Original subtitles

This little mammal is a scavenger

Called Didelphodon, she is a marsupial

and specialises in raiding abandoned dinosaur nests

This evening, she could be in luck

Unfortunately, the smell of the nest blinds her senses to danger

(Squeaking)

(Huge roar)

(Bellows)

The end of the Cretaceous

The continents are taking their modern forms

But this movement of the Earth's crust

has produced a surge in volcanic activity

Massive eruptions that have lasted for centuries

have laid waste to landscapes,

filling the atmosphere with gases and debris

This desolate world is still ruled by dinosaurs,

as it has been for 160 million years,

but they are nearing the end of their reign

Life on earth is choking to death

Yet in the last two million years,

the dinosaurs' most infamous predator has appeared

Tyrannosaurus, a five-tonne, 13-metre long carnivore,

specifically evolved to kill other giant dinosaurs

This is a male

He's been drawn to this volcano by the smell of food

The area is full of geothermal springs

and the air thick with sulphurous fumes

But there is another smell here

In one smallvalley, there is the stench of death

Unwittingly, the Tyrannosaurus has been drawn into a natural trap

Volcanic vents are producing poisonous carbon monoxide,

and because it is heavier than air,

it has formed a suffocating layer close to the ground

The giant predator stands above the layer,

but as he puts his head down to feed

he begins to feel the effects

If he topples over now, he will never get up

Eventually, his sheer size is his salvation

As he stands up with his prize, his head just clears the gas layer

There are still islands of greenery between the lava flows

In the warm, moist climate of the late Cretaceous,

the vegetation has transformed

Instead of conifers,

broad-leaved trees fill the forest canopy

Driving this quiet revolution among the plants

is the remarkable evolution of flowers

Their secret lies in their intimate relationship with insects,

so close that some flowers can only be pollinated by insects

and some insects, like butterflies, can only feed on flowers

Among these new plants, the birds are flourishing,

and their calls form an ever-present chorus

Millions of years of evolution

have also created intimate relationships

among different types of dinosaurs

Especially the delicate balance between predator and prey

(Terrifying squawk)

(Hissing roar)

One dinosaur that specialises in defence

is the extraordinary Ankylosaurus

They are evolved to withstand attack even from giant predators

like Tyrannosaurus

At seven tonnes, Ankylosaurus are so heavily armoured

that even their eyelids are hardened

And if that wasn't enough, they have a formidable club

on the end of their tails

Sadly, not even these magnificent creatures have any defence

against the natural forces that are suffocating their world

Nearby lies the Tyrannosaurus nest

These are usually closely guarded by the mother,

but this nest has been abandoned,

and a Didelphodon has burrowed into the side

Dinosaurs are vulnerable because they lay their eggs on the ground

But size helps,

and the egg is a challenge for this marsupial

Soon the age of the mammals will dawn,

and they will grow massive,

but this is as big as Cretaceous mammals get

The Tyrannosaurus embryo inside the abandoned egg is already dead

The scent is a lure to another Didelphodon

(Snarls and growls)

(Growling)

(Loud shrieks)

Many dinosaur embryos cannot survive in this volcanic environment

because acidic pollution

prevents their eggshells from forming properly

(Bellowing)

The mother is calling for a new mate

Tyrannosaurus have huge territories of hundreds of square kilometres

Her challenge is to attract a wandering male

She may have to call like this for weeks

One of the Tyrannosaurus's principal sources of prey

are these bulky Torosaurus

In the late Cretaceous, herds of horned herbivores are very common

and attract many predators

It is rutting season To display, males flush blood into their crests,

creating vivid patterns

These displays help to avoid physical contact

With one-metre-long horns,

fighting can easily result in bad injuries

The best and the brightest crest

is all that is needed to settle arguments

Occasionally, showing off is not enough

and males resort to brute force

For this old Torosaurus, this was one fight too many

He will never again challenge for the right to mate

(Gruff mooing)

The mating call of the Tyrannosaurus

continues to echo across the volcanic slopes

And it has been heard

A male has killed a young Triceratops

It's not just to satisfy his hunger It is a gift

Female Tyrannosaurus are larger and more aggressive,

and he courts her with food

to stop her attacking him on sight

(Hisses)

(Growls)

(Growls)

The female arrives

(Short roars)

She is wary

The primary weapon of a Tyrannosaurus is its mouth

Its arms are tiny so it can carry a massive jaw

and remain balanced

This jaw can crush bone and tear off up to 70 kg of meat

with one bite

The male keeps his distance

Later that evening, they mate

This is the first of many couplings

as the male stays by the female while she is receptive -

ready to see off any other males

On the lava flows, a group of Anatotitan

wanders between islands of greenery

These animals are members of the hadrosaur family,

the most common group of dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous

But their kind has evolved

to thrive in lush lowland swamps, not in an ash wilderness

Three days have passed

The Triceratops carcass has been stripped

and the female Tyrannosaurus is beginning to tire of her mate

(Roars)

(Hisses)

The male knows better than to stay

Gliding in from the coast,

a magnificent pterosaur, Quetzalcoatlus, is hunting for food

This is now a rare sight

For 20 million years, these flying reptiles have been in decline

These 13-metre giants are the only ones left

And this is a dangerous place to be

One-tonne crocodiles live in the lake,

and could easily drag the delicate glider to his death

Driven on to extinction

The skies of the future belong to the birds

that already flourish around him

Months have passed, and the female Tyrannosaurus

has built a new nest, camouflaged in the forest

Mother keeps watch

For the full two months of the eggs' incubation,

she will not leave or even eat

She knows her nest is a magnet to scavengers

Like this Dromaeosaur

His cautious approach is watched by the Tyrannosaurus

She judges exactly when he has got too close

(Roars)

(Squeals)

As the sun sets, another threat comes out to haunt the mother

(Chirps and yowls)

(Growls)

(Bellowing roar)

With food becoming scarce, the mammals are getting bolder

She checks to make sure more have not burrowed in,

then returns to her vigil

The weeks pass, and above the brilliant volcanic sunsets,

there are signs of an even more destructive natural disaster

Showers of shooting stars herald the approach of a giant comet

on a collision course with the Earth

Far below, the dinosaurs are oblivious

The Torosaurus herd continues to feed

Nervous of moonlight predators,

younger animals seek protection among the larger adults

(Restless mooing)

Using the darkness, a pair of Dromaeosaurs unsettle the herd

and isolate one of the youngsters

(Hoarse shrieks)

(Lowing noises)

(Shrieking)

Safe But the predators have tasted blood and will not give up easily

Morning reveals the results of last night's tussle

The little Torosaurus lost his fight with the predators

For the herd, it is a blow Too few young are being born

in this polluted environment

A Didelphodon is already at the carcass

These little opportunists are about the only animals that are thriving

During their reign, dinosaurs have adapted to huge changes

but now they face a combination of events

that will spell their doom

After trekking across the ash fields,

Anatotitans gather round a stagnant pool to drink and feed

Huge batteries of chewing teeth

make short work of the vegetation

Once again, the predators make the water's edge a dangerous place

The group senses danger and starts to break up

The mother Tyrannosaurus has broken her fast

and is back with a vengeance

Nearby is the reason for her hunger Three Tyrannosaurus chicks

The only survivors from a clutch of twelve

The moment they hear the kill,

they start calling for food

(Mewling and yelping)

The mother delivers a slab of Anatotitan meat

Only four weeks old and less than a metre high,

competition is intense between them

One is already picked on by the others

(Faint mews)

They'll remain under their mother's protection for another two months

Soon after that, she will abandon them,

or worse, view them as food

It is unlikely the outcast will last that long

A few days later and the mother rests

in the warm afternoon sun

There is no sign of the smaller runt

He may have been killed by his siblings

Increasingly, the bickering pair are happy to wander from their mother

to explore their surroundings

(Squawks)

From the undergrowth, a snake watches

These reptiles have only recently evolved

from the same family as lizards,

but they specialise in hunting warm-blooded creatures like mammals

They use sensory pits on their snouts

as a way of detecting the heat signatures of other animals

It doesn't like what it sees

(Hissing)

While the chicks play, they are oblivious to approaching danger

(Hoarse grunting)

The mother is caught completely by surprise

The Ankylosaurus has very little brain inside its reinforced skull,

so when faced with danger, it reacts automatically and aggressively

Normally, Tyrannosaurus would retreat,

but she will not abandon her young

(Low grunting)

(Roar)

The blow has cracked the mother's femur

and ruptured internal organs

She limps away in agony

(Chicks squawk)

That night, the usual evening chorus

is joined by the whimper of a dying giant

By morning, she lies lifeless on the baking ash fields

The chicks stand expectantly by the colossal corpse of their mother

Hours pass, and still they wait

But their fate will now be settled,

along with all the other giant dinosaurs of the Cretaceous

3,000 km to the south, the massive comet crashes into Earth

(Dinosaurs squawking)

The light from the impact fades in silence

Then the shock waves arrive

(Rumbling)

Next comes the blast front

(Winds howl)

(Tearing and crashing)

Finally a rain of molten rock starts to fall out of the darkening sky -

this is the end of the age of the dinosaurs

The comet struck the Gulf of Mexico

with the force of 10 billion Hiroshima bombs

In the catastrophic climate changes that followed,

65% of life died out

It took millions of years for Earth to recover,

and when it did, the giant dinosaurs were gone,

never to return

In their place have emerged other powerful and beautiful creatures

We now know one small group of dinosaurs

did survive the extinction -

and they are all around us today -

the birds

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