Prehistoric Predators
2007 American TV series
Prehistoric Predators is a 2007 National Geographic Channel program based on different predators that lived in the Cenozoic era, including Smilodon and C. megalodon. The series investigated how such beasts hunted and fought other creatures, and what drove them to extinction.
01Production
The producers enlisted the help of Chuck Ciampaglio, a geology professor at Wright State University-Lake Campus, to create a model illustrate a shark's jaws. Filming of the episode involving Ciampaglio took place on the university campus in 2008.
02Reception
Brad Newsome of The Age praised the series for its "lovely computer animations [that] bring several species of these 'terror birds' to life". The Advertiser said the series "shows amazing animations of the shark". According to The Times, in Prehistoric Predators, "Scientists, ably assisted by the prerequisite CGI, recreate some of the most fearsome predators of old", including the Megalodon and the Terror Bird.
03Featured animals
- Pleistocene: 1.8 million-10,000 years ago
- North America:
- Smilodon fatalis, dire wolf, short-faced bear, American lion, Bison antiquus, Mexican horse, Columbian mammoth, Megalonyx, gray wolf (cameo), grizzly bear (cameo), early humans
- Miocene-Pliocene: 15-3 million years ago
- South America, North America:
- Kelenken, Parapropalaehoplophorus, Homalodotherium, Titanis, Canis edwardii, Smilodon gracilis, Neohipparion
- Miocene-Pleistocene: 20-2 million years ago
- The Atlantic:
- C. megalodon, Cetotherium, Squalodon, dugong, great white shark (cameo), green sea turtle (cameo)
- Oligocene-Miocene: 32-19 million years ago
- North America:
- Archaeotherium, Hyaenodon, Dinictis, Mesohippus, Poebrotherium, Subhyracodon, Moropus, Merycoidodon, Daeodon, Amphicyon
04Episodes
| No. | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Sabertooth" | 2007 (2007) | |
| Smilodon fatalis is shown as an apex predator. It is depicted defeating dire wolves, living in prides and killing Bison antiquus, and baby mammoths. | |||
| 2 | "Dire Wolf" | 2007 (2007) | |
| The savage dire wolf was the largest dog on the planet at the time. It is shown chasing off lone Smilodons and faceing off with short-faced bears and hunting down Bison antiquus and Mexican horses in large packs. | |||
| 3 | "Giant Bear" | 2007 (2007) | |
| Arctodus simus, the giant short-faced bear, was one of the largest mammalian carnivore ever to walk the Earth. The bear is shown defeating Smilodon fatalis and Megalonyx, trying to take down Mexican horses, scaring off dire wolves, and even coming into contact with early humans | |||
| 4 | "Monster Shark" | 2007 (2007) | |
| The huge, powerful shark C. megalodon is shown subsisting on a diet of whales. | |||
| 5 | "Terror Raptor" | 2007 (2007) | |
| The huge terror birds of South and North America, Kelenken and Titanis, are both shown as apex predators. Kelenken is shown to eat Homalodotherium, glyptodonts, and rodents, and Titanis is shown coming into competition with additional predators Smilodon gracilis and Canis edwardii, and is also shown to eat horses. | |||
| 6 | "Killer Pig" | 2007 (2007) | |
| Archaeotherium was the largest and most powerful beast of the badlands until the bear dogs arrived, and is depicted evolving into the even larger Daeodon (or Dinohyus) in order to survive against the new threat. | |||
| 7 | "Razor Jaws" | 2007 (2007) | |
| The only animal who would attack an Archaeotherium was Hyaenodon, with its powerful razor jaws, until bear dogs arrived on the continent, driving both to extinction. | |||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Prehistoric Predators”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Prehistoric Predators (2007 TV series).jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
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