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00:00We are living through the golden age of dinosaur discoveries.
00:10From all over the world, a whole new generation of dinosaurs has been revealed.
00:16From the biggest giants,
00:19and the deadliest killers, to the weird and wonderful.
00:30From the Arctic to Africa,
00:35from South America to Asia,
00:38using the latest evidence for the first time,
00:42we have a truly global view of these incredible animals.
01:00This time, we journey back 150 million years to the Jurassic period.
01:10A time when the first giant killers stalked the Earth.
01:13But these giants weren't confined to the land.
01:18Recent discoveries have revealed an astonishing new hunter in the oceans.
01:23These new giant killers pose the greatest of threats.
01:33With the smallest advantage tipping the balance between life and death.
01:39Predator and prey were locked in a perpetual battle for survival.
01:44To understand this world, we must travel back 150 million years to a time when much of Europe looked like the Bahamas.
02:00A time when these warm tropical seas were home to giant predators.
02:07Some of which have left their mark etched in stone.
02:13This cliff face in Switzerland is carved with a series of enormous gouges and grooves.
02:20Many over nine meters long.
02:23The entire rock face is actually one huge fossil.
02:28An upturned slab of Jurassic ocean floor.
02:31And the marks were left by a predator as it hunted for food.
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03:00Mode
03:01Sharks like this scottina,
03:04Sharks like this Squatina are similar to angel sharks which still exist today.
03:12It's an ambush predator and lies in wait.
03:25But in these seas, there are bigger hunters.
03:28This is Chimarasaurus. They belong to a group called Plesiosaurs.
03:39At six meters long, they're one of the Jurassic Ocean's most successful hunters.
03:47And also one of the most common.
03:49And it's this unusual hunting method that left its trace on the ocean floor.
04:11We now know that the rock face in Switzerland is etched with the marks of hunting Plesiosaurs.
04:16But these giants were not the king of the seas.
04:22Many of the fossils show evidence of having been violently ripped apart.
04:31Clearly, there were much, much bigger predators lurking in these seas.
04:36In 2008, in an island in the high Arctic, a fossil was dug out of the frozen earth.
04:45Its skull alone was nearly twice that of T-Rex.
04:49This was an enormous killer.
04:52A killer the like of which had never been seen before.
04:56More than 15 meters long and weighing about 45 tons, this is the most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.
05:20Twice as big as most Jurassic Ocean predators.
05:26This is Predator X, an animal that must go down in history as one of the ocean's most deadly hunters.
05:41This is Predator X, an animal that must go down in history as one of the ocean's most deadly hunters.
05:50And its prey, like Chimaurosaurus that are in its sights.
06:09that are in its sights.
06:27Skull analysis of giant killers like Predator X
06:31suggests that they hunted their prey by smell,
06:35channeling water through special internal nostrils.
06:38Allowing them to silently hone in on their target.
06:59By analyzing their anatomy,
07:01we've calculated that Predator X
07:03could move up to 5 meters per second,
07:06fractionally faster than the Chimarasaurus.
07:15The Chimarasaur's only defense
07:17is to head for the refuge of shallow water.
07:20This time, Predator X's size works against him.
07:34This time, Predator X's size works against him.
07:38Unable to hunt efficiently in shallow water
07:46means that the Chimarasaurus can use this as a refuge.
07:51A subtle advantage that makes the difference between life and death.
07:59Predator X and Chimarasaurus are just one example of a Predator-Prey relationship
08:19locked in a fight for survival.
08:21In the western states of North America is one of the richest sources of dinosaur fossils.
08:29It's known as the Morrison Formation.
08:32Recently, these rocks have given us a tantalizing glimpse of how two dinosaurs adapted together
08:37to protect themselves against another deadly predator.
08:42Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus.
08:46Fossils of these two species are almost always found in the same area.
08:52In 2008, footprints of the two were recovered from the same site.
09:02It seemed that they lived alongside one another.
09:06But why would two unrelated plant eaters live together?
09:17Stegosaurus.
09:18A heavily armored tank with a deadly weapon at the end of its tail.
09:23Known as a Thagomizer.
09:27Camptosaurus.
09:29A much smaller plant eater with no obvious defenses.
09:35Scal analysis shows that Camptosaurus has bigger eyes and relative to its body, a much
09:50bigger brain.
09:56Camptosaurus appears to be a lookout.
10:02Camptosaurus has bigger eyes.
10:05While the armored Stegosaurus provides the muscle.
10:14It's likely Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus stuck close together for mutual protection.
10:26in a world where danger is ever-present.
10:56I don't know.
11:26Grrrr!
11:56I don't know.
11:57I don't know.
12:26Allosaurus, a one and a half ton ambush hunter with a lethal bite.
12:53The world had never known a predator like it.
12:58But having lost the element of surprise, it's now faced with the prospect of either starving
13:06or facing the most well-protected giant of the Jurassic.
13:23Virtually impregnable from behind, a predator needs to try to attack the stegosaurs from
13:30the front.
13:32No!
13:41No!
13:43No!
13:50No!
14:20The evidence for encounters such as these is incredible.
14:31Fossil finds of 2005 directly linked these two great animals in battle, revealing the
14:37unmistakable signs of injury.
14:40A stegosaurus backplate was discovered with a U-shaped bite taken out of it, a bite mark
14:45that fitted the allosaurus jaws perfectly.
14:51Even more amazing was an allosaurus vertebra.
14:54It had a massive impact wound.
14:58The wound appeared to have been made by a stegosaurus thagomizer.
15:03The blow being so powerful it punched a hole in the bone of the allosaurus spine.
15:10What's more incredible is that the injured bone shows signs of healing.
15:16This allosaurus survived.
15:21The balance of power between predator and prey is a fine one.
15:26Prey continually evolve different strategies to avoid predators.
15:32Both with their bodies like stegosaurus, their behavior like camptosaurus.
15:40And in the Jurassic oceans we have evidence to suggest that plesiosaurs protected their
15:45young by finding sanctuary in shallow water nurseries.
15:51But such lagoons won't always deter a hunter.
16:16And a rising tide gives this predator a glimmer of hope.
16:45But in this shallow water, the huge predator X can't use its power.
16:52The smaller, agile chimerasaurus can easily outmaneuver the lumbering killer.
16:58However, the chimerasaurus can't permanently protect itself in this sanctuary.
17:08They need to venture into deeper water to feed.
17:11And that is where predator X has the advantage.
17:26Successful predators need to play a waiting game.
17:32Allosaurus is the most common killer in these lands.
17:45Nine meters long with a battery of saw blade-like teeth and powerful clawed forearms.
17:51Allosaurus is the most common killer in these lands.
17:52Allosaurus is a formidable hunter.
17:58It shares the plains with dozens of species of plant-eating dinosaurs.
18:17A lone camptosaurus, away from the protection of stegosaurus, should be easy pickings for a hunting allosaurus.
18:24Allosaurus teeth were serrated front and back, perfectly evolved for tearing through flesh.
18:49However, recent research has indicated that allosaurus bite was surprisingly weak.
18:56Calculations suggested its bite was less powerful than a lion's, despite being seven times more massive.
19:04So just how did this Jurassic monster hunt and kill?
19:11The answer is with an element of surprise.
19:27Canthosaurus relies on its keen senses to avoid predators.
19:48Allosaurus, on the other hand, is a fast and powerful ambush hunter.
20:02Faster than Camptosaurus.
20:18Arachlan Terrier is.
20:19The basicкол
20:35is one of the most common killer's biggest challenges.
20:38You know I have one of the most common creatures thatacker has so far as he can tackle.
20:41But then you have one of the most common creatures that have been studied.
20:47can't run fast for long.
20:56It's a question of speed versus stamina.
21:17Despite the apparent weakness of its bite, Allosaurus did in fact have a deadly killing
21:42method.
21:45Its skull could withstand a force more than 15 times as great as its bite.
21:56This meant that Allosaurus used its head like an axe, its strong neck muscles driving its
22:02top jaw into its prey.
22:05With every impact, the serrated teeth would tear through its prey's flesh, the victim dying
22:11through a combination of shock and blood loss.
22:15It isn't pretty, it isn't clinical, but it's ruthlessly efficient.
22:25However, making a kill never actually guarantees a meal.
22:31Because here Allosaurus isn't the only killer in these parts.
22:35It is the biggest carnivore in the region.
22:46And one of the advantages of being so big is that stealing another's core in the region.
22:48And one of the advantages of being so big is that stealing another's kill is that much easier.
23:06Giant predators like Saurophaganax and Allosaurus use their power and size to dominate their domain and all those within it.
23:24And the story was no different in the Jurassic oceans.
23:40These are the bones of plesiosaur.
23:44These are the bones of plesiosaur.
23:48They appear to have been broken into fragments.
23:50And many of these show indications that they didn't die of natural causes.
23:56It looks more like they were violently dismembered.
24:02One particular fossil gives us a chilling idea of how these plesiosaurs might have been killed.
24:10It consists of a skull with a few vertebrae still attached, but nothing else.
24:16All these dismembered fossils were found in deeper waters, where plesiosaurs need to feed, but where they're in the greatest danger.
24:26This animal is in the worst possible place, hunting alone at the surface, where it's most vulnerable to attack from below.
24:37In deep water, Predator X can use its full power.
25:07This plesiosaur is armed with a vicious bite, so Predator X still needs to be wary.
25:11This plesiosaur is armed with a vicious bite, so Predator X still needs to be wary.
25:23This plesiosaur is armed with a vicious bite, so Predator X will be wary.
25:43Severely wounded, now the only sanctuary is the shallow water of the nursery.
25:49This plesiosaur is armed with a vicious bite, so Predator X will be agility.
25:55This plesiosaur is a central casser.
25:58This plesiosaur is a strong target of the nearby deity.
26:01This plesiosaur is a large, Chang'an-Yator, and the ultimate power of the tree.
26:04This plesiosaur is fast.
26:06This plesiosaur is a strong target of the vast majority, so Predator X can use its own size to be able to touch the sea.
26:11This plesiosaur is increased.
26:13And the plesiosaur is made in 4-500 units of폭ies.
26:15Predator X's bite is formidable, estimated to be four times that of T-Rex.
26:45Fighting hard, it perforates the body, cutting through muscle and bone, before shaking it to pieces.
26:58It's almost certain that the bite marks on the fossil plesiosaur were made in this way.
27:08And the position of the marks also indicated the attack came from below.
27:20The never-ending battle between predators and their prey is a finely balanced one.
27:28However, for the most successful and enduring predators, the struggle to survive is always
27:35tipped in their favor.
27:43And predators like Predator X, a killer with one of the most powerful bites ever known, ruled
27:50the oceans for more than 100 million years.
28:006.30 tomorrow and we're back exploring the deadly 60 list with Steve Bakshel.
28:04Planet Dinosaur continues here on BBC HD at 6.30 next Saturday.
28:11Episode 7 w
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