Of Raptors and Kratts

Night At The Museum

****Warning: Brief language
It was late in the afternoon when Dr. Alan Grant led his charge on a tour through the Museum of the Rockies. The procession walked in single file through the narrow hallway with the dinosaur expert in the lead, with Ellie by his side. The Wild Kratts kids followed closely behind, marveling at the various museum specimens on display while being followed by the Wild Kratts team who were no less amazed. But none were more fascinated than Amber; the young dinosaur's head darted in every direction, her golden eyes glowing in fascination over the many new sights. And it took all of the Kratt Brothers' powers of persuasion to prevent her from touching anything.
As the museum was near closing, visitors were few. But among the benefits of the Summer Junior Paleontologist program was being able to tour the museum after hours. Nonetheless, this didn't stop them from drawing the eyes of curious passerby's.
"Nice costume!"
"It's completely lifelike!"
"Oh my gosh, it's the Kratt Brothers!"
Many greetings and compliments were given, along with some autographs given by the Kratt Brothers for many pleasantly surprised fans. And nervous smiles to the side. Photographs and pictures with the 'dinosaur costume', however, were politely denied as Aviva or Koki would insist that Amber, Aviva's cousin's sister's daughter, was rather camera shy. The last thing anyone needed was to be exposed by any pictures posted on social media which would inevitably catch any unwanted attention.
"'Cousin's sister's daughter'? Really?" questioned Koki once the last of the guests had left.
"Well, what else was I supposed to come up with?"snapped the inventor.
"The story of the dinosaurs began over 230 million years ago, in the Triassic period. At that time, all of the continents were joined together in one big supercontinent called Pangea." Grant began, leading his charges through the Mesozoic Hallway, filled with a menagerie of dinosaur fossils left and right. "And among the earliest of these was Coelophysis."
Here, they stopped before the fossil remains of a rather small bipedal dinosaur splayed out on a massive slab of rock. Amber's snout inched forward to inspect the bones when she felt a tap on her nose.
"Please don't touch."reminded the bone-digger sternly. The young dinosaur averted her gaze, like a child caught in the act of mischief. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Now the dinosaurs didn't start out very large or impressive. No. Coelophysis was ten feet long, agile, quick-footed little predator, and he needed to be. At that time, much of the world was dominated by giant crocodile-like archosaurs who would have eaten the early dinosaurs whenever the opportunity presented itself.
"But the early dinosaurs proved to be faster, smarter and much more adaptable than their rivals who ultimately faced extinction at the end of the Triassic age. With the demise of the archosaurs, the dinosaurs began to spread to every corner of the supercontinent. Over time, Pangea began to break up, and many creatures went along for the ride, including the dinosaurs. As a result, they evolved into all shapes and sizes, and it was during the Jurassic period that we get the truly enormous types like the Apatosaurus and the Brachiosaurus."
The hall widened in size, and the sight that greeted the tourists' eyes were the colossal remains of two animals large enough to rival the biggest elephant. Both had distinctive long necks, and while one stretched as long as a tennis court, its elongated tail ending in a whiplash, the other stood so tall it was a wonder that the top of its head didn't touch the glass ceiling, lined with the dangling models of what appeared to be winged reptiles.
"Wow!"
  Waves of nostalgia flooded over the Wild Kratts team, as these were among the first dinosaurs they had seen in the flesh. The children stared at the titanic skeletons in awe and wonder, that such magnificent creatures once lived on this planet. Amber looked up in wide eyed amazement. She had seen elephants before, but the bones of these things made even elephants seem so small. What would it have been like to see these titans alive and free?
"During Jurassic times, the earth was much warmer than it is today." Ellie explained, taking her captivated audience back to a prehistoric world. "Grass hadn't appeared yet, and the landscape was dominated by ferns, cycads, and conifer forests. With so much vegetation, the plant eaters were able to grow very big."
"In life, the Brachiosaurus would have weighed more than 60 tons."
"That's the weight of 12 African elephants!" Chris interjected.
  Passing underneath the pillar like legs of the Apatosaurus, so tall that even Martin couldn't touch its belly, they came across the skeleton of an altogether very different reptile.
"And when the plant eaters got bigger, so did the predators."said Grant in an almost foreboding tone. "This is Dilophosaurus. One of the first of the large carnivorous dinosaurs."
Like the Coelophysis, the bones of this creature were forever imprisoned within a rocky tomb. But unlike its Triassic forerunner, the Dilophosaurus was easily twice the size at 20 feet long. Long, dagger like teeth and razor sharp claws betrayed a formidable predator, but the most defining feature of this beast was the circular crest on the top of its head.
"Whoah. That's Dilophosaurus?"asked Jimmy. Out of the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park, this was one of the few that the team never had the opportunity to see. "They're really cool looking."
"I like the crests."added Koki.
"It's beautiful."marveled Aviva.
"Beautiful but deadly."murmured Ellie low enough to prevent the children from hearing. "Remember: they're poisonous." The inventor's eyes widened before she visibly shuddered; on one end, the team and the paleontological duo were filled with regret having never seen this theropod beyond the bones. On the other hand, they were thankful that they never had to encounter them when Jurassic Park went haywire. Tyrannosaurs and Velociraptors were already bad enough.
"What are the things on its head for?"asked Gavin.
"Excellent question, Gavin. While we can't exactly say for sure, we believe that Dilophosaurus would have used its bony crests for showing off to other members of its species."Grant answered. Teaching kids wasn't as bad as he originally thought; out of every age group, it was children who seemed to be the most eager to learn about dinosaurs and the field of paleontology.
"Modern animals like deer or wild turkeys do the same."added Chris, pulling up some footage from his Creaturepod.
"So kinda like the dinosaur equivalent of Elvis."said Martin, causing the kids to laugh at the comparison, as well as the ladies. Doing his best impression of the long dead singer, he added, "The cooler the features, the better the chances of impressin' the ladies. Thank you very much."
More laughter. Even Amber gurgled her guttural raptorial chuckle.
Rolling his eyes a little in amusement, Alan decided it was time to get on with the tour. "But Dilophosaurs were lightweights compared to another predator that appeared millions of years later." The paleontologist walked up to a much bigger dinosaur skeleton that greeted them with open jaws. "Before T-rex, there was the Allosaurus, the lion of the Jurassic. Thirty feet from nose to tail. Armed with sharp teeth and claws, they would have killed prey more than twice their own size."
Alarmed by the scary looking creature with the pointed teeth, Amber sought refuge behind Martin who quickly comforted her. "It's okay, girl. These guys aren't alive."
"But some herbivores like the Stegosaurus also developed ways to fight back. While the plates on its back were primarily there for display, the spikes on its tail would have been very dangerous weapons despite having a very small brain for its body size. We know this because many Allosaurus bones had been found with injuries that were likely inflicted by stegosaur tail spikes." As he said this, he cast a little glance towards Martin and Chris with whom he had witnessed the amazing plated dinosaur's capabilities firsthand against even the most ravenous predators. The brothers smiled, remembering that epic battle. The rest of the team were impressed by the Stegosaurus' extraordinary features, from its plated back down to the formidable tail spikes.
The tour went on.
"Then we get to the Cretaceous period, and the continents are beginning to take shape into their present forms, although temperatures were much warmer, and sea levels higher than today, which created many shallow inland seas."
"The Cretaceous period is one of my favorite time periods because it marked the appearance of the first flowers!"added the paleobotanist with great enthusiasm. Alan couldn't help but smile before forcing himself to continue.
"The dinosaurs ruled the earth for more than 160 million years, dwelling on every continent."
"Increíble."said Aviva, amazed that any class of animal could be so successful, lasting for so long.
Amber tilted her head in confusion. If these strange and wonderful creatures once roamed all the world, where were they now?
At this point, the tour had advanced to a rather dimly lit hallway with a menagerie of fossils from the final stage of the Mesozoic.
"But it was only during the last 3 million years that the most famous and most terrifying of them all appeared. And here in Montana, this was his land."
  Suddenly, the hallway was flooded with bright lights, revealing an enormous skeleton, its open jaws lined with rows of massive teeth. There was no mistaking this terrifying beast from the ancient world whose name instilled fear, even today.
The Wild Kratts kids jumped back in fright while Amber shrieked in terror, her scales turning deathly yellow as she bolted for cover behind her caretakers. It wasn't just a fight or flight response, but perhaps some genetic memory of the time when her kind and all other creatures lived in mortal fear of these monsters. Triggered by dreadful memories, the Wild Kratts team screamed as they huddled together with the young raptor in the center. Even the normally fearless creature adventurers paled a little; they had seen those jaws before, and more than once had those teeth nearly sealed their doom.
  "Behold ladies and gentlemen: Tyrannosaurus rex."
"T-rex!"cheered the Wild Kratts kids, especially the boys. Upon realizing that the long dead fossils posed no threat, the team breathed audible sighs of relief.
The skeleton itself was colossal; nearly 20 feet tall and measured well over 40 feet from nose to tail. And it wasn't just one; lined up in a glass case adjacent to the skeleton were the fossil skulls of several tyrannosaurs of all ages, from tiny hatchlings to robust adults of monstrous proportions.
"We actually have the largest collection of T-rexes in the world." Grant informed the children. "The name Tyrannosaurus rex means 'tyrant lizard king'. And he was the largest land predator in North America at the end of the Cretaceous, and quite possibly the world."
"Whoah..."
"But even the King of Dinosaurs didn't get his way all the time. No, he shared his landscape with heavyweight herbivores like the three horned Triceratops and the armored Ankylosaurus."As he lectured, the bone-digger walked up to an exhibit featuring two different fossil specimens. One resembled a rhinoceros with a mammoth head and not one, but three horns jutting forward; the other looked like a nightmarish cross between a tank and a turtle, covered in armor from head to toe, complete with a heavy tail club.
"And T-rex wasn't the only predator at that time."
Just around the bend, they came across another set of bones, these ones much smaller and lighter built, around the same height as a human. Rather than the massive head and giant teeth of its tyrannosaur contemporary, this predator was armed with small dagger like teeth and long arms bristling with three razor sharp claws on each hand. And that wasn't all: on each hind foot, on the middle toe rested a recurved, sickle like claw, a trademark of its kind. And this specimen wasn't alone; on either side of the first creature stood two more, and even in death, all three were poised to strike.
"Enter the Velociraptor."
"Whoah!" While the children marveled at the fearsome prehistoric predators, the team's eyes, Koki's especially, widened, as though they had seen a ghost. All eyes soon turned to Amber as the young dinosaur gazed upon the bones with deep fascination as if looking into a mirror. These ferocious creatures bore striking resemblance to herself; the same teeth, the same claws. The overall build. Every one of their features was exactly the same as her own.
There could be no doubt about it. Amber was face to face with her own kind.
The living raptor struck a pose, imitating the skeletons of the long dead, jaws wide open, claws extended in threat.
Grant cleared his throat, breaking Amber's pose as she jumped up in surprise. Everyone else chuckled. "While they weren't as large and powerful as T-rex, what made them so dangerous was they understood the value of strength in numbers. Velociraptors hunted in packs."
"So like a pack of wolves?"asked Aiden.
Ellie nodded. "Exactly."
"And wolves hunt in packs to bring down animals much larger than themselves."informed Chris.
Next to the exhibit was a highly detailed mural, depicting a pack of Velociraptors attacking a hapless duckbill dinosaur. Needless to say, the painting was not for the faint of heart as Jimmy ran for the nearest waste bin.
For half a minute or more, Amber's golden eyes gazed intently at the exhibition, from the ancient bones to the grotesque life restoration.
Her own kind.
"And with the power of superior numbers, plus high intelligence by dinosaur standards, Velociraptors were every bit as dangerous, if not more dangerous than a Tyrannosaurus." With a mischievous grin, the paleontologist walked up to the Tortuga pilot who had just returned from the trash bin. Everyone else watched from the sidelines while Ellie playfully facepalmed, knowing full well what Alan was about to do.
"Now, try to imagine yourselves in the Cretaceous Period. You get your first look at the Velociraptor as you enter a clearing. He moves like a bird, lightly, bobbing his head. And you keep still because you think that maybe his visual acuity is based on movement like T-rex, he'll lose you if you don't move. But no, not Velociraptor.
"You stare at him," He then pointed at Jimmy. "and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes, not from the front, but from the sides." Alan said as he moved his hands to visualize his point and made a whistling sound to get the sense of the speed in front of the pilot and his blue eyes were focused on Alan's hands.
"From the other two raptors, you didn't even know were there. Velociraptor's a pack hunter, you see, he uses coordinated attack patterns and he is out in force today."
"Okay. A–are you trying to freak me out?" JZ stammered as Grant began circling him. "'Cause it's working."
"And he slashes at you with this." Alan reached for his pocket, pulling out a familiar curved object. Needless to say, the pilot was wide eyed. "A six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the middle toe." Amber looked down upon her own talons, clicking them against the floor. She had always wondered what they were for.
"He doesn't bother to bite your jugular like a lion, say.... no, no, he slashes at you here," Alan stepped in front of his 'victim', demonstrating with the claw where the prehistoric predator would strike, "or here," he did somewhere on JZ, which made him flinch.
As the Wild Kratts kids watched and listened with horrified fascination, as though hearing an exceptionally scary story, the Wild Kratts and Ellie shook their heads in amusement. He then slowly dragged the claw across the redhead's abdomen. "or maybe across the belly, spilling your intestines." Jimmy was already shaking like a leaf when Alan leaned into his ear. "The point is... you are alive... when they start to eat you."
This was enough, more than enough, for Jimmy Z to scream in fright before collapsing on the floor.
A moment of silence.
"Is he dead?"asked Nolan innocently.
"Alan!"the paleobotanist scolded, smacking his shoulder. The bone-digger shrugged, casting her a guilty expression.
"I think you laid it on a teensy bit there, ol' pal."said the younger Kratt, pinching his finger for emphasis while Martin stared down at the prostrate form of their friend.
"Stand back everyone. I got this." Just as Koki dug through her pack for a cookie, Amber stood over the fallen pilot and began licking his face.
"Ughhh.... wha–what happened? Where am I?" As Jimmy began to regain consciousness, his eyes came face to face with a golden set of golden reptilian eyes. The effects were immediate.
"Ahhhh! Velociraptor!" Now fully awakened, the terrified redhead leaped into the technician's arms. "It's gonna disembowel m–Oooh, a cookie!" Ever the glutton, Jimmy munched on the chocolate chip cookie, his fear now forgotten, earning an eye roll from Koki who relinquished her hold.
"OOF!"
Amber tilted her head as many questions flooded her mind. Were her species really this violent race of savage, cold hearted killers? And what happened to all these strange and amazing creatures? Wouldn't she and her pack have seen one of them during their travels?
"What happened to the dinosaurs?"asked Gavin.
"Yeah. Where'd they all go?"added Nolan, and before too long, Alan was bombarded with the same question, much to his slight dismay.
"No one knows for sure."he finally answered. "But the most widely accepted theory is that 65 million years ago, a meteorite the size of Mount Everest slammed into the earth around the Gulf of Mexico."
  "I've read about this."said Aviva. "They have found a deposit of iridium over 65 million years old." Pulling out a periodic table of elements from her Creaturepod, she informed, "It's an element that's rare on earth, but very common in meteorites."
"That's true." Ellie confirmed with a nod. "And we've found an unusually high abundance of iridium in the clay layer at the KT boundary."
"KT boundary?"asked Jenny. "What's that?"
"That's the boundary that marks the end of the Cretaceous Period, the last period of the Age of Dinosaurs, and marks the beginning of the Paleogene Period, the first period of the Cenozoic Era. The era we are in today."
"See, if life on Earth was a book, it would be made up of three parts:" The computer whizz explained, "the Paleozoic, when life first began. The Mesozoic, or Age of Dinosaurs. And the Cenozoic, the Age of Mammals. Dinosaurs would be in the middle."
"And we humans would be at the very end, like the glossary."added Aviva.
"So what you're saying is that the KT boundary represents the point where one chapter ends, and another begins?"asked Ronan, piecing it together.
The trio beamed. "Exactly!"
   The paleontologist continued with his lecture. "The results of the impact were catastrophic; much more powerful than all of mankind's nuclear weapons put together. You had massive tidal waves along the coasts, increases in volcanic activity, and global wildfires. And billows of dust would have covered the earth's atmosphere, preventing any sunlight from reaching the surface."
"I see."said Aviva. "So without the sun to help in photosynthesis, it would drastically affect the growth of plants."
"And without leafy greens, the herbivores were the first to suffer."added Chris sadly.
Martin was uncharacteristically glum. "And without enough prey to eat, the predators soon followed." No other creatures have faced such a dramatic extinction as what had befallen the dinosaurs.
Grant nodded. "About 70% of all life on earth was wiped out. And over time, all of the non avian dinosaurs became extinct."
Everyone looked back at the hallway of the ancient past solemnly. Once there were great creatures. And now there are only bones.
A moment of silence.... until Alan cleared his throat to conclude the tour. "With the dinosaurs' demise, it left the window open for a whole new host of animals. With the fall of the dinosaurs began the rise of the mammals." In the palm of his hand, the paleontologist held the tiny jawbone of one of the primitive mammals.
"Ay que lindo."cooed Aviva.
"They're so.... small." Koki observed.
"That's what the early mammals were like during the Age of Dinosaurs."said Martin.
"With dinosaurs gone, the mammals took over and diversified into all different shapes and sizes, becoming the amazing creatures we see today."added Chris.
"So just like how the dinosaurs were able to grow and change when the crocodile things went away." Nolan chirped.
Alan nodded with a smile. "Not all of the dinosaurs are gone." This immediately drew the attention of his young audience and the bewilderment of his friends.
"Wait." Jimmy was confused. "But you said they all became extinct."
"All of the non avian dinosaurs." Alan corrected, raising a finger in emphasis. "It's now known that a group of dinosaurs did survive the extinction. And they're all around us today."
"Really?"asked Gavin.
"Cool!"exclaimed Aiden.
"Awesome!"added Ronan.
"Where are they?"asked Jenny.
Amber was also intrigued, wagging her tail slightly. Could it be true? Living dinosaurs like her?
Martin and Chris exchanged knowing glances, having a good idea where the paleontologist was going with this, recalling their time back on the island.
Just then Ellie brought her fingers to her lips, giving a shrill whistle that echoed through the hallway. A loud SQUAWK! was heard, followed by the fluttering of wings as a colorful bird came flying towards them.
"Duck!"warned Aviva and Koki, diving to lower ground.
"What duck? That's a parrot–AHH!" Jimmy caught on to the meaning at the last minute, ducking down to avoid the oncoming parrot that ultimately landed on the paleobotanist's outstretched arm.
"A Blue-and-yellow macaw!"exclaimed the Kratt Brothers.
"This is Jack." Ellie introduced while offering Jack a peanut. "He's a Blue-and-yellow macaw, and a proud descendant of the theropod dinosaurs."
"So that means that–"
Grant nodded. "That's right. Birds are the direct descendants of the dinosaurs." And for the remainder of the tour, the Wild Kratts team, the junior paleontologists and the Velociraptor listened with rapt attention as Dr. Alan Grant passionately went into depth with the origins of birds, their dinosaurian ancestry, special anatomical similarities, and the day certain dinosaurs took to those primordial skies, and flew towards the future.
****Several Hours Later...****
".... and that's how Amber came to be with us."
Gathered around the T-rex skeleton, the children listened with rapt fascination the accounts the Wild Kratts team told of the upbringing of their newest member, who laid curled up on the floor, as well as the paleontological duo's individual stories of the place called Jurassic Park. The floor was littered with sleeping bags of various colors, as the program also included a sleepover at the Mesozoic Hallway.
"Wow!" The Wild Kratts kids were wonderstruck to say the very least.
"A theme park full of dinosaurs? It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie!"said Gavin.
"Like Frankenstein!"chimed little Nolan.
Martin chuckled. "Yeah. We wouldn't have believed it ourselves if we hadn't experienced it ourselves."
"Easily one of our most exciting creature adventures ever."added Chris.
The older Kratt nodded. "Once in a lifetime."
"It's too bad that the park is closed. I would've loved to go there." Ronan remarked.
"NO!"came the simultaneous exclamation from all of the adults present which startled the children. Amber as well was alarmed by the sudden outburst, head held high, her golden eyes widened.
A brief moment of awkward silence.
The Kratt in green cleared his throat. "Sorry." With an almost forced smile, very eager to change the topic, he said, "Anyway, what is taking Jimmy and Koki so long with that pizza?"
"They should be here any minute, Cariño."assured Aviva, leaning her head on his shoulder. Tensions lowered, the young raptor soon relaxed and rested her head upon Martin's lap.
"How old is Amber anyway?" asked Jenny.
"At this point, about eleven months old."answered Aviva.
"Pizzas here!" Jimmy called out as he and Koki walked into the exhibition, carrying stacks of steaming boxes of pizza. Amber immediately perked up upon catching wind of the food and went to grab her share. Luckily, Koki was able to hold the young raptor back while the Tortuga pilot handed the pizza to everyone in disposable plates; the last thing they needed was another messy, raptorial feeding frenzy. Finally, permission came from the technician for the voracious carnivore to help herself to a few slices of meat lover's.
"Dr. Grant? What is your favorite dinosaur?"asked Ronan.
"Hmm." Alan hummed thoughtfully. "I would say either the Triceratops or the Velociraptor. The trike was my favorite from childhood," As Amber approached him, jaws stained in red pizza sauce, he reached out to tap her snout before pulling the fossil claw from his pocket. "And I've kept this raptor talon with me for as long as I can remember. A reminder of the power of the natural world. Now, Velociraptors have been brought back to life. They still hold a special place in my heart, even through the last time we met, they tried to tear it out."
"Yeah. We almost died."said Jimmy grimly before biting into his pizza slice.
The team said nothing, but they all exchanged glances, remembering how they all fought for their lives when the weekend of a lifetime turned into a brutal nightmare. Alan placed a comforting hand on Ellie's shoulder, the traumatic experience not easily forgotten.
Eventually Martin was the first to break the silence. "But luckily for us, that was when Wrecksy came to save the day!"he declared triumphantly pumping a fist in the air. "And we made like Gallimimuses and bolted right out of there!"
"But you have to promise not to tell anyone," Chris cautioned the children.
"We promise."the Wild Kratts kids chorused.
"Your secret's safe with us."said Gavin, the oldest of the bunch, while Aiden made a motion with his right hand to zip his mouth shut.
"Now how long have you had Jack for?"asked Martin, watching the brilliantly colored parrot interact with the young Velociraptor.
"Over a year now." Ellie replied while Grant was teasing the macaw with a cookie, holding it just out of reach. "He was a gift from my mother."
"He's a beautiful bird."said Aviva. "Yeah, I have a thing with birds."
"What's my name? Come on, Jack, say it. Is my name Alan? Say my name." The bird didn't respond. The bone-digger finally gave up. "Stubborn bird."
"Can he really talk?"asked Nolan.
"Only when he wants to."the paleobotanist replied, giggling as Alan muttered a few curses under his breath.
"How can parrots talk?"asked Jenny.
"That's an excellent question." Ellie replied before she took on a thoughtful expression. "I've always wondered about that myself."
"Me too,"added JZ.
"And how do they talk and recreate sounds so accurately without the teeth, lips, palate and vocal cords that make speech possible for humans?"pondered Koki.
"One way to find out."said Chris, looking to Aviva, who winked, pulling out her Creaturepod.
"Deploying Body Scan." With the touch of a button, the inventor scanned the parrot in order to look deeper than the surface. Jack squawked in protest, flapping his wings a little, but otherwise remained on the railing. She then pulled out a holographic anatomical image of her findings.
"Birds don't have vocal cords like we do."informed Aviva. "They don't push air over vocal cords to create sound. Instead, they use the muscles in their throat to direct air over the trachea, or windpipe. They make different sounds by changing the depth and shape of the trachea. The vocal organ that enables a parrot to make sounds is called the syrinx, which is located within the bird's breast. This vocal organ is a muscular, wishbone structure located at the base of the trachea adjacent to two bronchi, sort of like an upside down Y, where the trachea meets the lungs. Each branch of the syrinx has a moveable valve, and the valves can work independently enabling birds to produce two separate tones simultaneously. Parrots can produce different sounds by changing the depth and shape of the syrinx.
  "Like humans, parrots do have tongues and a throat that help to shape the sounds they produce. But can you imagine being able to produce the sound of a 'b', 'm', 'p'or 'w'without using your lips?"
"Or for that matter, try saying a word starting with 'd', 'h', 'j', 'k' or 't' without your teeth or palette!"added Koki.
  "That's so cool!"said Aidan.
Martin tried to do just that, attempting to produce certain vowels without use of his lips, albeit failing miserably, earning rounds of laughter from the kids.
"A–Alan."
Everyone froze upon hearing the low, raspy voice; no one else was present in the hallway. And that was certainly no macaw. It sounded again.
"Alan."
Alan stood there, staring blankly as Amber walked up to him and took the cookie from his hand. Doe over half a minute, no one uttered a single syllable. It was a wide eyed Jimmy Z who finally broke the ice. "Ummm. How did she do that?"
"Has.... she ever done that before?" Ellie asked.
"Actually no." Martin answered, while Chris shook his head.
Creaturepod in hand, Aviva ran several body scans of a motionless Amber, wanting to look deeper than the skin in order to unravel the keys as to raptorial vocalization. The raptor in question sat still, allowing the violet purple beam to run from tip to tail as she savored the cookie. She then compared her findings to the body scan of Jack.
"¡Increíble!"exclaimed the inventor. "They're nearly identical! The only difference is that she does have teeth, lips and a palate."
  "Whoah!" Everyone was amazed to say the very least. Even Amber herself cocked a look of surprise.
"But why do they copy human speech?"asked Jenny.
"Peer pressure, it turns out."answered Martin. "Parrots naturally try to fit in, be it among other parrots or other people. They're social animals, which means they want to fit in with the rest of their friends." He then turned to the young raptor, coaxing her in his baby voice, "Amber, can you say 'Martin?' 'Martin?'"
Urged by her caretaker, Amber made several attempts to replicate his sounds, producing deep croaks with her first few attempts, bobbing her head a little. Not half a minute later–
"M-Maaaar-tin." The Kratt in blue beamed with joy.
"In the wild, parrots use their vocal prowess to share important information and fit in with the flock." Chris informed. "Flocking offers plenty of advantages: safety in numbers, searching for foraging spots together and even helping to raise each others chicks in some cases. Around people, parrots often imitate human words because they see their owners as part of their new family, or flock. They copy human sounds to fit in with their human flock."
"And since Velociraptors are pack animals,"hypothesized Aviva. "The same principles would also apply,"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"asked Martin, addressing Chris as he was scratching under Amber's chin.
Chris smirked as he replied, "Oh, I'm totally thinking what you're thinking. I think.."
"Then we must be thinking the same thing!"
"And that is?"asked Koki in a deadpan tone.
"Raptors are capable of vocal mimicry!"concluded the Kratt Brothers simultaneously.
"Maybe, just maybe, they could also imitate the sounds of their prey." Grant theorized. "And perhaps communication was the key to their success in hunting cooperatively as a pack–"
"Bullshit!"
All eyes turned to the source of the new voice to see none other than Jack the parrot perched on the railing of the T-rex exhibition. The children all fell silent. The Wild Kratts team were mortified to say the very least while Amber tilted her head in curiosity, having never heard that word before.
"You taught him that." Ellie told Alan, smiling despite herself while the rest of the adults cast accusatory glares on the man in question. Martin and Chris exchanged mischievous glances before advancing upon the paleontologist who did not like where this was going.
Grant began to back away slowly. "Guys? What are you doing? Guys? Guys!"
Needless to say, the Wild Kratts crew, Ellie, and the children burst into rounds of uncontrollable laughter as the Kratt Brothers subjugated Alan Grant with the most unpleasant pillow fight of his life.
"Alan!" Amber quickly joined in the fun, pouncing on them as she was urged by the promise of fun.
**** I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, it all seemed much easier in my head, and then there's a whole bunch of other stories that needed work, including some that will come out in the near future. And bird research is such a pain but fascinating all the same...
As you might have guessed, I've incorporated some elements from JPIII (and Zoboomafoo to a smaller extent..) , namely Jack the macaw and the theories behind raptor vocalization, and the ever infamous "Alan." The last one I just couldn't resist... but to me it made a lot of sense. If some birds were capable of mimicry, then why couldn't some of their dinosaurian ancestors?
Stay tuned for more updates and chapters. See y'all on the Creature Trail!