A Six-Horned Tango by kuzim on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

66 million years ago, Montana.
It is spring in the Hell creek formation, and the chirps and tweets of courting birds fill echo in the canopy. down below, the foliage of green ad brown is interrupted by the pale pink petals of a primitive magnolia, who's flowes are easily attended to by eager pollinators: early bees and butterflies, merrily buzzing about their business.
soon, the springtime chorus is joined by the low grunts and bellows of a male Ticeratops, a young bachelor who has been drawn to these woods in search of a mate. he nods his mighty frill, now flushed a vivid crimson, as a signal to any she-triceratops that he is virile and ready to mate. He does not have to wait long, as suddenly he hears the calls of another triceratops beyond a ridge of bushes. However, the animal issuing those calls is no female, but a rival Male Triceratops, and he too has come to claim a mate. The two bachelors know the drill, and square up to engage in ritual combat. Both shake their heads at one another, trying to intimidate one another by displaying their mighty horns and dashing painted frills. Yet neither is dissuaded and the battle escalates to stage two. The males bow their heads and lock brow horns. they shove and push one another as if in a sort of prehistoric judo fight. despite appearances, this match is more about display and endurance than any real violence - a sort of macho tango between competitors. The match continues for hours, stopping for the males to break and then resuming again. Finally, a final tryst decides a winner. the losing male, too weak to go on, draws back his weapons and exits in shame. To the winner goes the spoils, and in the Cretaceous period, that means one thing: sex