Mammals

Mammals are warm-blooded. But the platypus and the echidna lay eggs. People are mammals too. Mammals started out as rat and mouselike small animals in the dinosaur ages. When the age of the reptiles ended, the mammals and birds took over. Tropical forests appeared, and also big plains, where indricotheres, creatures that could tower over elephants and giraffes, lived. There was Hyaenodon, a doglike predator the size of a large rhino, and bear-dogs, little doglike animals the size of housecats. Then after that, in South America, grassy plains appeared, bringing agile antelope that could go thirty meters in several seconds. But there were also huge ground sloths, and armadillos with spiked clubs at the end of their tails. One couldn't forget Smilodon, the sabertoothed cat, or Phorusrhacos, flightless birds who preyed on hippidiforms, small skittish horses. When that ended, our ancestors appeared, apelike animals that could walk upright.

Ocean Mammals
In the beginning of mammals, there were ten-foot crocodile-like animals that swam by undulating their bodies up and down, and had fur. These were the predecessors of whales. There were two types of whales. Dorudon, a sixteen-foot whale, and Basilosaurus, a much larger whale. Modern ocean mammals include dolphins, sea otters,seals,sea lions, and whales. Above all, mammals are a large and diverse group.

The Chronicles of the AquaSquad

The loach was swimming through the anacharis forest. Sparky the catfish was eating particles of algae disk. The loach ate a piece of tropical flake lodged in the gravel. Then he swam to Cherry City, home of the cherry barbs. At Cherry City, red lights with black stripes shone everywhere. Suddenly, all the lights turned green! A green swordtail swam into the middle of the city. He said, "I am the all-conquering Sabertail, ruler of the aquarium! You low-ranking scum will serve me!" Suddenly a group of enormous shadows blocked out the light, replacing it with silver light instead. An enormous tinfoil barb body slammed "Sabertail" and sent him flying into Sparky, who chomped off part of Sabertail's tail and ate it. Then he clamped his jaws down on the swordtail's body, chewed, then flung him into an entire Armada of minnows! Sabertail fled, flanked by chomping minnows.

Then they celebrated. First they turned all the lights back to red and black. And then they had feasts with tropical flake cakes topped with goldfish pellets and algae disks, much to the relief of Sparky.