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Description
Germany, 48 million years ago. More than 15 million years have passed since the end of the Cretaceous, which did not kill off non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs and many other creatures. Earth is still a world ruled by dinosaurs, which do well in the tropical climate of the early Eocene. On most places on earth non-avian dinosaurs are at the top of the food chain, with other animal groups appearing to be negligible, but the previously isolated landmasses of Europe have lead to the evolution of some fairly unusual creatures. With sea levels falling after the Cretaceous, places like Germany or Hațeg are no longer islands and the new rainforests are home to a wide variety of animals with German, French, Spanish, British or Romanian origin.
The most familiar-looking dinosaurs in these rainforests may be the small Hadrosaurs. Many different species of Hadrosaurids lived on the European islands during the Cretaceous and they haven´t changed much in the Eocene. This particular species with the long duck-bill and inflatable crest on its head is a descendant of the Romanian hadrosaurid Telmatosaurus, a five-meter long creature which is an example for insular dwarfism. Its rainforest-living descendant hasn´t increased in size. They feed on plants growing close to the ground; the browser niche is taken by one of the weirdest dinosaurs of this world. One interesting discovery from Hațeg Island is the Late Cretaceous Balaur bondoc. This dromaeosaurid had very stocky proportions, a backwards-pointing pubis and only two fingers on its hands. Apart from the typical sickle-claws on its second toes it also had enlarged first toes which were first believed to be an additional pair of sickle-claws but which more likely helped in bearing the animal´s weight. These features are similar to those of Therizinosaurids and since no skull of Balaur bondoc is known it is possible this island animal has adapted to an herbivorous or at least omnivorous lifestyle. In this scenario Balaur bondoc is the first representative of a new clade of Therizinosaur-like Dromaeosaurids, Balauria or “Dodo-Raptors”. Its descendants have driven the previous browsers of Germany, surviving relicts of the dwarf sauropod Europasaurus, completely to extinction. Hațeg Island housed many different species of plant-eating dinosaur, but no large predatory dinosaur is known from the island. This niche was taken by a different group of animals.
The largest inhabitant of Hațeg Island wasn´t a dinosaur, but an azhdarchid pterosaur called Hatzegopteryx. Azhdarchids behaved like storks, striding around on their long legs and picking up small animals with their huge beaks. It is possible that on an island full of dwarf dinosaurs the giant Hatzegopteryx was the apex predator. Its Paleogene descendants have evolved into even more terrifying creatures, equipped with huge axe-like beaks which made it possible for them to outcompete large theropods from other parts of Europe (like Ceratosaurians). The largest predator in Eocene Germany is a flightless Azhdarchid more than two meters tall at the shoulders and surprisingly doesn´t seem to be handicapped in the thick rain forest. With its power and monstrous beak it can easily prey on adult Hadrosaurs and even Lindworms, terrestrial crocodilians which in our timeline would be among the apex predators of this environment. And because of its size even arboreal animals are within its grasp. But axe-beaked Azhdarchids are not the only interesting pterosaurs in this rain forest. During the Jurassic Germany had many different species of pterosaurs, from filter-feeding Ctenocasmatoids to nightjar-like Anurognathids to the more robust omnivorous Dsungaripteroids, dubbed “Flying Pigs”. The isolation of Germany during the Cretaceous had lead to Dsungaripteroids abandoning flight and completely losing all traces of their wing membrane; the wing fingers have evolved into hyper-extendable claws (if it´s impossible for pterosaurs to re-evolve claws on their wing fingers these are just keratinous sheaths ). With their long legs, the sickle-claws on their hands, the robust anatomy of the body, the long beak with bone-crushing teeth and jaw muscles and an incredibly aggressive lifestyle (sometimes mobbing together to drive a larger Azhdarchid from a carcass) these “Flightless Flying Pigs” are arguably the most alien creatures of this world.
Despite pterosaurs being the apex predators there are still a lot of theropod species in this rainforest, most of them being small opportunists with German origin. One of the most famous German theropods, the small coelurosaur Compsognathus, has descendants which fill the roles of the Alvarezsaurids from America and Asia. These Ant-Compies feed on termites and the large ants which are known from Eocene Germany; their face, arms, legs and belly are protected from insect bites by thick scales. Another dinosaur from Jurassic Germany was Archaeopteryx, which has become famous as first bird though recent studies seem to indicate it was still non-avian. Its descendants are similar to Troodontids in that they have small teeth adapted for eating both plants and meat. But with their primitive four-winged gliding principle they suffer a lot of competition from more advanced true avians which have become abundant in Eocene Germany, too. This tropical paradise houses many different bird species from many different clades; there are paleognaths (ancestors of tinamous, ostriches, emus etc.) like Lithornis, a probing bird still capable of flying, and there are various Enantiornithes, some with teeth and clawed wings and some which have toothless beaks.
Fish-eating Baryonychines live near the bodies of water.

Description
Germany, 48 million years ago. More than 15 million years have passed since the end of the Cretaceous, which did not kill off non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs and many other creatures. Earth is still a world ruled by dinosaurs, which do well in the tropical climate of the early Eocene. On most places on earth non-avian dinosaurs are at the top of the food chain, with other animal groups appearing to be negligible, but the previously isolated landmasses of Europe have lead to the evolution of some fairly unusual creatures. With sea levels falling after the Cretaceous, places like Germany or Hațeg are no longer islands and the new rainforests are home to a wide variety of animals with German, French, Spanish, British or Romanian origin.
The most familiar-looking dinosaurs in these rainforests may be the small Hadrosaurs. Many different species of Hadrosaurids lived on the European islands during the Cretaceous and they haven´t changed much in the Eocene. This particular species with the long duck-bill and inflatable crest on its head is a descendant of the Romanian hadrosaurid Telmatosaurus, a five-meter long creature which is an example for insular dwarfism. Its rainforest-living descendant hasn´t increased in size. They feed on plants growing close to the ground; the browser niche is taken by one of the weirdest dinosaurs of this world. One interesting discovery from Hațeg Island is the Late Cretaceous Balaur bondoc. This dromaeosaurid had very stocky proportions, a backwards-pointing pubis and only two fingers on its hands. Apart from the typical sickle-claws on its second toes it also had enlarged first toes which were first believed to be an additional pair of sickle-claws but which more likely helped in bearing the animal´s weight. These features are similar to those of Therizinosaurids and since no skull of Balaur bondoc is known it is possible this island animal has adapted to an herbivorous or at least omnivorous lifestyle. In this scenario Balaur bondoc is the first representative of a new clade of Therizinosaur-like Dromaeosaurids, Balauria or “Dodo-Raptors”. Its descendants have driven the previous browsers of Germany, surviving relicts of the dwarf sauropod Europasaurus, completely to extinction. Hațeg Island housed many different species of plant-eating dinosaur, but no large predatory dinosaur is known from the island. This niche was taken by a different group of animals.
The largest inhabitant of Hațeg Island wasn´t a dinosaur, but an azhdarchid pterosaur called Hatzegopteryx. Azhdarchids behaved like storks, striding around on their long legs and picking up small animals with their huge beaks. It is possible that on an island full of dwarf dinosaurs the giant Hatzegopteryx was the apex predator. Its Paleogene descendants have evolved into even more terrifying creatures, equipped with huge axe-like beaks which made it possible for them to outcompete large theropods from other parts of Europe (like Ceratosaurians). The largest predator in Eocene Germany is a flightless Azhdarchid more than two meters tall at the shoulders and surprisingly doesn´t seem to be handicapped in the thick rain forest. With its power and monstrous beak it can easily prey on adult Hadrosaurs and even Lindworms, terrestrial crocodilians which in our timeline would be among the apex predators of this environment. And because of its size even arboreal animals are within its grasp. But axe-beaked Azhdarchids are not the only interesting pterosaurs in this rain forest. During the Jurassic Germany had many different species of pterosaurs, from filter-feeding Ctenocasmatoids to nightjar-like Anurognathids to the more robust omnivorous Dsungaripteroids, dubbed “Flying Pigs”. The isolation of Germany during the Cretaceous had lead to Dsungaripteroids abandoning flight and completely losing all traces of their wing membrane; the wing fingers have evolved into hyper-extendable claws (if it´s impossible for pterosaurs to re-evolve claws on their wing fingers these are just keratinous sheaths ). With their long legs, the sickle-claws on their hands, the robust anatomy of the body, the long beak with bone-crushing teeth and jaw muscles and an incredibly aggressive lifestyle (sometimes mobbing together to drive a larger Azhdarchid from a carcass) these “Flightless Flying Pigs” are arguably the most alien creatures of this world.
Despite pterosaurs being the apex predators there are still a lot of theropod species in this rainforest, most of them being small opportunists with German origin. One of the most famous German theropods, the small coelurosaur Compsognathus, has descendants which fill the roles of the Alvarezsaurids from America and Asia. These Ant-Compies feed on termites and the large ants which are known from Eocene Germany; their face, arms, legs and belly are protected from insect bites by thick scales. Another dinosaur from Jurassic Germany was Archaeopteryx, which has become famous as first bird though recent studies seem to indicate it was still non-avian. Its descendants are similar to Troodontids in that they have small teeth adapted for eating both plants and meat. But with their primitive four-winged gliding principle they suffer a lot of competition from more advanced true avians which have become abundant in Eocene Germany, too. This tropical paradise houses many different bird species from many different clades; there are paleognaths (ancestors of tinamous, ostriches, emus etc.) like Lithornis, a probing bird still capable of flying, and there are various Enantiornithes, some with teeth and clawed wings and some which have toothless beaks.
Fish-eating Baryonychines live near the bodies of water.