Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Cretaceous Badass

Chompsognathus
Consumebo totum


Size
200 feet long, 30 feet high

Weight
About one gazillion pounds, (roughly .454 gazillion kilograms)

Habitat
Coastal Pangaea, specifically near cliffs

Significant Features
  • Foot-long serrated teeth that shoot venom
  • Paralysis-inducing saliva
  • Primitive brainstem incapable of determining right from wrong


Behavior/Reproduction
Chompsognathus is thought to have been a solitary and territorial dinosaur. The distribution of C. totum fossils suggests that males would leave the nest prior to reaching sexual maturity, lest they be eaten by their mothers. Each male would keep a small harem of 4-6 female chompsognathi within his territory, which could span as much as 50 square miles. Chompsognathi hunted by lying in wait at the bases of cliffs and seaside waterfalls, then springing up vertically to catch sleeping pterodactyls off guard. Mating occurred in the winter, when ocean temperatures dropped and the exothermic chompsognathus would become too sluggish to hunt. Each female would lay 2-4 eggs, which would hatch in the summertime when the waters warmed.

Known predators
Bodyslammasaurus (Icthy iactus)

No comments: