Walking with Monsters

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Walking with Monsters

Genre Documentary
Developed by Andrew Wilks
Narrated by Kenneth Branagh
Theme music
Ben Bartlett
composer
Country of origin UK
Language(s) English
Production
Executive
Tim Haines
producer(s)
Producer(s) Chloe Leland
2 hr (including
Running time
commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel BBC
Original airing November 5, 2005
Chronology
Walking with Dinosaurs,
Related shows
Walking with Beasts
External links
Official website
Walking with Monsters (also distributed as Before the Dinosaurs: Walking With Monsters or
Walking with Monsters: Life before Dinosaurs) is a three-part British documentary film series about
life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles. It
is narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and by Avery Brooks in the American version. Using state-of-the-
art visual effects, this prequel to Walking with Dinosaurs shows for example how a two-ton
predatory fish came on land to hunt. The series draws on the knowledge of over 600 scientists and
shows nearly 300 million years of Paleozoic history, from the Cambrian Period (530 million years
ago) to the Early Triassic Period (248 million years ago). It was written and directed by Tim
Haines.

As with some of the other BBC specials, it was renamed in North America, where its title was
Before the Dinosaurs: Walking With Monsters. It has also aired as a two-hour special on the
Canadian and American Discovery Channel.

At the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006 it won the Emmy Award in the category Outstanding
Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More).

Contents
[hide]
 1 Episode One
 2 Episode Two
 3 Episode Three
 4 Artistic Touches
 5 Body Part Close-Ups
 6 Palaeontological inaccuracies
 7 Criticism
 8 Evolution According to the Program
 9 Notes
 10 See also

 11 References

[edit] Episode One

The first episode begins with an illustration of the giant impact hypothesis: approximately 4.4
billion years ago when the Earth was formed, it is conjectured that a planet-like object referred to as
Theia collided into the early Earth, dynamically reshaping the Earth and forming the moon. The
episode then jumps ahead to the Cambrian Explosion, showing the first diversification of life in the
sea. Strange predators called Anomalocaris feed on Trilobites, fight with each other, whereupon the
wounded loser is attacked by a school of Haikouichthys, described as the first vertebrate.

The segment moves on to the Silurian period, where Haikouichthys has evolved into the jawless-
fish Cephalaspis. The marine scorpion Brontoscorpio pursues a Cephalaspis but falls victim to the
giant eurypterid Pterygotus. Later a shoal of Cephalspis migrate into the shallows to spawn,
navigating via memory thanks to their advanced (for the time) vertebrate brains. As they cross a
shallow embankment, they are ambushed by several Brontoscorpio which are depicted as the first
animals capable of walking on land. Several fish are killed but the majority slip past the scorpions
and arrive at spawning site.

A short sequence depicts Cephalaspis evolving into Hynerpeton (erroneously bypassing the lobe-
finned fish stage), amphibian-like tetrapods. Though capable of terrestrial movement, Hynerpeton
have to remain near water to keep moist and reproduce. A lone male Hynerpeton hunting
underwater is threatened by predatory fish, at first by a Stethacanthus which is itself eaten by a two-
ton Hyneria that chases the amphibian out of the water. After seeing off a rival during the night, the
male finds a receptive female at dawn and the two mate at the waters edge. They are ambushed by
the Hyneria, which drags itself ashore to grab the fleeing male. Despite his untimely death, the
'Hynerpeton' eggs were successfully fertilized and sink into the water to develop. A sequence
depicts them acquiring hard shells as the first reptiles evolve.

530 Million Years Ago — Cambrian — the Chengjiang biota, China:

 Anomalocaris
 trilobite
 Haikouichthys
 jellyfish (live acted)

418 Million Years Ago — Silurian — South Wales, UK:

 Cephalaspis
 Brontoscorpio
 Cameroceras (identified as orthocone, revealed in encyclopedia)
 Pterygotus'
 sea urchin (live-acted)
 sponge (live-acted)

Filming Location: Devil's Postpile National Monument, California, USA

360 Million Years Ago — Devonian — Pennsylvania, USA:
 Hynerpeton
 Hyneria
 Stethacanthus (identified as shark, revealed in encyclopedia)
 Emperor scorpion (live acted)
 Cooksonia early land plant

[edit] Episode Two

The second episode shows the swampy coal forests of the Carboniferous. It explains that because of
a much higher oxygen content in the atmosphere, giant land arthropods evolved, such as a
"Mesothelae" (a member of the primitive spider suborder), Meganeura, a dragonfly and
Arthropleura,a huge millipede relative. A Mesothelae hunts down a Petrolacosaurus, the
descendant of Hynerpeton from the first episode. she comes back from her hunting expedition only
to find her burrow has flooded. Not only that, the Petrolacosaurus she caught is stolen by a
Meganeura. On the spider's search for a new burrow, she was chased by an Arthropleura, which is
later killed in a fight with a Proterogyrinus, a huge, seven-foot amphibian. The Mesothelae finally
chases a Petrolacosaurus out of its own burrow and moves in. Thunder, rain and a forest fire pours
in, devastating the life around. At last, only some animals survive...including Petrolacosaurus, who
finds the dead body of the Mesothelae (the animal was hit by lightning) and begins to feed upon the
spider's carcass.

Filming Location: Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida, USA, and some painted or
computer-generated backgrounds. A model of a fallen rotted-out Lepidodendron or
Sigillaria trunk is sometimes used as a prop.
300 Million Years Ago — Carboniferous — Kansas, USA (in a coal forest):
 Petrolacosaurus
 Mesothelae [1]
 Arthropleura
 Meganeura
 Proterogyrinus (identified as amphibian, revealed on web and in encyclopedia)
The episode then moves on to the early Permian, where the swamp-loving trees of the
Carboniferous have been replaced with more advanced conifers that are better adapted to survive in
a changing climate. Petrolacosaurus has evolved into Edaphosaurus, a pelycosaur (this is
impossible, as Petrolacosaurus was a diapsid reptile, related to modern lizards, snakes, crocodiles,
and birds, whereas Edaphosaurus was a synapsid reptile, related to modern mammals). They live in
herds and have outgrown their arthropod contemporaries in size. A gravid female Dimetrodon,
another pelycosaur, hunts down a baby Edaphosaurus, but is forced to abandon her kill when the
scent of blood attracts others of her kind. She builds a nest on a hill and is watched by an egg-
stealing Seymouria. Some time after laying her eggs, another gravid Dimetrodon tries to take over
her nest. After a long duel, the original female drives off the intruder, but is badly injured and
fatigued in the process. A male Dimetrodon approaches the now unguarded nest, but luckily kills
the thieving Seymouria and leaves the eggs unharmed. The eggs hatch and the mother's bond with
her offspring is severed. The episode ends with the wounded mother joining other adult Dimetrodon
in attacking her own young which race to the trees and hide in dung to escape. At the end the
narrator says that the reptiles evolve to tighten their grip on land, evolving into "new reptiles."

Filming Location: Inyo National Forest, California, USA

280 Million Years Ago — Early Permian — Bromacker Quarry, Thuringia, Germany:
 Dimetrodon
 Edaphosaurus
 Seymouria (identified as amphibian, revealed on web and in encyclopedia)

[edit] Episode Three

The third episode is set in the Late Permian, on the supercontinent Pangaea, which was covered by
a vast and inhospitable desert. In this arid climate, early therapsids, which are described as more
"mammal-like" than reptile, are shown fighting to survive alongside other animals. The programme
starts with an old Scutosaurus, an ancestor of turtles, being killed by a female gorgonopsid which
later joins others of her kind at a small waterhole. Other inhabitants of the area include Diictodon, a
small burrowing dicynodont. In the pool itself is a starving labyrinthodont that ambushes the female
gorgonopsid in desperation and quickly retreats. A herd of Scutosaurus arrive and eventually drink
the waterhole dry. The female gorgonopsid tries to dig out a pair of Diictodons but is unsuccessful.
Upon returning to the waterhole, she unearths the labyrinthodont wrapped in a "cocoon" which it
utilized to survive drought. In a torpid state, it is helpless and quickly killed. The gorgonopsid is
eventually killed by a sandstorm which is a foreshadowing of the oncoming Permian-Triassic
extinction event.

 Gorgonops (Identified as such in the encyclopedia.)

 Rhinesuchus (Labyrinthodont)
 Diictodon
 Scutosaurus

Diictodon is seen evolving into the larger Lystrosaurus. The Lystrosaurus multiply into vast herds
that must continually migrate in order to find fresh foliage. Also featured is the small insectivorous
Euparkeria that is depicted as an ancestor of the dinosaurs. When the lystrosaur herd traverses a
ravine, one is killed by a pack of venemous therocephalians. Encountering a river, the herd enters
the water and is attacked by numerous chasmatosaurs. Many are killed, but the majority escape and
continue their migration. The mini-episode ends when a Euparkeria is confronted by a
chasmatosaur and rapidly evolves into an Allosaurus, heralding the imminent dominance of the
dinosaurs.
 Lystrosaurus
 Euparkeria
 Therocephalian (the identity of these predators is never explicity stated)
 Chasmatosaur (Identified as Proterosuchus in the encyclopedia).
 dragonfly
 The final scenes of the Jurassic Period reuses footage of Allosaurus, Stegosaurus,
Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus from Walking with Dinosaurs and The Ballad of Big Al.