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00:17Over 66 million years ago, our world was ruled.
00:30By dinosaurs.
00:39The largest animals that have ever walked the earth.
00:50Today, dinosaur experts across the globe are uncovering the bones they left behind.
01:02Allowing us to imagine how these creatures may have lived so that we can tell their stories
01:14and they can walk again.
01:46Western Canada.
01:51Today, a majestic landscape of snow-capped peaks, turquoise lakes, and mighty rivers that
02:06erode the ancient bedrock, the perfect conditions for dinosaur hunting.
02:19Here, on the banks of Red Deer River, paleontologists from the University of Alberta are unearthing
02:29to find the final resting place of a super-predator.
02:35Oh, wow.
02:37Yeah, that's really nice.
02:39Looks like a toe cloth.
02:40Wonderful find.
02:42Albertosaurus.
02:44T-Rex's deadly cousin.
02:49These are the remains of a teenager.
02:54The teen calls her Rose.
02:58Holy cow.
03:00It keeps going.
03:03Inspired by their discoveries.
03:25In the late Cretaceous, North America is split in two by a vast inland sea.
03:36On its western shores, a sprawling expanse of dense forests and rugged coastlines.
03:47Laramidia.
03:49A land in crisis.
03:54Atmospheric changes have forced temperatures down by two degrees.
04:00A seemingly small change, but enough to push the delicate ecosystem out of balance.
04:16food is scarce.
04:22Even for an apex predator.
04:30standing two and a half meters tall and weighing in at one tonne.
04:37This is Rose.
04:40The Albertosaurus.
04:46It's been a week since she last ate.
04:54But in her sights, an Orionoceratops.
05:00An older cousin of Triceratops.
05:08A chance for Rose to satisfy her hunger.
05:25Rose might just be the fastest land predator on the planet.
05:32Sprinting at up to 30 miles an hour.
05:53But Rose has miscalculated.
05:59At two tons, her target is twice her weight.
06:04With horns almost a meter long.
06:11Rose is starving.
06:22But the risk of injury is just too great.
06:29Dinner will have to wait.
06:4571 million years later, this team of paleontologists.
06:51Hey guys, how's it going?
06:53Hey Mark, look at this.
06:55Led by Mark Powers.
06:57Is uncovering Rose's secrets.
07:00Found new bones.
07:01Oh, no way.
07:03Piece by piece.
07:05You couldn't ask for better.
07:07No.
07:07Better separation.
07:08You really couldn't.
07:09Each day, more remains emerge from the ground.
07:13Oh, my God.
07:16Yep.
07:16Clean it off.
07:17There it is.
07:18Yes.
07:20Today's discovery, Rose's leg bones.
07:24Oh, that's so cool.
07:31Each fossil is exposed and restored.
07:35Allowing the team to delve deeper into the story of this long lost super predator.
07:42This is looking really good.
07:45Mark works with limb specialist Christiana Garros to examine the bones from Rose's shin.
07:53The tibia is not actually that huge compared to some of the bigger ones I've seen at least.
07:59Albertosaurus is an older relative of Tyrannosaurus rex.
08:04About 79 centimetres.
08:06Okay.
08:06Something like that.
08:07But it's becoming clear she was a very different beast to her more famous cousin.
08:12So long limbs, but the ones of T-Rex are quite a bit bulkier, aren't they?
08:17Absolutely.
08:18Rose kind of really embodies what Albertosaurus is.
08:21It's a very legsy animal, especially compared to things like T-Rex, which was incredibly huge, incredibly chunky.
08:27Quick, fast, dangerous, still has powerful jaws.
08:31Maybe the optimal amount of scary for my taste, that's for sure.
08:35Absolutely.
08:37But speed was far from the only weapon in the Albertosaurus arsenal.
08:48More bones are coming out of the ground.
08:51Oh, that's bone.
08:53But these don't belong to Rose.
08:55It does look like a bone from one of the digits.
08:58That's definitely Albertosaurus, right?
09:00Yeah, absolutely.
09:01And each bone seems to come from a different sized Albertosaurus.
09:05This is a huge one.
09:07Oh, yeah.
09:10I've got one.
09:11I took this one too.
09:13Dinosaur hunters have discovered as many as 26 individuals buried here.
09:20To try and say any piece belongs to any one individual is kind of tough to do, because there were
09:25so many of them.
09:27It was clearly a mass grave of Albertosaurus, where many individuals died together in this spot.
09:35And if they died together, they likely lived together too.
10:05In the cave, Rose calls home.
10:09She's far from alone.
10:23She's far from alone.
10:24Albertosaurus are social animals.
10:31They live and hunt together, forming strong, intimate bonds.
10:48Rose has paired with this male Albertosaurus the same age.
10:58A source of comfort in times of scarcity.
11:06It's been over a week since the Albertosaurus last made a kill.
11:13And starvation isn't the only threat hanging over Rose.
11:27The matriarch.
11:33Wracked with intense hunger, she could turn on her own.
11:45And Rose is bottom of the pecking order.
12:04If she hopes to survive, she'll have to prove herself when it matters most.
12:18It's time to go hunting.
12:37Ready?
12:39Let's go.
12:46Mark's teamed up with dinosaur anatomy specialist Henry Sharp.
12:56They're venturing further up Red Deer River, on the hunt for more giants.
13:03There's some wonderful prospector rocks up there.
13:20They reach an ancient river system, dating from the same time period as Rose.
13:29And the first clue.
13:31We've got a rib here.
13:33To what might have fed the Albertosaurus pack.
13:37Given its cross section and its size, maybe Edmontosaurus?
13:41I'd say Edmontosaurus, yeah.
13:46Edmontosaurus, a plant-eating duckbill dinosaur.
13:53Edmontosaurus can get up to 30 feet long.
13:5510 meters near.
13:57Geez.
13:58Yeah.
13:58These things were huge.
14:03But a single Edmontosaurus wouldn't feed a hungry pack of Albertosaurus for long.
14:12Holy cow.
14:16Oh my god.
14:18At the top of an escarpment.
14:21Look at the size of these honkers.
14:24More fossils.
14:27Not bone, but footprints.
14:32You can see they've got the big front toe and the two toes on the side.
14:36It's much wider than it is long, which is classic Edmontosaurus duckbill dinosaur.
14:44From the pattern of these prints, it looks as though these trackways couldn't have been made by a single creature.
14:51Probably got about 16, 17 tracks exposed here.
14:57Today, there are just a few footprints.
15:00But when they were created, there would have been many, many more.
15:04People.
15:05We have lots of footprints from various different individuals, various different ages, all congregating
15:11together.
15:11So they definitely moved in herds, lived in herds.
15:15Yeah.
15:15Can you imagine like herds of wildebeests?
15:17And these animals were the size of one to two elephants.
15:22These fossilised footsteps suggest this corner of Canada, once played host.
15:33To one of the most remarkable sights in Earth's history.
15:47A migrating Edmontosaurus herb.
15:56Thousands of plant-eating dinosaurs.
16:00Moving as one.
16:09But an individual adult Edmontosaurus can be three times the weight of even the largest Albertosaurus.
16:40working as a pack is the only way to take down such colossal prey.
16:58Higher ground will provide the perfect vantage point to mount an attack.
17:12At this time of year, this area should be teeming with Edmontosaurus.
17:25But the herds are nowhere to be seen.
17:49This is a time of intense geological upheaval.
17:53This is a time of intense geological upheaval.
17:58This is a time of intense geological upheaval.
17:59As the continents move, the land buckles and splits.
18:10Lava and ash engulf the landscape.
18:26Forcing this Edmontosaurus herd to take a much longer route north this year.
18:45They're still many miles away from the starving Albertosaurus.
18:59For the pack, the delay spells disaster.
19:08But on the horizon, Rose spots an opportunity.
19:30From the wind-carved rocks by Rose's dig site, paleontologist Colton Coppock has made an important
19:37discovery.
19:46Tiny fragments of finger bone belonging to one of the most bizarre creatures of the Cretaceous.
19:52And then here's the condyle.
19:54What?
19:55So it looks like it might be from a digit.
19:56Here's a condyle?
19:57Yeah.
19:58Including a rare condyle, part of the knuckle joint.
20:02Very nice.
20:03I'm afraid to touch it in the field here.
20:06Yeah.
20:06It's just so small and so delicate.
20:08Yeah.
20:09You can see the internal structure of the bone right there.
20:13The fossil's paper-thin exterior tells Mark this bone was built for flying.
20:20But this was no bird.
20:22Even in birds, the bone is usually a lot thicker on the outer surface.
20:26It's very strange.
20:29It can only belong to one creature.
20:35A colossal flying reptile with a six-metre wingspan.
20:46A giant pterosaur.
20:56They feed on an enormous ammonite washed up on the spring tide.
21:16The cryodraken would make a fine meal for Rose and her mate.
21:23If they can catch one.
21:25the moody's wake up on the back.
21:31What?
21:41Approaching from downwind and with a pterosaur's attention on the other knee,
21:46the youngsters close in.
21:49Let's go.
22:33At last, a chance to feed.
22:52But the pair's absence from the pack hasn't gone unnoticed.
23:16Life in an Albertosaurus pack was fraught with brutality.
23:23And 71 million years later, this violence is still written in the bones.
23:33Mark and anatomist Dr. Greg Funston examined the jaw bones of one of the largest Albertosaurus ever discovered.
23:41We do actually get a few scars along here and they're kind of evenly spaced.
23:46Some are raised and some are deep gouges.
23:49Could these be bite marks?
23:52An astonishing 65% of Albertosaurus skulls found here have teeth marks scratched into the bone itself.
24:02Near your finger there's a little gouge on that one too.
24:06Look at that.
24:07That's deep.
24:08Yeah.
24:09It actually looks like the tooth came down from over the top.
24:12It would have required tremendous amount of force from this diving angle to actually remove that piece of bone.
24:25It's the biggest predator in its ecosystem and it's still getting beaten up day to day.
24:31They're maybe tussling for food like you see on this advantage today where lions will eat in a certain order.
24:38You got two hungry Albertosaurus.
24:41One of them is going to want to eat first.
24:43Only one can.
25:07Hello.
25:18Now, remember, in the sight ofcs, Crusaders tied their brain.
25:19As pack leader...
25:22...the matriarch is eyeing up the youngsters killing.
25:32Rose is determined to defend her prizes.
25:42but the matriarch leaves her in no doubt who's in charge
26:16Hungry and badly wounded, Rose has learnt a painful lesson
26:26She'll have to play by the rules if she wants to survive
26:39But the evidence coming out of the ground suggests not all of the Albertosaurus behaviour was violent
26:51Mark and Henry examine one of the most intriguing discoveries
26:57Rose's tiny fossilised arm bones
27:02We've got the upper arm here and the forearm down there
27:06And up here, this is the hand, right?
27:09This is like the palm of the hand
27:12Nobody's quite sure what Albertosaurus used its miniscule arms for
27:17But the strange positioning has given Mark an idea
27:21It's quite possible the resting position of the arm was to have a more flared finger
27:25He's sticking outwards rather than, you know, kind of down by the side like a chicken wing
27:29So this was my arm, it would kind of be flared out like that?
27:32Yeah, you'd be kind of doing one of these things
27:34Oh, almost jazz hands
27:35Yeah, exactly
27:36So Albertosaurus is clearly using its arms for something
27:40I mean, modern birds have a wide variety of mating displays and behaviours
27:44Yeah
27:46Mark believes these seemingly useless arms may have been vital tools for bonding
27:53So if you're gonna live in a group, you gotta have ways of communicating with one another
27:56That go beyond just, you know, grunting and staring at each other
27:59So maybe they're using their hands side by side on the flank
28:02Reassuring one another
28:04Telling each other it's gonna be okay, it's fine
28:06A morale boost
28:07Yeah, exactly
28:08It's gonna be well
28:36It's fine
28:37It's going to be well
28:37It's gonna be well
28:37It's going to be then
28:40Starving, shaken and badly wounded, Rose needs comfort.
29:00The young Albertosaurus take time out together to groom, a soothing ritual.
29:19That strengthens their bond.
29:56As a new day dawns, the pack's luck may be about to change.
30:16The Edmontosaurus have finally made it to their summer feeding ground.
30:32Not a moment too soon for the starving Albertosaurus.
30:41And despite their young age, Rose, her mate and the other youngsters will play a crucial role in the hunt.
30:52The fate of the whole pack depends on them.
31:07Close to Rose's dig site, a remarkable new fossil is emerging.
31:14Wow.
31:19Very cool.
31:24An Edmontosaurus jawbone.
31:26Maybe this is the dentry going in here?
31:29That could be the back part, yeah.
31:32But this fossil holds another secret.
31:34What do we got up here?
31:38That looks like enamel.
31:41Look here.
31:43Serrations.
31:45That's incredible.
31:48This is no Edmontosaurus tooth.
31:52This came from a meat-eater.
31:57Albertosaurus tooth.
31:59I think you're right.
32:01And since we don't have much of the root, it was probably lost during feeding.
32:06That is an awesome find.
32:10It's clear evidence that the Albertosaurus pack did feast on Edmontosaurus.
32:19But it doesn't help explain how they brought down such enormous prey.
32:25And what role Rose might have played in the hunt.
32:38These are Rose's metatarsals from the right leg.
32:42They're quite narrow and compact for an animal that people usually envision as being huge, huh?
32:50Mark and Christiana investigate Rose's foot bones.
32:55They get a heck of a lot bigger.
32:59Comparing them with the outer foot bones of a fully grown adult.
33:04While they're similar in length, they're a very different thickness.
33:08So we can see this one is only about three and a half centimeters in width.
33:14Whereas we look at this one, we have almost double that.
33:18So it's about six centimeters in width.
33:21Absolutely a beast.
33:22And the same thing can be said about the other metatarsal.
33:26Rose was almost as tall as the largest Albertosaurus, but just half the weight.
33:32She was definitely going to be much more agile and quick than these big individuals,
33:37which probably had a lot more difficulty picking up speed.
33:43Large Albertosaurus were unlikely to reach high speeds due to their enormous weight.
33:52meaning Rose and the other youngsters must take on the most dangerous of jobs.
34:17Rose and her mate split off from the pack.
34:25As the swiftest runners, they must identify a target.
34:34And separate it from the herd.
34:44But they're a fraction of the weight of the largest Edmontosaurus.
34:58Impulsive and inexperienced, Rose's mate blindly charges into the herd.
35:12Trying to take down one of these enormous creatures alone.
35:29Trying to take down one of these enormous creatures alone.
35:30You can't move.
35:31Go.
35:46Go.
35:48Go.
35:50Go.
35:56Go.
35:58Go.
35:59Go You.
36:00Go.
36:00Go.
36:00Go.
36:00And each failed hunt brings her and the rest of the pack closer to starvation.
36:30But Albertosaurus were successful, even in times of adversity.
36:36They were the dominant predator in Western Canada for over three million years.
36:45At Rose's dig site, part of the reason behind their success might be emerging.
36:55This bit right here.
36:57An unassuming fragment of bone.
37:00Well, it looks interesting.
37:02I thought it was a rock, actually.
37:04But it's got a pretty interesting texture that looks like Albertosaurus.
37:08And this roughened area looks to me like the border of an eye socket.
37:14Is this a part of Rose's skull?
37:20If that is part of the skull, it's probably an indication that the skull is in several pieces at least.
37:24So we'll have to keep our eyes out for any loose skull bones that might be scattered about amongst the
37:29site.
37:38Whoa!
37:39It's Rose's ghost!
37:47The team estimates Rose's skull would have been about two-thirds of a meter long.
37:53Big, but not big enough to take down huge prey like Edmontosaurus.
37:59But maybe she didn't have to.
38:02Mark and Colton re-examine the jaw bones of one of the largest Albertosaurus.
38:07Just look how big and robust this jaw is.
38:10It's absolutely crazy.
38:12There's quite a few tooth sockets on this side.
38:16It's the final piece of the puzzle.
38:19Revealing the pack's sophisticated hunting strategy.
38:22All together, 68 teeth in the jaw.
38:26Lots of points of entry into the body.
38:29So basically instead of using the arms to grapple with prey, it's all about the head.
38:35These jaws were built to apply brutal force.
38:40A bite force that's probably upwards of several tons.
38:43There's not much that can protect itself from that once they have their eyes on you.
38:48Yeah.
38:50Rose's speed and the bite force of these bigger animals make for a deadly combination.
39:00You could say that Rose was the runner and this was the muscle.
39:03When Rose got the animals out on her own,
39:06a big predator like this probably would have come out and just finished the job.
39:29Rose may have lost her mate, but she must now work with the other youngsters to find the easiest target.
39:40But with one failed hunt already, the pressure is on.
39:45That was true, she has kept up for two killers.
39:47Don't do so.
39:50Don't do that, is he?
40:08Mistική Spawner pro-放Meet
40:12legs. The Edmontosaurus are too powerful. But Rose bides her time. Until she spots an
40:28older individual. One that might be weaker than the others.
41:01Rose can't take this Edmontosaurus down alone. But she can steer her prey.
41:13Right towards the killing jaws of the Matriarch.
41:23But there's still fight in this old bull.
41:50Rose has played her part to perfection.
41:55Finally, the pack can feed.
42:08And this time...
42:13Rose gets her shade of the spoilers.
42:38All right, who's ready to jack it? Coming your way.
42:45The team is eager to get their finds back to the lab. To learn more about this extraordinary
42:51creature. They carefully wrap their discoveries in protective plaster.
42:57Sorry, everyone in the vicinity is going to receive plaster on their clothes and body, so...
43:12They flip them, ready for transport back to base.
43:27Watch your feet, watch your feet.
43:31But some of Rose's remains are too heavy to carry down the hillside.
43:36So Marcus called in a little help.
43:42Love that sound.
43:46Hold on to your hats.
43:53One false move, and all the team's work would be destroyed.
44:03With ropes attached.
44:10Rose soars through the air.
44:34But these ancient lands hold one final surprise for the dino hunters.
44:41What do you got there, champ?
44:44Colton has made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.
44:47What?
44:48Wait.
44:49Hold on.
44:50That's a...
44:51What?
44:52Whoa.
44:53A tiny jawbone.
45:00What's this a jaw?
45:02It's an Albertosaurus.
45:04It's so tiny.
45:06This is a baby Albertosaurus.
45:09Oh, that's beautiful.
45:11It's like a baby.
45:12Yeah, probably only about a year old.
45:14I think this is the youngest individual we have.
45:17Yeah.
45:18I mean, I had to put it down for a sec to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.
45:25Just scratch it like a puppy?
45:27Yeah.
45:28It's more evidence of the success of the Albertosaurus.
45:37And maybe the baby belonged to one of the pack females.
45:45Perhaps even Rose herself.
46:01As to how Rose died, we may never know.
46:05It's show and tell time.
46:07Yeah.
46:08Causes of death rarely fossilize.
46:13So cute.
46:14That's awesome.
46:15Wow, the comparison really pulled it together.
46:17Yeah, yeah.
46:18It's not even as long as the two.
46:20Oh, my God.
46:21Wow.
46:30And though her death is a mystery, now at least we can tell the story of how she may have
46:40lived.
46:51Rose, the young Albertosaurus, earned her rightful place hunting and surviving with her pack by her side.
47:30Next time, a toddler makes a perilous journey joining one of the largest dinosaur herds that ever lived in it's
47:45fight for survival.
47:47Oh, my God.
48:17Oh, my God.
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