User blog:Carnotaurus walleri/Sanctuary: The Ecosystems of Isla Masiva

Chapter 1: The Redwoods

History: This area was close to the coast, and where most dinosaurs were introduced. It had since become the breeding grounds for many animals, but many also stay there year round. This place was where poaching was the worst until it actually stopped. Expeditions held weekly help show what exactly lives here, and how Dinosaurs shaped the environment.

Flora: Conifers are the only types of trees here, with big ones being somewhat sparse in population, with smaller conifers being more dense. Bushes and ferns are also common. Grass doesn’t grow here. Saltwater plants include kelp, seagrass and algae. Many fish of an unknown identification use these plants as shelter. Freshwater plants include algae, reeds and pondweed.

Fauna: The first place Dinosaurs were introduced to, it has since become their home, and now a few species linger here. The most common animals are orodromeus and oryctodromeus, which number in the hundreds. Both of these animals avoid competing by being awake at certain times, with orodromeus being awake at day and oryctodromeus being awake at night. Leaellynasaura And Psittacosaurus are also populous, also numbering in the hundreds, though both animals blend in well to their environments. Psittacosaurus is allergic to the types of plants leaellynasaura eats, and vice versa. Herds of lambeosaurus and tsintaosaurus block the riverways from animals looking to get in or out, and they are the most common cause of death for semi aquatic animals. One such animal is the common Diplocaulus, which oftentimes snatched up small dinosaurs like Psittacosaurus. These animals are like gators in size, but that doesn’t protect them from the feet of hadrosaurs. The massive Sarcosuchus imperator stalks the lakes, away from Diplocaulus. These animals hunt hadrosaurs almost exclusively. They also hunt the predatory Utahraptor and torvosaurus from time to time, but doesn’t see archeroraptor as a decent snack. The smallest Sarcosuchus would eat is pelicanomimus. Triceratops And styracosaurus sometimes walk around here, and they often kill torvosaurus that get cocky enough to take one on. A rare predator is cryolophosaurus, which most commonly appears in the mountains, but sometimes lives here. There were even nests found. Unlike torvosaurus, cryolophosaurus would rather flee than fight, unless their eggs or children are in jeopardy. Parasaurolophus And Gallimimus sometimes get lost and end up here, but don’t seem to be breeding here. It should be noted that albino Gallimimus have been seen before, implying that they may be breeding, and also that they rarely get predators, which may be true as most animals see something that small as a worthless meal. Othneiliosaurus And yinlong climb in trees to avoid predators, but some unidentifiable pterosaurs seem to be preying on them. Dilophosaurus, normally found in the wetlands, is found here and it seems to have formed a subspecies, with yellowish colorations, smaller frills used only for display, and much larger size. Melanistic hyaenodon are also found here, but have declined to just 25% of the original population due to poaching, which has been ended. A lone stygimoloch had been found here before, but not since. Footprints later found imply that some still roam here, so they are listed as extremely rare. Two apatosaurus and a brachiosaurus were found here once, though not since, but several juveniles brachiosaurus carcasses were seen in dilophosaurus nests. Furthermore, apatosaurus calls are heard every few months. Every mating season, suchomimus come here, and mate, then leave. One Carnotaurus the rangers called “Ram” has been seen throughout the island, with one ranger seeing him here too. Some allosaurus skeletons have been seen in the lake. Seven sightings of sinoceratops have been confirmed, and they are now listed as present, though the population appears to have less flashy colors. Once common throughout the mountains and redwoods, Yutyrannus was decimated in the redwoods, and they haven’t been seen since poaching stopped. Some footprints too large to be allosaurus may be from Yutyrannus, but they need further analysis to be sure they aren’t saurophagnax. Dracorex were captured often for the illegal pet trade, and they haven’t been seen in the area, though are common in nearby areas, so some may venture in someday, or already have. Lepidotes was and still is a similar case to the dracorex, but there is no way they could enter from elsewhere, so if they are present, they would have to have been in the lake all throughout the poaching epidemic. A disease affecting one subspecies of plesiosaurus is thought to have decimated them, but keepers are hopeful that there is at least one left. When new species were introduced, paleosaniwa were declining, and they were seen leaving the redwoods, so they may most likely be locally extinct. However, they have shown arboreal behaviors and could’ve adapted to the prey available. DX, a disease affecting most of the early clones, had been found in some Dimetrodon, and all diseased animals were killed to prevent a full extinction, but that seems to have killed off the population here. Thalassodromeus was once the most common species of pterosaurs in the redwoods, but since poaching, they’ve been restricted to the mountains. However, some unidentifiable pterosaurs may be Thalassodromeus or even tapejara. Metriacanthosaurus, spinosaurus, megatherium And smilodon were all hunted during poaching. Edmontosaurus And Cearadactylus were killed during the extermination of invasive species, as both were causing ecological collapse. Thylacine hasn’t been seen since an albino was released in the wild, but more were seen on the opposite side of the island. Nigersaurus once was already rare, but poaching for their scutes had caused the population everywhere to fall, but some still claim hunting did not reach the smaller islets, but those populations were already declining. After the presumed and unexplained extinction of homalocephale, Lycaenops was without prey, and began starving, though they could’ve moved onto the orodromeus and oryctodromeus and therefor still could be alive. Hesperornis was a popular hunting target, especially males. This caused them to be hunted and taxidermied faster than they could breed. There was one untouched population in the crevice, but that place hasn’t been checked in a decade. Niponosaurus was rare from the start, with only six individuals introduced, though they could’ve reproduced. That wouldn’t explain their evasion of rangers. Poaching also reached torosaurus, which only inhabited redwoods. However, calls of what sounds like them are heard as often as the apatosaurus. Leptoceratops hasn’t been seen since release, but they are small, so that could be why. As only one gorgosaurus was ever introduced, and their lifespan is shorter than 40 years, they are most definitely extinct, but viable embryos are being made and will soon be used to create ten gorgosaurus for the island. Only Albertosaurus females were introduced, and those were ‘pure’ Albertosaurus, so they were unable to breed on their own. Like all other thought to be extinct animals, embryos are being worked on so they can release ten Albertosaurus into the wild. An old male Microraptor was all that was left when a forest fire occurred, and his carcass was later found, so they are extinct. Deinocheirus And monolophosaurus were the main victims of poaching, even falling into extinction, but embryos existed at the time, and now both species are being worked on. Fifteen monolophosaurus and thirty Deinocheirus are planned to be incubated and released as adolescents, but so far, the project is Least priority. Gigantoraptor was another victim of the pet trade, but bad owners had caused the dinosaurs to die. One has been rumored to exist in a private collection, but it is most likely the similar anzu. Habrosaurus was the only other victim of the pet trade, though most died before they could be shipped to mainland, and in the end, only one made it to its owner alive. Some eggs and sperm cells exist, and are in the hands of breeders who work for the sanctuary, and we may soon see them as they are high priority.

Dinosaurs: Diplocaulus Lambeosaurus Leaellynasaura Orodromeus Oryctodromeus Psittacosaurus Tsintaosaurus Sarcosuchus Pelicanomimus Utahraptor Archeroraptor Torvosaurus Styracosaurus Triceratops Cryolophosaurus Parasaurolophus Gallimimus Othneiliosaurus Yinlong Dilophosaurus Hyaenodon Stygimoloch Carnotaurus Suchomimus Allosaurus Apatosaurus Brachiosaurus Sinoceratops

Uncertain: Yutyrannus Dracorex Lepidotes Plesiosaurus Paleosaniwa Dimetrodon Thalassodromeus Leptoceratops Lycaenops Homalocephale Hesperornis regalis Torosaurus Niponosaurus Nigersaurus Tapejara Velociraptor

Extinct: Edmontosaurus Metriacanthosaurus Spinosaurus Cearadactylus Smilodon Thylacine Megatherium Gorgosaurus Albertosaurus Microraptor Deinocheirus Habrosaurus Gigantoraptor Monolophosaurus

Chapter 2 coming soon!