| Walking with Monsters - Life Before Dinosaurs | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Developed by | Andrew Wilks |
| Narrated by | Kenneth Branagh |
| Theme music composer | Ben Bartlett |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Tim Haines |
| Producer(s) | Chloe Leland |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original airing | 5 November 2005 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Other shows in the Walking with... series |
Walking with Monsters (also distributed as Before the Dinosaurs - Walking with Monsters or Walking with Monsters - Life Before Dinosaurs) is a three-part British documentary film series about life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles.[1] As with previous Walking with... installments, it is narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and by Avery Brooks in the American version. Using state-of-the-art visual effects, this prequel to Walking with Dinosaurs shows an epic 300 million year war between creatures before the dinosaurs. The series draws on the knowledge of over 600 scientists and depicts Paleozoic history, from the Cambrian Period (530 million years ago) to the Early Triassic Period (248 million years ago). It was written and directed by Tim Haines. As with some of the other BBC specials, it was renamed in North America, where its title was Before the Dinosaurs: Walking with Monsters. It has also aired as a two-hour special on the Canadian and American Discovery Channel with yet another narrator. At the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006 it won the Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More).
Contents |
As in the entire Walking with line of films, the animals sometimes interact with the camera:
| # | Title | Time | Director | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Water Dwellers" | 530/418/360 mya | Tim Haines | 5 November 2005 |
The first episode begins with an illustration of the giant impact hypothesis: approximately 4.4 billion years ago when the Earth was formed, it is conjectured that a planet-like object referred to as Theia collided into the early Earth, dynamically reshaping the Earth and forming the moon. The episode then jumps ahead to the Cambrian Explosion, showing the first diversification of life in the sea. Strange arthropod predators called Anomalocaris feed on trilobites, and fight with each other, whereupon the wounded loser is attacked by a school of Haikouichthys, described as the first vertebrate. The Haikouichthys attack by swarming through a crack in Anomalocaris's armor. Animals: Anomalocaris · Haikouichthys · Trilobite (unidentified) · Jellyfish
The segment moves on to the Silurian period, where Haikouichthys has evolved into the jawless-fish Cephalaspis. The marine scorpion Brontoscorpio pursues a Cephalaspis but falls victim to the giant eurypterid Pterygotus. Later a shoal of Cephalspis migrate into the shallows to spawn, navigating via memory thanks to their advanced (for the time) vertebrate brains. As they cross a shallow embankment, they are ambushed by several Brontoscorpio which are depicted as the first animals capable of walking on land. Several fish are killed but the majority slip past the scorpions and arrive at spawning site. Animals: Cephalaspis · Brontoscorpio · Pterygotus · Cameroceras (identified as Orthocone) · Sea sponge · Sea urchin
A short sequence depicts Cephalaspis evolving into Hynerpeton (erroneously bypassing the lobe-finned fish stage), amphibian-like tetrapods. Though capable of terrestrial movement, Hynerpeton have to remain near water to keep moist and reproduce. A lone male Hynerpeton hunting underwater is threatened by predatory fish, at first by a Stethacanthus which is eaten by a two-ton Hyneria that chases the amphibian out of the water. After seeing off a rival during the night, the male finds a receptive female at dawn and the two mate at the water's edge. They are ambushed by the Hyneria, which drags herself ashore to grab the fleeing male. Despite his untimely death, the Hynerpeton eggs were successfully fertilized and sink into the water to develop. A sequence depicts them acquiring hard shells as the first reptiles evolve, but as the offspring leave the nest, those left behind are soon at the mercy of a giant spider, indicating the return of the arthropods. Animals: Hynerpeton · Hyneria · Stethacanthus · Scorpion |
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| 2 | "Reptile's Beginnings" | 300/280 mya | Tim Haines | 5 November 2005 |
The second episode shows the swampy coal forests of the Carboniferous. It explains that because of a much higher oxygen content in the atmosphere, giant land arthropods evolved, such as a Mesothelae (a member of the primitive spider suborder), Meganeura; a dragonfly and Arthropleura; a huge millipede relative. A Mesothelae hunts down a Petrolacosaurus. She comes back from her hunting expedition only to find her burrow has flooded. Not only that, the Petrolacosaurus she caught is stolen by a Meganeura. On the spider's search for a new burrow, she passed a pond full of Reptiliomorphs (which would make a more central appearance later on). Later she was chased by an Arthropleura, which is later killed in a fight with a Proterogyrinus. The Mesothelae finally chases a Petrolacosaurus out of its own burrow and moves in. A storm brews and the narrator explains that its high oxygen content makes the atmosphere very combustible, so lightning is a real danger. The Proterogyrinus are seen leaping out of the water to catch Meganeura, which was driven below the tree canopy by the storm. Later, lightning, rain and a forest fire pour in, devastating the life around. At last, only some animals survive...including Petrolacosaurus, who finds the dead body of the Mesothelae (the animal was hit by lightning) and begins to feed upon the spider's carcass. Animals: Mesothelae · Petrolacosaurus · Meganeura · Arthropleura · Proterogyrinus (identified as an Amphibian)
The episode then moves on to the Early Permian, where the swamp-loving trees of the Carboniferous have been replaced with more advanced conifers that are better adapted to survive in a changing climate. Petrolacosaurus has evolved into Edaphosaurus, a pelycosaur (this is impossible, as Petrolacosaurus was a diapsid reptile, related to modern lizards, snakes, crocodiles, and birds, whereas Edaphosaurus was a synapsid, related to modern mammals). They live in herds and have outgrown their arthropod contemporaries in size. A pregnant female Dimetrodon, another pelycosaur, hunts the Edaphosaurus herd, beginning with a fake charge to expose the weak and the juveniles. She finally kills a baby Edaphosaurus, but is forced to abandon her kill when the scent of blood attracts others of her kind, all of which were males. She builds a nest on a hill and is watched by an egg-stealing Reptiliomorph. Some time after laying her eggs, another gravid Dimetrodon tries to take over her nest. After a long duel, the original female drives off the intruder, but is badly injured and fatigued in the process. A male Dimetrodon approaches the now unguarded nest, but luckily kills the thieving reptiliomorph and leaves the eggs unharmed. The eggs hatch and the mother's bond with her offspring is severed. The episode ends with the wounded mother joining other adult Dimetrodon in attacking her own young which race to the trees and hide in dung to escape. At the end the narrator says that the reptiles evolve to tighten their grip on land, becoming "new reptiles." Animals: Dimetrodon · Edaphosaurus · Seymouria (identified as an egg-eating amphibian) · unidentified Dragonfly |
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| 3 | "Clash of Titans" | 250/248 mya | Tim Haines | 5 November 2005 |
The third episode is set in the Late Permian, on the supercontinent Pangaea, which was covered by a vast and inhospitable desert. In this arid climate, Early therapsids, which are described as more "mammal-like" than reptile, are shown fighting to survive alongside other animals. The programme starts with an old and sick Scutosaurus, a relative of turtles, being killed by a female gorgonopsid which later joins others of her kind at a small waterhole. Other inhabitants of the area include Diictodon, a small burrowing dicynodont. In the pool itself is a starving labyrinthodont that ambushes the female gorgonopsid in desperation and quickly retreats. A herd of Scutosaurus arrive and eventually drink the waterhole dry. The female gorgonopsid tries to dig out a pair of Diictodons but is unsuccessful. Upon returning to the waterhole, she unearths the Labyrinthodont wrapped in a "cocoon" which it utilized to survive drought. In a torpid state, it is helpless and quickly killed. The gorgonopsid is eventually killed by a sandstorm which is a foreshadowing of the oncoming Permian-Triassic extinction event. Animals: Inostrancevia (identified as Gorgonopsid) · Diictodon · Rhinesuchus (identified as Labyrinthodont) · Scutosaurus
Diictodon is seen evolving into the larger Lystrosaurus. The Lystrosaurus multiply into vast herds that must continually migrate in order to find fresh foliage. Also featured is the small insectivorous Euparkeria that is depicted as an ancestor of the dinosaurs. When the lystrosaur herd traverses a ravine, one is killed by a venomous Therocephalian (Which the model is used again as a Cynodont in its sequel Walking with Dinosaurs), though the herd don't show concern for the victim. Encountering a river, the herd enters the water and is attacked by numerous Chasmatosaurs. Many are killed, but the majority escape and continue their migration. The narrator explains that despite the dominance of Lystrosaurus, eventually the world will recover in full from the Permian-Triassic extinction event and other reptiles will overtake them. The mini-episode ends as a Euparkeria is confronted by a chasmatosaur: as the creature rapidly begins to evolve into an Allosaurus, the narrator explains that mammals are destined to be confined to the shadows as a new group of animals becomes the dominant species on Earth. The age of mammal-like reptiles is over. This is the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. Animals: Lystrosaurus · Euparkeria · Proterosuchus · Euchambersia (identified as Therocephalian) · prehistoric Dragonfly |
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