Qulonggongba Formation, China, 216 Million Years Ago

Clouds of diverse shapes and sizes float across the sky. Light from the sun emerges from one of these puffs of white. The shining glows reveal what will one day be the mountainous expanse of the Himalayas.

    However, here in the Late Triassic, it's a whole different world from what it is today. During this time, India has yet to merge with Asia, instead being positioned further south in the supercontinent of Pangea. It won't be for nearly 160 million years until the subcontinent collides with southern China, forming the mountain ranges we're familiar with.

    For now, this area is not a part of the land, but rather the sea. Instead of rocky highlands, there is an expanse of shallow water. Here, the level of liquid azure ranges anywhere from 100 to 1,000 feet deep. What is seen of land is a series of jagged stones constantly impacted by roaring waves. This part of the area is all but inhibited.

    To see what lives here, one must dive beneath the glimmering waves. Under here, the soft light shining from above reveals a blue world. Sitting at the bottom is an endless field of sand. Much of it is still, but small particles of it occasionally burst out of it in response to the current. Mixed in are stones of varying shapes and sizes. Some are small and pebble-like, mostly buried in the sand around them. Others are massive, towering above the sand around them.

    It is on the surface of these rocks, where streams of light dance across, that much of this area's most common forms of life rest upon. Everywhere from the top of these stones to the cracked crevices are batches of algae. They cling to stones, coating them in patches of brown among all the black and gray forms. Others float around in particles, some being too small to be seen by the human eye.

    These particles are the main food sources of another form of life present here. All over the sand and even on the larger stones are countless forms of bivalves. Clams, oysters, scallops, file shells, and hatchet shells litter the ocean floor in droves. They hardly do much, outside of constantly opening and closing their shells to suck in the loose algae and other small particles.

They too are food, however, but to a more active form of life. Swimming above them are various shelled cephalopods, ancestors of squid and octopus. Most familiar of them is the Cosmonautilus, an ancestor of the modern chambered nautilus. Its appearance is remarkably similar to its extant counterpart, everything from the coiled, banded shell and the fleshy tentacles that dangle out from it. White primarily covers its body with reddish-brown bands.

These don't directly pose a danger to the living clams, but rather eat up deceased ones and any other dead organisms it can scavenge off of. However, the clams that are still alive have to contend with a different relative of the Cosmonautilus. It's not around today but has been long forgotten by time.

They are Halorites, a type of ammonite. These too are cephalopods with a spiral shell on their back. However, in comparison to the Cosmonautilus, they appear proportionately larger. These ammonites too have tentacles that tuck in and out as a fleshy tube propels them through the water. Unlike the Cosmonautilus, it has much more earthy colors of dark brown and bands of mossy green.

Utilizing their tentacles, they easily trap and bivalves they come across. Their tough beaks then make quick work of their meal by crunching it apart. Once done, the remains are spat out from their tentacles as they move on to their next meal.

These cephalopods aren't the only active predators here. Ancient sharks litter the waters in great abundance. They appear similar to their modern relatives but have some differences in morphology. A second dorsal fin is present between the front one and the fins of their tails. Each of these top fins has a barb-like structure in front of them. Smaller horn-like structures stick out from above their eyes as well. Their smooth skin is counter-shaded with dark gray on their top half and a solid white on their underside.

Across this marine area, the sharks comb over the sands and rocks for potential prey. Sometimes it's clams but other times it would be the cephalopods. As their descendants will be, these predatory fish are very high in the underwater food chain, but here in the Triassic, they are the Davids to a Goliath.

From the thicker blue in the distance, a dark shape moves closer into sight. As it does, much of the marine life scatters and hides. Both ammonites and even the sharks conceal themselves among the submerged stones.

Casting a massive shadow onto the seafloor is a giant of the sea. This is Kamal, a male Himalayasaurus. At 50 feet long, he's as large as a modern humpback whale. Such size easily makes him one of the biggest members of the fish-like ichthyosaur family of marine reptiles. His body is sleek and streamlined, expanded by a thick layer of blubber. Four, flipper-shaped limbs jut out from his large form. One more, much shorter fin grows from the top of his back as well as the two at the end of his tail, forming a shape similar to that of a thresher shark but upside-down. A large head rests at the front of his body, sporting a long snout and a mouth full of cutting-edged teeth. His smooth, scaleless skin is mostly black, with a white underbelly that bleeds into the top of his flipper limbs. Barnacles attached to this skin add some gray on random parts of his body.

With such a massive size, Kamal's mere appearance frightens away most sea animals here. Even the sharks can easily find themselves victims to the Himalayasaurus if this giant so chooses. Despite this, one kind of creature quickly approaches him.

Emerging from the rocks is a large shoal consisting of dozens of conodonts. Their limbless bodies are long and slender, appearing like those of eels or snakes. Despite such similarities, they are a type of extinct fish. They don't have jaws, but rather one hole-like mouth filled with sharp, cone-like teeth. In fact, the name of their group, conodonts, means "cone teeth." Two massive eyes rest above these bizarre, lamprey-esque mouths. Their skin is primarily light blue with black, vertical bands along it that cross over into their white underbellies.

While the other residents of these Himalayan waters hide from Kamal, the conodonts welcome him solely for one thing: food. Similarly to whales and dolphins of our modern day, Himalayasaurs like Kamal continuously renew their skin by shedding their old layer. This allows them to remove parasites as well as maintain their health and functionality without significantly disrupting the blubber layer underneath. It's a process that also leaves patches of transparent, dead skin hanging off their new layer.

For the conodonts, this shedding allows them an opportunity to feed. Using their mouths, they scrape off and ingest the loose patches of skin. They're already adapted to eating soft, fleshy prey, so the skin of a Himalayasaurus is no trouble for them.

This practice also benefits Kamal. With the event that he's preparing for, fresh and healthy skin will be something he'll very much benefit from. While the conodonts may be an opportunity for a nice meal, this Himalayasaurus is also getting a nice spring cleaning. The only part of the ocean titan that's left untouched is the top of his back due to how often it breaches the surface.

Before long, the conodonts disperse from the Himalayasaurus, retreating to the confines of the submerged rocks below. Thanks to their feasting, Kamal now has a smooth clean layer of skin, free of dangling dead patches. Where this marine giant is going, he'll need it.

***

Soon, Kamal arrives in the shallows close to the Himalayan shore. Here, the water levels max out at nearly 100 feet deep. Although he may seem large for such a shallow coast, the Himalayasaurus can still swim through without dragging his body on the rocks below, even if barely.

Now that he's arrived, Kamal stops and sticks the top of his head above the water, the rest of his body simply floating in the liquid blue. He then starts to let out a series of low rumbles, mixing the sound with the bubbling of the underwater world. Water springs up around his breaching body as his sounds vibrate the water around him.

This is the first of many calls he'll make at this cove on his mission: to find a mate. Every year, male Himilayasaurs like Kamal gather in shallow areas like this for the mating season. In these calm waters, they're free to make their calls and for females to in turn hear them. Of course, even in the wider ocean, these bellows can still be heard with how much faster and farther sound travels in water than it does in the air. However, the more open waters are also filled with the constant sounds of waves that can easily drown out these calls. Thankfully, when producing them from calmer waters like here on the Himalayan coast, they don't run such a risk.

And Kamal isn't alone in doing this strategy. Other males of slightly larger and slightly smaller sizes enter the shallows, too. Each of their colors has different variations of patterns that make them unique such as the white of their underbelly growing up on their sides, having all-white or all-black flippers, and even different arrangements of barnacles. One by one, they breach the surface to begin their mating calls. Before long, the sounds of over a dozen other males fill the Himalayan shallows.

This ocean ruckus also attracts the object of their desires: females. They are similar in look to the males, only being slightly smaller at an average of about 46 feet long. The same differences in skin coloration seen in the males are also visible in the females as well.

As they gently grow closer to the shallows, Kamal and the other males greet them eagerly. Some females immediately gain a partner with which to engage in their courtship dance. It consists of leisurely twirling around one another as they travel out of the shallows. This is mixed in with gentle rubbing of one another's skin and the sounds of low rumbling. The pair would also partly spring their bodies out of the water before reentering it with a gigantic splash.

It's upon exiting the shallows that these buoyant ballets are cut short. The remaining males chase after the dancing would-be couples, splitting off in various directions. Kamal follows one group going after the youngest female, a candidate who is in her prime fertility.

Returning to the depths outside of the cove, all the Himalayasaurs can now move much more freely without the fear of beaching. Using this privilege, Kamal and the other competing males vie for the young female's attention. This consists of guttural rumbling through the waters, drowning out any other present sound. They also perform miniature dances by twirling and bending their bodies while breaching and splashing the surface. Their flippers and tails crash against the sea top too, creating streams and clouds of white bubbles in their trail. These actions serve the dual purpose of trying to get the female's attention, but also a warning to their competitors.

Even with this intrusive mob after them, the prime male continues his courtship dance with her while also leading her away from his rivals. He also begins his method of deterring opponents. A massive cluster of bubbles erupts from his nostrils, a deterrent to his competitors. The large size of these streams serves as a sign of his physical prowess, causing lesser males to swim away.

Those who remain start to take more violent measures. The chasing males, including Kamal, start bashing and ramming each other's bodies. Much of the collision is absorbed by their blubber, but the impact of these blows is still felt.

In the chaos, Kamal manages to arrive near the female. As he does, the prime male attempts to shoulder him away. His efforts only create a shoving competition between the two. Despite enduring many bumps and tail slaps, neither male backs away from the female.

Amid the clash, the alpha takes a more drastic resort. He starts to bite Kamal's flipper. A puff of crimson trails from the puncture holes but also scrapes left on the side of his body. Kamal attempts to shake his flipper free from the dominant male, breaching the surface for air in the struggle.

Soon, he breaks free only to stray away from the path of the young female. Injured and bleeding, Kamal can't continue in this race. If he's to properly heal, he'll have to take a break. With strength and endurance on his side, the alpha will eventually claim victory.

***

The sun has dropped closer to the horizon, marking a later point in the afternoon. Its light has begun taking a small shift from the yellow of day to the more orange shade of early dusk. Even after hours have passed, male Himalayasaurs arrive in and out of the shallows in their quest to attract a mate. As the daylight dies down, so does the traffic of these oceanic giants.

Now only a few males remain in the shallows rumbling. One of them is Kamal who's only just recovered from his flipper injury. In the time it took for the blood to clot in his flipper, many females passed by and initiated heat runs. None of them were ones he attempted to chase after as healing has been his highest priority. Doing so is a huge risk as it may lead to Kamal missing his chance. And with the day nearing its end and many of the males disappearing, his odds of finding a mate only continue to dwindle. If he misses this opportunity, he'll need to wait a whole year for the prospect of passing his genes to the next generation.

For the first time since arriving hours ago, Kamal takes a deep breath before initiating his mating calls. This time, the absence of the many males has resulted in less traffic of these rumbling bellows. It's him and a handful of other Himalayasaurs whose sounds are resonating through the shallows.

Shortly, Kamal takes a break from these calls to dive below the surface. His eyes observe the watery world around him, finding no sign of any females. All he finds is four other males who are also tired and injured from failed heat runs.

Suddenly, a melodic rumble sounds off from the dimming, distant blue. Kamal turns to the darker waters outside of the shallows and floats toward them. Emerging from this dark blue is another Himalayasaurus. This one is a female named Ceba. She's unique in that unlike most of the other Himalayasaurs that Kamal has spotted, she has a spot of white around each of her eyes.

She's also not alone. Swimming by her side is an over 20-foot-long calf. Nearly 3 years old, this little female has almost reached half her full adult size. Aside from being smaller, the little one is nearly identical to her mother aside from having a proportionately shorter tail and lacking her white eye spots.

Ceba may already be a parent, but her presence only means one thing: she's ready to conceive another baby. If she does so now, her eldest youngster will already be old enough to leave her by the time her second is born. Thus, time is of the essence for this mother.

For Ceba, however, catching the eye of a male won't be easy. They would naturally be drawn to females who haven't yet reproduced. To them, she'd be "spoiled goods."

Despite such a predisposition, she's already gained the attention of one male: Kamal. Upon seeing her, he immediately greets Ceba by circling her. She keeps her calf close to ensure her safety from a potentially violent altercation.

To the mother and daughter's surprise, no such behavior occurs. Instead, Kamal rubs his body against Ceba's right side while letting out soothing rumbling sounds. At first, she is hesitant, holding her youngster tightly under her left fore flipper.

Kamal then breaches the surface, letting out a raspy hiss for air before dipping his head back in the water. The rest of his body remains above the surface, turning and twisting all around. His tail also slaps the liquid blue, creating white eruptions of seawater.

As Kamal fully submerges himself, he finds Ceba growing closer to him. They both start rubbing each other while engaging in a duet of calming rumbles. In a final act of trust, the mother lets go of her calf, allowing the little one to swim freely around the couple.

The two Himalayasaurs slowly twirl around one another as they slowly drift out of the shallows. Their bodies inch closer and closer until their back flippers start clasping together. This joining of rear limbs marks their consummation. As impregnation starts, Kamal and Ceba spring out of the water, creating erupting splashes as their joined bodies breach and crash into liquid blue.

With this mighty, yet graceful display, their mating ballet has come to an end. Thus, both Kamal and Ceba go their separate ways. He will not meet their future offspring as the charge of nurture falls upon the mother. In different directions, both male and female vanish in the darker ocean blue, the latter being tailed by her calf.

The mating season is often the ultimate test of survival of the fittest. As is the case with many other organisms in the natural world, it's often the strongest male Himalayasaurs that earn the opportunity to pass their genes. Kamal has learned firsthand that such success is never guaranteed. Even in failure, however, he still found his way to Ceba, with whom he helped to sire just one of many members of the next generation. If this next offspring ends up being a male, he too will eventually have a chance of being a champion of the waters.