Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are the most prominent large lifeforms in The World Behind, both in captivity and the wilds. They are a constant consideration in any Saurian settlement, as building sturdy structures is all well and good until a 50 ton brachiosaurus wanders in and crushes everything. All cities of a decent size have some plan on how to deal with a large species encroaching on the population, be it with defensive walls or teams whose job is to patrol and dissuade. Large predatory species rarely cause problems in well populated territories, not liking the noise and openness, but may cause problems in smaller villages where they have an easier approach. In contrast, large herbivores are constantly monitored, as some herds don't want to take the time to go around a city to their next grazing ground when they could go through.

While most Saurians are herbivorous by nature, there are a few dinosaurs farmed as food for Errants, Dromeus, and Deinodons, though there's a careful line walked as to which dinosaurs are farmed to avoid causing offense by slaughtering a species that could be perceived as someone's ancestry. This leads small to mid-sized sauropods or hadrosaurs being the most common cultivated herds found across the Polacan Plains, with a wide roaming range to feed their massive appetites. This has a positive benefit of helping keep larger sauropods out of the area (insufficient food supply) and their dung is used in the local farms. Sauropod bones of both domesticated and wild varieties are used as building materials when available, and are frequently seen utilized in load bearing structures.

Dinosaurs are widely used in everyday tasks as well. Domesticated varieties of Centrosaurus and Brachyceratops are used as beasts of burden in Soirenta's farmlands for example, with Styracosaurus acting as a guard against wildlife, and ranchers moving herds of Europasaurus might keep them orderly while riding Pachycephalosaurs. In towns and cities, small dromaeosaurs like Microraptor are useful for keeping pest levels down, and messengers get around town on the back of Struthiomimus.