Nemegt Formation, Mongolia, 70 Million Years Ago

The light of the morning sun shines and dances across the waters of an expansive river delta. An image of the blue, partly cloudy sky is perfectly reflected across the freshwater surface. Parts of the stream spread across the vast, forested wetland, resembling branches on a tree. The mirror-esque water is mixed in with several lily pads and batches of quarter-inch long, flat, oval leaves called duckweed.

These structures are more concentrated at the edges of the muddy, flora-covered patches of land scattered across the river. Palm trees and coniferous araucarias sprout from these freshwater islands of varying sizes. The soft, brown ground on these bits of dry land is also decorated with many other types of plants such as silvergrass, reeds, and other aquatic weeds. A few standouts include typha which looks like tall grass with corn dogs on them, as well as small, brown manyspike flatsedge. Such a variety of vegetation attracts a host of many herbivorous creatures.

Wading across the waters of the delta are large flocks of Gallimimus, tall members of the ostrich-esque ornithomimid family. Their long necks support a small head with large, side-facing eyes, and a toothless, keratinous beak. These necks combined with their long tails create a total length of up to 20 feet. Their thin, bald legs make them as tall as the average human at the hip. Three fingers grow from their small hands, adorned curved claws. Much of their bodies except their necks and legs are covered in a coat of light brown, black spotted feathers. The exposed skin of these "chicken mimics" is covered in scales that are white as salt. They primarily focus their diet on the water and duckweed but aren't afraid to gobble up the occasional seed shrimp.

One species here has a diet entirely focused on vegetation. At the shores along the river are herds of crested Saurolophus. They are a widespread type of duck-billed hadrosaur that also reside in Canada but are more common here in Mongolia. At up to 40 feet long, 12 feet tall, and weighing as much as two elephants, they also grow larger here. Their robust bodies have grayish-green, scaly skin with salt-white underbellies and vertical stripes of the same color across their bump-covered backs. While their two back legs have three toes fused in a fleshy bed, the feet of their front legs are instead single, hoof-like nails. By far their most distinguishing feature is their black, spike-like cranial crests which extend up and back from their head at a 45-degree angle from above their eyes. These crests appear smaller in the handful of 14-foot juveniles who also have proportionately larger eyes. The most useful feature of these animals is their mouths which sport keratinous, toothless beaks similar to that of a duck. These beaks are perfect for stripping and biting vegetation, which is then ground up by the batteries of teeth hidden in their cheeks. Such capabilities make them perfectly built for a life of grazing on ferns and other ground vegetation. Occasionally, some of the adults would rear up on their hind legs to reach the branches of the trees around them. However, they are not quite as well suited for tree browsing as one of the wetland's other residents.

In rare spots near the trees, there is a single Therizinosaurus, a bizarre, 16-foot-tall dinosaur that stands on two legs. The five-ton body of this animal is broad with a pot belly and a short tail. Its small, beaked head is held up by a long neck which adds to its 33-foot length. Brown, shaggy feathers cover much of this animal except its legs and underbelly which expose its dark gray, scaly skin. By far its most frightening feature is its 3-foot long, sharp claws attached to its three-fingered hands on its robust arms. While they make for an intimidating threat display, they instead have a different use. Similarly to a modern-day sloth, the Therizinosaurus uses its claws to pull higher vegetation closer to its mouth for feeding. It is a rather peculiar diet given it belongs to the theropod family of dinosaurs that are normally carnivorous.

The true oddities of this land reside on a small patch of mud at the edge of one of the larger, freshwater islands. Here resides a batch of four baby Deinocheirus, feathered creatures with proportionately long, clawed arms, a beaked head like a duck, and a hump like a camel. Since these are only chicks, they are only half the size of an average chicken and sport different colored, downy feathers with black streaks. One female, Hazel, has base feathers that are a brownish-greenish shade while those of her smallest brother, Gray, are a shade between black and white. Both her biggest brother, Lumpy, and her only sister, Dot, share a yellowish-beige coat while the latter has much more abundant spots.

These small youngsters have a long way to go before they reach their much larger adult size. Thus, the lives of these chicks are primarily spent taking small steps across the wetland grove, gobbling up any vegetation they can. As expected, they start with a much smaller diet of easier-to-reach plants. They'll munch off bits of ferns and reeds on dry land as well as wade out into the water to munch on duckweed and the other aquatic plants. Sometimes, Hazel is often tempted to chase after any tiny fish she can catch and fit into her mouth. However, many of these attempts fail as a small fish moves much faster in water than a baby Deinocheirus does.

Whenever the chicks aren't feeding to build up their bodies, they regularly communicate with each other through various cheeps, chirps, and trills, sounding much like baby ducks and geese. As males often do, Gray and Lumpy participate in playful slap fights. The claws of their arms have yet to become sharp, thus whatever damage the brothers could do to each other is minimal. It is Lumpy who regularly wins these fights leaving Gray to waddle over by the silvergrass in defeat.

Unbeknownst to these chicks, a threat lies in wait. In the silvergrass is a vague shape creeping through the tall vegetation. Its footsteps are completely silent without so much as a thud in the mud. Gray looks at the silvergrass, tilting his head while chirping. The figure froze, stopping only inches away from the little chick.

Suddenly, a loud squawk occurs as a predator, much larger than the chicks, springs from the silvergrass. Feathers fly as it lands on Gray, pinning the young Deinocheirus under its foot. It is an Adasaurus, a two-legged carnivore with a lightly built, feathery body, winged arms, clawed hands, and a long tail. The downy feathers on its body are primarily gray with light brown highlights all over but are most prominent on its longer arm feathers. Its neck and underbelly have feathers that are a much darker gray, along with bright red ones around its piercing, orange eyes. The only parts of it that aren't feathered are its face and feet which have pitch-black, scaly skin.

At 11 feet long, half the height of the average man, and nearly as heavy as a Great Dane, the carnivore easily outsizes the chicks. Thus, it is easily able to trap Gray under its foot. Adasaurus belongs to the dromaeosaur family, famously referred to as "raptors." As such, each of its three-toed feet sports a blunt, sickle-shaped claw, like its most famous relative, Velociraptor. It is with one of these larger toe claws that the Adasaurus pins down little Gray, piercing his body in the process. All the chick can do is helplessly struggle and squeak, his sounds becoming ever fainter and wheezier. The youngster soon falls silent, his head and neck dropping lifelessly to the muddy ground.

With the raptor setting its sights on them, all Hazel and her remaining siblings can do is run. They quickly dash to the silvergrass to their left, an easy refuge for the small chicks. Abruptly, their path is interrupted by another Adasaurus, pouncing in front of the baby Deinocheirus. The youngsters quickly turn, their feet briefly skidding across the mud. They head into the silvergrass on the other side, just narrowly avoiding the jaws of an emerging third raptor.

***

Soon, they find themselves deeper in the field of tall, grass-like plants. Much of the outer environment is now hidden from them by the streaks of green, beige, and white. Only the bright blue of the calm, partly cloudy sky is visible to them now. Rather than continue further in their race for survival, they instead stop and lower themselves into the silvergrass. Their baby feathers are more than just simply something to be disposed of in adulthood. Much like the feathers of baby chickens, ducks, and geese, the downy coat on the young Deinocheirus gives them camouflage in the vegetation. This offers a perfect way to hide in events such as this.

However, this practice will soon be put to the test. Amidst the silvergrass, the Adasaur pack creeps through, steadily searching the tall batch of plants. Still and silent, each of the chicks continues to lie belly down on the moist dirt at the root of the vegetation. The three raptors split up, taking their search in different directions.

Lumpy almost softly chips and starts to quiver. The foot of one of the Adasaurs steps a mere inch away from the biggest chick. Remaining silent, the predator has yet to spot its prey lying under him. With a single step, however, that may change. Lumpy looks from his left eye, finding the Adasaur's other foot not far away from him. Whether the predator's next step will go on him or miss entirely is difficult to gauge for the baby Deinocheirus.

The chick is unwilling to take the risk and thus springs up from the ground, attempting to spring away. Alas, he quickly finds himself in the jaws of the Adasaurus. He loudly and frequently squeaks as the raptor lifts him by the hump. Swiftly, the other chicks make a mad dash to the thicker forest nearby. Lumpy sees his siblings scatter as he's lifted above the silvergrass in the jaws of the Adasaurus. The predator's sharp, curved cone teeth slowly sink into the chick's body, causing his feathers to be partially stained red.

Seemingly out of nowhere, one of the other Adasaurs appears, biting onto the head of Lumpy's captor. The youngster is immediately let go, descending to the ground as the two raptors squawk, snap, and bite at each other. Lumpy shortly lands on the wet mud below and makes a mad dash away from the bickering carnivores.

***

Lumpy soon finds himself reunited with his sisters in the forest. Here, the trees are much more frequent, creating a large wall of various green shades with bits of brown. The ground has become less muddy but remains moist and blanketed in moss and ferns. There are also a handful of hollow logs scattered throughout, one of which the young Deinocheirus are standing by. Soon, they start to hear squawking and rustling in the distance and their way inside the log. Lumpy has a harder time fitting in than her sisters but still manages to narrowly squeeze in.

Trudging through the fern-covered forest floor, the Adasaurs creep by the log. Hazel, Lumpy, and Dot remain tightly hidden in the mossy, hollow interior of the log. The chicks look out of one hole in the middle and see one of the raptors stop and start sniffing the air. Quickly, they retreat into the shadows inside the log as the carnivore turns toward them. The young siblings soon find themselves around the edges of the log hole with Lumpy on the left side and his sisters staying toward the right. The Adasaur arrives in sight of the hole and the little youngsters inch away ever so slowly. Steadily, the raptor moves closer, now covering the hole with his piercing eye.

As the predator continues to blink and move its eyeball around, the chicks step backward bit by bit, remaining as silent as possible. Lumpy, however, pauses, feeling something wet on his hand. He looks to his left side to find a wet, crimson stain lining the log wall. Turning backward ever so slowly, he finds an unnerving sight, a whole trail of these stains. They appear to be the same color as the stains on his feathers. The foreboding truth is now clear, the raptors have been following the trail... and thus know where they are.

All of a sudden, the head of one of the Adasaurs pops itself into the log hole behind Lumpy, constantly snapping its jaws. The youngsters run away, but the biggest finds his path blocked by the gnashing teeth of another raptor. Eventually, the predator's mouth slips out of the top log hole, allowing Lumpy to see his sisters escape through an exit ahead of him. He quickly seizes his chance running through the log as fast as his injured body will allow him.

Shortly, Lumpy finds himself outside of the log, nearly blinded by the sudden sunlight. This freedom is sadly short-lived as an Adasaur jumps from the top of the log and traps the bigger chick under its foot. He kicks, squirms, and even squeals, but nothing budges the predator's firm grip. Its toe claw has yet to pierce the chick's flesh but is instead imprisoning his neck in its arch. All little Lumpy can do is watch the Adasaur's mouth close around him, its lips stained with the blood of his late brother. Desperately, he squeaks and squeals even louder, fearing he'll suffer the same fate.

The jaws of the Adasaur become still as the sounds of gurgling booms and beak clacking start to appear. Both predator and prey soon find light around them blocked out by a dark, crawling shadow. The raptor then turns around and starts to hiss at a much larger animal.

Not far away, Hazel and Dot find themselves still running from a pair of Adasaurs. The chase is soon stopped as the chicks run into a massive obstacle. Lying in front of the sisters is a round mass of dirt and twigs with a hole in the middle. They turn around, finding the two carnivores tiptoeing closer and closer. Their hissing mouths began to open, revealing their sharp teeth and a few strings of saliva. Alas, the remaining Deinocheirus chicks have nowhere to go.

Suddenly, a piercing screech occurs as the third Adasaur appears from behind the rest of the pack, flung past some of the many trees. It crashes and tumbles onto the ground, the feathers on its side now stained in red. The two standing raptors, startled by their rag-dolled packmate, turn toward a tall tree. There they find the massive animal capable of tossing an Adasaurus, an adult Deinocheirus.

Many of its feathers have disappeared, exposing much of its salt-gray, scaly skin. All the feathers that remain are only on its long tail, the bottom of its arms, the top of its body, its neck, and part of its head behind its yellow beak. The color of these feathers is blue-gray with a saltier shade on the ones hanging from its arms. Since this one is male, the feathers around his eyes are bright blue along with having a throat sac stained with the same color. As a fully matured adult, he is much larger than his chicks, at 36 feet long and weighing as much as a school bus. His clawed arms alone are nearly as long as a surfboard, the biggest of any land animal ever. A trait more than worthy of a name that means "terrible hand."

The giant male Deinocheirus spreads out his arms as he lets out a deep, scratchy, guttural bellow, sounding like an excited cassowary. He mixes this call with a deep clack produced by the repeated closing of his beak. The Adasaurs splay out their arms and start hissing in return. The blood-stained one remains on the ground still dizzied from its toss. It looks up and shoots its eyes open at another fearful sight.

The other two raptors turn around to find another Deinocheirus, a full-grown female. She is similar in appearance to her mate but is only slightly smaller, her beak is ashen-tan, and she lacks the bright blue on her throat and around her eyes. Her beak opens as she too lets out a bellow but also starts to swipe her arms back and forth. The raptors back to the large male doing the same motion with his arms. Outmatched, the Adasaurs hurry away, leaving their red-stained packmate to limp and lag.

Seeing the predators vanish into the thicker woods, the adults cease their bellowing as they move closer to their daughters. Their now-only remaining brother appears from behind the father, chirping and cheeping excitedly with other chicks. Both parents lower their heads to their chicks while letting out soothing rumbles and lightly clacking their beaks. At this early stage of their life, any animal will be vulnerable to the dangers of their world. Although they survived, it is with the death of their brother, Gray, that Hazel, Lumpy, and Dot have learned the value of sticking close to their family. As on their own, all they can do as small chicks is simply duck and run.