Perforated Lizards news

Species: T.latus

Animal Class: Large

Standard Containment Procedures:

Groups of up to eight (8) T.latus individuals are to be contained within pens that have a minimum floor area of twenty five thousand (25000) square meters, the fencing of this area should meet baseline standards for ‘medium’ class Dinosaur Containment Fencing with severe financial penalties in place for parks and/or collections found to be housing T.latus in fencing that does not meet this minimum standard, temporary containment pens for individual T.latus are to be constructed with similar, if not the same, fencing and are to take up a floor space of 450 square meters. Both primary exhibits and temporary containment pens are to be monitored on a constant basis by any and all available maintenance staff a park may have on hand to ensure that any damage or wear, caused by T.latus individuals or otherwise, are examined and repaired immediately to prevent breaches of containment.

The containment area’s for T.latus individuals should be comprised of approximately one half open plains and the other half open woodland, however extension of either environment is acceptable due to T.latus being highly tolerant of its environment so long as it has space to manoeuvre, water sources should primarily be located within the open plains sections of the containment area with several small area’s near them made into mud baths for T.latus individuals to wallow in. Ideally viewing areas for T.latus are to be placed near or around the most open parts of a containment area to allow for full viewing of the animals more engaging behaviours.

Feeding for T.latus should be done several times a day with a herd of eight (8) individuals being provided with at least 80 kilograms (kg) of suitable plant matter daily, preferably made up of a higher concentration of non-citrus fruits than other large herbivorous Dinosaurs.

Recall procedures for individual T.latus specimens that have escaped containment involve the utilisation of Class Ω (Omega) Ceratopsian Containment Procedures, if any guests, buildings or other exhibits are in the path of an escaped and uncontrolled T.latus then termination is deemed the only suitable response if there is no way to tranquilize or otherwise coerce the animal back into its containment area immediately.

History & Description:

T.latus is one of the three largest Ceratopsians available on the current market, only met in size by the less popular T.horridus and T.prorsus. Standing at around seven and a half (7.5) meters in length on average and having a weight of five point eight (5.8) tonnes T.latus comes in as a surprisingly light animal given its imposing frame. However lengths of eight (8) meters and over six (six) tonnes are not unheard of with several individuals having been identified as having attained such a size. In terms of appearance T.latus is quite standard for a Ceratopsian in most respects sporting a relatively plain body comprised of a mixed brown-green colouration highlighted by broken stripes of black and dark cream on the tail and blotches of similar colouration on the upper half of the animals body. The unique part of the appearance of T.latus comes from its frill pattern which is unlike the majority of other Ceratopsians, instead of evolving elaborate display colours to impress mates and intimidate predators T.latus has very uniquely evolved a frill pattern that very much resembles a frontal view of T.rex. While it is highly unethical to test exactly why T.latus evolved this exact patterning on its frill through introducing a T.rex to a T.latus there is footage and notes from a containment breach performed by a T.rex individual that lead to its exposure to the parks T.latus group, allowing for the purpose of the frill to be revealed, confusion and intimidation of predators, leading to the first and only self re-containment of a T.rex individual.

T.latus had a somewhat rough introduction to the captive environment, having been introduced to the market a decade after both T.horridus and T.prorsus it was assumed it had similar needs and was initially kept in very small groups of two to three (2 to 3) individuals. This very quickly lead to high stress as T.latus individuals were quickly found to have a much higher need for social interaction with other members of its species than its close relatives did, this initial bout of unsuitable conditions lead to a grand total ██ containment breaches and almost sealed the fate of T.latus as an attraction within public parks. However once established with more up-to-date containment procedures the number of containment breaches immediately dropped to 0, with this T.latus has gained a reputation as a unique Ceratopsian to display in parks due to its high social need for its size and its unique frill patterning, leading to it usurping the previously commonly kept T.horridus and T.latus in the vast majority of parks and further leading it to attain, and retain, a consistent rating of 5 stars.

When it comes to behaviours T.latus is a highly tolerant and calm animal when around other members of its species and even smaller herbivores, however, this calm demeanour changes rapidly upon encountering potential predators or competition for resources. Previous attempts to house T.latus with T.horridus or T.prorsus have often ended with highly stressed animals or heavy injury and in one case the death of a young T.horridus. Other attempts to keep it with similar sized animals has often lead to the opposite situation, several cases of E.annectens inflicting heavy injuries to T.latus individuals exist alongside a case of one dead from an A.magniventris tail strike. As such parks opt to keep T.latus with smaller animals from its time and location such as L.gracilis and T.neglectus.

Within the private Dinosaur trade T.latus is not a highly sought after animal for the reasons of social needs, the amount of space they thus demand is often impractical for most private collectors, due to this there have been several recorded incidences of wild T.latus appearing, however due the aggressive temperament T.latus takes when without company the tracking and recapturing of all of these animals has occurred without issue.