While the cabin that had been offered Tyra and Heather wasn't the largest and much of the furniture that she'd had in Alabama wouldn't work with either of them being Dinotopians now, but it was reasonably comfy, all things considered, and as she went about some normal day to day business in the sense of keeping it clean and so on. It was something that was necessary since it now at three Syntixisaurus Rex Animalians living in it full time. Food wrappers and other things had to be thrown away, not to mention the various issues of dust that would have to be kept at bay. All of that required work that would need to be done, and since Tyra's job at the Meat Market was largely in the evening, she had the time to handle a lot of the various chores to keep the cabin clean. And in that way, since moving to Animalia, it had become something of a home, despite not being quite big enough for her.
As she passed the refrigerator she passed a photo held on it by a magnet and that did make her smile. The photo was clearly taken at Thanksgiving during the big communal dinner and had all the Dinotopians that had been converted present and grouped together. Tyra liked that for a few reasons. For one it included many of her close friends from Alabama. They weren't all the same age as her, but they were all friends all the same, and being able to share renewed youth with them was nice. The biggest thing was that in the photo, Heather looked honestly happy as she held Jeremy to her.
She did feel that Heather had done wrong in Costa Rica and did worse by letting things get to the point where she'd threatened to eat two teens, but that didn't mean didn't love her grand-daughter anymore. The love was always there, all Tyra really felt was to make sure that Heather got her head on straight and didn't blame others for her mistakes or look for quick fixes. That worked out fairly well as she made sure that Heather did attend the standard therapy sessions that was ordered when she was put on probation. Enrolling Heather in the program that was to help reveal Project Dinotopia in the coming summer was an added part of that, as while Heather didn't necessarily have problems with people... there were the odd times when she didn't quite seem comfortable with people. The classes would not only keep her fit but force her to actually interact with others beyond the few she personally liked. Tyra figured that would help Heather better accept and adapt to situations that didn't necessarily go right for her and didn't turning to the sort of schemes that Horizon had told her that Heather had been involved in.
The biggest thing that Tyra really felt she had to accomplish was to help Heather come to accept what she'd become and to be happy. That was her main goal, seeing her smile in that photograph at Thanksgiving with Jeremy as a fellow Syntixisaurus Rex showed that Heather could be happy and could do better. In a way it also began to give some sign that Heather was happy as a Dinotopian and was accepting it more than it seemed that she had earlier, and that made Tyra feel better. And while Jeremy might have something of a smart mouth, he did turn into quite attractive male theropod and he made Heather happy, which Tyra was greatly pleased with.
Though that thought turned Tyra's thoughts to her latest "stud." He was very smart and had seemed to have a great deal of interest in dinosaurs, which had fueled his decision making, but best of all he was strong and had also found a similar jump in things that Tyra had felt in herself. And their meeting had been something that showed that...
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Tyra had just handled a visit Horizon's offices as part of the fairly standard part of her role in monitoring Heather's probation. This often included weakly reports that would be filed with the courts and the Animalia Police Department so that they understood that Heather was abiding by the terms that had been set down when she was put on probation. So far things had gone fairly well and there wasn't too much to report as Heather had so far been following the terms of her probation, and sense she was at the gym for the day with Jeremy who had a rare day off, it seemed like a safe enough day to get in and get the necessary reports, which was handled quite easily. However, as she left Horizon she soon got a surprise.
"Hey... wait up!" a male voice and a deep male voice called to Tyra as she made her way out Horizon with the reports she needed.
She then turned back as was a bit startled. It was a Dinotopian, or at least she thought it was a Dinotopian, and by his broad shoulders and muscular chest a male one at that. He wore large pair of jeans and a polo shirt that had been scaled up to cover him, though Tyra expected that. She'd heard from Andrew that several clothing shops, even if all they were were retail stores, were looking to at least low level alterations and designing practices for Dinotopians for their sizes and in some cases for their more exotic features that didn't exist in modern animals. He stood in much the same way she did, on two three toed feet, but there were some differences.
First off, he only had three fingers, or rather two fingers and a thumb. Second, there was no horns of spines on him. There was a slightly raised ridge above his eyes, but they didn't come to any point. His muzzle was a bit longer hers but was also rather wide with a noticeable overbite with large curved teeth poking out from his lips. The most startling and surprising thing to Tyra, though, was that this Dinotopian had feathers. Now they were mostly down feathers and it looked his checks and the back of his head, leaving the muzzle scaly... though the skin looking more like a bird's than a reptile's. The down feathers also covered his arms but remained nothing more than down type feathers and came down to his hands. There also seemed to be a line of feathers that ran down the dorsal side of his tail, but left the underside scaly, though again the appearance was more bird like than reptile like.
"You look a bit puzzled," he spoke as he caught up to Tyra.
"Uh yeah..." Tyra said slowly, "you have feathers... but are a Dinotopian."
"Yes," the man smiled, "amazing on how proving theories works out..."
Tyra could only blink, "but aren't dinosaurs reptiles?"
"In many ways yes and no..." the man answered slowly, "they evolved from reptiles, yes, but can be grouped with a large grouping that would be referred to as Archosaurs. This grouping includes many reptiles that we've found in the fossil record, though outside of modern Alligators and Crocodiles, they are extinct. Dinosaurs emerged in this group, but in the course of their own evolution, another animal group would evolve... birds."
"So... dinosaurs are birds?" Tyra wondered, raising an eye ridge.
"More that birds are dinosaurs," the man smiled, seemingly eager to share all he knew, "they evolved out of theropod dinosaurs... the large two legged predatory dinosaurs..." he then paused to raise a hand to his chest and then continued, "like Tyrannosaurus Rex..."
"So birds evolved from T Rex?" Tyra wondered.
"Well no... likely the theropod from which birds evolved from came much earlier in the fossil record," the man answered, "and animals like Archaeopteryx for its having both clear bird and reptilian features have been shown to have some representation of connections between birds and dinosaurs. And for a time it was thought that Archaeopteryx was the direct ancestor of modern birds... and while that may have changed, paleontologists do agree that birds evolved from dinosaurs and specifically from theropod dinosaurs. And people have been finding all sorts of evidence, be it markings in the bones that would be where feathers would be anchored or in some of the soft tissue fossils that have been found recently showing dinosaurs with feathers... and particularly various theropods with feathers. So while T-Rex isn't direct ancestor of modern birds... they are related."
"This... this goes everything I've heard," Tyra said slowly.
"A lot of the thinking on the appearance of what dinosaurs look like has been in constant shift," the man answered, "though the dinosaurs with feathers thing is something that's actually far more recent... and even there there is still debate. For while many theropod species likely had feathers... other dinosaurs might not. Many have their theories, but until Horizon's project is fully completed or we get a time machine... I'm not sure on how much of an answer paleontologists like me will get."
"You're..." Tyra said slowly, trying to digest the word.
"Rex Ramos," he answered, "and I study dinosaurs and their bones... and have had a great affinity for the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Especially after reading about the discovery of the "Sue" specimen in South Dakota."
"And you wanted to talk to me... because..." Tyra wondered.
"Well... some of it is curiosity," Rex answered, "as Horizon has stated that your "species" is a hybrid taken from various theropod bones... so... I couldn't help myself in wanting to learn more about you."
Tyra looked him over. He seemed rather smart and had sounded like he was trying to explain things in a way she could understand, and fairly friendly, which was nice. However, the part of her that was enjoying her renewed youth and strength was a bit more focused on what she thought he might have on his person that his clothing covered up. And given by his height and obviously large muscles, Tyra figured he had plenty to offer. The scent of arousal that she could smell on him was soon enough that there was more than just scientific curiosity going on, and with that she became rather playful.
"Are you sure curiosity that you have with me," Tyra gave a playful smile, "and not something else?
"Well there might also be a bit of something else," Rex answered, "I originally came when Horizon put out some of their invites for testing their latest projects and so on... And I did have some scientific questions that I wanted answered... See what you know and have experienced as a Dinotopian and compare that to the various theories on dinosaurs. To my surprise when I got here... I ran into this flyer advertising your act at the meat market..."
"I trust I gave a good show," Tyra answered.
"Very good," Rex answered, "and with the fact that I was also there for conversion... I'd hoped there would be the ability to say hello."
"Ah... a fan," Tyra smiled, "What say we go somewhere more private and sate your curiosity... among other things."
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And of course that day had gone quite well, and Rex was a fantastic lover and he shared quite a bit with Tyra on Dinosaurs and their nature. He didn't use a lot of big words or terms, though when he did, he tried to add a description of what the term was for or whether or not it was a name and so on. In this she learned a lot. He also gave her his theory on why she, Heather, and Jeremy as Syntixisaurus Rex Animalians didn't have noticeable feathers was likely due to the hybridizing of the various dinosaurs used, particularly when cases of DNA degradation came in. By using multiple species there was the chance that it used DNA from one of the few theropods that scientists didn't think had feathers or that the specific DNA information for feathers had degraded to a point where it was missing. However, he did tell her that she was still beautiful and he was glad to have met her.
"He'll make someone VERY happy one day," Tyra thought to herself as she returned to her day to day tasks, "a man with a lot of smarts and was good in bed... though... I wonder what he'll do when the Dinotopian colony is established?"
She knew he was a paleontologist and devoted a lot of his life to finding and digging up the bones and spent a fair amount of time talking with other scientists. Though, based on what he told her, he might have some curiosity in talking with the other Dinotopians to see where their bodies matched up with various theories on dinosaurs. And Tyra figured he'd probably make a great science and biology teacher, particularly with what he already knew on dinosaurs. She knew she'd learned a lot from him. But then, if his focus was on research and digging, even if he moves to the colony and declares residency there, he might still spend a lot of time on the road.