CPP: Plateosaurus vs Tiger

Plateosaurus VS Tiger

Plateosaurus- broad lizard

Fighter Size-

7.4 meters long, 1.8 meters tall(on all fours), and 3,500 pounds

Weapons-

Size, tail, thumb claws, and thick hide

Weaknesses-

Slow, not smart

Panthera tigris- beast arrow

Fighter Size-

3.1 meters long, 1.4 meters tall, and 765 pounds

Weapons-

Teeth, strong bite, claws, speed, agility, camouflage, and smarts

Weaknesses-

Smaller of the two fighters

Setting- Indian Jungle

FIGHT!

In the jungles of India, a lone Plateosaurus feeds. He’s recently been kicked out of his original herd to start his own. To do that, he must build up his strength. His teeth strip entire branches of vegetation, which he swallows whole. The picnic area he chose is in small clearing where he goes in a circle, feeding off the surrounding trees. For now, life is good.

Not far away, a female tiger is searching for prey. She hasn’t had a good kill for a week and her cubs are getting very hungry. At this point, she’ll attack just about anything. As she searches, a faint smell comes to her nose. She follows the trail, hoping it leads to a meal. She sneaks up to the edge of a clearing and sees just what she wanted. The huge Plateosaurus has his back to her and is unaware of her presence.

The wind blows to the prosauropod and he catches the scent of a feline. He turns his small head and scans the forest around him. The tiger’s camo is working perfectly and he can’t see her. He shrugs it off and goes back to feeding. The tiger prepares the attack and crouches. When the timing is right, she pounces. But the Plateosaurus has surprising reflexes. He swings his tail like a huge baseball bat and sends the cat flying. She lands on her feet, though not gracefully. The tiger snarls at her prey and then roars. The Plateosaurus bellows and rises to his full height. He’s bigger than she realized. But it doesn’t matter. The fight’s on.

The Plateosaurus swings his front feet around to deter an attack. The tiger sees the big thumb claws and makes a note to steer clear of those. She snarls again, then disappears into the forest. The Plateosaurus scans the area around him, but because of his short attention span, goes back to feeding. Big mistake. The tiger is on him before he can react. She hangs on with her sharp claws and bites down on his shoulder. It causes bleeding and pain, but nothing serious because of his thick hide. The dinosaur shakes and stumbles around, trying to get her to fall off. But the tiger holds fast. The Plateosaurus slams his body into a tree and her paw gets caught between the tree and dinosaur. She hisses in pain and leaps off. The dinosaur bellows at her again and she roars back. The Plateosaurus rears up on his back legs and the tiger sees an opportunity. His stomach is exposed. She leaps forward but never gets there. The dinosaur practically catches her in his hands and tosses her away. She doesn’t land on her feet this time. The cat snarls and starts to circle the Plateosaurus. This is not going how she planned.

The tiger roars, then unexpectedly leaps back into the forest. The Plateosaurus continues to keep up his guard. He’s been fooled once, it’ll be hard to fool him again. It’s more than a half hour before he finally goes back to feeding. That’s when she strikes. The tiger leaps onto his hindquarters and clamps down on his thigh. The Plateosaurus bucks and kicks, trying to dislodge the big cat. He shakes a little and she jumps off. She didn’t land far away and he manages to swipe her with his tail. She stumbles back and hisses. She needs to land a good blow somewhere. She’d love to go after that long, slender neck, but it’s so high up. She attempts to leap at his throat, but he’s ready. He bellows and swings one of his front feet at her. He strikes her right in the face. The tiger slams into the ground with a cracked jaw and bloody cheek thanks to the force of the swing and nasty claw. The Plateosaurus bellows and attempts to slam his front feet on her, but she rolls out of the way. The tiger hisses and takes off into the woods at full speed. This time he honestly thinks the cat’s retreating. It certainly looked like it. The dinosaur goes back to feeding.

The Plateosaurus drops to all fours and starts feeding on a small bush. It’s just what the tiger was waiting for. She drops down from an overhanging tree branch and lands right on his shoulders. She latches on with her claws and bites down hard on his neck. It’s too far back though. Before he can react, she’s off and at his back legs. She slashes with her teeth, cutting a major tendon. His leg gives out and the dinosaur falls. The tiger leaps to his throat and clamps down. After several minutes, he finally suffocates and dies.

The tiger rests for a few minutes by the carcass, panting heavily. The meal didn’t come easily, but it should feed her and her family for weeks. Finally, she calls out to her cubs to tell them it’s dinner time. But there’s no response. She calls again. Nothing. Her heart fills with terror and she takes off to where she last left them.

The tiger breaks through the brush into the clearing she left them and her heart sinks. She got them a meal, but it was too late.

Winner- Tiger

While bigger than his opponent, the Plateosaurus just wasn’t as equipped for battle. Not to mention the fact the tiger had cubs to feed, even if it was too late.

Next time on Clash of Past and Present...

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