Chapter 504

Chapter 504: Who Was the Biggest in the Triassic!?

It was said the Mesozoic Era belonged to dinosaurs; dinosaurs also reigned as the largest creatures of that era.

This statement held true across broad time scales.

But finer examination revealed flaws.

After all, the Mesozoic unfolded in three distinct phases.

From Jurassic to Cretaceous, dinosaurs unquestionably dominated as Earth’s largest terrestrial animals, occupying the pinnacle of size among land dwellers.

Yet in the Triassic…

Dinosaurs only surged to prominence during the Carnian period. Their diversity and size exploded afterward.

By the Triassic’s final Rhaetian stage, the broad-ribbed "Damalasaurus" emerged—a "heavy dinosaur" stretching 14 meters long and weighing over 8.5 tons.

It appeared to be the Triassic’s mightiest giant.

But another colossal beast shared its epoch. This creature wasn’t a Sauropod Dinosaur, nor even a dinosaur or lizard-like reptile; it belonged to the archosaurs—specifically the Kenyichthyosaur group called Lufengosaurus.

Discovered in Poland’s Lufeng region, Lufengosaurus represented the last stand of Kenyichthyosaurs and archosaur mammals in large Ecological Niches.

Their persistence, however…

Manifested tragically: dwindling numbers paired with relentless growth.

Surviving species grew fewer while their bodies grew larger.

This path starkly contrasted Sauropod Dinosaurs’ strategy. Though Sauropods reached immense sizes—occasionally producing record-breakers—they maintained species diversity and occupied medium-sized herbivore niches.

These seemingly oversized dinosaurs endured repeated Mesozoic extinction events, scraping by until the era’s end.

Even before the Late Cretaceous period’s asteroid impact, they resurged—expanding from southern to northern hemispheres without visible decline.

Arguably among dinosaurs’ most successful lineages, they might have persisted but for catastrophic bad luck.

Large Triassic archosaurs fared differently.

Despite environmental improvements after the Carnian downpours, their numbers dwindled under pressure from armored reptiles, proto-Sauropods, and early Sauropods.

Conversely, their size ballooned.

Nearing doomsday, they grew larger still.

Ultimately, Lufengosaurus became the Triassic’s last and largest Kenyichthyosaur.

Their maximum size reached 4.5 meters long with 2.6-meter shoulder height; weight possibly hit 9 tons!

These giants weren’t just the Triassic’s largest archosaurs—they might have been the biggest since archosaurs’ origin!

Their contemporary Plateosaurus weighed merely 5 tons.

Archosaurs wouldn’t reclaim such stature for another 155 million years.

Until then, mammalian ancestors endured eons of nocturnal hiding and survival through the Dinosaur Era.

A sorrowful tale indeed…

Yet when Trilobite finally saw Lufengosaurus, only one thought crossed his mind…

"Fat pigs are like elephants, just with short noses."

Indeed, Lufengosaurus had wide feet without hooves, and with its barrel-shaped body and huge belly, it really resembled a domestic pig…

"Ah, no, I mean, it was more like a fat pig than an elephant."

"Modern elephants don’t weigh 9 tons!"

"Of course, these two fellows didn’t actually weigh 9 tons."

9 tons was the maximum size guessed by archaeologists from some scraps of fossils, which wasn’t very reliable.

The holotype specimen wasn’t that heavy.

Most Lufengosaurus were thought to weigh between three and five tons.

As for the fellows in front of Trilobite…

"One was a bit smaller, but it must have weighed at least four tons."

"The bigger one probably weighed over five tons, close to six tons!"

"This was crazy…"

Modern female African elephants averaged about 2.5 tons, and males were only around 3.7 tons; the two in front of Trilobite were clearly bigger than most African elephants.

One of them could have been a giant among African elephants!

"So that means…"

"I had to hunt prey weighing five to eight times my own body weight?"

"Is this something a normal predator could do!?"

"Ah, it was true… though it was tough."

Hunting prey five times one’s weight was risky for many skilled predators, but it wasn’t impossible.

For example, raptors in the dinosaur order, like Beautiful Nodosaurus, often did this.

Not just five times, they regularly took down prey ten to twenty times heavier than themselves.

Tigers hunted water buffalo, and lions hunted African buffalo, both weighing at least five times more.

Similarly, theropod dinosaurs, especially Megalodon kings living alongside giant Sauropod Dinosaurs like Argentinosaurus, hunted huge Sauropod Dinosaurs weighing tens of tons.

Tyrannosaurus Rex seemed a bit weak, mainly eating Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, which were lighter than itself.

But that was because Triceratops had strong defenses.

Also, Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Hell Creek area didn’t meet large Sauropod Dinosaurs; but those further south, like in the Piceance Basin, had proof of hunting the giant Sauropod Alamosaurus.

Alamosaurus was a giant Sauropod Dinosaur that moved into North America; though not well-known, it reached over 30 meters in length, with a top weight possibly over 70 tons.

This was one of the biggest Sauropod Dinosaurs, on par with Argentinosaurus.

And Alamosaurus fossils had bite marks from Tyrannosaurus Rex’s sharp teeth.

So, Tyrannosaurus Rex also hunted prey over five times its weight!

"Not to mention the thick-skinned killer, the master of the saber teeth instant kill style, the saber-toothed tiger!"

"Yeah, I couldn’t let the saber teeth instant kill style down!"

"Can’t let the dinosaur order down!"

"Huff…"

Moreover…

Two glaring red words in his system status bar reminded him while bringing immense pain to his stomach.

Those crimson characters read—"Very Hungry!"

"Huff…"

Though Trilobite felt ravenous as a beast, he didn’t act recklessly.

Predators hunt strategically, seeking maximum gain at minimal cost.

Instead of charging head-on like those Giant Shanxi Crocodiles toward First New Themis, he circled stealthily from the flank.

—-

"Hsss—!"

"Raaaah—!"

The "Giant Shanxi Crocodile" in Trilobite’s vision—actually Large Head Dreaming Shore Dragons—gaped their enormous jaws, intimidating two Vast Dragon Gods of the Mountain Type.

The Vast Dragon Gods responded with furious howls at the crawling Giant Shanxi Crocodiles.

The scene resembled a cheap documentary: predator and prey roaring face-to-face like warring armies before clashing.

But real hunts don’t unfold this way.

Authentic predation means silent stalking followed by violent, swift kills.

This "cheap documentary" spectacle revealed only one truth…

Amateurs bumbling through a fight!

"Crunch—!"

"Snap!"

Giant Shanxi Crocodiles constantly snapped powerful jaws, producing bone-cracking sounds to threaten the Vast Dragon Gods.

Driven by hunger, they lunged recklessly.

Five Large Head Dreaming Shore Dragons faced just two Vast Dragon Gods of the Mountain Type. When one Mountain Type tried stomping a crocodile, another would flank attack, forcing constant redirection…

Though seemingly advantageous, this exhausted the Mountain Types.

In reality?

Panic gripped the attackers too. Trapped and desperate.

Their Giant Shanxi Crocodile-like divine forms had large heads but stubby legs, low builds, and poor jumping capability. They could only nip at the Vast Dragon Gods’ legs—never reaching vulnerable necks.

At best, they performed clumsy "foot grooming."

With exceptional luck, severing leg tendons might topple these colossal beings, exposing unprotected necks.

But such attempts carried extreme risk and difficulty.

Each Mountain Type weighed ten times more than a Dreaming Shore Dragon!

If those big-headed, stunted nuisances ventured near their feet, one easy stomp would crush them.

The Mountain Types lumbered about, attempting to flatten their slightly nimbler yet equally clumsy foes without injury.

Sacrificing one leg would let Vast Dragon Gods of the Mountain Type crush these pests completely!

But as instinct-driven colossal beasts, Mountain Types inherently feared injury. They hesitated before the Dreaming Shore Dragons’ terrifying maws and sharp teeth.

Deadlock ensued.

Dreaming Shore Dragons tested, retreated, roared.

Mountain Types advanced, pivoted, roared.

Both sides bellowed, yet neither committed to real combat.

In nature, this predator hunt would be deemed a failure.

Risk outweighed reward.

Wild predators ignore "face"—they’d conserve energy for future hunts rather than waste it on formidable foes.

Though not natural predators, the Dreaming Shore Dragons now considered retreat.

Even the "sharp teeth" hunger marks burning their stomachs and foreheads lost their driving force.

But just then…

"Boom—!"

The swamp beneath their bellies trembled violently!