Fight for Life Planet Dinosaur


Fight for Life

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We are living through

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THE golden age

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of dinosaur discoveries.

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From all over the world,

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a whole new generation of dinosaurs has been revealed.

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From the biggest giants...

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..and the deadliest killers,

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to the weird and wonderful.

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From the Arctic

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to Africa.

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From South America to Asia.

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Using the latest evidence,

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for the first time

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we have a truly global view of these incredible animals.

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This time,

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we journey back 150 million years

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to the Jurassic Period.

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A time when the first giant killers stalked the earth.

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But these giants weren't confined to the land.

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Recent discoveries

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have revealed an astonishing new hunter in the oceans.

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These new giant killers posed the greatest of threats.

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With the smallest advantage tipping the balance between life and death,

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predator and prey were locked in a perpetual battle for survival.

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DINOSAUR ROARS

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To understand this world,

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we must travel back 150 million years

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to a time when much of Europe looked like the Bahamas.

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A time when these warm tropical seas were home to giant predators.

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Some of which, have left their mark

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etched in stone.

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This cliff face in Switzerland

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is carved with a series

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of enormous gouges and grooves.

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Many over nine metres long.

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The entire rock face is actually

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one huge fossil,

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an upturned slab of Jurassic Ocean floor.

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And the marks were left by a predator

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as it hunted for food.

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Sharks like this squatina

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are similar to angel sharks which still exist today.

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It's an ambush predator and lies in wait.

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But in these seas there are bigger hunters.

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This is Kimmerosaurus.

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They belong to a group called plesiosaurs.

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At six metres long,

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they're one of the Jurassic Ocean's most successful hunters.

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And also one of the most common.

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And it's this unusual hunting method

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that left its trace on the ocean floor

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We now know that the rock face in Switzerland

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is etched with the marks of hunting plesiosaurs.

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But these giants were not the king of the seas.

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Many of the fossils show evidence of having been violently ripped apart.

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Clearly, there were

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much, much bigger predators

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lurking in these seas.

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In 2008, in an island in the high Arctic,

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a fossil was dug out of the frozen earth.

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Its skull alone was nearly twice that of T-rex.

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This was an enormous killer.

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A killer, the like of which had never been seen before.

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More than 15 metres long,

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and weighing about 45 tonnes,

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this is the most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.

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Twice as big as most Jurassic Ocean predators...

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..this is Predator X,

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an animal

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that must go down in history as one of the ocean's most deadly hunters.

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And it's prey like Kimmerosaurus

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that are in its sights.

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Skull analysis of giant killers

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like Predator X,

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suggests that they hunted their prey by smell...

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..channelling water through special internal nostrils,

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allowing them to silently hone in on their target.

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By analysing their anatomy,

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we've calculated that Predator X

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could move up to five metres per second -

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fractionally faster than a Kimmerosaurus.

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The kimmerosaurs only defence

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is to head for the refuge of shallow water.

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This time, Predator X's size works against him.

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Unable to hunt efficiently in shallow water...

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..means that the Kimmerosaurus can use this as a refuge.

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A subtle advantage that makes the difference between life and death.

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Predator X and Kimmerosaurus

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are just one example

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of a predator-prey relationship

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locked in a fight for survival.

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In the western states of North America

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is one of the richest sources of dinosaur fossils.

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It's known as the Morrison Formation.

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Recently, these rocks

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have given us a tantalising glimpse

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of how two dinosaurs adapted together

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to protect themselves against another deadly predator...

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..Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus.

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Fossils of these two species

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are almost always found

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in the same area.

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In 2008,

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footprints of the two

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were recovered from the same site.

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It seemed that they lived alongside one another.

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But why would two unrelated plant-eaters

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live together?

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Stegosaurus -

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a heavily armoured tank

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with a deadly weapon at the end of its tail...

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known as a thagomizer.

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Camptosaurus - a much smaller plant-eater

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with no obvious defences.

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DINOSAUR GROANS

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Skull analysis shows

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that Camptosaurus has bigger eyes -

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and relative to its body - a much bigger brain.

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Camptosaurus appears to be a lookout.

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While the armoured Stegosaurus provides the muscle.

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STEGOSAURUS GROANS

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It's likely Camptosaurus and Stegosaurus

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stuck close together for mutual protection...

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..in a world where danger is ever-present.

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CAMPTOSAURUS CROWS

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CAMPTOSAURUS GROANS

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CAMPTOSAURUS CROWS

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CAMPTOSAURUS CROWS

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CAMPTOSAURUS CRIES

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ALLOSAURUS GROWLS

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Allosaurus -

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a one-and-a-half-tonne ambush hunter with a lethal bite.

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The world had never known a predator like it.

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But having lost the element of surprise,

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it's now faced with the prospect of either starving...

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or facing the most well-protected giant of the Jurassic.

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ALLOSAURUS GROWLS

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STEGOSAURUS BELLOWS

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Virtually impregnable from behind,

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a predator needs to try to attack the stegosaurs from the front.

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ALLOSAURUS GROWLS

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ALLOSAURUS ROARS

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STEGOSAURS BELLOW

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STEGOSAURUS HOWLS

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STEGOSAURUS BELLOWS

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ALLOSAURUS PANTS

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The evidence for encounters such as these is incredible.

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Fossil finds of 2005,

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directly link

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these two great animals in battle,

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revealing the unmistakeable signs

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of injury.

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A Stegosaurus back plate

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was discovered

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with a u-shaped bite taken out of it.

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A bite mark that fitted

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the Allosaurus' jaws perfectly.

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Even more amazing

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was an Allosaurus vertebra.

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It had a massive impact wound.

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The wound appeared to have been made

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by a Stegosaur's thagomizer.

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The blow being so powerful

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it punched a hole in the bone

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of the Allosaurs' spine.

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What's more incredible

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is that the injured bone shows signs of healing.

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This Allosaurus survived.

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The balance of power between predator and prey is a fine one.

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Prey continually evolve

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different strategies

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to avoid predators.

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Both with their bodies,

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like Stegosaurus,

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and their behaviour

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like Camptosaurus.

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And in the Jurassic oceans, we have evidence to suggest

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that plesiosaurs protected their young...

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..by finding sanctuary in shallow water nurseries.

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But such lagoons

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won't always deter a hunter.

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And a rising tide gives this predator a glimmer of hope.

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PREDATOR X ROARS

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But in this shallow water,

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the huge Predator X can't use its power.

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The smaller, agile Kimmerosaurus

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can easily outmanoeuvre

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the lumbering killer.

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However, the Kimmerosaurus can't permanently protect itself

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in this sanctuary.

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They need to venture into deeper water to feed.

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And that is where Predator X has the advantage.

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Successful predators need to play a waiting game.

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ALLOSAURUS GROWLS

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Allosaurus is the most common killer in these lands.

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Nine metres long,

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with a battery of saw blade-like teeth

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and powerful, clawed forearms -

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Allosaurus is a formidable hunter.

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ALLOSAURUS GROWLS

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It shares the plains

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with dozens of species

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of plant-eating dinosaurs.

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A lone Camptosaurus, away from the protection of Stegosaurus...

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..should be easy pickings for a hunting Allosaurus.

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Allosaurus teeth were serrated front and back,

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perfectly evolved for tearing through flesh.

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However, recent research has indicated

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that Allosaurus' bite was surprisingly weak.

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Calculations suggested its bite was less powerful than a lion's -

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despite being seven times more massive.

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So, just how did this Jurassic monster

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hunt and kill?

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The answer is with an element of surprise.

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Camptosaurus relies

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on its keen senses to avoid predators.

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Allosaurus on the other hand,

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is a fast and powerful ambush hunter.

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Faster than Camptosaurus.

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A one-and-a-half-tonne killer can't run fast for long.

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It's a question of speed versus stamina.

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CAMPTOSAURUS SHRIEKS

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ALLOSAURUS ROARS

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ALLOSAURUS ROARS

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Despite the apparent weakness of its bite,

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Allosaurus did in fact have a deadly killing method.

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Its skull could withstand a force

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more than 15 times as great as its bite.

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This meant that Allosaurus used its head like an axe.

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Its strong neck muscles driving its top jaw into its prey.

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With every impact, the serrated teeth

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would tear through its prey's flesh.

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The victim dying, through a combination of shock and blood loss.

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It isn't pretty, it isn't clinical...

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but it's ruthlessly efficient.

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However, making a kill

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never actually guarantees a meal.

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Because here,

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Allosaurus isn't the only killer in these parts.

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DINOSAUR ROARS

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Saurophaganax.

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At 12 metres, it is the biggest carnivore in the region.

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SAUROPHAGANAX ROARS

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And one of the advantages of being so big

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is that stealing another's kill is that much easier.

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Giant predators like Saurophaganax and Allosaurus

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used their power and size to dominate their domain

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and all those within it.

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And the story was no different in the Jurassic oceans.

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These are the bones of Plesiosaur.

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They appear to have been broken into fragments.

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And many of these show indications

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that they didn't die of natural causes.

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It looks more like they were violently dismembered.

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One particular fossil gives us a chilling idea

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of how these plesiosaurs might have been killed.

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It consists of a skull

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with a few vertebrae still attached

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but nothing else.

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All these dismembered fossils

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were found in deeper waters,

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where plesiosaurs need to feed

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but where they're in the greatest danger.

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This animal is in the worst possible place -

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hunting alone at the surface,

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where it's most vulnerable to attack from below.

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In deep water,

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Predator X can use its full power.

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Although, injured and stunned

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this plesiosaur is armed with a vicious bite.

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So, Predator X still needs to be wary.

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Severely wounded, now the only sanctuary

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is the shallow water of the nursery.

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Predator X's bite is formidable,

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estimated to be four times that of T-rex.

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Biting hard, it perforates the body,

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cutting through muscle and bone before shaking it to pieces.

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It's almost certain that the bite marks on the fossil plesiosaur

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were made in this way.

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And the position of the marks also indicated

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the attack came from below.

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The never-ending battle

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between predators and their prey

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is a finely balanced one.

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However, for the most successful and enduring predators,

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the struggle to survive is always tipped in their favour.

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And predators like Predator X,

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a killer with one of the most powerful bites ever known...

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ruled the oceans for more than 100 million years.

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