Taynton Limestone Formation, England, 168 Million Years Ago

Oxfordshire is known for grassy slopes, chalk streams, and beech woodlands. Here in the middle Jurassic, it's a much more tropical area lying on the coast of Europe's ancient Tethys Sea. The beaches are made up of bright beige sand partly covered by the clear blue ocean waters. This seashore borders a lush forest, one filled with enough ginkgo and araucaria trees that the floor is hidden from a bird's eye view. Below the thick canopy, partly illuminated by fading yellowish-orange daylight, is a thick bed of lush ferns, cycads, and fern-like seed plants. This blanket of vegetation hides a sandy ground plagued with brown, decayed leaves, and other bits of plant matter. Parts of sea water seep into some areas creating small rivers of salt water. Shades of green from the forestry and phosphorescent blue from the oceanic water are instead tainted in gray from the slowly approaching night.

Despite this increasing lack of daylight, life still thrives. The water is populated by fish that occasionally creep in from the sea. Most commonly, the ocean visitors are deep-bodied, ray-finned fish and elongated lungfish. Insects populate the ferns and the air around them, primarily flying beetles and damselflies. The biggest are giant cicadas, each growing upwards of 2 inches in length. It is the wings of these bugs that create buzzing noises throughout the forest.

There are also low booms and creaking groans that echo across this lush land. These come from the area's largest residents, whose elongated necks hold their small heads up so high, that they peer just through the canopy. They are Cetiosaurus, English members of the sauropod family and the first of the group to have their remains discovered by modern scientists. These 12-ton animals measure up to 60 feet from head to tail, making them more than worthy of a name that means "whale lizard." They stand on four tall, pillar-like legs that lift their large bodies 10 feet high at the shoulder. Their scaly skin is mainly dark, bluish-gray, covered with various black streaks as well as a solid white underbelly. Primarily, their are days around trees, stripping them of their greenery which is then sent down to their stomachs via their long necks.

Amongst the ferns below creeps something much smaller with a diet geared toward meat. It is a compact, lightly built predator that stands at a length of 12 feet. Called Proceratosaurus, it is one of the smaller carnivores that live in England at this time. Its body is slender and lightweight at 90 pounds, carried by thin legs that lift it 3 feet off the ground. Like all theropods its size, it has a long, stiff tail that acts as a counterbalance. Its arms are relatively small, the hands of which have three fingers adorned with sharp claws. What makes it stand out, however, is a thin crest that emerges from the top of its snout. It is shaped like a boot and colored in a mix of black, blue, and purple, a sign that it's a male. Hair-like feathers cover much of its body, the color of which is primarily beige-red with a series of vertical black stripes throughout. Only its face, feet, and hands lack these feathers, revealing pale yellow scaly skin.

While it may be too small to prey on the likes of Cetiosaurus, the Proceratosaurus is still content with catching flying insects and the occasional fish. Soon, he gets lucky and manages to trap a single lungfish in his mouth. However, rather than eating it right there by the small stream, he instead carries it with him deeper into the forest. The smell of any fresh kill is enough to lure other carnivores, especially bigger ones that can easily bully it out of the Proceratosaurus. Therefore, he'll only feast on his meal once he truly knows that it's safe and alone.

And so, the predator swiftly dashes away, his long slender legs carrying it faster than any animal around him. With great agility and little effort, he's able to maneuver around the trees in his environment even at top speed. However, his focus isn't entirely on what's ahead of him. Instead, the small carnivore periodically moves his head from side to side and even backward, constantly on the watch for rival predators. Fortunately, the coast is clear, but he'll soon discover the consequences of his lack of attention to what's in front of him.

Suddenly, the Proceratosaurus trips and tumbles across the ground. After a foot, he stops, causing dead leaves to fly up from the forest floor. He turns his body before using his legs to push himself off the ground. For a moment, he freezes, hearing deep, crocodile-like, gurgling growls. Slowly and cautiously, the Proceratosaurus turns around to see a much larger predator rising off the ground.

At 23 feet long and 7 feet tall, it easily dwarfs the much smaller carnivore. Much like the Proceratosaurus, it has a horizontally held body carried on two legs with a long tail for balance. It's a much more muscular animal, something that's even seen in its short but robust arms. The head of this animal is large, sporting powerful hinged jaws that help form a mouth filled with long, blade-like teeth that are curved and serrated. Its scaly-skinned body is primarily muddy green, with a pattern of black streaks across it in addition to a dark, gray underbelly. This is "Buckland's Great Lizard," Megalosaurus.

Although a far cry from the giant quadrupedal lizard depicted by 19th-century scientists, it is still enough to send chills down the much smaller Proceratosaurus. In response, he scurries away with his prized lungfish still clasped within his jaws. The Megalosaurus, however, does not follow, instead letting out a deep, hissing bellow. With the intruder gone, this female tends to much more important business.

Directly beside her is a clump of loose twigs and dead vegetation, packed together by dry dirt and mud. In the middle is a hole, one containing pieces of ferns covering five ovoid eggs. Each one is less than a foot long and covered with a pale white shell. For the past few months, her duty has solely been the protection and nurturing of these eggs. This time is mainly spent regulating their temperature with the ferns and fending off anything that eats the developing young inside. Even her diet had been severely reduced, only limited to the occasional, would-be nest-raiders.

Such a task requires her to constantly be on alert, which has easily left her tired. With the remains of sunlight slowly disappearing, she returns to her nest, curls her lying body around it, and returns to sleep. With hope, it may not be long before little ones are ready to enter the world. Till then, her long, exhaustive duties will not end.

***

Night soon falls, encasing the land in a near, pitch-black. Much of the fauna either vanished from the forest or lay sleeping on the ground. What remains are the many cicadas who continue their buzzing well into the night.

There is also one type of animal emerging that wouldn't be seen in daylight. They are small, 10-inch-long mammals called Amphitherium. Their bodies are long and slender, with four small legs and a long, thick-coated tail. The head of these creatures is long and narrow, with a mouth full of long, thin, pointed teeth. Like all mammals at this time, they're covered in a coat of fur which in the case of Amphitherium is all black. The scarcely visible parts of their skin are reddish brown, almost resembling a Tasmanian devil of our modern day.

Unlike many other animals in the area or even the time of the Mesozoic, mammals like Amphitherium are primarily nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. This way, they can hunt for insects and other small creatures without the fear of the much larger predatory dinosaurs feasting on them. Adaptations like their wide eyes granting night vision and their whiskers allowing them to sense their environment have made them perfectly suited for such a lifestyle. Such traits have become so successful that they're even seen in modern mammals such as cats, bats, and raccoons.

Another kind of food they like is eggs, particularly those of the dinosaurs they live with. The mother Megalosaurus is aware of this and thus remains half-awake with her body curled around her nest. Even as her eyes remain tired and heavy, she doesn't shy away from her maternal duties.

This, however, won't be a night well-suited for sleeping through. In the sky above the forest, clouds have formed, blocking out the light of the moon. Now, the sounds of thunder fill the air as well, steadily increasing in frequency and loudness. This occasionally follows a flash from a devastating form of nature... lightning. Each of its flashes from the sky briefly illuminate the forest below, providing the same amount of light as the sun during the day. Normally such patterns in the weather would be followed by rainfall, something that would help in nourishing both flora and fauna in this land. However, the heat is so strong that any precipitation evaporates before it can touch the ground. Such an event is referred to in our modern day as a "dry thunderstorm."

For the mother Megalosaur, it's just another noisy nuisance, causing her to yawn along with shuffling her head and body restlessly. However, in the middle of this, another sound starts to occur, a series of soft, coursing chirps, almost like a baby crocodile. The mother hears these faint sounds and immediately turns her head toward her nest. Past the darkness and periodic flashes of lightning, she sees her eggs wiggling and squirming. She investigates the nest and sniffs it, finding nothing but her clutch. Then, she starts to make a series of low-frequency rumbles, causing the eggs to wiggle more frequently.

In the blink of an eye, another change starts to occur. Cracks slowly start to appear, stretching across the brittle surface of the shells. Bits of the shells start to fall off in small chunks, revealing a thinner, more flexible layer of white membrane. Holes are already being made in the layer of one of these hatching eggs, one showing a toe claw poking out of it. One bump from the membrane breaks the top of the eggs, coinciding with a louder chirp. Soon, a small, biting mouth breaks through the white wall, allowing a whole head to poke through.

At last, the first baby enters the world. Its head shape is much like that of its mother, only shorter and with much bigger eyes. A brighter shade of green skin can also be seen, in the brief flashes from the lightning above. The mother reaches her head into the nest, greeting her firstborn youngster by rubbing her face against it. Not only is this the youngster's first sign of parental affection, but it also has the benefit of allowing both mother and child to become familiar with each other's scents. Now, it won't be long before the Megalosaur's egg-guarding duties turn to raising and nurturing her newborn young.

This peace isn't destined to last long. Thunder and lightning from the storm start to increase in frequency rapidly. Now a new flash and crash occurs with an amount of time in between equivalent to the blink of an eye. In this escalating chaos, a massive bolt of lightning dances across the sky. It lands on the ground, creating a bright spark that jolts a nearby Cetiosaur out of its slumber.

As the moment passes, the flashing light from above reveals a black scorch on the ground. From it, a series of bright, orange lights emerge, increasing in size and brightness as they spread across the floor and vegetation. Everything in its path is turned into a lifeless black as it's consumed by the growing blaze. Crackling sounds start to follow along with pops as small, bright orbs jump out of the blaze, creating more on the plants they touch. This is not a storm that brings water, but rather one that breeds something else entirely... fire.

It isn't long before more lightning strikes the forest floors, sparking more emerging flames. These and the growing blaze are enough to scare away the local fauna. Even the giant Cetiosaurs charge away from the combustions but only as fast as their lumbering bodies allow them.

One resident has yet to start running, the mother Megalosaurus. Her babies are still hatching out of their shells, a process that is usually long and arduous. Three eggs remain unhatched despite breaks being visible and the two that are emerging have yet to break out completely.

Even if they were to finish hatching before the fire reaches the nest, they wouldn't be able to outrun the wall of intense heat. Hatching is an exhaustive process for the little Megalosaurs, so by the time it's done, they'll be too exhausted to stand, let alone run. She attempts to rumble more, urging the youngsters to break out. The babies continue hatching but the fire also grows bigger and closer with every second. Even the tops of the tallest trees are set ablaze, creating intense orange light throughout the forest as bright as the sun itself.

Surrounded by the boiling sweltering of the towering flames, the Megalosaurus has one last option if she wants her young to make it out alive. Swiftly yet gently, she lifts her young with her jaws and scoops them into her mouth. By the time her still-hatching babies are inside the mother's mouth, she barely has enough room to fit them all. If such a desperate strategy is to work, she'll need to be careful not to close her mouth too forcefully. Just one bite from this large predator strong enough to injure or even kill her newborns.

Suddenly, the now empty nest erupts with an intense, torching combustion. With her precious cargo now on board, she abruptly dashes away. As she runs closer and closer to the crawling end of the flames, droplets of sweat perspire from her skin. Even the hatchlings feel the bodily moisture from inside her huffing jaws.

Most dangerously, the mother also starts to cough from the increasing levels of smoke and carbon dioxide. These brief but intense episodes of hacking are enough to frighten her newborns, who start to chirp and squeal much more frequently. One babe is accidentally sent rolling down her mouth, almost falling out of the very tip of it. Fortunately, the mother is just barely able to turn her head back up in time to send her loose baby back into her mouth.

Further and further, she sprints away from the expanding mass of intense blaze. She starts to find herself only a hundredth of a foot away from the edge of the fire. It only fails to grow further due to a stream of saltwater that seeped in from the nearby ocean. With enough determination, the mother and her new family will find themselves safe outside of the destructive flames.

Suddenly, another obstacle hinders this possibility. Weaker trees start to drop onto the ground around them. The impacts of them kick up clouds of smoke and embers. One large batch of them lands on the side of the mother Megalosaur, her to hiss deeply and intensely. As she does, her body falls on the ground.

The mother opens her eyes, almost blinded by the bright shades waving orange around her. Just a foot or two away from her, she finds one of her tiny newborns. Although free from its shell, the youngster was too tired to push himself off the ground. Despite the near-thousand-degree temperature of the growing blaze, the little one's feeble kicking isn't enough to get it moving.

In this moment, the mother gets back up ready to scoop her exposed newborn up with its chirping siblings. But at this moment, her eyes spot something farther ahead of the youngster. More trees are falling around the path of the forest exit. It may not be long before another larger tree falls blocking her path entirely. The risk of trapping herself and her entire brood is further risked if she's not quick enough to pick up the loose hatchling. As it continues kicking and chirping on the ground, the mother ponders her next decision. Save her escaped baby and risk herself dying with the rest of the youngsters or leave it and save what's left in her jaws. It only takes a few seconds of pondering amongst the enormous swelter before she makes her decision.

As quickly as she can, she scoops the grounded newborn back into her crowded mouth. Just as she finishes, a large tree crashes onto the ground behind her, causing her to jump. She sprints away, running faster than her legs had ever taken her. Her eyes are set on the forest exit, surrounded by a growing arch of flame. In the face of the flames whose tips almost touch her, she continues to press on.

Suddenly, a thick tree drops in front of her. It blocks her path with a scorching wall of blaze rising from it. Another tree drops behind her just seconds later. Her eyes are still fixated on the exit, even past the wavering pyre just feet away from her face. Soon, a third tree starts to fall, but its fate along with the mother is concealed by the blinding forest blaze.

***

After a long night, the clouds clear up to reveal the morning sun. Its light shines on the ground below, revealing a drastically different land. Gone is much of the greenery that flourished here. In its place is charred, brown soil with streaks of black burns along with stains and piles of gray ash. Puffs and streams of smoke emanate from the ground, varying in transparency. Many of the trees that towered above all else had fallen onto the scorched earth. Those that still stand are scared in solid black, stripped of their vegetation. Even some of the water streams are dried up because of the intense, overnight blaze. The fire from the previous night's storm has left a smoke and ash-ridden area that stretches across ten square miles.

Indeed, the lush land that stood before the previous night is forever gone... but in its place, a new one can now emerge. The ashes created from burnt-up plants have already begun to sink into the soil. There, they act as a natural fertilizer, allowing for the buried seeds to grow into much healthier foliage. As with any other plants, the sun will be a key factor in their growth. Especially now that the overgrowth of trees, ferns, and dead organic matter that would block out the life-giving rays are burnt away. Even now, the earliest signs of floral rebirth can be seen in the form of small green sprouts that have emerged from the cinders.

The plant life that remains benefits from this cleansing as well. Due to overcrowding, many trees had branches that were wilting away from lack of sun intake. Now, the dead parts of them have been burnt off to make way for stronger, healthier leaves.

Amidst this bloom of new growth, the animal life starts to return. The first of which is the Cetiosaurs who graze on the newly sprouted vegetation. For the trees themselves, it will be of little loss. Now that they have more direct access to the sun, it won't be long before any lost vegetation grows back from either fire or hungry herbivores. The long-necks also take advantage of a new dietary option, burnt tree bark. It may seem an odd thing to eat, but charcoal has a variety of health benefits. These include reducing cholesterol, improving digestive systems, and cleansing the body of impurities.

It isn't long before smaller animals start to benefit from the forest remnants. Amphitheriums return, the only time they'd be seen in broad daylight. Here, they feast on the many insects that had been embroiled by the overnight fire. Dead fish are also scattered on the ground, their skin burnt black. With such a plentiful smorgasbord readily available, even these nocturnal mammals don't hesitate to take advantage.

However, this opportunity is not without its risks. Proceratosaurs have also come back, snatching up the scorched corpses in addition to the Amphitheriums. Not only do they have free easy meals, but also a new food source they normally wouldn't have in broad daylight.

A handful of these predators start to gather around another, much larger meal. One Cetiosaurus has failed to escape last night's blaze, paying with its life. This may have been the end for the giant herbivore but for the Proceratosaurs, it is an extra-large treat in this land of charred corpses.

Suddenly, a deep, loud bellow reverberates from out of nowhere. The small carnivores look back, knowing what is near. They scatter away, leaving the giant carcass exposed. From a thick trail of smoke, the source of the noise emerges... the mother Megalosaurus. Although still alive and kicking, she did not escape the blaze entirely intact. A handful of scratches and small burns are now present across most of her skin. Slowly, they'll heal into scars, reminders of the chaotic events that night. She steps toward the dead sauropod before turning around to let out a series of low rumbles.

Immediately, something else emerges from the trail behind her... baby Megalosaurs. Through their mother's miraculous determination, all five of the youngsters hatched and survived the deadly blaze. Now, they follow her, waddling across the dirt and ash with proportionately large feet.

Swiftly yet clumsily, they approach the carcass eager to sink their small teeth into their first meal. The mother begins to wolf down the meat, more so than even her hungry newborns. This may not be her first taste of flesh, but it's already the biggest meal she's had since laying her eggs.

While this event may have destroyed the land that lay here before, it has allowed for the growth and rejuvenation of a new one. And if it weren't for the actions of the mother Megalosaurus, her brood would have been less likely to survive to see such rejuvenation. Now the continuation of their destinies is further ensured in a new forest born from fire.