Ceratosauria

Ceratosauria is one of the most successful groups of theropods, having been on earth longer than any other major theropod clade. They are also the most variegated, with some like *Berthasaura* and *Limusaurus*, being herbivorous. Their adaptions see them survive into the Holocene, with some familiar faces lingering around, and some new forms.

## History

Ceratosauria has an obscure history, with the oldest known taxa being the Ceratosaurid *Saltriovenator*, uncovered in Italy dating to 199 mya, though *Sarcosaurus* could also be a contender. During the middle Jurassic, the Ceratosaurians had a diversity explosion, which gave rise to the Noasaurs and Abelisaurs. It was only after the Cenomanian though, when they really started coming out on top as the dominant theropod clade of Gondwana. Noasauridae is arguably the strangest and most unique of them all, with creatures ranging from the iconic and bizzarely-toothed *Masiakasaurus*, to the almost Ornithopod-like herbivorous *Berthasaura*. However things started to change during the biotic interchange, where Tyrannosaurs started entering South America, and outcompeting Abelisaurs off their apex status, with only a few remaining ecosystems located in southern Chile and Argentina with apex Abelisaurs remaining. However in Asia they made their first successful entrance in Laurasia (ignoring *Arcovenator*), when India came in crashing at south-central Asia.

## Phytorostra

Phytorostra("Latin for Leaf Beak"), is a clade of Noasaurines directly descended from Berthasaura. They are most notable for their extreme convergence with Iguanodontians. However they still keep some distinct traits, such as the triple-back-hooked Premaxilla, and the bow-like Dentary.

The earliest known Phytorostran, *Berthasaura*, first evolved in the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous, and would surprisingly survive as a long as until the Rupelian stage of the early Oligocene epoch. That was when Phytorostra truly went from a Monotypic subfamily, to a polytypic superfamily. New forms such as *Neoberthasaura quadropus*, and *Fonsecasaurus robustorostrum* became much more quadrupedal and Hadrosaur-like. Their front limbs became much more robust and powerful. They became the dominant herbivores of central brazil, along with the titanosaurs. Their lacrimals and nasal bones evolved horn-like portrusions, forming 2 crests on their skulls. The reason for Phytorostra's sudden explosion of diversity remains a mystery.

During the late Pliocene the Great American Interchange took place, allowing the Phytorostrans to enter North America. To avoid competition with the native hadrosaurs, many phytorostrans became extremely specialized for niche partitioning. Unfortunately this lead to many phytorostrans dying off extremely quick. Meanwhile in North America, the unprepared phytorostrans were quickly outcompeted by the hadrosaurs, with the south american Phytorostrans only dominating in North western Argentina.

## Noasaurinae

Noasaurinae is one of the more recent groups of Noasauridae, appearing during the later parts of the early Cretaceous. The basal Noasaurines have not changed much, due to their environments being the same way. Aside from the minimal morphological change, some Masiakasaurus-like noasaurs entered Greece through a temporary land bridge during the Pleistocene, and grew to enormous sizes due to the open niches, becoming apex predators, overshadowing the european Tyrannosaurs. During the early Holocene, the snow and cold became more excluded to their natural areas, ending the ice age. And due to the land bridges disappearing, some noasaurs in the southern parts of the world remained small, and did not change much at all.

## Elladovenatoria

The Elladovenatorians (Greek for "Hunters of Greece"), a.k.a. the "Ellads", are a group of large apex-predator Noasaurs, derived from a lineage of basal Noasaurines. The clade emerged following the "Greek Noasaur Uprising", when a pleistocene biotic interchange between Libya and Greece gave rise to a clade of gigantic Masiakasaurus-grade predators.

Their large size helped them survive in harsh winters, with some members, such as the Amorgos Monster (*Amorgomonstrum allovelocis*), even evolving "pseudo-feathers" for extra warmth. Their extremely quick adaptations helped them kick out Tyrannosaurs of any major predatory niche, going as far as to making them Compsognathus-sized, and making them very rare in numbers. It is one of the many extreme evolutionary pressures in nature leading to some extreme adaptations. The adaptations also gave even the smallest of the Ellads, the Ellote (pronounced as "Coyote"), an impressive size of four meters.

### Perth Masik (*Allognathanax perthotheristes*)

The biggest and baddest of all the Ellads, is the Perth Masik, scientifically-named "*Allognathanax perthotheristes*". Despite its name, it is not from Australia, rather it is from the Perth forest of Bulgaria. An average male Perth Masik can grow up to a whopping 7 meters (23 feet), and sometimes more than that. In fact, some individuals have been recorded to grow up to 11 meters(33 feet)! During the mating season, male Perth Masiks make patterned booming hums for the females to rate. If the males get lucky, the female will accept the male as a mate. Sometimes, a hum can last as much as 5 hours. The patterns are so unique and complex that there's a 0.1% chance you'll hear the same hums twice. Male Perth Masiks are covered in red scar-like perpendicular stripes, with a base colour of turquoise, which helps blend into the environment, and some green strokes here and there. The females are more blandly-coloured, as expected, with a plain maroon coat of skin.

Perth Masiks usually live in small-sized families, consisting of 2 parents and 3 to 4 offspring. Due to the males being better-camoflauged, they do most of the hunting. Perth Masiks are excellent ambush hunters, making them experts at hunting fast prey like Minorids, a type of dwarf hadrosaurs. Sometimes if prey is extremely hard to hunt, males of the species may cooperate with other predators they can find nearby.

### Todesläufer (*Lepidodontosaurus giganteus*)

The Todesläufer is a German species of Ellad that lives in forests. Known for its unique dentition, which has small, scale-like serrations. This is extremely efficient for tackling much more slippery and small prey. It is the second-largest Ellad, up to around 4 metres in length. Todesläufer have an infamous disposition in the human colonies surrounding Bulgarian forests, being highly aggressive when angered. However, in its genetic memory, is the apparent "fear" of Perth Masiks, usually bolting away whenever they see one of the colossal noasaurids.

### The Beast of Hohe (*"Hohemonstrum deinus"*)

The "Beast of Hohe" is a highly elusive what seems to be a gigantic Ellad, possibly bigger than the Perth Masik. However, it remains dubious, as most of the evidence seems vague, misinterpreted, or straight up hoaxes, along with its informal scientific name "*Hohemonstrum*".

It was first discovered when a sound recording was found right beside the severed leg of a dead explorer, with the rest of the body unseen. It was a gruesome sight. The recording featuring forest ambience was about an hour long, but what was most intriguing was the very end of it. In the last 3 seconds of the recording, a booming roar was heard, and a second one right after that, and the recording ended, presumably because the explorer stopped recording the sound, and focused on running away.

It was suggested that it was probably just a *Tauernvenator* pack(A tyrannosauroid that lives in eastern Austria), as some have been observed as picky eaters, often throwing away the limbs. The sounds were also said to be from *Tauernvenator* too, as both sounded eerily similar.

However 6 years later, a small unidentified hadrosaur(Most likely a Minorid) was found with only its lower body, the upper half presumably eaten. It was found in the Hohe Tauern forest, the same place in which the dead explorer's severed leg was found. Most importantly, the bite marks where found to be from an Elladovenatorian. This lead to popular belief of the Beast of Hohe being a gigantic Ellad, often portrayed to be ridiculously bigger than a Perth Masik.

2 months later a research facility meant for studying Hohe Tauern wildlife was abandoned and destroyed, after a bloody massacre took place, seemingly by the Beast of Hohe. The only survivor was a veterinarian who claimed to have seen 3 gigantic carnivores ripping apart his colleagues, and he described them to be "Twice the size of a Perth Masik". People immediately assumed the Beast of Hohe was an Elladovenatorian once more, as it was one of the most dominant and largest carnivores of south-central & eastern Europe. However skeptics claim this is all just coverup for his murders, as many similar situations have happened before, involving in him being the sole survivor, the locations always being littered with fires, and him always claiming a ridiculously huge cryptid being the perpetrator.

## Orevasiosauria

Orevasiosauria (Greek for "Climbing Lizards"), or the Aye-bats, is a large clade of unique Scansoriopterygid-like Noasaurines. Their evolutionary history is unclear and extremely confusing, but the most widely accepted theory is that they are an anagenetic descendant clade of *Amorgomonstrum allovelocis*, which may also explain the latter's mysterious disappearance during the late Chibanian stage of the Pleistocene.

### Tripolian Aye-bat (*Arboscanderelladovenatoriapollicocomitus brevicaudolibyensis*)

The Tripolian Aye-bat is a small-sized Aye-bat from Al Nasr forest of Tripoli, Libya, hence its binomen. It is also called the "Ugly Monkey" due to its strange porportions. It's arms are unique among Dinosauria, as it holds one of the most abnormal hand-to-body ratio, with the hands being nearly twice its whole body length. Its small size compared to the trunks of trees made it opt out on larger hands, instead of a larger body size. Like other Aye-bats, the Tripolian Aye-Bat has extremely reduced tails, almost chicken-like. What sets it apart from other Aye-bats is its toe count. It is the only living two-toed Aye-bat, compared to the much more derived Single-toed Aye-bats, who only have one large toe, while the two-toed eye bats have one large toe, and 1 small toe.

Originally, it was named *Daubentoniscuochirpteroidesocheiroscansoriopterygopseudus meghalayosaurotripolicounexpectadomacrodactylus*(Which literally translates to "Unexectedly large-fingered pseudo-Scansoriopteryx lizard similar to Aye-ayes with bat-like hands from Tripoli during the Meghalayan stage"), but was deemed a nomen oblitum as *Arboscanderelladovenatoriapollicocomitus brevicaudolibyensis*, which translates to "Tree-climbing Elladovenatorian with reduced toe count and short tail from Libya " was used more often, despite being a newer name. The Tripolian aye-bat breaks the record of longest synonymous scientific name of all vertebrates, and also has a current name which comes close as one of the longest names of any Diapsid(59 letters and 26 syllables) only exceeded in syllables and letter by few other taxa.

## Ophidiosauria

Ophidiosauria is a diverse group of serpentlike terrestrial and aquatic descendants of Majungasaurus. They range from the small and parasitic aquatic *Paramajus*, to the gigantic contrictor *Segnophidiscus*. They first appeared during the miocene, from a Majungasaurus descendant with vestigial legs, and more aquatic forms appeared during the later Pleistocene. The aquatic Ophidiosaurians once ventured out into the Indian Ocean, but soon faced immediate extinction, and is currently unknown why that happened. The lack of limbs was already hinted as inevitable all the way back in the late cretaceous, as Majungasaurus had an unusually long body and extremely short legs.

### Ikongo Sosig (*Segnophidiscus periculofarcimus*)

At a length of 7.6 meters, *Segnophidiscus*(Latin for "Dangerous limbless snake-like sausage"), is one of the largest Ophidiosaurians, able to swallow prey items as big as Wolves in one gulp. It has an unusually flexible body, which it uses to contrict its prey.

The Ikongo Sosig has thick facial armor fused around its eyes, and it has seemingly merged with the signature majungasaurine frontal horn. The first signs of its existence when a woman was reported to have been "swallowed whole by an gigantic snake creature with a horned head and blood-red skin".

Before its official discovery, the Ikongo Sosig, called the "Madaconda" at that time, was considered a cryptid. Most body trails, bones, and other "evidence" were either hoaxes, or belonged to an already-existing taxon, or an undiscovered species that looked far different than the Madaconda's described appearance. Another factor that contributed to its elusiveness was when a pack of highly aggressive theropods began killing many expeditioners, making the government ban any entrance to Madagascar, as it was too dangerous. This left many madagascan creatures undiscovered, as only 7 taxa were ever described before the ban. The madaconda would soon be forgotten. Two decades later, under the assumption that the theropod pack died of old age, Madagascar was reopened to the public again. After all those years, the first true specimen of the Madaconda was found, after a group of hikers recorded a tape of a huge adult male sleeping on a large rock. Many skeptics were surprised at its existence, as it seemed as if all evidence pointed to the Madaconda being a hoax. Either way, it was a fascinating discovery.

### Sauroeel (*Paramajus enigmaticus*)

A species of unique, bloodsucking ten-centimetre long ophidosaurian. Scaleless and earless, it is small enough to breathe through its skin alone. Its feeding habits involve enlarging a craterlike wound on the host, then using its tongue and jaws to rake through the skin and muscles, swallowing the thick blood from the host. To breed, they give live birth like its closest unexpected relatives, the muranes. It digs into the rectal cavity of its hosts to give birth to up to ten youngsters. The youngsters suck blood from the intestine to the stomach, using its mouth to move in the digestive system to the head, inevitably vomited out.

### Leviathan Murane (*Muraeniscopristis Gigans*)

Too different to even be called a real Dinosaur now, the Leviathan Murane is one of the largest and most monumentally-sized Ophidiosaurians, reaching a massive length of roughly 69 meters (226 feet). Fortunately, Leviathan Muranes have resorted to eating sea flora, not fauna. They are also secluded in the Mozambique channel, between Madagascar and continental Africa, so their range is pretty small.

It is unknown how they reproduce, as there haven't even been any sightings of Leviathan Muraenes that haven't yet fully grown. Some experts theorize that this may be due to juvenile Leviathan Muranes being extremely vulnerable due to their size and so they spend most of their lives in uncharted areas of the deep sea, and only swim up once they've reached a length of around 40 to 50 meters. It is also suggested that offspring might take around 200 to 500 years to reach adulthood. Speaking of adulthood, they're also pretty much invincible at that point, with no known natural predators. If they are to be attacked, one may proceed to ram the attacker, and some may even swallow it whole. After all, some extra protein always helps.

## Neobrachyrostra

Neobrachyrostra is a clade of large macropredatory Brachyrostrans. The earliest member, the now-extinct *Himalayodon*, originated in northern India 50 million years ago from a basal brachyrostran, which soon entered the Himalayas region after the subcontinent's collision with Asia. However, getting through the mountain range and into China was a treacherous journey, as many abelisaurs stayed in India. One 37-foot Neobrachyrostran, *Himalayadon norgayi*, managed to exit the harsh mountain range, along with the Majungasaurines, around 49.7 mya, and diversify into more genera.

There are two subclades within Neobrachyrostra. The first of the subclades is Brachiothanatines("Hand Death") are the more mesopredatory of the two subclades, and their sizes can vary drastically, such as the 3-centimetre-long "Seres Cunic"(*Microcuniculum shunensis*; Which literally translates to "Tiny burrower from Sichuan"), which is one of the smallest dinosaurs of the Holocene. The subclade is most notable for its abnormally long arms compared to traditional short-armed Abelisaur blueprint. Due to this, some Brachiothanatines have resorted to a burrowing adaptation, which also helped carve out a new niche of hunting burrowing mammals. It created subclade within subclade, Cuniculestini.

Meanwhile the basal Brachiothanatines still kept their large-carnivore status, though not fully-fledged apex predators. The largest brachiothanatines, such as *Brachiothanatus* and *Yurgovuchiosaurus*, can grow up to 9 meters(29 feet).

### Magnian(*Brachiothanatus magnomentus*)

Finally we have one of the most unique Ceratosaurians to have ever walked the earth, and the most intelligent. Magnians, or scientifically *Brachiothanatus magnomentus*, were a dwarf tool-using species of *Brachiothanatus* that made great advancements. Such as shelter and weapons. They were about the length of an average lion, about 1.8 meters long. They began carving hiding-holes from large boulders using tools, and even made spear-like weapons. The even used those spears to hunt other animals, and used their skin as clothing, and beds. It was all because of one minor evolutionary change of the fourth finger in *Brachiothanatus-* the opposable thumb. Unfortunately for them, they would not survive for much long, because extreme environmental changes such as extreme floods, droughts, famine, gigantic hurricanes, disease, all weakened their population, until they finally died off 7.9 million years ago, after their very short 560-year existence on Earth. Their confinement to one single island also contributed to their quick end.

The Second subclade of Neobrachyrostra is Robustoccisorinae, which literally translates to "Robust murderers" in Latin. They are the more macropredatory of the Neobrachyrostrans, with some members even exceeding the sizes of that of a Spinosaurus. All Robustoccisorines are apex predators, overshadowing their smaller relatives, the Brachiothanatines.

### Greater Khadeg (*Illiurus kyrgyzstanensis*)

Greater Khadegs are a species of unusually tall Robustoccisorines, possibly taller than any Mesozoic carnivorous theropod, at an impressive 5.4 meters. Its tail is also abnormally small, reaching only 4.7 meters in length. It is capable of reaching meteoric speeds of 37 miles per hour, making it nearly impossible to escape. This evolutionary pressure has also lead to most herbivores in its ecosystem independently evolving amazingly durable armor, large horns, and extreme running speed. It is a large carnivore, reaching 12.6 meters length.

## Barovenatoridae

One of two clades descended from the genus *Chenanisaurus*, Barovenatorids are heavy-hitting bulky macropredatory dinosaurs, similar to tyrannosaurids. Africa's native tyrannosaurs, abelisaurs and dromaeosaurs are very unique, adapting to the harsh climate of Africa in different ways. Barovenatorids are slow and bulky, relying on brute force to hunt their specialised prey — sauropods, hadrosauroideans and ceratopsians, like mainland Asian and American tyrannosaurs. The largest of this group can reach 12.3 metres and up to 8 tons, being the largest ever carnivorous dinosaurs in the world of the dinosaurs.

## Dromaeovenatoridae

The polar opposite of the Barovenatorids, Dromaeovenatorids are speedy, swift and nimble, adapted to hunting smaller, less well-protected prey like smaller saurantelopes and leptoceratopsids. They're lightly built and fast, with comparatively weaker biteforces compared to the bone-crushing bite forces of the barovenatorids, these are more adapted to try to suffocate or bleed their prey to death by biting or using their feet to claw their jugulars. Because of their speed, they reduced their weight, armour and any features that may weigh them down (the heaviest is only 800 kilograms).

### Mkimbiaji pepo (*Dromaeovenator infernalis*)

The most basal species of dromaeovenatorids, and the only surviving member of its genus (ironic that it is also the namesake of its family). It is more adapted for agility than raw speed, adapting for stamina rather than other dromaeovenatorid's selective pressure to be lightly built, skinny and speedy. Mkimbiaji are relatively small, being 3 metres in length (most dromaeovenatorids are up to 8 metres long.

### Caped Afrosprinter (*Gigantodromaeis tachydon*)

The largest of all afrosprinters, a clade well known for their explosive speeds of up to 76 km/h. Similar to cheetahs, they hunt by using explosive speeds on the smaller saurantelopes, veloceratopsids and other small elasmarians. Afrosprinters have low stamina, and compensate for being deadly fast. Caped afrosprinters have no need for packs like other afrosprinters — they go at it alone. With such light bones, wounding one is surprisingly easy, albeit unlike cheetahs, caped afrosprinters have a relatively strong bite force.

## Furileusauria

A group of South American brachyrostrans which specialise for a jack-of-all-trades morphology, being fast and swift, while retaining several macropredatory aspects such as size and brute force.

## Diabolosauridae

While much of the world's ceratosaur fauna is dominated by abelisaurids and noasaurids, a few strange relics from a bygone world cling to life in Tasmania and New Zealand. The Diabolosauridae consists of a few species scattered across this region, which are all broadly similar. Some possess large horns, some small, but they are all descended from the South American *Genyodectes*, and are similar to their distant cousin, the extinct *Ceratosaurus*.

### Tasman demon (*Diabolosaurus minor*)

The smallest of the diabolosaurs, the Tasman demon is just a metre and a half in length. An adept hunter of small ankylosaurs and ornithopods, it is also a frequent beachcomber, feeding on the carcasses of marsupial whales that wash up on the shore. Some individuals have even been recorded feeding on crabs. It is relatively fast and slender for a diabolosaur, and has shed most of its osteoderms in favour of greater speed. This peculiar animal was initially known solely from birdlike footprints found in Fortescue Bay, and it wouldn't be until twenty years later that living specimens were finally discovered.

### Pink Devil (*Daemonoceratus dunedinensis*)

The Pink Devil is a medium-sized Diabolosaurid from Dunedin, New Zealand. It is one of the more larger Diabolosaurids, reaching up to 3.7 meters long. It is usually seen near beach cliffs, hunting in pairs. Pink Devils are relatively docile, despite their appearance, and are quite smart, often being recorded to mourn losses, such as mates. Their nasal horns are very pronounced, most likely for courtship purposes. Pink Devils have also earned the name of Sharkbrowed Devils, after the morphology of the lacrimal crests. Subadults fall prey to the aviconda.