Lourinha Formation, Portugal, 154 Million Years Ago

The late-morning sun rests in the blue sky above what is now Portugal. Its shining rays in addition to a lack of wind and rain create an intense, sweltering heat. This marks one of the harshest times of the Jurassic, the dry season.

Only a month in, the effects of this arid period can be seen in the thick forests. Bristles of the conifer trees have started to turn brown or fall off entirely. The parched drought has begun draining the green from the many ferns and cycads, leaving the same decayed bits of brown.

Many kinds of bugs litter this wooded land. The beige, dirt ground and bark of the trees are swarming with millipedes, cockroaches, crickets, termites, and aphids. In the air, flying insects including beetles, cicadas, dragonflies, damselflies and mosquitoes fill the wilderness with droning buzzing sounds.

Other bigger organisms reside here, clinging to survival in their way. Early arboreal mammals run across the tree branches to eat whatever greenery remains, adding their chirps and squeaks to the forest ambiance. Quieter residents in the form of ancient skinks scurry across the ground, gobbling any insect they can find. In terms of size, they are eclipsed by another form of life that calls these woods home: dinosaurs.

The smallest of these is a type of 10-foot-long herbivore named Draconyx. Their thick bodies are carried by two strong, slender legs and a long, thick tail. A pair of forelimbs are also present, much shorter and held closer to their bodies. It's only when the Draconyx reaches low to the ground during foraging that these front limbs ever touch the ground. A narrow-elongated neck supports their small heads which have beaks at the front of their mouths, hiding flat-topped cheek teeth. This arrangement in dentition greatly helps them in grinding up the low-lying vegetation, on which they feast. Large, keen eyes serve them well in scanning the environment around them. Their scaly skin is primarily sheen green with vertical, dark green streaks on their back and body as well as a white underbelly.

Accompanying them is a smaller herd of one of the most well-known dinosaurs of this time. Their footsteps thud into the ground imprinting large tracks into it. Snaps and rustles follow in their wake as they move to and from larger batches of foliage.

These are Stegosaurus, the namesake of the stegosaur family. At up to 30 feet long and 6 tons in weight, each of these females is among the largest members of their well-known group. Their heavily built bodies are supported by four legs, each ending in a different arrangement of toes. The front limbs are shorter and have five toes with short, stout claws while the hindlegs are much longer with larger, three-toed, hooved feet. Long, u-shaped necks hold up their proportionately small heads. Their beak-like mouths conceal an array of rounded, peg-like teeth. Combined with the strength of their jaws, this dentition greatly serves them in stripping plant matter.

Resting atop their backs are two rows of one of their most recognizable features, their bony plates. Each one has a hexagonal, leaf shape and is covered in a sheath of keratin. Primarily, they are colored in burnt umber with a bright, orange oval at the center. These plates start small on top of their necks before growing larger on their backs before shrinking back down along their high-held tails. These lengthy appendages terminate in their other iconic feature: their thagomizers. This is a name for the two pairs of keratinous sideways-held spikes at the end of their tails. They grow as long as baseball bats and are as heavy as a small sledgehammer. Their bumpy, pebbly skin is made up of a series of small, mossy green scales occasionally interrupted by black, irregularly shaped plates. Phthalo green, vertical streaks also decorate this skin in addition to a creamy, beige underbelly.

Each of these two herbivores adds very different noises to the symphony of the forest ambiance. Between the snaps and nibbles of their feeding, Draconyx makes various, pigeon-like coos and trills. The Stegosaurs produce deep rumbles, grunts, and hums amidst the sheering of the vegetation in their mouths.

Despite being two species unlike one another, these separate herds aren't together by accident. While Stegosaurus have one of the most lethal defensive weapons to ever evolve, their proportionately small brains don't allow for well-developed senses like sight and hearing. Draconyx have excellent eyesight, smell, and even hearing, but have no defense from predators outside of outrunning them. These species regularly travel with one another, offering mutual protection in the areas they're weak on their own. Such behavior has even been witnessed in Stegosaurus in North America but with a relative of Draconyx called Camptosaurus.

For the living tanks, such protection is very well needed as not all members of the Stegosaur herd are yet fully grown. In the middle of the herd, one member, Alice, lets out three deep, whooping bellows as she turns toward the brush. Upon doing so, two, much smaller members of the herd spring their way out of it.

These are twin calves, a female named Willa, and her brother, Olly. Just less than a year old, they each reach no more than 4 feet in length. They're also more rounded and less elongated than the adults, with shorter legs as well as relatively larger heads and eyes. The plates on their backs are small, rounded, and lack the center color, having yet to fully form. This discrepancy in development is also seen in their tail spikes which are shorter and duller. Their skin color is a much more muted shade than that seen in the adults.

Even as they arrive out of the cover of the shrubbery, the youngsters continue to play by chasing and nudging one another. Higher-pitched versions of the adults' noises are also mixed in with the behavior of the youngsters. This quickly ceases as they hear one more bellow from their mother, Alice. The twins direct their gaze toward her, seeing her nudge her head upward. Olly promptly rushes over to her, but Willa has other ideas.

The female twin fixates her attention on a small beetle hovering around her face. Its iridescent shell shimmers with an array of greens and blues. Dazzled by the colors, she follows it all around the clearing. With every near approach to it, the beetle swerves away. The chase brings Willa scampering all around the adults, both Draconyx and Stegosaurus alike.

Eventually, the beetle hastens its flying and zooms back into the thicker woods. The curious calf starts to follow as it vanishes among the trees. Before she can enter, Willa immediately stops at the sound of her mother's bellows. She turns around, spotting Alice continuing to nudge her head. The daughter glances her head back and forth between the urge to explore and the calls of her mother. After one more bellow, she retreats to Alice and Olly.

At this stage in their lives, both Willa and her brother are far too young to venture off on their own. Their size and notable defenses have yet to fully develop, making them ever more vulnerable to the dangers that lie outside of the woods. Thus, it's been up to Alice to watch over them, but only from the safety of the forest they've grown up in.

For the twins, other benefits come from such safety. Much of it simply comes from observing their mother and the rest of the herd. By doing so, they can see what is considered good to eat and what isn't. Without such knowledge, they'd repeatedly find themselves eating dried-up vegetation with little or no nutrition.

Willa, however, often gets tired from simply staring at her grazing mother all day. Such boredom causes her to gaze at the forest and the possibilities of what lies beyond. This lapse seizes as she's snapped out by Alice's bellows.

However, another type of sound starts to make its presence known. It doesn't come from Alice, Willa, Olly, or any of the other Stegosaurs or Draconyx. Rather, it's a kerfuffle of snaps, rustles, and thudding footsteps coming from the shrubbery around the clearing. Alice looks toward the thicker vegetation, spotting plates similar to hers, but wider and with a bright red oval in the middle rather than an orange one.

With little hesitation, she bellows toward her offspring. While doing so, the end of her tail waves toward a batch of plants and trees behind them. Promptly, Willa retreats to them, but Olly remains, constantly looking between his mother and sister. Alice calls out again while curling her tail, urging her son into the bushes.

With both calves out of the clearing, the source of the rustling reveals itself. It's another adult Stegosaurus, this time a fully grown male. He is best distinguished by his slightly larger size and the fiery red spots on each of its plates. It is these plates that will greatly serve his purpose here.

Whenever the dry season starts, so too does the mating season for Stegosaurus. So, males often wander the area during this time looking to mate with as many females as they can. For this large bull, the herd is a gold mine.

He starts by performing his display to the females. It consists of him gently wandering around the females while slightly wiggling his plates back and forth. Smooth rumbles also leave the bull, so deep that the females feel the sounds in their bones.

The females are highly choosy and will only mate with the males that impress them the most. Unfortunately, the large bull fails to do so. What doesn't help is his heightened levels of testosterone. This causes a heightened level of aggression, causing him to angrily wave his thagomizer even at the harmless Draconyx.

With little luck in impressing the majority of the herd, the bull starts to focus on one last female: Alice. As the youngest of the adults, she's the most fertile. Thus, the male is easily drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

Despite this, Alice doesn't reward the male's advances. As a mother, her instinct to mate is repressed to the point of non-existence. Instead, her energy and focus are solely put on raising and protecting her current offspring. It's only when they've fully matured that her reproductive urges will return. For now, however, she simply walks away from the bull.

Normally, the only way for a male Stegosaurus to know if a female has mated is if they have youngsters with them. If they do, they too can be affected by a male's urges. With such high testosterone levels, a grown male's aggression and desire to mate can result in calves being injured or worse. Thankfully, Alice won't have to worry about such an event happening as long as her young stay hidden. For now, her focus is solely on getting away from the bull.

Such a task becomes more difficult as the male attempts to rub against her. Thankfully, she's able to make him cease by bumping him away. In response, he only rubs her more before attempting to mount her. Once again, she shoves him away before giving him a light smack with her tail. He instantly backs away, continuing to follow from a little further away.

***

Meanwhile, the twin calves remain hidden within a thick batch of dried shrubbery. Olly remains still in the brown-stained greenery, but Willa attempts to see through the vegetation in front of her. Her struggles in doing so only fail with how overcrowded the plant life around her has become.

Once again, the focus of Willa's attention shifts. Another beetle has emerged, catching her glimpse like a hook on a fish. Her head turns all about as it follows the flying bug.

As she did before, Willa begins to follow it through the forest. Olly lets out a pair of whoops to get her attention but to no avail. Despite how loud he calls, his sister ignores him in favor of the insect. Puzzled, Olly bounces his attention back and forth between Willa and the direction of his mother.

In a split second, he starts to rush toward his twin. Leaves and prickly branches scrape across his skin as he runs after his sibling. Olly calls out again seeing no change in Willa's running.

Suddenly, the little female seemingly drops after crossing a thinner batch of shrubs. Olly attempts to stop himself only for his feet to skid across the now muddy ground. With a fall, he quickly finds himself tumbling down the side of an over 10-foot cliff of moist dirt. He rapidly slides down it, only stopping by crashing into his sister.

Willa peers up to find Olly on top of her. She lets out a whoop before shoving his brother away. After she does, she pauses finding a discrepancy in where she is. The land around her is much more parch, even compared to the woods she's grown accustomed to. Here, vegetation is much less common with only small batches of trees sparsely scattered across an expansive land of gravelly beige. Remnants of water remain in the form of a small stream in the middle of a long line of mud surrounded by cracked earth. Jagged, sandy stones appear too, their color blending in with the withered land around them.

Both twins look back finding the cliff they tumbled from. Olly walks up on the side of it, only to slide backward on its surface. Again, he climbs, this time reaching the halfway point before slipping across the moist surface.

Olly gets back up on his feet before turning back toward his sister. Unfortunately, he's not greeted by Willa but rather the dry expanse. He looks and whoops, failing to find his sibling.

Abruptly, Olly's sounds cease and his body freezes. He finds what appears to be Willa marching in the distance. Further away is what appears to be another of their kind, but the wave of heat makes the animal's identity difficult to gather.

Olly hurries across the sand toward his sister. His body carries him as fast as it can across the scorched land. The ground beneath him is so hot that his feet almost burn just running across it.

Olly's running halts as he reaches Willa's side. As he approaches his sister, he finds her looking upward, beholding the group of 8 animals in front of her. He too begins to peer upward at the creatures, bewildered by their appearance.

At first glance, they look like other Stegosaurus, though there are some drastic differences. The necks of these animals are much longer with smaller, more elongated heads. Their bodies are similarly lengthier and slenderer, with a build that only weighs two tons. At up to 20 feet long, they're also much shorter than even the twins' mother. The plates on top are vastly different, being taller, thinner, and much more blade-like. They also become elongated spikes halfway through as they run down towards the creature's own thagomizer. Although the texture of their skin is the same, it's instead a reddish brown with black spots scattered across it and a light beige underbelly. They are not Stegosaurus, but rather a close relative called Miragaia.

These members of the stegosaur family are unique for having the longest neck of any species in the group. Such an adaption allows them to feed differently than their most well-known cousin. They can reach up to some higher vegetation like cycads and shorter trees and feed from them.

In some cases, Miragaias can even reach trees higher than their necks alone can reach. To do so, they climb their front legs alongside a tree's trunk, causing it to bend downward under their weight. The herbivores will then feast on the branches with the help of their lengthy necks. Once finished, they'd plop their front feet back onto the ground, causing the tree to spring upward.

Despite such adaptations, they can't reach nearly as high as another group present here. Willa and Olly witness them firsthand, arriving from tens of feet away. Their booming groans, gargling grumbles, and thunderous footsteps vibrate through the ground and into the bones of any living animal around them. Massive shadows from over a dozen of these giants are cast over the Stegosaur twins.

These are Supersaurus, a type of sauropod native to both Portugal and North America. Similarly to other members of their group, they have slender, elongated, 10-ton bodies carried by four-columnal legs. The forelimbs are shorter than the hind ones, causing their bodies to slope downward. At the end of their long necks is a relatively small head with a mouth filled with peg-like teeth. Their tails are similarly extensive, creating an overall length of over 80 feet and terminating in a flexible, whip-like appendage. These whips flow through the air like an ocean wave. Their dry, scaly skin is primarily orange bronze with various, diagonal spots of taupe and a beige underbelly.

These lengthy giants are unlike anything the twins had seen before. Thus, all they do is simply gaze in awe at the presence of the Supersaurus herd. The two only blink as a reaction to the occasional thunderous, whipping noises made by the cracks of their tail tips. Eyes fixated, they stare even as the sauropods simply feed off the tops of the rare trees in this arid area.

Not all life here is herbivorous, however. Another kind of dinosaur stalks Willa and Olly, unseen by either. It hides behind one of the many larger rocks present here, almost blending with the environment around it. Silent footsteps tread across the sand as its body remains low.

It's the most well-known predator of the Jurassic, an Allosaurus. Much like others of its kind in North America, it's a 23-foot-long carnivore whose body is carried by two lengthy legs and balanced by a heavy tail. Its forelimbs are short yet strong, sporting three-fingered hands that each end in massive, curved claws. Atop its neck rests an elongated, robust head with a mouth full of sharp, serrated teeth. Above each of its eyes is a bony crest that points backward. Its scaly skin is primarily an earthy tan with black, horizontal stripes. Some of these emerge backward from black spots on its eyes and crests, running along its neck. The bottom part of its neck has a sandy beige color that is also present on the rest of its underside.

Allosaurus are often muscular, heavily built predators, yet this one varies drastically. Its body is much slenderer, so much so that the outlines of its ribs and spine are lightly protruding under its hide. The holes in this carnivore's skull are momentarily visible with inhalation. Only an intense lack of food can cause such emaciation in an animal like this.

On top of this grave starvation, it has multiple injuries, something commonly seen in Allosaurus. White, healed-up scars litter much of its skin with wider ones seen on its snout. Cuts on the lips are present, creating V-shaped grooves that expose some of its teeth. Some bones in its left leg are broken, causing it to have a mishappened look. The middle of its right foot has a large bulb behind the claw, a sign of a broken bone that got infected. Multiple healed fractures are present in its ribs yet remain hidden within its shrink-wrapped body.

In its disheveled state, all the Allosaurus can focus on is finding its next meal. Luckily for this predator, it has set its sights on a small, defenseless target. It creeps from behind the rocks, its body almost lying low enough to touch the ground. Suddenly, the carnivore's silence is broken by a step from its bad toe, causing it to hiss in pain. Olly hears the noise and turns his head backward.

He lets out a strained, high-pitched honk upon seeing the starving hunter. This prompts Willa to turn to giving, glancing at the predator. Losing the element of surprise, the Allosaurus darts toward the Stegosaurus twins. Although hindered by his injuries, it's still able to maintain a considerable speed as the calves start briskly walking away as fast as their bodies will allow. Before the carnivore can reach the youngsters, it experiences a massive strike to its side. The blow sends the emaciated hunter crashing into the parched ground, kicking up a cloud of sand on impact.

The Allosaurus ploddingly stands up to find the source of the attack, a Supersaurus. Thanks to the flexibility of its tail, this sauropod is effectively able to be used as a whip. The hunter looks back and forth to see more of the Supersaurus waving their tails, thunderously snapping them in the air. Miragaias do a similar display, brandishing their thagomizers. Cornered by well-defended herbivores, the Allosaurus lets out a gurgling bellow as it wanders around them.

With its sharp eyes, the hungry hunter requires the focus of its attention, the Stegosaurus twins. It rushes around the combined herd, starting to spring toward its prey. Meanwhile, Willa and Olly manage to reach the cliff and attempt to climb up it desperately. Many of their steps slip and slide down the face of the crag. Despite this, the twins barely progress up the slope, even as the Allosaurus draws evermore near.

Through all the struggle, it is Olly who manages to reach the top first. Willa starts to lift herself over the edge only to abruptly slide back down. She stops only a quarter of the cliff away from the top.

Helpless to assist his sister, Olly lets out a series of whoops, encouraging her to climb up. With a glance beyond Willa, the male twin's calls become much more frantic. Confused, the young female turns around and loudly cries upon seeing the Allosaurus attempting to climb the slope. Filled with panic, Willa immediately tries to climb faster. No matter her attempts, her feet almost continuously slip across the softened earth beneath them. She begins to creep down the cliff despite her frenetic efforts. Its prey now within mouth's reach, the Allosaurus begins snapping its jaws at Willa's tail. With every attempted bite, the little female can swing her tail out of the way. She also attempts to swing it against the predator's head, only providing a minor nuisance.

Suddenly, one of the Allosaur's chomps succeeds, trapping her tail in a toothy prison. With the predator's teeth beginning to sink in, she lets out a pain-filled cry. She attempts to free her tail, only for the carnivore's grip to tighten.

Panicked, Olly looks around for ways to help her sister. In this state, he constantly stamps his feet and waves his tail back and forth. This movement inadvertently destabilizes parts of the cliff top, sending a 5-pound rock falling hurling downward. The stone soon hits Allosaurus in the eye, causing it to let go of Willa's tail. It then lets out a hiss as it falls to the ground from whence it emerged.

With the predator out of the way, the young female finally finishes climbing the cliff. However, she hasn't accomplished this unscathed. Stains of crimson start to leak out of punctures in the tip of her tail. In time, they will heal, but only into scars. If Willa is to survive long enough to heal, she and Olly must shift their focus to finding their one source of protection: their mother.

***

After trudging their way through the vegetation they once left behind, Willa and Olly finally reach the clearing they're familiar with. However, something isn't right. They search around the area to find the herd had seemingly vanished. Their eyes comb all over the clearing and find no signs of any other Stegosaurus, including Alice. They let out their calls in hopes of finding their mother, but seemingly gain no response.

These calls echo throughout the forests as the twins stroll through them. With every step from their feet and every reverberation of their calls, their hope of finding the herd begins to diminish. One familiar noise causes Olly to perk his head up. It's not his mother, but it's the faint, distant coos of a Draconyx. If they can be heard, chances are Alice and the other Stegosaurs aren't far away.

So, he whoops to Willa, encouraging her to excitedly follow. Their calls continue, becoming ever louder as they run through greenery. Not even the slaps and scratches of the branches and trees manage to slow them down.

At last, they find themselves in a new opening within the forest. In the middle is the source of the sounds they've been following, six Draconyx. Unfortunately, these are only scouts and thus don't feed near the Stegosaurs like the main herd. This doesn't diminish the twins' spirits as they still know their kind and thus their mother isn't much farther away.

Barely able to contain their enthusiasm, Willa and Olly run toward the small herbivores, letting out their whoops. The Draconyx cease their feeding and glance toward the incoming Stegosaur calves. This is soon followed by a louder, more frantic version of their calls. They then scatter away, rushing into the deeper forest.

Confused, the twins stop before glancing at one another. As they do, they start to feel strange reverberations. They come from footsteps but not from Willa or Olly. Rather, they're from something much larger and remarkably close.

Olly begins to quiver as he slowly turns his head backward. A terrified cry escapes the little male, prompting Willa to turn back as well. Still pursuing them is the one thing they thought they had escaped, the Allosaurus.

Panicked, the youngsters begin to run away. Willa's escape is seized as her right hind leg is caught in the predator's jaws. She lets out her loudest whooping cry as she attempts to escape her captor. Even with all the shaking and slapping from the female's tail, the carnivore's grip tightens even further, causing scarlet to drip from her foot.

Olly remains frozen at the sight of the hungry hunter. His instinct tells him to run away, but even the smallest of his muscles have become too stiffened to allow him. Instead, he takes the largest risk he has ever taken.

He runs toward the Allosaurus before slapping its face with his tail. The impact is very minor, but the predator lets go of Willa before directing its attention to Olly. Now side by side, the twins wave their tails in the air while letting out their whoops and cries. Unthreatened, the Allosaurus lets out a loud, gurgling bellow.

Suddenly, the predator's sound stops with a single strike. Although still on its feet, the carnivore is sent backward by the blow. It turns back around, revealing a massive, bleeding gash on its snout. The hungry hunter also spots the source of what smacked him: the spiked tail of Alice.

Now sheltered by the shadow of their mother, the twins let out a series of whoops. Alice lets out an angry rumble at the predator as she brandishes her thagomizer, already covered in its blood. The carnivore hisses maintaining his distance from the mother Stegosaurus. Its eyes bounce between the protective herbivore and her two youngsters. Any other predator in his position will know to walk away, but emaciation gets the better of this Allosaurus.

It sprints toward the calves, readying its jaws for a massive bite. The hunter's attack is quickly interrupted by one more impact from Alice's tail spikes. This time, it's not its face that struck but rather its groin. The force of the tail swipe and the piercing spikes launches him a few feet into the air. Crimson splatters onto the ground beneath him. A cloud of dirt erupts from the predator's body as it returns to the earth with a thudding impact.

The beige mist soon clears revealing the Allosaurus lying on its side. Weak, soft hisses leave the hunter's mouth, along with a single line of blood. More of the red liquid drips out from between its legs as it struggles to stand. With life leaving the disheveled carnivore, all it can do now is limp away from the forest. It won't be long before the Allosaurus takes its last breath. Now reunited, Olly, Willa, and Alice comfort each other with gentle rubs, renewing their bond.

As with any animal, the young years of a Stegosaurus are a vulnerable time for them. With the dangers that lurk around them, family is the one thing they rely on. One day, Willa and even Olly will be old enough to leave their mother's side and take on these challenges on their own. Until then, they will religiously follow their one most important rule: don't leave the wilderness.

In loving memory of Olly

I will always love and miss you. Take care in kitty heaven.