The Last Day of the Dinosaurs
Encyclopedia
Last Day of the Dinosaurs is a 2010 Discovery Channel
television documentary about the extinction of the dinosaurs. It portrays the Alvarez hypothesis
as the cause of extinction.
were reused for this program. The Parasaurolophus
model was used for Charonosaurus even though the legs of Charonosaurus were shorter than those of Parasaurolophus. The Deinonychus
model was used for Saurornithoides (rather inaccurately, as Saurornithoides was slenderer than Deinonychus), and the Sauroposeidon
model was used for Alamosaurus. The same Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Quetzalcoatlus models were also used. These models were placed upon different backdrops most of the time than those used in Clash of the Dinosaurs.
of North America
, a Quetzalcoatlus
is flying above the landscape, looking for food. It finds a nest of Tyrannosaurus
babies that are just hatching. The Quetzalcoatlus eats several of the eggs and chicks, but is forced to flee when the angry father Tyrannosaurus appears and starts fighting it. The Quetzalcoatlus' huge wingspan makes it harder for it to get off the ground. As it finally does, the T. rex manages to bite off the pterosaur's foot. The father T. rex finds that only one chick has survived.
Meanwhile, an 6 mile wide asteroid is speeding toward Earth. The asteroid is a fragment from the collision of two asteroids 165 million years ago.
In the Pacific Northwest, two male Triceratops
fight for mating rights. One of them wins and the loser walks away. Suddenly, two T. rex attack and kill the Triceratops that lost.
In what is today central Mexico
, an enormous herd of Alamosaurus is roaming the plains in search of food. Meanwhile, the asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. Burning brighter than a million suns, the scorching asteroid emits scorching light that blinds many of the Alamosaurus.
Then the asteroid hits the Earth at a 30-degree angle in the Gulf of Mexico
, near the Yucatan Peninsula
. In a fraction of a second, it disintegrates into the planet, creating a massive explosion and sending debris flying into the air. The explosion heats the air temperature near the crash site to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the Alamosaurus are killed off from the searing heat of the explosion, a 11.5 earthquake, and finally a blast pulse, save for a few Alamosaurus eggs buried deep underground.
12,000 kilometers away from the point of impact in Mongolia
a herd of Charonosaurus
is drinking at a watering hole. A Saurornithoides
steals an egg, but is seen by the mother. It runs into a cave where a second Saurornithoides is located. The two predators attack the Charonosaurus and manage to kill it.
The 11.5 magnitude hits British Columbia, driving animals to flee from the valley. Two Triceratops finally escape the earthquakes, but are then killed by an ejecta cloud, a cloud of that was thrown up into the air by the asteroid's impact. The ejecta cloud has spread to the Pacific Northwest from the Gulf of Mexico and threatens to in-circulate the entire planet in ash. A mating pair of Quetzalcoatlus try flying away, but the raining pieces of flaming debris starts raining down kills the male and injures female, forcing it to land.
In Mongolia, the ejecta cloud causes the temperature to become hotter. As the air temperature starts climbing up to over 200 degrees Celsius, the Charonosaurus and Saurornithoides run inside the cave for shelter.
Back in the Pacific Northwest, fires, caused by the soaring temperatures and flaming debris, burn across the forest floor at 9 miles per hour. The female Quetzalcoatlus manages to take off despite her tattered wing. Smaller animals are able to hide underground but the larger animals are forced to flee from the fire, which has turned the valley into a flaming land of death and destruction.
In Mongolia, the temperatures are finally decreasing. The Saurornithoides run outside and start feeding on the Charonosaurus corpse. Soon, most of the Charonosaurus follow to drink at the watering hole. However, one stays near the protection of the cave. Meanwhile, the ejecta cloud has caused a huge sandstorm. The Saurornithoides are small enough to crouch behind cover. But the Charonosaurus that are in the open suffocate as sand fills their lungs. The last Charonosaurus, protected once again by the cave, finds that it's the last of the herd. The Saurornithoides were sheltered from the worst of the storm, but the sandstorm buried their meal and they are still hungry.
Instinct drives the Saurornithoides back to their prime hunting spot, the watering hole, where the last remaining Charonosaurus is drinking. The Saurornithoides are desperate for food, but they are weak from the buffeting of the sandstorm and hunger. Only one of the Saurornithoides recklessly attack the Charonosaurus, but is crushed to death under the weight of the Charonosaurus. The remaining Saurornithoides resorts to eating the dead body of its companion.
A week after impact, food is in very short supply across the entire planet. In the Pacific Northwest, four Triceratops head towards an island in search of food. Protected from the fires by the surrounding ocean, the island is lush and green. It has all the food that the Triceratops need. But when the asteroid hit the Earth, it caused an earthquake under the ocean. This causes a huge megatsunami
, but also causes the water to be initially sucked into the crack and form a dry land bridge to the island. Most of the Triceratops walk across the land bridge to the island, but one does not cross to the island. The weak female Quetzalcoatlus finds a stranded fish and starts to eat only to be killed by the megatsunami. The megatsunami reaches the island and floods it, drowning the Triceratops. Only one Triceratops, which did not cross to the island, has survived.
In the days and weeks that follow, few dinosaurs remain. In Mongolia, the starving Charonosaurus stays close to the watering hole, but collapses and dies from inhaling hydrogen sulfide
fumes from the watering hole. The Saurornithoides runs up to the dead Charonosaurus, but before it can start feeding it too collapses and expires from inhaling the poisonous gas.
In the Pacific Northwest, only a handful of dinosaurs patrol the gray wasteland. An Ankylosaurus
, severely weakened by hunger, is searching for food. All it can find is a small bush but is almost forced to fight a wandering Triceratops. Suddenly, a T. rex appears. It kills the Triceratops despite losing an eye. It also manages to flip over the weakened Ankylosaurus and kill it by biting it's soft throat. However the Tyrannosaurus accidentally trips on the Ankylosaurus' tail. It falls on the Triceratops horn and is impaled by it.
In Mexico, the first region to be hit by the asteroid, an Alamosaurus baby emerges from an egg that was sheltered away. All around the world, small handfuls of dinosaurs try to start over. However, their species are already considered extinct. They cannot replenish their numbers and in the end, the surviving dinosaurs become extinct from interbreeding, disease, and other natural causes, ending the reign of dinosaurs.
But life on Earth isn't completely destroyed. Out of the ruins, nature starts over. A group of animals that have long been limited in success by the dinosaurs now becomes the new rulers of the Earth: mammals. Eventually, they multiply and diversify. 10,000 species explode across the planet. And one species, humans, branches off from its relatives and comes down from the trees. They walk on two legs, evolve bigger brains, and eventually, they rule the planet like the dinosaurs. But the narrator states that unlike the dinosaurs humans reshaped the planet, they build cities that touch its sky, vehicles that can leave it, and weapons that can destroy it.
In the end, the narrator says that humans would never have existed if a chance collision in space 165 million years ago hadn't occurred, sending an asteroid hurtling towards Earth and dooming the dinosaurs to extinction. Only because they died, can human beings live.
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
television documentary about the extinction of the dinosaurs. It portrays the Alvarez hypothesis
Alvarez hypothesis
The Alvarez hypothesis claims that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs and many other living things was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth sixty-five million years ago, called the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. Evidence indicates that the asteroid fell in the Yucatán...
as the cause of extinction.
Production
The dinosaur models created for Clash of the DinosaursClash of the Dinosaurs
Clash of the Dinosaurs is a four-part television mini-series produced by Dangerous LTD for Discovery Channel. The show premiered on December 13, 2009 with a double-episode.-Featured genera:* Ankylosaurus* Deinonychus* Parasaurolophus...
were reused for this program. The Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus
Parasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P. walkeri , P. tubicen, and the...
model was used for Charonosaurus even though the legs of Charonosaurus were shorter than those of Parasaurolophus. The Deinonychus
Deinonychus
Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
model was used for Saurornithoides (rather inaccurately, as Saurornithoides was slenderer than Deinonychus), and the Sauroposeidon
Sauroposeidon
Sauroposeidon is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from four neck vertebrae that were found in the southeastern portion of the US state of Oklahoma. The fossils were found in rocks dating to the Early Cretaceous, a period when the sauropods of North America had diminished in both size and...
model was used for Alamosaurus. The same Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Quetzalcoatlus models were also used. These models were placed upon different backdrops most of the time than those used in Clash of the Dinosaurs.
Plot
In the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, a Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
is flying above the landscape, looking for food. It finds a nest of Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
babies that are just hatching. The Quetzalcoatlus eats several of the eggs and chicks, but is forced to flee when the angry father Tyrannosaurus appears and starts fighting it. The Quetzalcoatlus' huge wingspan makes it harder for it to get off the ground. As it finally does, the T. rex manages to bite off the pterosaur's foot. The father T. rex finds that only one chick has survived.
Meanwhile, an 6 mile wide asteroid is speeding toward Earth. The asteroid is a fragment from the collision of two asteroids 165 million years ago.
In the Pacific Northwest, two male Triceratops
Triceratops
Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
fight for mating rights. One of them wins and the loser walks away. Suddenly, two T. rex attack and kill the Triceratops that lost.
In what is today central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, an enormous herd of Alamosaurus is roaming the plains in search of food. Meanwhile, the asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. Burning brighter than a million suns, the scorching asteroid emits scorching light that blinds many of the Alamosaurus.
Then the asteroid hits the Earth at a 30-degree angle in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, near the Yucatan Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
. In a fraction of a second, it disintegrates into the planet, creating a massive explosion and sending debris flying into the air. The explosion heats the air temperature near the crash site to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. All of the Alamosaurus are killed off from the searing heat of the explosion, a 11.5 earthquake, and finally a blast pulse, save for a few Alamosaurus eggs buried deep underground.
12,000 kilometers away from the point of impact in Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
a herd of Charonosaurus
Charonosaurus
Charonosaurus |Charon]]'s lizard") is the name of a genus of dinosaur whose fossils were discovered by Godefroit, Zan & Jin in 2000 on the south bank of the Amur River, dividing China from Russia.-Description:...
is drinking at a watering hole. A Saurornithoides
Saurornithoides
Saurornithoides is a genus of troodontid maniraptoran dinosaur, living during the Late Cretaceous period. These creatures were predators, which could run fast on their hind legs and had excellent sight and hearing...
steals an egg, but is seen by the mother. It runs into a cave where a second Saurornithoides is located. The two predators attack the Charonosaurus and manage to kill it.
The 11.5 magnitude hits British Columbia, driving animals to flee from the valley. Two Triceratops finally escape the earthquakes, but are then killed by an ejecta cloud, a cloud of that was thrown up into the air by the asteroid's impact. The ejecta cloud has spread to the Pacific Northwest from the Gulf of Mexico and threatens to in-circulate the entire planet in ash. A mating pair of Quetzalcoatlus try flying away, but the raining pieces of flaming debris starts raining down kills the male and injures female, forcing it to land.
In Mongolia, the ejecta cloud causes the temperature to become hotter. As the air temperature starts climbing up to over 200 degrees Celsius, the Charonosaurus and Saurornithoides run inside the cave for shelter.
Back in the Pacific Northwest, fires, caused by the soaring temperatures and flaming debris, burn across the forest floor at 9 miles per hour. The female Quetzalcoatlus manages to take off despite her tattered wing. Smaller animals are able to hide underground but the larger animals are forced to flee from the fire, which has turned the valley into a flaming land of death and destruction.
In Mongolia, the temperatures are finally decreasing. The Saurornithoides run outside and start feeding on the Charonosaurus corpse. Soon, most of the Charonosaurus follow to drink at the watering hole. However, one stays near the protection of the cave. Meanwhile, the ejecta cloud has caused a huge sandstorm. The Saurornithoides are small enough to crouch behind cover. But the Charonosaurus that are in the open suffocate as sand fills their lungs. The last Charonosaurus, protected once again by the cave, finds that it's the last of the herd. The Saurornithoides were sheltered from the worst of the storm, but the sandstorm buried their meal and they are still hungry.
Instinct drives the Saurornithoides back to their prime hunting spot, the watering hole, where the last remaining Charonosaurus is drinking. The Saurornithoides are desperate for food, but they are weak from the buffeting of the sandstorm and hunger. Only one of the Saurornithoides recklessly attack the Charonosaurus, but is crushed to death under the weight of the Charonosaurus. The remaining Saurornithoides resorts to eating the dead body of its companion.
A week after impact, food is in very short supply across the entire planet. In the Pacific Northwest, four Triceratops head towards an island in search of food. Protected from the fires by the surrounding ocean, the island is lush and green. It has all the food that the Triceratops need. But when the asteroid hit the Earth, it caused an earthquake under the ocean. This causes a huge megatsunami
Megatsunami
Megatsunami is an informal term to describe a tsunami that has initial wave heights that are much larger than normal tsunamis...
, but also causes the water to be initially sucked into the crack and form a dry land bridge to the island. Most of the Triceratops walk across the land bridge to the island, but one does not cross to the island. The weak female Quetzalcoatlus finds a stranded fish and starts to eat only to be killed by the megatsunami. The megatsunami reaches the island and floods it, drowning the Triceratops. Only one Triceratops, which did not cross to the island, has survived.
In the days and weeks that follow, few dinosaurs remain. In Mongolia, the starving Charonosaurus stays close to the watering hole, but collapses and dies from inhaling hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
fumes from the watering hole. The Saurornithoides runs up to the dead Charonosaurus, but before it can start feeding it too collapses and expires from inhaling the poisonous gas.
In the Pacific Northwest, only a handful of dinosaurs patrol the gray wasteland. An Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species, A. magniventris...
, severely weakened by hunger, is searching for food. All it can find is a small bush but is almost forced to fight a wandering Triceratops. Suddenly, a T. rex appears. It kills the Triceratops despite losing an eye. It also manages to flip over the weakened Ankylosaurus and kill it by biting it's soft throat. However the Tyrannosaurus accidentally trips on the Ankylosaurus' tail. It falls on the Triceratops horn and is impaled by it.
In Mexico, the first region to be hit by the asteroid, an Alamosaurus baby emerges from an egg that was sheltered away. All around the world, small handfuls of dinosaurs try to start over. However, their species are already considered extinct. They cannot replenish their numbers and in the end, the surviving dinosaurs become extinct from interbreeding, disease, and other natural causes, ending the reign of dinosaurs.
But life on Earth isn't completely destroyed. Out of the ruins, nature starts over. A group of animals that have long been limited in success by the dinosaurs now becomes the new rulers of the Earth: mammals. Eventually, they multiply and diversify. 10,000 species explode across the planet. And one species, humans, branches off from its relatives and comes down from the trees. They walk on two legs, evolve bigger brains, and eventually, they rule the planet like the dinosaurs. But the narrator states that unlike the dinosaurs humans reshaped the planet, they build cities that touch its sky, vehicles that can leave it, and weapons that can destroy it.
In the end, the narrator says that humans would never have existed if a chance collision in space 165 million years ago hadn't occurred, sending an asteroid hurtling towards Earth and dooming the dinosaurs to extinction. Only because they died, can human beings live.
Errors
- Charonosaurus lived in northeastern ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and its remains have not been discovered in Mongolia. - SaurornithoidesSaurornithoidesSaurornithoides is a genus of troodontid maniraptoran dinosaur, living during the Late Cretaceous period. These creatures were predators, which could run fast on their hind legs and had excellent sight and hearing...
was extinct prior to the end of Cretaceous period. - It was stated that Saurornithoides had the highest brain to body size ratio of any dinosaur, a title actually held by TroodonTroodonTroodon is a genus of relatively small, bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period . Discovered in 1855, it was among the first dinosaurs found in North America...
. However, Saurornithoides is related to Troodon. - A present-day map of North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
is shown in the program, though parts of it were underwater during the late Cretaceous period. - During the battle between Saurornithoides and Charonosaurus, the Saurornithoides was depicted as holding on to the Charonosaurus by its jaws. This would not be possible since their teeth were not made for holding on to animals and their neck muscles were not strong enough to hold on to other dinosaurs.