A paleontologist named Zack takes his nephew Ricky and niece Jade on a fossil hunt. While alone, Ricky is met by a talking raven, who turns into an ''Alexornis'' named Alex. He tells him of a story set in the Cretaceous period 70 million years ago. Patchi is the smallest in a litter of ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' hatchlings, and is often bullied by his older brother Scowler. Their father Bulldust is the leader of the ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' herd. Alex, who is Patchi's mentor, tries to help Patchi impress a female ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' named Juniper, but her herd migrates south without him.