Walking with Dinosaurs

220 million years ago, Late Triassic (Arizona)

Filming location: New Caledonia

The episode followed a female Coelophysis as she tried to survive in the dry season. The Coelophysis was shown hunting a herd of Placerias (a giant synapsid or mammal-like reptile), looking for weak members to prey upon. Early pterosaurs called Peteinosaurus were featured, depicted cooling themselves in what little water was present during the drought. A female rauisuchian Postosuchus (one of the largest carnivores alive in the Triassic) was shown following the Placerias herd, and kills one of the members who had earlier been bitten by her and weakened by blood loss. Still searching for food, the Coelophysis are shown discovering a burrow of the small mammal-like cynodont. Eventually, one young cynodont strays too close and is eaten and the father attempts to protect the youngster, but to no avail. At night, the pair of cynodonts are shown eating their remaining young, then moving away. The female Postosuchus is later shown to have been wounded by Placerias's tusks (the wound is on her left thigh), and is beaten out of her territory by a rival male Postosuchus. Wounded, sick and without a territory, the female dies and is eaten by a pack of Coelophysis. As the dry season continues however, food becomes scarce and the Coelophysis start killing and cannibalizing each other. Finally, the wet season comes again, and the majority of the Coelophysis have survived (including the female), along with the cynodont pair, who have a new clutch of eggs. The episode ends with the arrival of a herd of the prosauropod Plateosaurus, foreshadowing the future dominance of the giant sauropods after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.

Animals: Coelophysis  · Thrinaxodon  · Placerias  · Postosuchus  · Peteinosaurus  · Plateosaurus  · Dragonfly  · Lungfish  · Lacewing

152 million years ago, Late Jurassic (Colorado)

Filming location: California State Parks, Chile, Tasmania, New Zealand

This episode followed the life of a young female herbivorous Diplodocus. After hatching at the forest edge, she and her siblings retreat to the safety of the denser trees. As they grow, they face many dangers, including predation by Ornitholestes and Allosaurus, and a Stegosaurus, which kills one by accident while swinging its tail. Close to adulthood, the group of young Diplodocus are nearly all killed by a huge forest fire that night, leaving three, then two survivors including the female. They are driven out onto the open plains, where they find a herd. The protagonist female mates, but not long afterwards is attacked by a bull Allosaurus. She is saved when another Diplodocus strikes the allosaur with its tail. In the end, her species will only get bigger. In the DVD release, most of the narration from the original broadcast is missing.

Animals: Diplodocus  · Allosaurus  · Ornitholestes  · Stegosaurus  · Brachiosaurus  · Anurognathus  · Dryosaurus  · Dung Beetle  · Damselfly  · Ornithopod

149 million years ago, Late Jurassic (Oxfordshire)

Filming location: The Bahamas, New Caledonia

The ichthyosaur Ophthalmosaurus breeding ceremony is the main event of the episode, but sharks and other predators, including the pliosaur Liopleurodon, are on the hunt. The opening portrays a Liopleurodon snatching a Eustreptospondylus from the land, but there is no evidence of this ever occurring (according to the producers, they were influenced by similar attacks by killer whales on land creatures, such as sea lions). A pod of Ophthalmosaurus arrive from the open ocean to give birth. Many of the babies slip out successfully. But when one mother has trouble giving birth, a pair of Hybodus sharks go after her, but are frightened off by a male Liopleurodon, which eats the front half of the Ophthalmosaurus, leaving the tail to sink down. Meanwhile a Eustreptospondylus swims to an island. It discovers a turtle carcass and must fight another Eustreptospondylus for it, though the fight really consists of them roaring at each other. Later during the night, a group of horseshoe crabs gather at the shore to lay their eggs, which attracts a flock of Rhamphorhynchus in the morning. However two or three are caught and eaten by a Eustreptospondylus in the morning. While the Ophthalmosaurus juveniles are growing up, they are still hunted by Hybodus, which in turn, are prey for the Liopleurodon. While the male Liopleurodon is hunting for prey, he is encountered by a female Liopleurodon, and after biting one of her flippers, she retires to escape. In the end of the episode, a typhoon kills many animals, including several Rhamphorhynchus, and washes the Liopleurodon ashore. He is then suffocated by his own weight and is eaten by a pair of Eustreptospondylus. The episode, however, ends on a more positive note, as it shows that the juvenile Ophthalmosaurus have survived the storm, and are now off to live and breed in the open sea.

Animals: Ophthalmosaurus  · Liopleurodon  · Eustreptospondylus  · Cryptoclidus  · Rhamphorhynchus  · Hybodus  · Perisphinctes  · Leptolepis  · Horseshoe Crab  · Squid  · Bark Beetle  · Turtle  · Jellyfish  · Fish  · Coral

127 million years ago, Early Cretaceous (Brazil)

Filming location: New Zealand, Tasmania

The story begins with a male Ornithocheirus (pterosaur) dead on a beach. It then goes back six months to Brazil, where the Ornithocheirus flies off for Cantabria among a colony of Tapejara (pterosaur). He flies past a migrating column of Iguanodon and a Polacanthus (all herbivorous dinosaurs). He reaches the southern tip of North America, where he is forced to shelter from a storm. To pass the time, he grooms himself, ridding his body of Saurophthirus fleas. Then he sets off across the Atlantic, which was then only 300 kilometres wide and, after a whole day on the wing, reaches the westernmost of the European islands. He does not rest there however, as a pack of Utahraptor are hunting Iguanodon. He flies to the outskirts of a forest, but is driven away by Iberomesornis birds. He reaches Cantabria, but was delayed by the storm and cannot reach the centre of the many grounded male Ornithocheirus. Consequently, he does not mate and dies from exhaustion. In the end, a young Ornithocheirus is seen feeding on his carcass.

Animals: Ornithocheirus  · Utahraptor  · Dakotadon  · Iguanodon  · Tupandactylus  · Polacanthus  · Iberomesornis  · Pteranodon  · Plesiopleurodon  · Saurophthirus  · Pterosaur  · Fish  · Wasp

106 million years ago, Early Cretaceous (Antarctica)

Filming location: New Zealand

This episode focuses upon a clan of herbivorous Leaellynasaura as they struggle to survive in the south polar region over the course of a year. During the spring, they are shown feeding on the fresh plant growth and building nests so they can lay their eggs. A male amphibian Koolasuchus has also woken up from hibernation, heading to a river where he will stay during the summer. Out on the plains, migrating herds of herbivorous Muttaburrasaurus are also preparing for the winter. By summer, many of the Leaellynasaura clan's eggs are eaten, but those of the matriarch hatch successfully. A male Allosaur is shown hunting the Leaellynasaura and Muttaburrasaurus, but fails. The Leaellynasaura clan continues to prepare for the winter, as well as raising the young that have now grown. When autumn arrives, the Muttaburrasaurus herd soon head back north, and the Koolasuchus finds a place to hibernate through the winter. However, the male Allosaur manages to catch and kill the matriarch of the clan, and only one of the hatchlings survived. Winter finally arrives, and the forest descends into the eternal darkness that envelops the months that will go by. The Leaellynasaura clan is able to stay active, using their beaks and eyes to forage for food. During this time, the clan and other fauna use various methods of dealing with the cold such as suspended animation, hibernation or using group body temperature to maintain heat. Finally, spring returns, and two Leaellynasaura males challenge one another for the right to mate, and after a short confrontation, the clan establishes a dominant pair once again.

Animals: Koolasuchus  · Leaellynasaura  · Australovenator (identified as "polar allosaur")  · Muttaburrasaurus  · Steropodon^{[note 1]}  · Giant Weta  · Tuatara  · Unidentified Pterosaur  · Giant Mosquito

65.5 million years ago, Late Cretaceous (Montana)

Filming location: Chile, New Zealand

This episode starts months before the extinction of the dinosaurs. The last dinosaurs are depicted living under stress due to excessive volcanism. The episode focuses on a female Tyrannosaurus who abandons her nest, the eggs rendered infertile due to volcanic poisoning. Her calls for a mate are answered by a smaller male who has killed a young Triceratops and is eating it. Later, after repeated copulation, she eventually drives him off. The mother fasts for an extended period as she tends to her nest, dealing with raids by dromaeosaurs and marsupial Didelphodons. Only three eggs hatch and the mother brings down an hadrosaurid Anatotitan to feed herself and her brood. While defending her two surviving offspring several days later, the mother tyrannosaur is fatally injured by an Ankylosaurus. The chicks remain next to the carcass of their mother the next morning until they, and the rest of the non-avian dinosaurs, are killed when an asteroid slams into the Earth, a catastrophe that triggers the K-T extinction. A short final sequence shows the present-day Earth, dominated by large mammals, but still populated with numerous dinosaurs known as birds.

Animals: Anatotitan  · Ankylosaurus  · Deinosuchus^{[note 2]}  · Didelphodon  · Dinilysia^{[note 3]}  · Dromaeosaurus^{[note 4]}  · Quetzalcoatlus  · Torosaurus  · Tyrannosaurus  · Triceratops (carcass)  · Unidentified ornithopods (possibly Parksosaurus)  · Unidentified Butterfly