When Dinosaurs Roamed America

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When Dinosaurs Roamed America is a two-hour American nature documentary that first aired on Discovery Channel in 2001. It was directed by Pierre de Lespinois and narrated by actor John Goodman. Like other documentaries about prehistoric life[1], the program utilizes CGI to depict dinosaurs that lived in the United States at five key points in time during the Mesozoic era. The word "America" was removed from the title when the program was shown in the UK.

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Late Triassic Segment (220 Million Years Ago)

The program starts in the Late Triassic, near modern-day New York City. The narrator explains how the Permian mass extinction led to new forms of life, including, eventually, the dinosaurs. The camera tracks a Coelophysis through the woods. The program decipts Coelophysis as meek, hunting down insects and Icarosaurus, encountering non-dinosaurs such as Rutiodon, Traversodon, and Desmatosuchus. Nevertheless, the quick Coelophysis is a very successful inhabitant of this world. We also see an unidentified small animal[2], a large locust, and what seems to be a quoll accidentally captured on film.

[edit] Early Jurassic Segment (190 Million Years Ago)

Then the show moves on to the Early Jurassic of Pennsylvania, showing a pack of Syntarsus.[3] These dinosaurs, closely related to Coelophysis, are hunting for the primitive herbivorous dinosaur Anchisaurus, only to be driven away by a Dilophosaurus, which kills and eats the Anchisaurus.

[edit] Late Jurassic Segment (150 Million Years Ago)

The show skips to the Late Jurassic, where a pterosaur soars while a Ceratosaurus chases a Dryosaurus and its two young. The Ceratosaurus catches one of the juveniles, while the other Dryosaurus escape to the cover of a herd of Camarasaurus, feeding on the sauropods' conifer tree scraps that fall to the ground. The Ceratosaurus disturbs a Stegosaurus and gets whipped by its tail. Two Stegosaurus eventually mate. As the rainy season comes, a herd of Apatosaurus arrive, followed by a hungry Allosaurus. The Allosaurus cannot get past the Apatosaurus's whipping tails, but it manages to catch and eat the Ceratosaurus, still pursuing the Dryosaurus. Later, as the Apatosaurus leave the area, one Apatosaurus stumbles. Disabled, it is an easy meal for a small group of Allosaurus.

[edit] Middle Cretaceous Segment (90 Million Years Ago)

The program then shows a New Mexico forest of the Middle Cretaceous. Some coelurosaurs[4]scamper through the forest, among frilled and feathered dinosaurs. One lone dromaeosaur tries to attack a Nothronychus, only to be slashed by its long claws. An old male Zuniceratops is attacked by the pack of dromaeosaurs ("raptors") and is fatally wounded. Just as it is time to finish off the old Zuniceratops, a forest fire springs up, and most of the dinosaurs escape in all directions. However, the feasting raptors are too distracted and become trapped in the fire.

[edit] Late Cretaceous Segment (65 Million Years Ago)

The program explains that Zuniceratops evolved into the famous Triceratops. In the Late Cretaceous, Anatotitan and Triceratops graze, while Ornithomimus[5] peck at small animals in the grasses. Quetzalcoatlus soar overhead, looking for carcasses. A young Tyrannosaurus arrives on the scene, and the Triceratops form a defensive circle. Unable to get past the horns, the Tyrannosaurus turns to a Quetzalcoatlus, which flies away from the potential danger. The next day, the young Tyrannosaurus and its siblings are taught by their mother to hunt. They target an Anatotitan, with the young scaring it into the mother's trap. The Tyrannosaurus kill the Anatotitan, but before they can eat, an asteroid slams into earth, rendering all dinosaurs extinct.

But out of the ashes, several Purgatorius[6] emerge, and the narrator explains that they will evolve into humans.

[edit] References

  1. ^ This program is often compared and confused with the 1999 BBC documentary Walking With Dinosaurs. Unlike the BBC program and many other dinosaur documentaries, When Dinosaurs Roamed America was not originally split into different episodes. In a later version, the program was split into two hour-long shows (the first combining the Triassic and two Jurassic segments, the second combining the two Cretaceous segments).
  2. ^ Some viewers speculate that the animal may be an early mammal, such as Morganucodon or Megazostrodon.
  3. ^ Syntarsus is better known as Megapnosaurus today.
  4. ^ The coelurosaurs are not identified by species name, but may be modeled on Coelurosaurus.
  5. ^ The Ornithomimus are not identified by name in the program, but the species name is provided at this web link, which is a resource describing the program.
  6. ^ The Purgatorius appear to be live acted by opossums.
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