Future Reptiles
An outing to the beach. Just what my brothers, sisters and I wanted. But this was going to be serious. This was going to be school. Still, we were all very excited about it. The outing was to be the first time since the hatching that we young eppies were being allowed to accompany our parents and older siblings on a food gathering expedition.
Okay, I know I’m apparently back in the possible world 50 million years after mankind disappeared from Earth. Better look around and see what I can figure out. This time it looks like I'm on a large plain near the coast. Do I have the same type of consciousness as I had on my last adventure into the future? Seems the same. What do my memories tell me?
I am a member of a family that would have been called Exossopraedators or bone pillagers the scientist in me says. Looking back still farther I know that about 135 million years before that extinction event and in the Age of the Great Reptiles, the Eppie (E' pee) families ancestors were probably a small fleet footed theropod or carnivorous bipedal dinosaur. Somewhere in the early Cretaceous this family had started developing feathers and wings that aided in both insulation and stability, and developed a rapid running, jumping and predatory lifestyle. They may have even developed flight, but had turned back to a ground based existence by the beginning of the Eocene. This was just after the mass extinctions of their close cousins the Archosaurian dinosaurs had left open a perfect niche for them to exploit.
As flightless Ostriches they had developed more of a taste for vegetable matter than meat. But they didn't always turn away from a live or just dead morsel when it was available. And with the mass extinctions of the mammals many, many more niches were suddenly opened to this flightless Ratite bird family. Why they took the lifestyle they now dominate is unknown to even them. Maybe the availability of all the dead and dying mammals tempted them to an easier lifestyle. Maybe there was a deep genetic intelligence that sensed that this new direction would be best for the species. Maybe it was blind luck. In any case the Ostrich family made a turn toward a scavenging lifestyle sometime soon after the last great extinctions and they eventually became the Exossopraedators or Eppies.
Right place, right time, and already warm blooded the Ostriches simply out hustled their competition into a lucrative new niche. New habits and lifestyles were developed over the years which allowed the family to hold and then expand this niche.
Family rearing became an inbred genetic habit. What ever benefited the family benefited the species and so the development went over the millions of years. In evolution anything that gives a species an advantage and can be passed on to offspring will generally cause that species to flourish and continue. There is also another factor not commonly understood that is often the difference between success and failure over the long haul. This has been called by some as the doubling factor. What it means is that often a single factor that initially gives a species an advantage in a given niche is not enough to insure its long-term survival. Competition is fierce on all levels and especially on the evolutionary level. An advantage that is here today may often be gone tomorrow when a competing species also develops a similar or even better strategy.
But if after securing the first advantage, a species comes up with that one in a billion second advantage immediately after the first one, it greatly increases the species long-range prospects. In fact, it may be that this Doubling Factor is responsible for much of the improbable long-term success of niche dominating species.
This is exactly what happened to the Eppie's. First they developed a fast mobile life style that allowed them to get to an underutilized food source. This then allowed them to invest more time and energy raising families and develop structures which further helped their survival as a species. This was the first evolutionary trait. The second came as they developed a unique defense.
As the Eppies digestive system became more and more efficient to eating carrion, a unique trait developed. It happened in this manner; one day a larger scavenger chased an Eppie away from a bloated carcass. The fleeing Bird-reptile spit out his mouthful of carrion full in the face of this pursuer. To all the Eppies amazement the nearly now nearly blind pursuer stopped the chase, went into a frenzy, and quickly left the area shaking its head and frantically trying to get back its sight. The Exassopraedators were intelligent animals and the very process of training young placed a premium on individuals mimicking their parent’s successful behavior. An Eepee who had witnessed the scene tried the same trick the next time he was pursued by a larger scavenger. The strategy worked again. Maybe it was the decomposing meat or some noxious ingredient in it. Maybe when combined with the Eppies saliva it became doubly potent. Or maybe it was coincidence. But it did work often enough that it became a standard defensive ploy. Soon they were all doing it as well as teaching each new crop of young this trick. Over the years it became more than just a strategy as the families actual mouth secretions become a noxious, almost poisonous substance that became the second evolutionary advance or the Doubling factor which now enabled the Exossopraedator family to rapidly spread to other areas on other continents than where they originated as the dominant scavenger of the lands. Now instead of being a purely defensive ploy the poisonous spray is often used to drive other animals away from the carcass in an aggressive manner. Thus a strategy became a genetic trait which was passed on to future generations and greatly enhanced this families survival as a new species.
Normally, the young were fed and protected at a communal nesting site where several families shared the trials and tribulations of raising the increasingly demanding young brood. But sooner or later the youngsters were going to have to face the realities of life and the laws of survival. Today would be the first of many lessons. Those that learned lived to pass these lessons on to their offspring. The slow or the unlucky were weeded out early. This was the reality of life after 500,000 centuries of Future evolution.
After 2 months in the eggs and three months of mouth feeding, it was time for the young to learn the family business. This business was an ancient and important natural function; scavenging the remains of all the slow, unlucky, or sick creatures found throughout the vast African, North American and Asian continents. Other families of their kind had apparently spread to all the major continents and were slowly spreading to other regions as they easily out- competed most other scavengers. This was due in large measure to their unique family structure and their ability to attack competitors with their noxious saliva and speed.
As they started off toward the beach this brisk spring day the family lined up instinctively in a traveling order. At one end was an adult, then an older sibling, the babies, and another adult bringing up the rear. Ranging out around the group were other older siblings or members of this extended family. It was an almost automatic defensive mechanism that was now part of the Eppies genetic memories. In more practical manners it was a case of the fastest animals with the best eyesight and also most expendable who were basically scouts for the family. This was not done in any planned way any more than wolves used to have the dominant and strongest male break trail in snow. It was simply the most efficient strategy and over the years became automatically adopted by the families without conscious thought. If a predator attached, it would first be seen by the young adults who could cry a warning and then flee or attack as was deemed necessary. Alerted, the family and especially the babies then had time to either prepare or flee depending on the nature of the threat. I was the last baby in the line of eight.
To get to the sea the we had to cross a grassland savanna composed mostly of clumps of two or three foot high grasses and an occasional large tree. Here the scouts would occasionally surprise a snake or small lizard. These were brought back to the family for us young ones to eat and keep up our strength. Often we would pounce or play cat and mouse with these presents which I immediately knew would help to hone our hunting skills when offal was lean and hard to find.
Although not at full speed yet, we could still travel in excess of 45 miles (72 kph) an hour. This made us one of the fastest creatures on the planet, my genetic memory told me. This was very necessary in this highly competitive ecosystem. There were many predators who would not be deterred even by the Exossopraedators speed, family defensive traits, or venomous saliva. The survival rate of the family was not high even with all our advanced survival skills. But it was higher than the competition, so we prospered as a dominant species of and our line continued on through time.
Finally I could smell salt in the air. None of my siblings seemed to know what it was. A short time later the blue ocean could be seen by all and the tang of the salt air inhaled and understood by all the youngsters. I was one of the more rambunctious babies started to break from the line and run toward this wonder. I was quickly intercepted by one of the adults and nipped back into the line for my trouble. Family discipline must be maintained.
After a short time two of the scouts returned from the waterfront which was apparently a signal that all was well. Our family now proceeded to the warm beach sands at an easy trot. Everyone took turns rolling in the clean warm sands and ducking into the shallow salt water. This was a great way to rid ourselves from the irritating parasites that occasionally plagued us my memory said. We engaged in play typical of all youth when found in a carnival atmosphere. Jumping and rolling, racing around these novel sand dunes, and exploring new nooks and crannies. This was fun. What incredible speed I could muster. Look ma, I can turn on a dime. Oomph, where had that stick come from I thought as I picked myself up and shook the sand from my feathers.
Of course our parents continued to scan both up and down the beach and a couple of scouts still nervously roamed inland a short distance. Still, all appeared well so after a quarter hour of frolicking play the adult Eppies rounded us all up and headed north up the beach to where they knew a large carcass had washed up on the sands recently. It had been discovered by one of the family scouts only that morning so there should be some meat left on the large carcass. For the purposes of teaching the families newest members the business, it was a good scenario.
We could all smell the delicious rotting meat way before we saw it. Sure enough, when we arrived at the scene a little while later there were only some medium sized scavengers no bigger than ourselves feeding on the remains that were half out of the water. Watching our parents for clues our newly arrived family ringed the carcass in a semi circle which was apparently a normal formation for this sort of feeding. I looked at my brothers and sisters and found them looking around as mystified as I was at what to do next.
School was now in session. An adult was the first to show us the technique to be used. He sprinted in toward the remains at full speed. At 70 miles an hour (112 kilometers) it is hard to see much less stop an attack if you were a victim of an Eppie "dive bombing." In this case a dead whale sized carcass was not likely to notice or care. Again, delving into my genetic memories I could see that the tactic works well when larger or more dangerous predators are still feeding and one must snatch and run, or else end up in a potential life or death struggle. The technique, developed over eons was a well-tested and successful way to scavenge with minimal confrontations.
In this case it was just a training run since no one really contested the food source. The dive-bombing sortie is launched at a specific target; usually any piece of offal that would fit in a family member’s mouth.
Grabbing a likely morsel on the run the adult maintained his awesome speed until he looped back out to where we youngsters were watching in the circle formed by the family more than a hundred yards out. He dropped the reward at our feet to show us what he had acquired. Lesson number one in the strategy for survival had been demonstrated. Other family members took their turn as we babies watched. After a while I was ready to take a try at this. How hard can it be? Run like heck and grab a piece of lunch and keep going.
I started fighting and large eyes looked directly at me. I was given the okay and so took off as fast as I could go and proud to be the first. Top speed, watch for sticks. Here is a good place to bite next to the tail and I grab. I stop as fast as I started as I am slammed into the rotting flesh. I shake myself off as I arise and realize that I tried to take too big a bite and so yo-yoed into the carcass. Ashamed I look back as my parents look at my siblings to make sure they understood the lesson. No harm done, this is only a drill with no dangerous competitors around to snatch up a dumb baby Eppie. I trot back to the end of the line and watch to see who will go next.
But now chance intervenes. Lumbering up from the south was a very dangerous adversary which I know would be called an Ictusaurus if any zoologists were around to do the naming. This was a medium sized fast carnivore and a dangerous opponent. Normally Ictus also hunt as a family so this specimen must be either an older outcast or very young male in search of a territory. They were wolf like carnivores who hunted in much the same fashion as the long extinct mammals did. My zoologist training comes to the front and I know that originally the Ictusaurus family was from the Basiliscus lizard line. A whole family of Ictus would be a very dangerous situation for us, although the adults could easily outdistance them if they needed to. One individual was no match for a family of eppies, still it was maybe too drastic for our young family’s first lesson and my parents decided not to have a confrontation. Still we were instructed by our parents’ body language to pay attention to everything that happened.
One of the younger adults quickly herded us out over the dunes and toward the safety of the inland grasses where our speed would prevail if things went wrong. The other family members spread out on an intercept course toward the approaching predator. The commotion of the young Eppies leaving caused movement in the grasses and the Ictu changed direction to investigate for potential prey.
This immediately triggered the both our parents into charging him at full speed. A collision seemed likely and he braced for impact but at the last minute they veered off. One by one or in pairs the lone predator was dive bombed by the remaining protective family members. His attention now diverted to more pressing matters he did not notice that the rest of the family had circled him widely and was head back south toward our communal home after watching the tactics displayed by the other family members in this threat situation.
After several more runs at the thoroughly confused predator and as if on cue the rest of the Exossopraedators made a mass charges at the frustrated and Ictusaurus and then sprinted south to rejoin the rest of us. The potentially dangerous confrontation had turned into a standoff and a good first lesson for the young ones.
Anything can and often does happen on any given day and this day ended just as it started, at the communal nest. Other families came back in each with their own unspoken stories, but adventure and learning opportunities were a daily occurrence. All in all it had been a very busy and informative day for the families. Other days would be similar. I knew there would be good days and not so good days. There would be feasts and there would be famine. There was even bound to be tragedies at points along the way. Lessons always required some to pay the price of learning. But the story and the family would go on. It was all part of making the Eppie family stronger and more able to cope with the everyday job of surviving in this fascinating world of the Future I keep finding myself in.