You are in the riverbanks of North Africa, 95 million years ago.

The midday heat of the Late Cretaceous was suffocating, turning the air into a shimmering haze. You stayed low, hiding behind the roots of a towering conifer, watching a Carcharodontosaurus finish its feast on a titanosaur carcass, which has been picked clean for its voracious appetite. The giant carnivore turns to leave.

Then, out of the brush, comes another kind of carnivore, about 14 feet long, stocky, and moving with a calculated, scavenger’s gait. You recognized the creature based on its snout instantly: the abelisaurid Rugops.

It stopped, its head pivoting toward the carcass. It’s face was fascinatingly grotesque—a maze of armored, textured wrinkles, with faint red, vascular markings that seemed to pulse in the heat. It wasn't designed for fighting, but those thick, scarred jaws meant business when it came to scavenging.

It turned its head towards you, its eyes sharp and reptilian. It didn't seem interested in the living. It let out a low, reptilian hiss, then bent its powerful neck down to take a bite from the leftover carcass.