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00:16Over 66 million years ago, our world was ruled.
00:30By dinosaurs.
00:38The largest animals that have ever walked the earth.
00:49Today, dinosaur experts across the globe are uncovering the bones they left behind.
01:00Allowing us to imagine how these extraordinary creatures may have lived.
01:10So that we can tell their stories.
01:16And they can walk again.
01:23And they can walk again.
01:24And they can walk again.
01:35And they can walk again.
02:05And there are some stories to tell.
02:14This is dinosaur country.
02:25Here, a team from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
02:29is excavating an iconic species,
02:34a triceratops.
02:36Oh, sweet.
02:39But this is no ancient giant.
02:42But it's really small, very young individual.
02:47Got a nice baby drake.
02:51A phenomenal find.
02:53The team calls her clover.
03:01Studying her bones,
03:03we can begin to imagine her world
03:09and tell her story
03:13for the first time.
03:39At the end of the Cretaceous,
03:41North America is a vast expanse of green.
03:53Where Montana is today, there is a lush landscape of sprawling subtropical forests, criss-crossed by waterways.
04:06This is Laramidia.
04:11Home to prehistoric giants.
04:18And the occasional not-so-giant.
04:30Meet Clover, the Triceratops.
04:38Barely half a meter tall, she's the size of a large dog.
05:07Despite her size, Clover roams the jungle alone.
05:21These strange white objects mean one thing.
05:28Playtime.
05:28Playtime.
05:40But curiosity can be a dangerous thing.
05:46When you're living in a land of monsters.
06:10Clover is rare.
06:15The vast majority of Triceratops fossils discovered are from adults.
06:23Clover's remains are a chance to uncover the story of a youngster.
06:31A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for team leader Eric Lund.
06:38Check out these teeth.
06:40Oh, wow.
06:42Clover's tiny jawbone has been painstakingly reconstructed by fossil restorer Nicky Simon.
06:48Isn't she gorgeous?
06:50She is gorgeous.
06:51It's beautiful.
06:53Don't often find upper jaws this complete, alone with all the teeth in them.
07:00No wear on them.
07:02The teeth's edges, for slicing through plant material, are still razor sharp.
07:08Check them out.
07:09Sure.
07:12Oh, yeah.
07:16These have barely been used.
07:19They almost look carnivorous.
07:22The teeth are a clue to Clover's young age.
07:26Look at how small this upper arm bone is.
07:31Yeah?
07:32Let's see.
07:33By measuring Clover's arm bone.
07:35Well over a foot.
07:37That's 34 centimeters.
07:39They can more accurately estimate how old she was.
07:42She must have only been about three years old.
07:46Which means she was just a baby.
07:55A baby.
07:57Buried all alone.
08:01Seems to be by herself.
08:02Haven't found any adult bones in this quarry.
08:05Without the herd.
08:06Without a mother.
08:08Very vulnerable.
08:13We'll never know why Clover was alone.
08:19What we do know.
08:21Is that in the late Cretaceous.
08:25Young solitary dinosaurs.
08:27Don't last long.
08:55An Inferno Draken.
08:56An Inferno Draken.
08:58A giant pterosaur common at the end of the Cretaceous.
09:04With a five meter wingspan.
09:06It tries to intimidate Clover.
09:13And then.
09:15There's the razor sharp beak.
09:20But Clover.
09:22Is nimble.
09:39And this mother.
09:41Just wants her egg back.
09:47no.
09:59This time.
10:00The little Triceratops was lucky.
10:07But danger.
10:09lurks everywhere.
10:14and it gets much, much bigger.
10:36A mile from Clover's dig site, more fossilised remains are emerging.
10:49We've got a bone over here that's very thin, very slender, very long.
10:56This looks like one of the processes off of the tail vertebrae and it helps lock the tail
11:02into a much more rigid structure.
11:06These thin bones may once have formed part of a thick muscular tail six metres long, but
11:14this was no triceratops.
11:17This is sort of a meat-eating dinosaur feature.
11:26Paleontologist, Ellis Mulready, holds the final clue.
11:32It's a little bit beat up.
11:37It's a really thick tooth designed for crushing bones.
11:41It's got those kind of drawn-together serrations.
11:44You can still feel them.
11:46I would love to meet the creature that had this tooth, but it would be a bit scary.
11:57It's a tooth that can only belong to one animal.
12:02It's a tooth that can only belong to one animal.
12:20Standing four metres tall and weighing in at eight tonnes.
12:33Tyrannosaurus rex.
12:46With one-and-a-half-metre-long jaws, the Earth's most infamous predator could swallow clover whole.
12:59Fortunately, the hunter's focus is elsewhere.
13:11Padded feet act like shock absorbers, keeping its approach quiet.
13:34For T-Rex, a light snack.
13:48For Clover, a terrifying first encounter.
13:57And it won't be her last.
14:04Up to 20,000 T-Rex roam Laramidia.
14:11To survive, Clover needs protection.
14:16And fast.
14:21Ready?
14:23Ready.
14:25In the search for more clues, Eric and evolutionary ecologist John Kniepe are heading deeper into the wilderness.
14:36You asked me about snakes earlier.
14:38Oh, yeah.
14:39There was just a baby rattler in the bottom there.
14:44They want to understand who was sharing the forest with Clover.
14:50All right, I'm ready when you are.
15:01It's obvious from the evidence on the ground...
15:03A little bit of bone here coming out.
15:06...that Clover's world was teeming with other dinosaurs.
15:09Some bigger pieces.
15:11Pretty busted up.
15:13That one's got a bit more surface.
15:16One familiar species is turning up more than any other.
15:22Most of them belong to Triceratops.
15:26Triceratops once dominated this area.
15:30They've been sitting on the surface a really long time.
15:35They're pretty weathered.
15:54One fossil shows why Triceratops was so successful.
16:01It's like a big brow horn.
16:10Oh, man.
16:11It's a bit busted up.
16:13You can still see where all the blood vessels would be, even on the horn.
16:17Yeah.
16:18In life, this horn would have been over a metre long.
16:22And behind it, a protective bony shield almost two metres wide.
16:28Here was a creature seemingly custom-built for fighting off large predators.
16:34Got these big horns on the front of your face.
16:36Wave them around.
16:37Maybe make a T-Rex sink twice before attacking you.
16:52Triceratops' formidable defences made it one of the most successful dinosaur species of its day.
17:00Meaning an adult Triceratops would be the perfect protector for clover.
17:24This old bull will do nicely.
18:08But there's a problem.
18:13Who needs a troublesome youngster following you around?
18:34As another day ends, clover is still alone.
18:42And darkness is setting in.
18:53Eric thinks clover may have had good reason to fear the night time most of all.
19:07Back at base camp, he uses a scan of a T-Rex skull.
19:11To print a 3D model.
19:15Of the killer's brain cavity.
19:29This is the endocast of a T-Rex.
19:35For an animal that has a head a metre and a half long.
19:38Not a real big brain.
19:40A dinosaur's not doing calculus.
19:42But it was enough to do what the animal needed to do.
19:45It was very successful.
19:46Right.
19:47It just needs to process the information.
19:48It's got a lot of sensory input.
19:52Though small compared to a human's, this brain is fine-tuned for hunting.
19:59We've got these really big olfactory bulbs in the front.
20:03That's for smell.
20:06T-Rex probably had one of the most sensitive noses of any dinosaur.
20:11It's probably picking up on minuscule parts per million.
20:15And it wasn't just the killer's sense of smell that was supercharged.
20:20Here in the middle would be the part of the brain that controls vision.
20:25T-Rex does.
20:26Really big eyes, just like an owl, that take in a lot of light.
20:31These incredible senses likely made T-Rex a lethal nocturnal hunter.
20:57As darkness descends, it's time to begin the hunt.
21:14Locking on to a tell-tale scent.
21:25It seems that supper is nearby.
21:31whilst most creatures have sought safe places to sleep clover is awake she must bulk up by a ton
21:42each year to reach full size so feeds often through the night in the darkness she sees little
21:57the t-rex sees her perfectly
22:29so
22:36so
22:37so
22:38so
22:39so
22:39so
22:47so
23:04Saved by her size.
23:33Luck seems to be on Clover's side.
23:43She's survived a close encounter with T-Rex.
23:49And from the sound of things, a new ally may be close at hand.
24:17In the search for more giants, the team is putting to the test the very latest fossil
24:22hunting techniques, a 66-million-year-old treasure hunt using 21st century technology.
24:33If we fly out towards those Badlands, that would be a great spot.
24:40The gyros stabilize.
24:42Eric's teamed up with paleontologists Thomas Kaye and Dr. Michael Pittman.
24:50Ready to launch.
24:58Their prototype laser drone scans the ground with UV light, searching for the telltale glow
25:07of minerals within ancient fossils to create a treasure map of prehistoric remains.
25:20You see here, we've got some specs, maybe the size of a tennis ball.
25:25Interesting, but, you know, we want the big stuff.
25:29It's early days for the technology, and it has limitations.
25:36But one spot on the ground…
25:38Bang!
25:39Look at that.
25:39…is glowing brightly.
25:41So that must be a really big piece.
25:43Yeah, that's big.
25:53As dawn breaks, Eric and Nicky head into the Badlands to see this enormous fossil.
26:05Look how big it is!
26:09It's the lower leg bone of a truly colossal dinosaur.
26:15Seems to have been sitting out on the surface for quite some time.
26:19This is a big bone.
26:21And this animal would have been, you know, maybe around six, seven metres long.
26:29But this is no Triceratops.
26:32It's not a T-Rex, either.
26:41Echoing through towering trees.
26:53The calls of perhaps the strangest dinosaurs who roam here.
27:09Edmontosaurs.
27:16Herd animals known as the cows of the Cretaceous.
27:26Weighing over six tonnes, these social creatures tolerate Clover.
27:35As a fellow plant-eater, she's no threat to them.
27:48The herd could give Clover the protection she needs.
28:02And it's not just safety they offer.
28:06A playmate.
28:08A playmate.
28:32A playmate.
28:34A playmate.
28:35A playmate.
28:35A playmate.
28:53A playmate.
28:57In amongst these giants.
29:05Clover can begin to feel safe, but danger is never far away.
29:3066 million years ago, T-Rex ruled over these lands, the apex predator for over 2 million
29:41years.
29:42As it rolls over, just get your hands under it.
29:46The team wants to discover how this fearsome hunter took down its prey.
29:53Inside this protective plaster coat is the predator's leg bone.
29:58Eric thinks there might be more underneath.
30:01One, two, three.
30:06Protruding from the rock.
30:08That's a bone.
30:09One of the giant's vertebrae.
30:12Beautiful preservation.
30:14It was a big, big animal.
30:17It allows Eric to estimate more accurately T-Rex's full size.
30:23On the order of 30 feet, maybe more, 10 meters, something like that.
30:31They wrap their discoveries in a protective plaster jacket.
30:40It's just a tiny fraction of T-Rex's skeleton.
30:44But it's enormous.
30:48This jacket's probably about 150 kilograms, 200, 300 pounds.
30:55They're just so huge.
30:57Alive, adult T-Rex weighed over 8 tons.
31:03But this enormous weight may actually have been a hindrance.
31:08Certainly not the 40-mile-an-hour jeep-chasing animal of Jurassic Park.
31:13Their physiology just wouldn't allow them to run that fast.
31:16Probably speed walker.
31:19T-Rex probably couldn't run for fear of breaking its own legs.
31:25With a top speed of just 15 or 20 miles an hour.
31:32Not exactly slow, but a fast human could out-sprint one.
31:36I think you could.
31:38I think I'm going to take a sharp turn and he's going to have a hard time following me.
31:44Link, we only just got to be faster than him.
31:49Maybe I'm a little overconfident.
32:00So adult T-Rex weren't sprinting after their prey.
32:10This killer relied on another tactic.
32:16The element of surprise.
32:21As Clover and the Edmontosaurs sleep soundly, T-Rex approaches slowly from downwind.
32:52But it's not easy being stealthy when you're the size of a bus.
33:20The Edmontosaurs form a defensive line.
33:28Rearing up on their hind legs to appear as big as possible.
33:35But holding your nerve isn't easy.
33:51And it only takes one of the herd to panic.
34:03The second human being stealthy is so easy to get in.
34:05Let me know.
34:05Then you have to open your view up in the middle.
34:06Ine.
34:23The other soldier is called into flight.
34:27A lucky escape for Clover, not for her new friend.
34:41With the adult Edmontosaurs on the move, Clover is alone once more.
35:08Survival was a game of chance in the late Cretaceous, and the odds were stacked against young dinosaurs
35:14like Clover.
35:19The team has tracked down a remarkable fossil with a chilling tale to tell.
35:25That's the weirdest baby bundle ever.
35:29It may look like a nondescript lump of rock, but its shape and texture tell the experts
35:35this is a coprolite, fossilized feces.
35:41Eric works with fossil restorer Aubrey Knowles to examine this prehistoric poo.
35:53This is a massive turd.
35:58Most coprolites can't be attributed to any specific species.
36:03But bone fragments within the dino dung reveal this was the waste product of a meat eater.
36:11And then, there's the matter of size.
36:16So, we're at 15.7 centimeters across, or 6.2 inches.
36:23That's a wide cloaca.
36:24That is a very wide bum hole.
36:28The only large-bodied carnivorous dinosaur that could have possibly dropped this would be a T-Rex.
36:36So, very, very cool.
36:39It's an astonishing fossil.
36:42The excrement of the most notorious predator in history.
36:47It's interesting how many bones there are preserved in the dropping.
36:53By examining coprolites, it's even possible to identify the killer's victims.
37:00T-Rex feces have been found to contain bones that are small and smooth.
37:06That speaks to a more juvenile or young prey.
37:11The bones of babies.
37:13Baby dinosaurs would be very vulnerable.
37:16Bite-sized.
37:18My energy is precious.
37:20Go after easy prey.
37:24Needing a quarter of a ton of meat a week to sustain their enormous bulk.
37:30Baby dinosaurs like clover were a common meal for T-Rex.
37:37Nothing is off the menu.
37:44To be continued.
37:44To be continued.
37:45To be continued.
38:07To be continued.
38:08Naive.
38:09Naive.
38:10Defenseless.
38:11And small enough to swallow whole.
38:15Clover would make an excellent snack.
38:43With nowhere to hide.
38:46It's a good time to bump into an old acquaintance.
39:20Few creatures can challenge T-Rex, but a full-grown Triceratops might be the only animal that
39:27doesn't need to turn and run.
39:39Who wins in a fight? Triceratops or T-Rex?
39:47The two giants were locked in an evolutionary arms race, adapted to battle each other.
39:56But Eric thinks Triceratops may have had a surprising trump card.
40:04This fossilized fragment was once part of the huge frill extending from the back of the skull,
40:11but it wasn't solid bone.
40:16All these vascular channels on the surface, all these pits and grooves that are in it,
40:22go all over the surface of the frill.
40:27This surface was covered in a lot of blood vessels.
40:32The blood flow suggests to Eric a Triceratops frill was more than just a shield.
40:40The idea is that it could change the color pattern of their frill, flash these different colors.
40:48Pushing all this blood up into its frill, this would be a great way to send a message.
40:53That would have been really intimidating.
41:04The giants are evenly matched.
41:20Each weighs over eight tons.
41:26Each with fearsome weaponry.
41:32But Triceratops plays his trump card.
41:42Flushing blood into his frill creates huge colorful eye spots.
41:50They make Triceratops seem even bigger.
42:16But T-Rex isn't Apex Predator for nothing.
42:20If it's your fault, like you should look at the previous coin,
42:24You don't have to avoid it.
42:25You don't have to leave skirm at you.
42:33You don't have to leave.
42:34Arran.
42:36I'll need that.
42:40Not to leave.
42:45It's not to leave.
42:55Stalemate.
43:04But for T-Rex, there's still an easier meal.
43:08Close by.
43:41Most young dinosaurs never made it to adulthood, and clover was no exception.
43:54But as the dig season draws to a close, her exact cause of death is still unknown.
44:04You know, we're not sure how baby clover died.
44:08In digging her bones up, we haven't found any evidence of predation.
44:14There doesn't seem to be any injuries, no bite marks, things like that.
44:19Up to this point, it remains a mystery.
44:24Got it.
44:25All right.
44:34But we do know one thing.
44:38If clover had died as a meal for T-Rex, there probably wouldn't be any remains at all.
45:02For clover, it seems as if time has run out.
45:08But she still has one advantage.
45:12Her size.
45:20With T-Rex distracted.
45:27A moment of surprise.
45:30A moment of surprise.
45:31A moment of surprise.
45:35Oh, my God.
46:06Clover has survived her encounter with history's most infamous killer.
46:18For now, she's safe.
46:54And while this old bull may not seek the company of the youngster,
47:02Clover's not giving up just yet.
47:31We're going soon on Walking with Dinosaurs.
47:38We take the plunge in the most dangerous river in Earth's history.
47:52Join the smallest member of the biggest herd on an epic journey.
48:02Get up close with the deadliest pack of predators.
48:11Follow an island giant looking for love.
48:17And meet the band of brothers on the run from a ferocious and cunning adversary.
48:29I'm happy.
48:29So...
48:29Ha!
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