All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.

Reviews, comments and feedback on television programmes featuring themes of interest to dinosaur fans and fossil collectors by Everything Dinosaur team members.

19 10, 2011

Final Episode of “Planet Dinosaur” Reviewed

By |2023-01-22T21:29:57+00:00October 19th, 2011|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, TV Reviews|0 Comments

“The Great Survivors” – Nothronychus, Hatzegopteryx, Magyarosaurus et al

And so the BBC’s computer generated dinosaur series “Planet Dinosaur” comes to an end with a programme that illustrated dinosaurian diversity and this Order’s ability to adapt to different environments and exploit niches in the food chain.

“Planet Dinosaur”

It is always a pleasure to see an interpretation of a therizinosaur and the Nothronychus footage helped demonstrate the diversity of the Theropoda.  Such bizarre creatures, and perhaps rivalling the likes of Gigantoraptor in this series for the title of “most bizarre dinosaur”.

Bizarre theropod – Nothronychus.

The concept of theropods brooding their young was introduced with the oviraptorids, using reference material from the American Museum of Natural History/Mongolian Academy of Sciences discoveries from the Ukhaa Tolgod region of south-western Mongolia.  Tyrannosaurids got a mention again, it was pleasing to see so many different members of this family depicted in the series, although one or two of the comments about them, one in particular about them being the dominant predator in their environments in the Late Cretaceous we could take issue with.  However, this is only a minor quibble.

Episode Highlight

The highlight in the last episode was the sequence with the azhdarchid pterosaur Hatzegopteryx.  We liked the clever use of camera angles to give the impression of the sizes of the titanosaur, the dromaeosaur and the pterosaur.  It was interesting to note the depiction of this super-sized pterosaur as a terrestrial carnivore, snatching up small dinosaurs in the same way that Maribou Storks do in Africa (except of course it is frogs and lizards etc).

An illustration of Hatzegopteryx. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view models and replicas of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and other prehistoric animals that were featured in the television series: Models of Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs and Marine Reptiles (CollectA).

All in all, an enjoyable series and one we shall see again repeated many times, or perhaps we will treat ourselves to the DVD.

To read Everything Dinosaur’s review of the book that accompanies this series: Planet Dinosaur Book Reviewed.

12 10, 2011

Planet Dinosaur Episode Five Reviewed – “Giant Killers”

By |2023-03-08T13:35:17+00:00October 12th, 2011|Dinosaur Fans, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Argentinosaurus, Mapusaurus, Sarcosuchus et al

And so the fifth instalment of the BBC television series “Planet Dinosaur” is reached.  This episode entitled “Giant Killers” introduced a number of new prehistoric animals such as the nest raider Skopiovenator, an abelisaurid formally named and described just two years ago as well as some dinosaurs that are already very familiar to dinosaur fans.  One of those dinosaurs regarded as “familiar” would be Argentinosaurus (A. huinculensis), recognised as the largest dinosaur known to science, indeed the largest terrestrial animal of all time.

With an estimated length of thirty-five metres and a mass of seventy-five tonnes, the programme makers did their best to convey the sheer size of this titanosaur, we liked the clever use of the small ornithopods running alongside.  Interestingly, the footprint death traps that  proved so fatal to these are not from South America, but China.  The programme rather glossed over this point.  The treacherous trackways have been associated with the sauropod Mamenchisaurus, although ichnologists would argue that it is difficult to assign a genus to a set of tracks unless a specimen representing the animal that made them is found fossilised at the trackway’s end.

Giant Killers

The main thrust of the programme seemed to focus on the fossil evidence to suggest that large carnivores (Theropoda and a prehistoric crocodile) lived alongside large herbivores (Sauropoda).  The programme suggested that when the large herbivores became extinct, the large meat-eaters that depended on them soon died out as well.  This is an extension of the predator/prey relationship that was discussed in earlier programmes.

The time lapse imagery showing the scavenging of a titanosaur carcase was for us, the highlight of this particular episode, although it was a pleasure to see Sarcosuchus (prehistoric crocodile) once again.  This eight tonne super-croc was first seen in episode one “”Lost World”.   The narration claimed that Sarcosuchus was the biggest crocodile.  From what the fossil record shows, it was certainly was the biggest in that part of the world during the Cretaceous, but other crocodiles such as Deinosuchus and the much later Purussaurus could lay claim to being the biggest crocodile of all time.

An Illustration of Sarcosuchus

Everything Dinosaur’s scale drawing of Sarcosuchus.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view models and replicas of prehistoric animals such as Sarcosuchus, take a look at the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular model range: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs (Popular).

The South American theropod Mapusaurus (Mapusaurus roseae) was also introduced.  We suspect that for many young dinosaur fans, this is a new meat-eater for them.  The fossils of this dinosaur come from the Huincul Formation in the Rio Negro and Neuquen provinces of Argentina.  This carnivore was a contemporary of Giganotosaurus and may have been a pack hunter, an animal that weighed perhaps as much as six tonnes.

Still our favourite has to be Sarcosuchus, I guess we just have a soft spot for those big crocodiles.

CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Animal Models

The manufacturer CollectA have recently produced some dinosaur figures that are featured in the BBC televisioin series.  For example, the company has added a scale model of Mapusaurus to their prehistoric animal model range (whilst stocks last): CollectA Mapusaurus and Other Scale Model Dinosaurs.

A Replica of the Cretaceous Dinosaur Mapusaurus

CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Mapusaurus dinosaur model.

CollectA Deluxe Mapusaurus dinosaur model.

5 10, 2011

Planet Dinosaur – Episode Four “Fight For Life”

By |2023-01-21T12:14:39+00:00October 5th, 2011|Main Page, TV Reviews|2 Comments

A Review of Planet Dinosaur – Episode 4 “Fight for Life”

Having bemoaned the absence of any Triassic dinosaurs in this excellent television series, it was a pleasure to see the warm, shallow seas of the Jurassic featured in this episode of “Planet Dinosaur”.  The focus on this particular programme was the predator/prey relationship, a rich hunting ground for the production team given the amount of fossil evidence that can be interpreted to show such affinities.  The fossil record and the various pathologies of body fossils, coupled with an examination of the natural world today and predator/prey relationships provides plenty of material.  The marine predator featured was the huge pliosaur “predator X”, with its rosette of 30 centimetre long teeth.  The prey was the plesiosaur – Kimmerosaurus langhami, one of our favourite plesiosaurs, anything named after the Kimmeridgian faunal stage is fine by us.  This part of the programmes showed these long-necked beasts, ploughing through soft mud in search of shell fish, worms and other food items.  The fossil evidence for this behaviour comes from a cliff face in Switzerland which has a number of long, weird grooves preserved in the rock, which was once sediment at the bottom of a shallow, tropical sea.  Scientists believe these grooves were dug out by plesiosaurs as they swam along with their snouts in the sediment searching for food.  They could also have been created as these marine reptiles searched for stones to swallow to act as ballast and as gastroliths to help them grind up food.  We noted that Dr Adam Smith (plesiosaur expert) was named in the credits.

A Museum Exhibit of a Giant Pliosaur

Pliosaur.  Planet Dinosaur reviewed.

The life-size replica of the pliosaur (P. carpenteri) suspended from the ceiling at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Pliosaurus carpenteri was formally named and described in 203 (Benson et al). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Planet Dinosaur

The terrestrial part of the programme took viewers to the Morrison Formation of the western United States.  It discussed the relationship between Allosaurus and two prey genera – Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus.  The programme postulated that Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus lived together for mutual benefit.  The Camptosaurus with their bipedal stance acting as look outs for the heavily armoured stegosaurs.  Such relationships are seen in nature today, for example, in Africa our team members have observed Ostriches and Zebra feeding together.  The Zebras rely on the Ostrich with their heads held high and superb eyesight to spot danger.  Whether or not Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus actually sought out each other for mutual protection is a little speculative, but certainly feasible, if difficult to prove given the fossil record.  Allosaurus fragilis was the hunter, an interesting interpretation, especially the colouration and the crests above the eyes – they reminded us of sun-shades, these would have been useful especially if this predator was most active at dawn or dusk, with the sun low in the sky, just like many predators today. Surprisingly, Saurophaganax got a look in, S. maximus a very large allosaurid which was first studied in the 1930s.  We thought that this theropod had been re-classified as just a very big A. fragilis, but no, there it was in all its glory, bullying the Allosaurus out of its kill, its twelve metre-length making it about 15% bigger than the other theropod.

Interestingly, Saurophaganax is not featured or even mentioned in the book that accompanies this BBC television series.

Models of a Saurophaganax and a Stegosaurus Corpse (CollectA)

A Saurophaganax has killed a Stegosaurus.

Food for a dinosaur?  A replica of a Saurophaganax inspects a Stegosaurus carcass. Both models are from the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs/Prehistoric Life model series.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the range of CollectA Age of Dinosaurs/Prehistoric Life models available from Everything Dinosaur: Jurassic Dinosaur Models (CollectA Prehistoric Life).

28 09, 2011

A Review of Planet Dinosaur – “The Last Killers”

By |2023-01-21T11:25:06+00:00September 28th, 2011|Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Planet Dinosaur – The Last Killers (Late Cretaceous Theropods Mainly)

Halfway through the BBC television series already, it does not seem more than five minutes since “dear old auntie Beeb” introduced us to their version of Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus back in episode one.  These two dinosaurs were fierce carnivores and after a sojourn into the world of feathered dinosaurs, the majority of which would stand no more than a metre tall, we get right back to big theropods, but this time with a focus on the very last few million years of the Cretaceous.

Planet Dinosaur

For all those enthusiastic dinosaur fans waiting to see tyrannosaurs they were not to be kept waiting any longer.  However, it was not Tyrannosaurus rex that was the star attraction, other older members of the Tyrannosauridae were put into the spotlight – the likes of Daspletosaurus torosus allowing the evidence for the mobbing of herbivores (Chasmosaurus belli), reflecting what scientists have observed Komodo dragons doing, only scaled up to nine metre long theropods.

To view models and replicas of dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere: PNSO Dinosaur Figures and Models.

It was a bad night for ceratopsians all round with centrosaurs getting caught up in a raging torrent and dying in their hundreds – a vivid explanation of bone bed formation.  The bizarre abelisaurids, those dominant predators of the Southern Hemisphere were brought to life with a feature on the cannibalistic Majungasaurus (we still prefer the synonym Majungatholus).

An interesting programme that did its best to update viewers on how our understanding of the apex predators of the Dinosauria has moved on since “Walking with Dinosaurs”.

21 09, 2011

Planet Dinosaur – Feathered Dragons Reviewed

By |2023-01-21T09:54:48+00:00September 21st, 2011|Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Episode Two of Planet Dinosaur – Feathered Dinosaurs

Some of the most important dinosaur discoveries over the last twenty years or so have come from the Liaoning Province of north-eastern China and it is these exciting feathered dinosaur finds that dominate episode two of the BBC’s new dinosaur television series.  The programme featured a myriad of cursorial (some arboreal) dinosaurs that roamed around the lush forests of this part of the world during the Cretaceous.  Great to see a Microraptor gliding from tree to tree, using its feather covered limbs to pursue its prey and to escape from potential predators.  Microraptor may be quite well known to the general public, but we doubt whether many viewers would have come across Epidexipteryx before.  This pigeon-sized dinosaur, with its bizarre appearance certainly showed viewers how diverse the dinosaur clade was.  In episode one, it was all about big theropods, now in the second part of this six part series the production team want to show us just how unusual some dinosaurs were and Epidexipteryx was portrayed as an animal at home in the trees, using its long fingers, especially its extended second finger to dig out beetle grubs in the same way as the secretive Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) does.

To read an article on the discovery of Epidexipteryx: Is it a Bird or a Plane? No it is Epidexipteryx!

Take the feathered hunter Sinornithosaurus, the narrator alluded to the controversial paper published in 2009 that proposed that this fast-running predator may have had a venomous bite.  It is always refreshing to see some of the latest ideas and discoveries brought to life, the fast paced direction helped animate these dinosaurs and give the impression of creatures that lived “life in the fast lane”.  The more recent research (2010) into the diurnal or nocturnal characteristics of certain dinosaurs got a mention.  This refers to the widely publicised study into the orbits (eye sockets) of theropod dinosaurs: the point we made at the time, one that the CGI backdrop designers miss, is that these forests were probably dark with lots of thick undergrowth.  The study of the orbits of dinosaurs would need to consider the possibility of these animals hunting in low light levels.

Planet Dinosaur

Whether the feathers were for flight, display or insulation the programme provided an insight into our increasing knowledge of “feathered dragons”.  So pleasing to see “Big Bird) – Gigantoraptor (Gigantoraptor erlianensis) featured, certainly based on the fossil evidence this is likely to be the largest feathered animal known in the current fossil record.

To read an article on the discovery of this dinosaur: New Chinese Dinosaur – Gigantoraptor as Tall as a Giraffe.

A Drawing of Gigantoraptor erlianensis

The largest feathered animal known to science.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Credit must be given to the programme makers for the imaginative way in which they have brought to the screen some of the recent feathered dinosaur discoveries.

For feathered dinosaur figures and replicas: Feathered Dinosaurs and Other Models (Wild Safari).

14 09, 2011

Planet Dinosaur – Episode One “Lost World” Reviewed

By |2023-01-21T08:23:06+00:00September 14th, 2011|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus Lead the Way in New BBC Television Series

Well, the first episode of the new BBC series “Planet Dinosaur” has hit the ground running with an insightful and informative trip to the Cretaceous of North Africa (Albian to Cenomanian faunal stage).  One of the objectives of this new six-part series was to bring viewers up to date with dinosaur discoveries that have been made in the years since “Walking with Dinosaurs” was first aired.  We were intrigued to see how the narration would work with the narrator, the distinguished actor John Hurt, providing a voice over to the CGI action as well as commentating on the parts of the programme that focused on the research.  The difficulty we envisaged was how the factual evidence from institutions such as the Chicago Field Museum would be blended with the story-telling.  The production team have managed to merge the dynamic CGI footage with the vertebrate palaeontology upon which the story-lines were based; effectively.

Planet Dinosaur

The two big stars were of the apex predators Carcharodontosaurus and the more colourfully decorated Spinosaurus (loved the flashy red patches on the snout and skull).  The thrust of the programme dealt with how these predators would have interacted.  A nice touch was the Spinosaurus catching the pterosaur and we enjoyed the sequence with the Spinosaur fishing, behaving something like a fifteen metre-plus Grizzly.

A quick mention for the musical score (Ilan Eshkeri) which we did not find as intrusive as we feared.  However, one comment – “talk about red in tooth and claw”.  The action was somewhat visceral and whilst we accept the need for authenticity in such programmes we wondered whether all the predation and fighting would frighten younger viewers.

The Spinosaurus featured, was an elongate form, not the robust bruiser from the Jurassic Park trilogy.  We thought this interpretation favoured those Spinosaurus replicas that were made by Safari Ltd and CollectA with their recent introductions of Spinosaurus replicas into their model ranges.

To view the models available from Everything Dinosaur including Spinosaurus from the CollectA Deluxe series: CollectA Deluxe Scale Prehistoric Animal Models.

The ferocious carnivore Sarcosuchus was an interesting addition, showing the diversity of crocodyliforms in the Cretaceous fossil record.  This particular prehistoric predator has been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest crocodile of all time.

A Sarcosuchus Scale Drawing

Sarcosaurus scale drawing

Everything Dinosaur’s scale drawing of Sarcosuchus.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Can’t wait for episode two – off to China to view the arboreal antics of feathered dinosaurs and their cursorial cousins – theropods behaving like Aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) anyone?

11 09, 2011

Walking with Dinosaurs in 3D to have the “Avatar Touch”

By |2023-01-21T08:13:06+00:00September 11th, 2011|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

James Cameron to help on BBC 3D Dinosaur Project

Award winning film director James Cameron is to lend his expertise to the BBC in a project to bring the “Walking with Dinosaurs” franchise up to date with a 3-D version of the six part series.  Oscar winner Cameron, whose portfolio of work includes Titanic and Avatar, will be bringing the Cameron/Pace Group’s film expertise working alongside BBC Earth Films, Reliance Pictures and Evergreen Films to produce what is promised to be a spectacular dinosaur series, one of the most expensive projects the BBC has ever been involved in.

Neil Nightingale, Creative Director for BBC Earth Films commented:

“Cameron/Pace Group shares our vision of setting a new benchmark for immersive 3-D film with Walking with Dinosaurs 3-D.  It’s exciting to be joining forces with them to bring audiences a truly extraordinary experience.  We’ll be using the highest technical and creative standards in 3-D photography to immerse our audience in the film, they will truly feel right in amongst the action, part of the astonishing prehistoric world of the dinosaurs.”

Walking with Dinosaurs

James Cameron, perhaps more familiar with working with Hollywood A-listers than Jurassic herbivores added:

“Walking with Dinosaurs 3-D offers a fantastic opportunity to push our advances in 3-D even further.  We’re inspired by the creative ambition behind the film and the opportunity to work on a feature that aims to bring audiences a real, visceral experience.”

The BBC press release provides a teaser to all this by stating that the production combines world-class factual content with captivating storytelling that will take audiences on an unprecedented journey.   The story told is one of the greatest ever to have unfolded on Earth: a story of families born and families torn apart, of growing up, of rivalry and competition and the relentless struggle to survive.  Walking with Dinosaurs 3-D is all the more jaw-dropping for being grounded in fact, it will be the closest audiences can get to exploring our world 70 million years ago.

Dinosaurs in 3-D in 2013 (Release Date in Two Years Time)

Picture credit: BBC Press Release

Team members at Everything Dinosaur are excited by the news, although they had been aware of the BBC’s ambition to make a 3-D project involving dinosaurs as a flagship event to showcase the technology.  The benchmark will have to be high, especially after the initial reaction to the CGI used in the forthcoming BBC documentary series “Planet Dinosaur” was lukewarm in some quarters.

The production will immerse audiences in the prehistoric age using photo-real backdrops and combining these with true-to-life animation from the Academy Award-winning animation house Animal Logic (“Happy Feet”) working with leading animation producer Jinko Gotoh (“9”, “Finding Nemo”).  The widely anticipated film is fully financed by Reliance Entertainment with worldwide rights being handled by its subsidiary IM Global.  Twentieth Century Fox holds US rights and has scheduled the film for a late 2013 release.

To read an article about Everything Dinosaur team members helping out at a “Walking with Dinosaurs” exhibition: Everything Dinosaur Helps Out with Dinosaur Exhibition.

We will have to wait and see..

Everything Dinosaur would like to thank the BBC Press Service for their help with this article.

To view replicas and figures of dinosaurs that will feature in the movie including Pachyrhinosaurus (whilst stocks last): PNSO Pachyrhinosaurus Models and Dinosaur Figures.

23 04, 2011

Review of March of the Dinosaurs

By |2023-03-07T13:03:27+00:00April 23rd, 2011|Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Jurassic Parka! – A Review of March of the Dinosaurs

Yes, we know that this two hour animation was set in the Late Cretaceous but we could not help ourselves going for the “Jurassic Parka” pun.  Narrated by Stephen Fry and directed by Matthew Thompson, this CGI documentary (March of the Dinosaurs), tells the story of Scar, a young Edmontosaurus (duck-billed dinosaur) and his herd’s migration away from the high north of the Americas down the western shores of the huge inland sea that effectively cut North America in two for much of the Cretaceous.

Herds of herbivores would gorge themselves on the abundant vegetation in northern latitudes which would have had almost perpetual sunlight to permit plants to grow through the summer months.  However, as the year passed, so the sun would dip lower and lower each day until it would no longer emerge above the horizon and the long night of winter would prevail.  The summer migrants would be heading south to avoid the worst of the winter, whilst the resident dinosaurs such as a troodontid known as Patch would stay put.

March of the Dinosaurs

The trek made by Scar and his herd, plus the perils of winter survival for Patch, form the basis of this CGI documentary which runs for 87 minutes in total.  The storyline is loosely based on our knowledge of the Dinosauria and other creatures from fossil remains found at locations that would have been near the High Arctic during the Cretaceous.  The behaviour of the dinosaurs and many of the dramatic twists and turns in the plot are based on conjecture and assumptions.  For example, there is no proof that Gorgosaurus (a tyrannosaurid) was a specialist nocturnal hunter.

The story starts at the end of the summer and the first signs of a change in season for the herd of duck-billed dinosaurs. Soon the darkening skies begin to limit the amount of available plant food and the great herds of plant-eaters are forced to head south to avoid the worst of the winter and to find enough food to feed their massive bulk.

Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs

Along the way, Scar and the other dinosaurs face predation, natural disasters and death from starvation.  It was interesting to see the Azhdarchidae pterosaurs such as Quetzalcoatlus depicted as scavengers circling high above the sparse plains waiting to feed on the dying and the dead.  Although fossils of some Azhdarchidae pterosaurs such as Quetzalcoatlus are associated with inland areas and not marine environments, whether or not these huge flying reptiles really filled the same ecological niche as vultures do today is a moot point.

For Patch and the rest of the residents of the Arctic forest they have to survive as best they can in the perpetual darkness.  The armoured dinosaur referred to as an ankylosaur which shared the frozen forest with the troodontids, had no tail club.  This fact would not have gone unnoticed by young dinosaur fans watching.  The animal depicted was actually a member of the Nodosauridae, a family of the Ankylosauria that lacked a bony club on the end of their tails.  Whether or not such an animal once flipped on its back could right itself again is open to speculation once more.

A Diverting and Entertaining Tale

All in all, a diverting and entertaining tale, loosely based on scientific knowledge.  Certainly, lots of dinosaurs migrated and lived in herds, these herds in turn, would have been pursued by predators such as packs of Albertosaurus (fossils of these tyrannosaurs have been found in close proximity to each other suggesting a pack behaviour).  The CGI although impressive in parts reminded us of the sort of computer graphics seen in computer games, the landscape and details of the undergrowth could have been much better.

As for the mosasaurs lurking in rivers and frozen lakes, as far as we know there is not a lot of fossil evidence to support this and troodontids laying eggs on compacted snow in the depths of winter, we thought this most unlikely.  Our team members suspect that most if not all animals would lay eggs during the period when the sunlight had returned and the temperature had begun to rise.  After all, most modern birds do this (excluding some species of penguin). So a little bit of a mixed bag or keeping our Dinosaurian/Avian thinking caps on should we refer to this documentary as a bit like the curate’s egg.

For models and replicas of many of the prehistoric animals featured in the programme: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models.

18 04, 2011

March of the Dinosaurs on ITV 1

By |2023-01-17T21:13:34+00:00April 18th, 2011|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

Great Dinosaur Animation Coming to UK Terrestrial Television

March of the Dinosaurs, a two hour long documentary that tells the story of how some Cretaceous dinosaurs migrated hundreds of miles to exploit the rich feeding grounds of the far north, whilst other dinosaurs made the north and its freezing, dark winters their permanent home, is making its premiere on terrestrial television on Easter Saturday.

March of the Dinosaurs

The programme will be shown at 5pm on Saturday, April 23rd, clashing with the new series of Doctor Who (a deliberate ploy we think). The programmes is based on real scientific evidence that some types of dinosaurs migrated vast distances to exploit food reserves whilst others made the far north of America their permanent residence.

The story of the migration (an Edmontosaurus herd) is narrated by Stephen Fry.  It is a feature length animation that shows how dinosaurs lived more than seventy million years ago in the Arctic Circle.  To read about the research work that the programme is based upon: Dinosaurs of the Arctic.

Although the Arctic was warmer than it is today, much warmer in fact (during the Cretaceous there was no permanent ice at either the North or South poles), as winter sets in the high latitude means that the days become very short and in the middle of winter the land is in total darkness.  Plants die back, temperatures fall dramatically and the dinosaurs face a choice stay put or migrate south.

The programme follows the story of two young dinosaurs – Scar, a young vegetarian Edmontosaurus who hatched in the spring, and Patch, a young male feathered, raptor-like Troodon.  As a carnivore, Patch has fed all summer on baby Edmontosaurus.  Unfortunately for him his favourite food is shortly going to be heading south.

Troodon like Patch are equipped to cope through the winter and the film follows his stay in the harsh North. It will be survival of the fittest as they fight for the remaining food in the permanent darkness.  Everyone and everything is fair game.  Such scenarios are scene with extant animals today, such as the Arctic Fox which enjoys a time of plenty when the migrating birds arrive and nest, but the foxes face leaner times when the birds leave.

For Scar, his summer playground becomes a winter killing field as enemies patrol the darkness. The Gorgosaurus, a nine metre long relative of Tyrannosaurus rex, is the apex predator and the programme speculates on whether this theropod was a nocturnal hunter.  A new research paper has just been published that examined the orbits of dinosaur skulls for clues as to whether some meat-eating dinosaurs were nocturnal or diurnal, dromaeosaurs such as the troodontids may have been nocturnal hunters according to this new study.

The herd of Edmontosaurus must march south to avoid the worst of the winter weather, with little to eat their only option is to migrate in search of food.

An Illustration of an Edmontosaurus (Duck-billed dinosaur)

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

After one week the migrating herds have reached the edge of the Arctic forest but the open landscape is a hostile new world and Scar faces the new challenge of being exposed to snow.

After the Edmontosaurus have been moving south for almost a month, starvation and exhaustion are taking their toll. To Scar the herd has always meant safety, but the weaker ones begin to collapse and die around him, ending their lives as meat on the open plains.

Sounds like a fascinating documentary, one that is being shown on Easter Saturday at 5pm in the United Kingdom (London may be an hour later), but probably repeated over the next few days, a great treat for the Easter holidays.

For models and replicas of many of the dinosaurs featured in the programme, including Edmontosaurus (whilst stocks last): CollectA Deluxe Scale Prehistoric Animal Models.

28 02, 2011

BBC Annouces Plans for their Dinosaur Season

By |2023-01-15T18:43:16+00:00February 28th, 2011|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, TV Reviews|0 Comments

The Dinosaurs are Back on the BBC – this time in 3-D

The BBC have announced details of their new ground breaking television programmes combining prehistoric animals, the latest research and new media technology.  This marks the first time that the BBC has developed a palaeontology themed television series since the world famous “Walking with Dinosaurs” aired more than a decade ago.

Prehistoric Animals

The new documentary series, filmed in 3-D is to be entitled “Planet Dinosaur” and focuses on the research that has been carried out since the “Walking with” series.  Dinosaurs featured will include Spinosaurus and the fierce, cannabalistic Majungasaurus (also known as Majungatholus).

To see a replica of Majungatholus and other dinosaur models: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life Models.

Giant Marine Reptiles

The television programmes will also include giant marine reptiles such as the infamous pliosaur “predator X”, perhaps the largest carnivore ever to live on planet Earth.  The three-part series will combine 3-D graphics, computer imagery and photo-realistic fight scenes to give a fresh perspective on dinosaurs.  At Everything Dinosaur, we have been contacted to help with the graphics, advising on a number of projects associated with the programmes.

A Scale Drawing of a Pliosaur

Pliosaurus scale drawing. Huge pliosaur remains.

A scale drawing of a Pliosaurus. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To accompany the programmes BBC 4 will show three documentaries – a sort of “making the sequels to Walking..”, they will be called How to build a dinosaur, Survivors and Dinosaurs, Myths and Monsters.

For models and replicas of prehistoric animals: Models of Prehistoric Animals.

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