It was 80 million years ago in what will be known as the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Like it would be today, it is covered by sandy dunes, with oases scattered apart from each other. Life seems impossible in such conditions... However, some famous animals do fine in these conditions: the dinosaurs. And a peculiar one is currently busy crafting a present. This is Oviraptor, a 1.6 meter long dinosaur. Because of his feathers, wattle, tail fan and odd looking head, he looks like a very strange creature indeed. However, these parts are what this male needs to back him up in his plan to get a mate. This plan is what all male Oviraptors do, and this male is no different. When the season comes, he chooses an oasis for his mate to come in. The male then constructs an odd structure, known as a bower, made out of sticks. He then decorates the structure with multiple objects, in this case some berries, leaves, and sticks. This process can take weeks to finish, and doesn't come without its challenges. Immature males can attempt to 'improve' the bower, rearranging the sticks into different positions, and the owner comes back to see his hard work ruined. However, the male had finally completed his bower, topping it off with a sticky coat of mud. He was now ready for a mate, and, standing in the bower, he called out into the desert. The sounds echoed throughout the desert, and it was only an hour of calling that a female heard his calls and could be seen rushing down the dunes towards the structure. The female entered the bower to show she was interested, and the male Oviraptor could begin his courtship. However, females are hard to impress and are extremely nitpicky, so the male has to get everything in his performance right. He raised his tail and a beautiful fan of feathers showed up, displaying a beautiful pattern of spots. He begins to make some buzzing calls while bobbing his head up and down, showing off his beautiful wattle to her. He then began to sway his tail in a wavy pattern, while holding a shiny berry in his mouth: a great token for the female. After preforming, he awaits her approval. It is an intense moment, even for a dinosaur. The female walked towards the male, snatching the berry from the male's beak and begins to dig in the bower while making a unique call. The male Oviraptor was accepted as a suitable partner, and he will now be the father of the next generation.
I was bored and had nothing to do, so I decided to enter this contest :/ Music: Prehistoric Planet theme
