WWMP, New Lancashire, 8,000 B.C.
"The marshes and rivers of Eutopia are teeming with life. Here, in the Northeastern coast, is the heartland of the Megaplatypii range. They were found all over the Island, though they were only sparsly inhabiting the Southern coast, where competition from aligators made life more difficult. This far north, it is too cold for gators, and the megaplatypus is alone at the top of the food chain."
"It's smaller modern realatives in Australia live on shellfish and hunt by night, hiding from predators. But the Megaplatypus is a predator in its own right. It too hides, however. Lurking in the bank of the river under the shadow of a willow, it is virtually invisible above the murky water. Only the very tip of its bill is above water, alowing the creature to breathe easily. It can remain like this for hours, waiting for prey to aproach."
"While underwater, both the Megaplatypus's eyes and ears are closed. It is both blind and deaf, but still intensly aware of its surroundings. It's keen sense of smell picks up odors on the air, while its bill is a bundle of nerves, sensitive enough to detect any slight disturbance in the water."
"This platypus's bill has picked up a target. An otter swims nearer oblivious to the danger. Still the platypus waits. If it attacks too soon, the more manueverable otter will escape to the safety of dry land. The platypus can travel on land at need, but it is clumsy and more vulnerable, its webbed feet ill-equipped to chase down quick prey."
[An otter floats into frame. We see the bill again in the foreground. Music gets unnecessarily ominous.]
"The otter is oblivious as he drifts into range. Suddenly, the platypus strikes, launching toward the otter with its powerfull back legs. Suprised, the otter tries to escape to the riverbank. But it's much too late, as the platypus slaps its bill closed across the back of the animal. The platypus's beak has no teeth, but powerful grinding plates, and it cannot bite into its prey. But its beak slams shut with enough force to shatter bones, and that's exactly what it does to the otters spinal column. Crippled, the animal stops struggling, and the platypus shifts its prey so that its entire body fits into its beak. Then it begins the gruesome work of crushing its food with the grinding plates in its beak, until the bones are in small enough peices that it can swallow the carcass whole."
"The loud grinding of the megaplatypus attracts scavengers. The platypus will regurgitate the bones and hair, and anything else it cannot digest, and sometimes in with the garbage is edible meat as well. Scavanging animals have learned to listen for the grinding of a chewing megaplatypus in the hopes of nabbing a free meal."
"This croud of scavengers includes another paradox, a living fossil. It was a three-foot tall creature called Ornithosaurus, the very last of the dinosaurs."
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