The High Hide is the third chapter in the Fourth Configuration. The Malcolm-led team have raise their special structure and they think they can learn about dinosaur behavior from the island.
Plot[]
Under the mid-day sun, Eddie, Richard Levine, and Doc Thorne assemble an observational platform which they refer to as a "High Hide", given that they can hide it up off the ground away from animals. Levine notes that the structure is too shiny, so he and Eddie chop down palm fronds to cover the exterior as well as to make a more complete floor for the platform at the top, the spaces in between the floor bars are also wide enough for their feet to slip through. Once complete, the group observes dinosaurs grazing and drinking across the valley. There are Apatosaurus in the distance and a group of Triceratops to the north. Levine identifies Parasaurolophus to Kelly Curtis - dinosaurs described as "duck-billed" and emitting low-frequency sounds. To the south he misidentifies dark-green dinosaurs with "large curved protruding foreheads" and "a rim of small knobby horns" as Gravitholus then more likely Pachycephalosaurus. Levine and Malcolm debate the reason for the unusual heads.
Malcolm tells Arby Benton that the reason the island is so important is because it has a lot to teach them about extinction. He explains that when InGen shut down the facility years ago, it was sudden and some animals were left behind. Those animals reached adulthood and began to breed. The island has a complete ecosystem with many dinosaurs evolved in it with zero influence from the outside world. It is a completely contained environment and Malcolm suggests that over the next few days they will gain insight into dinosaur behavior that may have led to their extinction.
Trivia[]
Apatosaurus were once famously known as Brontosaurus.
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