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00:00Dinosaurs ruled the planet for over 150 million years.
00:15They occupied almost every corner of the globe
00:19and came in almost every shape and size imaginable.
00:24Some were truly extraordinary.
00:30We now know that T-Rex was a powerful swimmer.
00:36Velociraptors were cunning feathered hunters.
00:41And that some dinosaurs had the most bizarre behavior.
00:48But new discoveries are being made almost every day
00:52that tell us more about life on this planet 66 million years ago.
01:00This time, on Prehistoric Planet, we reveal new animals
01:08and new insight into their quest to find a partner.
01:14The challenges faced by raising a family.
01:18And their titanic battles.
01:29Journey to a time when nature put on its greatest show.
01:33This is Prehistoric Planet Number Two.
02:03The ocean.
02:05The largest habitat on the prehistoric planet.
02:14And home to one of the biggest predators that has ever lived.
02:18A giant Mosasaur.
02:25A giant Mosasaur.
02:30A giant Mosasaur.
02:31A giant Mosasaur.
02:32A giant Mosasaur.
02:33A giant Mosasaur.
02:34A giantfficiency Wraham.
02:35Next, Marth the Cancer Frog
02:36A giant Mosasaur.
02:37The most wild eagle ensemble.
02:41A giant skin.
02:42A giant Mosasaur.
02:47And a giant is a giant Mosasaur.
02:48The mosasaurs are ferocious, 50-foot-long monsters.
02:53Taking refuge in the reef is Phosphorosaurus.
02:58She, too, is a mosasaur,
03:01one of the smallest at less than 10 feet long.
03:08She spends the daylight hours hiding from danger.
03:12But once or twice an hour,
03:17she has to dart to the surface to grab a breath.
03:25Like all of her kind, she is air-breathing.
03:36She's dwarfed by the biggest mosasaurs.
03:43But she, too, is a deadly predator.
03:54And she doesn't always hide in the shadows.
04:00When the time is right, she becomes a hunter.
04:08And that time is when the sun sets.
04:12As darkness falls, her underwater world transforms.
04:31As darkness falls, her underwater world transforms.
04:35Now, billions of creatures will begin to rise from the depths
04:57to feed near the surface.
05:00The largest mass migration on Earth
05:07occurs in almost total darkness.
05:12And can only be seen with special night-vision cameras.
05:15The most spectacular of these night-time visitors
05:25are a type of lanternfish.
05:32Their faint, eerie light
05:34is produced by a chemical reaction inside their bodies.
05:37A flash of this bioluminescence can be used to confuse predators.
05:49And when seen from below, the glow enables them to blend with
05:58and hide against the ocean's moonlit surface.
06:01But they can't hide from Phosphorosaurus.
06:02But they can't hide from Phosphorosaurus.
06:10For her size, her eyes are the largest of any mosasaur.
06:15Allowing her to see through the illusion, and pick out her prey.
06:28Melrodzy and Tahiiierz
06:41Zhivop
06:45By the time dawn arrives,
06:49the migrating shoal has sunk once more to the depths.
06:53And Phosphorosaurus, too.
06:56Those pharaohsaurus, too, must return to her daytime hiding place.
07:07The biggest mosasaurs are back on the prowl.
07:26She will have to wait till nightfall before it's safe to hunt again.
07:41By day, the prehistoric ocean provides opportunities for a very different type of hunter.
07:48In the warm, shallow seas of North America,
07:56fish numbers can almost match the nocturnal lanternfish show.
08:10And they are a magnet for six-foot-long Esperonis.
08:18Hesperonis may be unable to fly, but it's superbly adapted for ocean life.
08:39Large, powerful feet propel it with great agility.
08:44There's no escape for any unfortunate fish once it's caught by this beak, full of needle-sharp teeth.
08:50There's no escape for any unfortunate fish once it's caught by this beak, full of needle-sharp teeth.
08:57Large, powerful feet propel it with great agility.
09:00Large, powerful feet propel it with great agility.
09:03There's no escape for any unfortunate fish once it's caught by this beak, full of needle-sharp teeth.
09:09The Hesperonis don't have the shoal to themselves for long.
09:28Zipactinus, known as X-fish.
09:35The feeding opportunity soon attracts them in large numbers.
09:42At over 17 feet long, they are one of the largest and fastest fish in the ocean.
09:53With its huge mouth, Zipactinus can scoop up several fish at once.
10:12And has even been known to swallow prey half its size, whole.
10:17At first, there is plenty for everyone.
10:26But as fish numbers dwindle, the X-fish turn their attention elsewhere.
10:33Predator is about to become prey.
10:40The Hesperonis have only one option.
11:01To swim for their lives.
11:04To swim for their lives.
11:05To swim for their lives.
11:06To swim for their lives.
11:07To swim for their lives.
11:08To swim for their lives.
11:09To swim for their lives.
11:10To swim for their lives.
11:11To swim for their lives.
11:12To swim for their lives.
11:13To swim for their lives.
11:14To swim for their lives.
11:15To swim for their lives.
11:16To swim for their lives.
11:17To swim for their lives.
11:18To swim for their lives.
11:19To swim for their lives.
11:20To swim for their lives.
11:21To swim for their lives.
11:22To swim for their lives.
11:23To swim for their lives.
11:24To swim for their lives.
11:25To swim for their lives.
11:26To swim for their lives.
11:27To swim for their lives.
11:28To swim for their lives.
11:29To swim for their lives.
11:30To swim for their lives.
11:31But in the eyes of an eggfish, anything is on the menu.
11:53Even their own kind.
12:01Within minutes, the banquet is all but gone.
12:09And the predators move on.
12:24Danger in the ocean doesn't only come from deadly hunters.
12:28We could come from the sea itself.
12:42Here, around the islands of prehistoric Europe,
12:45it's the power of the tide that creates challenges for life.
12:50Especially for the tiniest creatures.
12:56These are ammonite eggs.
13:00Thousands of them.
13:02They have been swept inshore.
13:06To rock pools.
13:07To rock pools.
13:09To rock pools.
13:11These are ammonite eggs.
13:14Thousands of them.
13:16They have been swept inshore.
13:22To rock pools.
13:25and shore to rock pools.
13:41Here, they have the chance to develop free from danger.
13:49The eggs are tiny, only a fraction of an inch each.
13:55Now, it's time for the young within to break free.
14:02They move by jet propulsion,
14:05but mastering new swimming skills is not easy.
14:11They move by jet propulsion,
14:15but mastering new swimming skills is not easy.
14:18Until now, these pools have provided a nursery.
14:34But as the tide retreats, they become isolated.
14:38Others can make their escape.
14:47But for the helpless Ammonites,
14:48their nursery can quickly become a deadly trap.
14:51Under the midday sun, the water in the pool starts to evaporate.
14:57If it dries out completely, they will all die.
15:01But for the helpless Ammonites,
15:03their nursery can quickly become a deadly trap.
15:07Under the midday sun, the water in the pool starts to evaporate.
15:11If it dries out completely, they will all die.
15:23But everything is not lost.
15:26Baby Ammonites can do something remarkable.
15:29Each makes its own bid for freedom, forcing them together.
15:39The combined effort means they effectively move as one.
15:46Each is carried along on this tiny living tide,
15:52pushed over the bare rock by those behind.
15:55eventually escaping to deeper water.
16:09Now they wait for the rising tide.
16:25But not everyone escapes.
16:49Countless are left stranded.
16:56Food for scavengers.
17:00Like these baby pyroraptors.
17:13The rest are carried by powerful currents many miles from land.
17:18Even as far as this.
17:26The very heart of the Pacific Ocean.
17:31These enormous atolls and the lagoons at their center
17:35provide the only shelter for thousands of miles.
17:38In this rare place,
17:48Tyrannosaurus, a kind of elasmosaur, finds safety.
17:52But outside these shallows, it's a different story.
18:13Each day, the elasmosaurs must venture into deeper water.
18:18Canyons in the atoll walls lead from the shallows to rich feeding grounds.
18:35This deep water attracts not just the hungry elasmosaurs,
18:39but the predators that hunt them.
18:41that hunt them.
18:49The biggest in the ocean.
18:5650 foot long mosasaurus.
18:58Nutrients driven up from the ocean floor ensure a plentiful supply of fish.
19:20Streamlined bodies and four powerful flippers give elasmosaurs great maneuverability.
19:39But their daily feeding forays make their movements predictable.
19:44For an intelligent and patient hunter.
19:47What?
19:50Why?
19:53To meet and discover the perfect covid multisuggester.
19:54What's the most important thing to do with this animal?
20:00Mosasaurus is an ambush predator.
20:09This enormous animal uses its huge tail to accelerate with astonishing speed.
20:24This time, unlucky.
20:41In fact, most hunts fail.
20:47But with so many elasmosaurs living here,
20:50it's not long before there is another opportunity.
21:10Camouflaged against the dark canyon floor,
21:14the Mosasaur can approach unseen.
21:17Waiting for a young, inexperienced individual.
21:24The ideal victim.
21:47Mosasaurus can strike their prey with such force that the impact alone can kill.
21:57It's an attack so swift,
21:59the elasmosaur almost certainly never saw it coming.
22:03Life in the ocean can be dangerous.
22:14Not only because of giants.
22:19Of the baby ammonites that escaped the rock pools,
22:22less than one in a hundred had survived several months at sea.
22:26But these few have been particularly lucky.
22:34Ocean currents have carried them to an ideal place to live.
22:40Seagrass beds off the coast of Europe.
22:42Here, shoals of ammonites occur in a surprising variety of sizes.
23:00And shapes.
23:01This strange, six-foot-long giant is Baculites,
23:20which feeds near the sea floor.
23:22This strange, six-foot-long giant is Baculites,
23:29which feeds near the sea floor.
23:39And almost matching it in size,
23:42Diplomoculus,
23:44shaped like a giant paperclip.
23:46They all flourish here,
23:55thanks to an abundance of food.
24:01Plankton,
24:02small crustaceans.
24:05Some even eat fish.
24:07These hatchlings are beginning to acquire the extraordinary shape
24:24they will have when they are mature.
24:28The protruding spiral identifies them as young Nostoceros.
24:37These are adult Nostoceros.
24:44They favor the sea floor in deeper waters.
25:07Ammonites have been thriving in these prehistoric oceans
25:14for almost 400 million years.
25:25There are thousands of species.
25:26They are one of the most successful groups of animals
25:39to have ever lived.
25:44Flourishing in the warm, temperate seas
25:47and even the coldest waters at the poles.
25:50Like here in the frozen sea around the Antarctic.
26:13After a winter of near total darkness,
26:15the low sun is beginning to melt the ice.
26:18Making it accessible once more
26:22for a giant seasonal visitor.
26:29Muternorrhea,
26:31a strange type of elasmosaur.
26:35They are warm-blooded
26:37with a thick layer of blubber
26:39which conserves the heat in their body.
26:42They are one of the world's most secretive
26:46and elusive animals.
26:48They are one of the world's most secretive
26:50and elusive animals.
26:56This pod has migrated nearly 2,000 miles
26:59from South America
27:02to arrive here in time for spring.
27:05It's the first time
27:10this year's calves
27:11will have encountered sea ice.
27:17It can be dangerous
27:18for an air-breathing reptile.
27:26They can only grab a breath of air
27:28where there are gaps in the ice.
27:33Adults must navigate carefully
27:35to find them
27:37and the youngsters must stay close.
27:39These cold waters
27:55are an excellent habitat
27:57for this giant's favorite food.
28:03Polar mud
28:06full of small creatures.
28:09There can be hundreds
28:14of tiny animals
28:16in every square foot of sea floor.
28:25Separating what's edible
28:27from the sticky mud
28:28is a challenge.
28:33But they have a neat solution.
28:36they have a neat solution.
28:39Scooping up a mouthful
28:40they partially close
28:42their jaws.
28:45Creating a giant sieve
28:47to filter out the food.
28:54These are the only animals
28:56to have evolved teeth
28:57to feed in this way.
28:59They have a habit.
28:59They have one of the animals
29:01to live in this way.
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29:09This way.
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29:17The Morturnaria will feed here all summer
29:35until the water ices over again in the polar winter.
29:47In warmer waters, they will face other challenges.
29:54But the most resourceful animals will always find opportunities
30:02in the vast oceans of the prehistoric planet.
30:17The lands of the prehistoric planet were ruled by the dinosaurs,
30:34but the seas were dominated by a very different group of reptiles,
30:39the mosasaurs, and this is the skull of one of them.
30:47Mosasaurs were seagoing lizards.
30:53Think of a giant, swimming, whale-sized Komodo dragon.
31:01Tapered snout, rough skin, four fins instead of normal limbs,
31:06and a long tail that would look a lot like a shark tail, but upside down.
31:13That's basically a mosasaur.
31:17The largest was Mosasaurus hoffmanii.
31:24It was an ambush predator.
31:27But what was the secret of its success?
31:34They can move from just still not moving at all
31:37to incredible speeds right before your eyes.
31:40In the modern world, we see this ability in reptiles like crocodiles.
31:54Their muscles can deliver short bursts of tremendous power.
32:01Mosasaurs, given that they're reptiles, given that they're lizards,
32:04probably had similar capabilities in their muscles.
32:11They also had another adaptation that could increase the element of surprise.
32:17One of the tricky things about swimming is you need a special kind of dynamic to get out
32:24of the gate quickly, to do the equivalent of a sprinter start from the blocks.
32:28And one of the best ways of doing that is to bend yourself into a c-shape,
32:34and then push off of the wall off the side of your body.
32:36The fish today use this technique.
32:41Known as a sea start, it allows them to accelerate from a standstill to full speed in an instant.
32:50Mosasaurs likely were able to do something very similar, but of course at a much grander scale.
32:55So exactly how fast could a giant like Mosasaurus Hoffman and I actually swim?
33:09To find out, the prehistoric planet team commissioned a unique scientific study.
33:18Until recently, no one had really attempted to estimate these kinds of performance values in detail.
33:26Our work is one of the first attempts to really put numbers to the abilities of these animals.
33:32And the results we got from that are really pretty stunning.
33:38The team ran the calculations four times to ensure they were correct.
33:45All four of the different trials came to the same overall conclusion.
33:50These animals were able to generate massive accelerations.
33:55This Mosasaur could probably clear 75% of its body length in one single second.
34:17That means if that Mosasaur is 17 meters away from you, in one second, it will be 75% closer.
34:26And in the second second, it would have surpassed you and probably eaten you along the way.
34:30Being hit by a Mosasaurus would be a bit like being hit by a full-size semi-truck.
34:39Just the impact of the animal alone, much less the bite that would follow,
34:45would kill a lot of its prey instantly.
34:52Mosasaurs could reach 30 miles an hour in as little as one second.
34:56This is what makes them arguably the ultimate marine predator of all time.
35:15This is what makes them think of the nature of the animal that is a danger.
35:20This is what makes them feel very good.
35:20And we're going to know what ellos do in the state that is going to be the nature of the enemy.
35:25This is what makes them feel if they are으quing with a devil and a man of their kid.
35:26I'm not shy.
35:28I'm not shy.
35:29This is what makes them feel like a monkey.
35:31This is what makes them feel like a monkey that is saying.
35:35It's what makes them feel like a monkey that is their enemy.