All language subtitles for Planet.Dinosaur.S01E01.720p.HDTV.x264-TVC

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We're living through the golden
age of dinosaur discoveries.

All over the world,
a whole new generation

of dinosaurs has been revealed.

From the biggest giants...

and the deadliest killers...

to the weird and wonderful.

From the Arctic to Africa.

From South America to Asia.

In just the last few years,

we have uncovered
the most extraordinary fossils,

exquisitely preserved
and tantalisingly intact.

Combined with the latest
imaging technology,

we have been able to probe deeper
and reveal more than ever before.

It gives us our first truly global
view of these incredible animals.

In this programme, we're exploring
the lost world of Africa.

For almost 100 years,
this was a forgotten land.

Now, new discoveries have revealed

some of the most spectacular
dinosaurs ever found.

Two giant killers,

both bigger than T Rex,

both living in the same place.

One of these killers, more than any,

has captured the imagination.

A bizarre killer that we've only
just managed to reconstruct,

in the last few years.

The story begins in Egypt, in 1912,

when fragments of a giant dinosaur
were discovered.

A predator with two-metre-long
spines rising over its back.

It was unlike anything seen before.

It was only in 2005,
when a complete upper jaw was found,

that we could accurately reconstruct
this bizarre creature.

With a skull almost two metres long,

this dinosaur was a colossal
17 metres

from nose to tail -

four metres longer than T Rex.

The reign of the dinosaurs began

almost 250 million years ago.

But this killer didn't appear

until a time known
as the Mid-Cretaceous.

95 million years ago,
its home in north Africa

was a desert surrounding
a vast system of rivers and swamps.

The swamps are refuges
for many large dinosaurs,

like the duck-billed Ouranosaurus.

They're also the hunting grounds
for a killer.

At seven metres and three tonnes,
Ouranosaurs are big...

...but easily within the scope
of a large predator.

Spinosaurus.

At 17 metres, the biggest killer
ever to walk the Earth.

An 11-tonne colossus.

However, for the time being,

these Ouranosaurs
are off this killer's menu.

Spinosaurus is part of a family
of dinosaurs

that are relatively
newly-discovered.

Recent finds have shown
that this strange group

lived from South America,
through Europe, to Asia.

But the last and biggest of all
came from north Africa.

Spinosaurus itself.

In 2010, analysis of their bones and
teeth revealed something surprising.

Chemical traces found in the fossils
suggested the Spinosaurus lived

more like a crocodile
than other land-based dinosaurs.

It showed that they spent a large
part of their lives in water.

Spinosaurus is a predator,
but one that hunts in water.

It's ichthyophagous - a fish-eater.

This is Onchopristis.

An eight-metre-long
giant swordfish,

similar to those alive today.

The saw-like rostrum
is lined with lethal barbs,

and is in itself
up to 2.5 metres in length.

It's thought they migrated
into freshwater rivers to breed,

where the young may be safer,

but the adults are exposed
to new threats.

With their breeding season
at its height,

these rivers are filled
with Onchopristis.

It's the perfect hunting opportunity
for Spinosaurus.

Spinosaurus's conical teeth
evolved to grip prey

rather than tear off flesh.

For that,
it needs powerful arms and claws.

With prey plentiful, Spinosaurus
can afford to be wasteful.

A fact which other dinosaurs
take full advantage of.

Rugops, an eight-metre carnivore.

Anywhere else, it might dominate.

But here, it is dwarfed
by Spinosaurus.

Spinosaurus is unique,
with long, narrow jaws

and nostrils set high on its head.

Its teeth were straight and conical.

They gave us a clue
as to how it killed.

More evidence came in 2008,

when Spinosaurus' skull
was put through a CT scanner.

It revealed a curious pattern
of holes and sinuses in the snout

that looked just like those
of crocodiles.

It's thought these contained
pressure sensors,

sensors that, like a crocodile,
can detect prey,

making it perfectly adapted
to hunting in water.

This discovery gives us our best
evidence of exactly how it hunted.

Able to hold its snout in the water
because of its high nostrils,

it can strike
without even seeing its prey.

The ever-attendant Rugops has a weak
jaw and skull. It's no killer.

It is a natural-born scavenger,

living off the scraps
of this highly-efficient predator.

We can assume so much
about the diet of Spinosaurus

because its fossilised teeth
are commonly found

with the remains
of the giant sawfish.

More recent discoveries appear to
provide even more direct evidence.

In 2005, a Spinosaur fossil
was found with a sawfish vertebrae

stuck in a tooth socket.

Another, discovered in 2008,

had a fragment of a sawfish barb
apparently embedded in its jaw.

They suggested
a clear predator-prey relationship.

Spinosaurus
is the region's biggest killer

because it can exploit
an environment so successfully.

A dinosaur at home in water.

For a time, it lived with
little threat from other dinosaurs

and the species evolved
into a 17-metre giant.

But Spinosaurus wasn't the only
giant predator which thrived here.

Carcharodontosaurus.
Land-based killer.

A meat-eater. A carnosaur.

A cousin of Allosaurus,
but four times bigger.

With serrated teeth
16 centimetres long,

Carcharodontosaurus
was a giant killer.

Up to 13 metres long
and weighing around seven tonnes.

Like Spinosaurus,
it too was bigger than T Rex.

Big predators
need big hunting ranges.

Carcharodontosaurus may have needed
up to 500 square kilometres each,

making competition for the best
hunting grounds intense.

These young, male
Carcharodontosaurus

both want supremacy
over this territory.

Dominating the land is the key
to survival for these killers.

That can mean a fight to the death.

The evidence of in-fighting

between carnivores
of the same species is dramatic.

Forensic examinations of fossils
has uncovered injuries

on the skull bones
of many large carnivores.

Tooth puncture marks and gouges
are remarkably common.

Such violent head- and face-biting
is thought likely to be territorial.

With so much to gain,
fights over prime hunting territory

would be commonplace.

For this victorious
Carcharodontosaurus,

the prize is the hunting rights
to these Ouranosaurs.

Not an easy prey to catch,
even for the fastest of predators.

But we think Carcharodontosaurus
has a hidden advantage.

In 2008, detailed bone analysis

suggested these dinosaurs
employed a system of air sacs.

Air sacs are used in breathing.

They ensure that oxygen-rich air
flows continually through the lungs

when breathing in and out.

It's a very efficient system,
similar to that of birds.

It implied that dinosaurs
like Carcharodontosaurus

were highly-active hunters.

And they needed to be.

It's reckoned that a dinosaur
of this size would need to eat

a minimum of 60 kilos of meat
every day simply to survive.

Big hunters rely on
ambushing their prey.

Closing as much distance between it
and its chosen victim.

This Carcharodontosaurus
doesn't waste energy

chasing the injured animal.

Its initial attack has critically
wounded the Ouranosaurus.

Now, it simply needs
to follow and wait.

Carcharodontosaurus
were deadly killers,

but not in the way you might expect.

Its skull was relatively weak.

And computer analysis has shown

that they're unlikely
to be strong enough

to hold onto struggling prey.

Their teeth were thin, like knives,

too weak to bite easily
through bone.

But they were sharp, with deadly
serrations, just like a shark's.

The very name Carcharodontosaurus
means "sharp-toothed lizard".

We think it used its skull and teeth

to slash deep into the flesh
of its prey,

causing massive injury
and blood loss.

Delivered at speed,
such an attack could kill

without the need
for an intense struggle.

It's an efficient killing method

and one that's perfectly suited
to this environment.

But success can look very different
when a season changes.

For a time, Cretaceous north Africa
had two deadly killers.

By exploiting
different environments,

they didn't compete
and could coexist,

dominating their chosen habitats.
Spinosaurus was a specialist.

But this came with risks.

Small environmental changes
can make it vulnerable.

And this area is prone
to seasonal droughts.

When the river is dry,

Spinosaurus' usual food supply
has disappeared.

Other animals retreat
to a few remaining pools.

Some, the Spinosaurus
would do well to be wary of.

The smaller crocs
aren't the problem.

Sarcosuchus
a giant 12-metre crocodile.

Reptiles like these
can survive droughts

by effectively hibernating
during times of hardship.

Spinosaurus can't.

As an active hunter,

its metabolism demands
a regular supply of food.

Although it is a specialist,
it isn't confined to the rivers.

In tough times,
it too can hunt on land.

Spinosaur fossils
from other parts of the world

have given us more details
about their diets.

In 2004, a dramatic fossil
was recovered from Brazil.

Part of the neck of a Pterosaur.

Embedded within one of the vertebrae
was a tooth.

It was the unmistakable shape
of a Spinosaur tooth.

The stomach contents of another
Spinosaur, Baryonyx,

from England, was found to contain
some bones of a juvenile Iguanodon,

a plant-eating dinosaur.

In spite of their specialisation,

clearly Spinosaurs
weren't exclusively fish-eaters.

But hunting and catching prey
isn't easy.

Particularly when
they're already alert.

Hunting on land,

Spinosaurus is also forced
into direct competition

with any large predators
living in the same environment.

And here,
that can only mean one animal...

...Carcharodontosaurus.

Contests over carcasses are common.

But outcomes of such fights
are far from guaranteed.

Risk of injury
for big animals is acute.

Modern Komodo dragons are often
killed in fights over carcasses.

More than three metres longer,

Spinosaurus has size and power
on its side.

But Carcharodontosaurus
has the more lethal bite.

This time,
the Spinosaurus triumphed.

But the balance of power
between these two deadly killers

is a precarious one.

In 2008, a Spinosaurus vertebra
was recovered.

Part of the tall, neural spine
of the bone was broken off.

It appeared to have been
bitten in half.

It's been suggested

that the bite was inflicted
by Carcharodontosaurus.

Spinosaurus was the last
and the largest

of the fish-eating dinosaurs.

But ultimately,
these specialists were doomed.

Something way beyond their control
caused their downfall.

94 million years ago,
the climate changed.

Global sea levels began to rise.

The swamps and rivers
that Spinosaurus thrived in

gradually were lost.

With their loss,

Spinosaurus's specialism
became a vulnerability.

And the biggest predator

ever known to have walked the Earth
disappeared.