The ancestors of the dinosaurs

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Movie
German title The ancestors of the dinosaurs
Original title Walking with Monsters
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 2005
length 90 minutes
Rod
Director Tim Haines
Jasper James
production Tim Haines

The ancestors of the dinosaurs (original title: Walking with Monsters ) is a documentary produced by the BBC from 2005, which deals with the flora and fauna of the Paleozoic 530 to 248 million years ago . It is the last part of a trilogy for the BBC that also includes Dinosaurs - In the Realm of Giants and The Heirs of the Saurians . The German version is spoken by Otto Clemens .

action

The ancestors of the dinosaurs describes life on earth in the Paleozoic on the basis of scientific knowledge. The different geological ages are presented one after the other with their animals and plants.

Cambrian

The action begins in the Cambrian with the presentation of the climatic conditions and the oxygen content of the air. There is only life in the sea. Anomalocaris is presented as the first great predator. Its advantage over other predators is its eyes. He hunts trilobites of the genus Redlichiida . During a fight with a second anomalocaris, the shell of one of the animals bursts. The unprotected wound is now attacked by a group of Haikouichthys , former representatives of the fish.

Silurian

The arthropods are the dominant form of life in the Silurian . Some Brontoscorpio hunt a school of cephalaspis , a primitive fish. This is given an advantage through its ability to have a pronounced sense of touch and can escape its attacker. This in turn is killed by the larger pterygotus . The cephalaspis steer towards the mainland to lay their eggs. They want to place their spawn in calm inland waters. However, thanks to primitive lungs, the Brontoscorpio can also live on land, so that many fish fall victim to them on the way. The disadvantage of an exoskeleton due to long and laborious shedding is also shown.

Devon

In Devon , the fish are the predominant way of life. Primitive amphibians like the hynerpeton have already conquered the country. However, for reproduction purposes, for foraging and because of their thin skin, which dries out very quickly, they have to return to the water regularly and cannot stray far from it. Because of the low oxygen content of the air, the terrestrial arthropods (e.g. scorpions) only produce small specimens, which are one of the few food sources on land for the amphibians. Sharks like the stethacanthus or large predatory fish like the hyneria live in the water . A hynerpeton can only escape these predators because it can save itself on land. Then the male has to defend his territory against a competitor. He succeeds in attracting a female. During mating, however, they are attacked by a Hyneria, which crawls ashore like a coelacanth and eats the male.

Carbon

Due to the high proportion of oxygen in the air, the arthropods in the Carboniferous can again produce large specimens such as the articulated spider Palaeothele montceauensis or the giant dragonfly Meganeura . The amphibians also reach their heyday in the form of the proterogyrinus . One of these amphibians manages to kill the gigantic centipede Arthropleura . The primitive reptile Petrolacosaurus is inferior to other animals due to its small size, but has advanced lungs and a more powerful heart.

Unterperm

The Therapsid era begins with the lower Permian . This episode focuses on a female Dimetrodon and the breeding behavior of reptiles. As prey for the carnivorous Dimetrodon serve Edaphosaurier . The amphibians are represented by the reptiliomorphic Seymouria . The Dimetrodon has to defend its nest against conspecifics, but it does not look for food during the breeding season. As soon as the young hatch, all maternal instincts end and she leaves the nest. The young instinctively seek shelter in the trees.

Upper Perm

In Upper Perm , the supercontinent Pangea is littered with deserts due to high volcanic activity. The dominant predator of this era is the Gorgonopsid Inostrancevia . A fully grown female first hunts an old Scutosaurus and then terrorizes the inhabitants of a drying lake. The Diictodons , small, omnivorous relatives of the mammals, are protected in burrows because of their subterranean way of life. It looks worse for the Labyrinthodontia Rhinesuchus : as an amphibian, it is dependent on water. When a herd of scutosaurs comes to the lake, they drink it empty within a few days. Except for the Diictodon, all animals die of thirst.

Lower Triassic

The last episode accompanies a herd of Lystrosaurus on their way to the breeding grounds in the Lower Triassic . To reach this you have to descend from a plateau. During the night they are attacked by Euchambersia . These animals are shown as stalking hunters who kill their victims with a targeted poison bite. Next, the Lystrosaurus herd has to cross a river. In this live proterosuchus , relatives of today's crocodiles, which kill some Lystrosaurier. The majority of the herd arrives at their destination. Euparkeria is dubbed the ancestor of the dinosaurs. To represent this symbolically, a Euparkeria develops into an Allosauroidea during a confrontation with a Proterosuchus . The episode then ends with scenes from Dinosaurs and The Story of Big Al and the credits, which show Coelophysis , Thrinaxodon , Allosaurus , Brachiosaurus , Diplodocus , Stegosaurus , Apatosaurus and Anurognathus .

Background information and production

The ancestors of the dinosaur cost about three million pounds. Real habitats without animals were filmed during production. The 3D animated animals were later inserted into the environment on the computer .

Awards

  • Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) 2006

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