“Perfect.” Grant smiled to himself, lowering his camera and gazing at the Parasaurolophus through the bars of the fence. He popped the lens cap back on the camera and tucked it away into his pack.
He had a wealth of photos for Ellie to examine, and it was time to head back to the Visitor Centre. It was a cool day, so he’d decided to walk to the Parasaur paddock as it was only a short hike.
Making his way back north through the forest, a small pale object glinting in the afternoon light caught his eye, a short distance away to his right. It almost looked like… Grant checked his watch. He still had time for a quick diversion.
As Grant closed in, he began to make out an unmistakable circular depression in the earth surrounding it. Grant was now a few feet away, and saw that the pale object was actually one of many in the centre of the circle. He crouched, picking one up.
A dinosaur egg. The dinosaurs are breeding.
Grant’s mind started racing. He thought back to his days studying biology. The Amphibian DNA! Some west African Frogs are able to spontaneously change sex in a single sex environment.
A series of bird-like prints in the mud led away from the nest, indicating both fully-grown and hatchling dinosaurs had been at the nest relatively recently.
“Huh”. Grant smiled. Malcolm was right. Life found a way.
His expression suddenly shifted when he looked closer at the prints. Two digits connecting with the ground, with the inner third toe raised above the ground. Velociraptor.
He swiftly made his way back to the path. It linked up with an access road in a couple hundred feet that led straight back to the Visitor Centre.
Grant was less than a mile out when he rounded a bend and immediately spotted the red livery of a Jeep crushed against a tree by the side of the road. This was getting more unnerving, he thought to himself. He cautiously walked up to the Jeep which was completely empty. He noticed a trail of human footprints heading off into the forest to the west. Determined to get to the bottom of this, he set off after them into the undergrowth.
