniles will form herds to venture out and join adult groups in the meadows and flatlands.

  Paralititan, the second Sauropod, is a giant; it can grow up to 70ft in length and weigh over 25 tons. Unlike its contemporary Sauropod, this species browses mid to high levels and in build it is somewhat convergent with the Brachiosaurs of the northern continents. It has high withers and its neck is held diagonally, making it perfectly suited to browse at height.

  Small groups of these enormous herbivores migrate north and south according to the seasons. In the wet season, they move south to feed in the new growth of the lush interior forests; this is where they breed, using strategies not dissimilar to those of Aegyptosaurus. During the dry season, they head north and push out into the watershed, grazing in the sloughs and mangrove flatlands. The huge size of the adults makes them immune to even the largest predators and they freely travel in open water.

  Paralititan is vital to the Bahariya’s environmental wellbeing; far more at home in the water than many other Sauropods, its massive size is put to good use keeping channels and creeks clear of detritus and build-ups of periphyton. This keeps currents and tides moving and the water aerated, especially along the sloughs and mangrove flats.

  IGUANODONTS

  There are two, as yet undescribed Iguanodonts in the Bahariya, both apparently related to earlier species and not that different from them. One is a rather robust type not unlike the earlier Lurdusaurus; it is large, about 30ft long, with a very thickset, barrel-shaped body while the fore and hind limbs are short and roughly equal in size. As such, it is more or less a habitual quadruped, although the hands support a very large thumb spike, which is used on the few occasions the animal rises on to its hind legs; on these occasions the spike is used to deter predators or, in the case of males, rivals. Both hands and feet are rather splayed, offering support in muddy or swampy environments, which they frequent, grazing on bankside vegetation but also at home in the meadows and flatwoods. However, it is far more semi-aquatic than most Iguanodonts although it tends to avoid more brackish and seawater conditions.