1 00:00:13,555 --> 00:00:16,433 Two hundred and fifty-two million years ago… 2 00:00:18,643 --> 00:00:21,730 …And our planet is dying. 3 00:00:30,447 --> 00:00:35,827 The biggest extinction event in history has left the world barren. 4 00:00:38,246 --> 00:00:39,998 And deathly silent. 5 00:00:56,139 --> 00:01:00,143 But this is the story of the few… 6 00:01:03,938 --> 00:01:05,190 …That survived. 7 00:02:03,873 --> 00:02:08,753 LIFE ON OUR PLANET 8 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,843 CHAPTER 4 9 00:02:14,926 --> 00:02:20,473 IN COLD BLOOD 10 00:02:24,561 --> 00:02:31,025 252 MILLION YEARS AGO 11 00:02:35,572 --> 00:02:38,158 The start of the Triassic Period. 12 00:02:41,035 --> 00:02:44,998 And the rivers of fire are gradually subsiding. 13 00:02:50,587 --> 00:02:57,510 In their wake, cooling lava covers an area half the size of the United States… 14 00:03:01,014 --> 00:03:04,392 …İn a crust up to three kilometers deep. 15 00:03:09,856 --> 00:03:15,445 Volcanic gases have caused global temperatures to soar. 16 00:03:19,991 --> 00:03:21,826 Forests and reefs… 17 00:03:23,536 --> 00:03:25,246 …Have been annihilated. 18 00:03:42,180 --> 00:03:45,225 Hundreds of millions of years of evolution… 19 00:03:46,935 --> 00:03:48,019 …Gone. 20 00:03:54,901 --> 00:03:59,822 Yet, here… hidden in the blackened landscape… 21 00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:03,451 …Lies opportunity. 22 00:04:06,162 --> 00:04:12,669 For there is one particular life-form that thrives on dead organic matter. 23 00:04:16,881 --> 00:04:17,757 Fungi. 24 00:04:28,601 --> 00:04:31,813 With the world an apocalyptic graveyard… 25 00:04:33,773 --> 00:04:36,651 …Fungi were in their element. 26 00:04:42,323 --> 00:04:44,701 And for a few thousand years… 27 00:04:48,162 --> 00:04:53,626 …These simple organisms became the dominant life-form… 28 00:04:55,378 --> 00:04:56,296 …On Earth. 29 00:05:15,356 --> 00:05:18,818 But not every survivor of the Permian extinction relied on death for their 30 00:05:18,901 --> 00:05:22,363 success. 31 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:34,083 One lowly creature found itself perfectly placed to take over the world. 32 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:47,388 Lystrosaurus. 33 00:05:51,851 --> 00:05:54,437 An ancient ancestor of the mammal. 34 00:05:57,231 --> 00:06:01,986 This curious, big-sized creature was used to burrowing underground and seeking 35 00:06:02,070 --> 00:06:06,824 refuge in caves. 36 00:06:08,618 --> 00:06:13,664 A way of life that saved it when other animals were dying. 37 00:06:26,427 --> 00:06:33,351 Once hapless underdogs, they are now one of the few lucky survivors of Armageddon. 38 00:06:42,235 --> 00:06:49,158 With most vegetation destroyed by the extinction… finding food is hard. 39 00:06:55,873 --> 00:07:02,338 But Lystrosaurus are resilient and able to forage over large areas. 40 00:07:22,066 --> 00:07:26,154 They're constantly on the move… searching for roots, tubers and small 41 00:07:26,237 --> 00:07:30,366 pockets of regrowth. 42 00:07:55,057 --> 00:07:57,894 But they weren't the only animal survivors. 43 00:08:02,148 --> 00:08:04,984 Life in many forms… 44 00:08:06,986 --> 00:08:08,488 …Found a way. 45 00:08:12,992 --> 00:08:19,874 Lystrosaurus's simple but adaptable lifestyle would reap astonishing rewards. 46 00:08:22,376 --> 00:08:27,465 Facing little competition and no large predators, the volcanic eruptions turned 47 00:08:27,548 --> 00:08:32,637 it from a bottom-of-the-food-chain borrower… 48 00:08:35,806 --> 00:08:39,227 …To the animal that inherited the Earth. 49 00:08:52,865 --> 00:08:57,537 In the years following the mass extinction… they made up three-quarters of 50 00:08:57,620 --> 00:09:02,291 all vertebrate life on land. 51 00:09:04,585 --> 00:09:08,256 Something no other animal has ever done. 52 00:09:16,722 --> 00:09:21,519 But their dominance couldn't last… for another survivor of the mass extinction 53 00:09:21,602 --> 00:09:26,399 was on the ascent thanks to huge changes to the very structure of our 54 00:09:26,482 --> 00:09:31,237 planet. 55 00:09:38,035 --> 00:09:43,833 For tens of millions of years, the Earth's continents had been converging… 56 00:09:45,418 --> 00:09:49,547 …Creating a vast ocean on one side of the world… 57 00:09:52,049 --> 00:09:55,886 …And a single immense land mass on the other. 58 00:09:57,430 --> 00:10:00,683 The supercontinent of Pangea. 59 00:10:16,032 --> 00:10:18,784 The drying that started in a previous era… 60 00:10:20,911 --> 00:10:23,956 …İs now compounded by searing heat. 61 00:10:37,762 --> 00:10:41,557 Temperatures spike to 60 degrees Celsius. 62 00:10:50,107 --> 00:10:52,943 Sandstorms scour the interior. 63 00:10:58,532 --> 00:11:01,827 Dunes rise over a kilometer high… 64 00:11:14,465 --> 00:11:20,763 …Gradually forming the largest and most hostile desert the planet has ever seen. 65 00:11:29,522 --> 00:11:33,943 Yet, on the margins of this barren and lifeless landscape, another group of 66 00:11:34,026 --> 00:11:38,489 survivors was on the rise. 67 00:11:46,914 --> 00:11:50,876 And they still dominate our deserts today. 68 00:12:01,971 --> 00:12:05,766 This is the Atacama in South America. 69 00:12:11,731 --> 00:12:15,860 It's been a desert here since the Triassic Period. 70 00:12:18,070 --> 00:12:22,032 Some parts have gone decades without a drop of rain. 71 00:12:23,451 --> 00:12:26,787 Yet, one type of animal thrives here. 72 00:12:32,501 --> 00:12:33,335 Lizards. 73 00:12:37,173 --> 00:12:43,053 They're reptiles supremely adapted to this dry environment. 74 00:12:47,099 --> 00:12:52,396 They have tough, scaly skin, so they don't shrivel in the baking sun. 75 00:12:55,483 --> 00:12:58,736 Instead, the sun fuels them… 76 00:13:03,532 --> 00:13:07,787 …Heating their cold blood so they can reach racing speeds. 77 00:13:14,627 --> 00:13:19,298 But even desert reptiles need to quench their thirst. 78 00:13:28,307 --> 00:13:31,894 Water seeping up through the ground. 79 00:13:37,274 --> 00:13:43,280 Unfortunately, these water holes are almost as salty as the Dead Sea. 80 00:13:49,161 --> 00:13:52,081 Drinking this would be a death sentence. 81 00:13:54,083 --> 00:13:58,587 So, these lizards get their water from an unexpected source. An animal whose 82 00:13:58,671 --> 00:14:03,175 ancestors also survived Armageddon. 83 00:14:07,429 --> 00:14:13,185 Insects were hit hard in the mass extinction… but some made it through. 84 00:14:15,271 --> 00:14:22,194 Today, these brine flies are salt specialists, desalinating the water… and 85 00:14:23,028 --> 00:14:29,952 in the process making themselves into perfect little water bottles for lizards. 86 00:14:40,296 --> 00:14:43,424 The challenge is catching them. 87 00:15:08,949 --> 00:15:09,867 Finally. 88 00:15:27,551 --> 00:15:33,349 But just when it thinks it's cracked it… trouble on the horizon. 89 00:15:36,685 --> 00:15:41,190 These prime fly-catching spots are in high demand. 90 00:15:47,821 --> 00:15:51,784 And the locals do not like to share. 91 00:16:42,001 --> 00:16:46,088 A stalemate. But on another lizard's territory… 92 00:17:19,621 --> 00:17:21,665 The thirsty lizard seizes the moment. 93 00:17:24,001 --> 00:17:26,295 Making the most of their distraction. 94 00:17:30,799 --> 00:17:32,134 No matter how brief. 95 00:17:38,348 --> 00:17:42,853 The ultimate desert dwellers, lizards are tough and resilient… just like their 96 00:17:42,936 --> 00:17:47,441 ancient ancestors. 97 00:17:52,821 --> 00:17:56,575 But back in the Triassic, it was much larger reptiles who would change the 98 00:17:56,658 --> 00:18:00,412 course of history. 99 00:18:04,416 --> 00:18:08,045 In the four million years since the Permian extinction, Lystrosaurus have 100 00:18:08,128 --> 00:18:11,799 dominated. 101 00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:19,765 They emerged into an almost empty world. 102 00:18:21,642 --> 00:18:24,394 And have been reaping the rewards. 103 00:18:29,858 --> 00:18:32,277 Life is good. 104 00:18:48,710 --> 00:18:55,634 But these mammal ancestors… have had little competition or predators. 105 00:18:57,511 --> 00:18:58,595 Until now. 106 00:19:18,907 --> 00:19:24,913 With the planet recovering, some reptiles have grown to epic proportions. 107 00:19:35,174 --> 00:19:37,593 This is an Erythrosuchus. 108 00:19:39,511 --> 00:19:45,309 Nearly three meters long, it's the biggest predator of its time. 109 00:19:50,689 --> 00:19:54,276 Herds of Lystrosaurus are an easy target. 110 00:20:08,874 --> 00:20:12,753 They have no defense against this new type of reptile. 111 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,552 Or even awareness of the threat it poses. 112 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:49,414 Like a fox in a chicken coop, Erythrosuchus can kill more than it needs. 113 00:21:02,177 --> 00:21:08,976 Lystrosaurus was the unwitting dodo… of its age. 114 00:21:15,607 --> 00:21:19,736 The combination of predators and competition saw Lystrosaurus go from total 115 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:23,991 domination of the planet… 116 00:21:25,951 --> 00:21:27,077 …To extinction. 117 00:21:30,289 --> 00:21:33,542 The mammals had lost their crown. 118 00:21:37,296 --> 00:21:38,213 This… 119 00:21:41,174 --> 00:21:44,386 …Was the age of reptiles. 120 00:22:05,115 --> 00:22:10,912 Today, there are more than 10,000 species of reptile. 121 00:22:13,332 --> 00:22:17,502 Although they are not all as terrifying as their ancestors. 122 00:22:25,302 --> 00:22:27,262 As the Earth has changed… 123 00:22:29,056 --> 00:22:33,727 …Reptiles have had to adapt to an ever more crowded world. 124 00:22:37,522 --> 00:22:42,778 And the tough scaly skin that allowed them to conquer the deserts of Pangea… 125 00:22:42,861 --> 00:22:48,158 continues to be the secret of their success. 126 00:22:50,535 --> 00:22:56,333 For some, their skin has allowed them to become masters of disguise. 127 00:23:11,973 --> 00:23:16,978 But skin can also be used to scare off an attacker. 128 00:23:21,483 --> 00:23:26,405 Even then, there are times when more drastic measures are called for. 129 00:23:33,787 --> 00:23:40,043 It may have escaped the bird, but lizards aren't known for their swimming prowess. 130 00:23:44,464 --> 00:23:50,470 Yet, the anole lizard of Costa Rica has an extraordinary survival technique. 131 00:23:52,764 --> 00:23:58,770 As it exhales, it creates a bubble that sticks to its water-repellent skin… 132 00:24:01,565 --> 00:24:05,026 …Forming its very own diving bell… 133 00:24:07,487 --> 00:24:14,244 …And allowing it to stay hidden underwater… for up to 15 minutes. 134 00:24:21,168 --> 00:24:25,630 Today's reptiles are such experts at living in the margins, it's hard to 135 00:24:25,714 --> 00:24:30,218 imagine they once dominated our planet. 136 00:24:39,769 --> 00:24:42,939 But there is a series of islands in Indonesia… 137 00:24:44,774 --> 00:24:48,862 …That offer a glimpse into that very distant past. 138 00:24:55,911 --> 00:24:59,623 For here, lizards still rule. 139 00:25:11,134 --> 00:25:14,971 Recently hatched and already curious… 140 00:25:21,770 --> 00:25:26,233 …This youngster is starting life in a lizard paradise. 141 00:25:32,614 --> 00:25:34,282 The only issue she has… 142 00:25:37,619 --> 00:25:38,912 …İs her relatives. 143 00:25:44,918 --> 00:25:48,296 For this is a baby Komodo dragon. 144 00:25:51,716 --> 00:25:54,719 And Komodos are cannibals. 145 00:25:58,181 --> 00:26:02,143 Smelling the air with their forked tongue to find their prey. 146 00:26:11,236 --> 00:26:13,113 For the world's largest lizards… 147 00:26:15,407 --> 00:26:19,077 …Baby dragons make perfect snacks. 148 00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:37,387 Luckily for her, a nest of buried Komodo eggs… 149 00:26:39,306 --> 00:26:41,224 …Offers an easier meal. 150 00:26:56,406 --> 00:27:00,577 But it won't satisfy this monster for long. 151 00:27:17,469 --> 00:27:20,764 It'll be seven or eight years of hiding in trees… 152 00:27:22,724 --> 00:27:25,894 …Before she's big enough to stand up for herself. 153 00:27:36,613 --> 00:27:43,536 Too heavy to climb, the adult goes in search of something… more accessible. 154 00:27:55,340 --> 00:28:00,261 A thick layer of mud can't disguise this animal's scent. 155 00:28:22,367 --> 00:28:25,161 Water buffalo are ever vigilant. 156 00:28:29,165 --> 00:28:31,876 Wary of their reptilian overlords. 157 00:28:44,681 --> 00:28:48,768 But buffalo calves are not as savvy as their parents. 158 00:29:26,598 --> 00:29:31,394 The dragon has lost its kill. But only temporarily. 159 00:29:33,813 --> 00:29:36,483 Venom from a gland in its jaw… 160 00:29:38,276 --> 00:29:41,446 …Prevents the blood of its prey from clotting, leading to a dangerous drop in 161 00:29:41,529 --> 00:29:44,741 blood pressure. 162 00:29:49,621 --> 00:29:50,538 The result… 163 00:29:52,248 --> 00:29:53,458 …İs inevitable. 164 00:29:59,672 --> 00:30:05,929 This is an echo of what life was like back in the Triassic. 165 00:30:10,099 --> 00:30:13,728 Mammals must fight for their lives, while reptiles dominate with a confident 166 00:30:13,812 --> 00:30:17,482 swagger. 167 00:30:21,194 --> 00:30:26,533 But perhaps the most remarkable chapter of that early era of reptile supremacy… 168 00:30:28,743 --> 00:30:32,455 …Was when some of them turned their back on the land… 169 00:30:34,165 --> 00:30:36,543 …And returned to the ocean. 170 00:30:47,178 --> 00:30:48,012 Turtles. 171 00:30:52,183 --> 00:30:58,565 Whether pushed here through competition… or enticed by opportunity… 172 00:31:01,401 --> 00:31:05,655 …Turtles went back to the seas their ancestors left, and today inhabit all but 173 00:31:05,738 --> 00:31:09,993 the coldest oceans. 174 00:31:14,122 --> 00:31:17,500 Yet, once a year, adult females must still return to dry land to lay their 175 00:31:17,584 --> 00:31:20,962 eggs. 176 00:31:25,174 --> 00:31:28,428 Here, on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef… 177 00:31:30,722 --> 00:31:33,224 …They come together in the thousands. 178 00:31:42,317 --> 00:31:45,737 Aggregations like this have been one of nature's greatest spectacles for millions 179 00:31:45,820 --> 00:31:49,282 of years. 180 00:32:04,881 --> 00:32:07,008 There's a good reason for this gathering. 181 00:32:08,885 --> 00:32:10,261 Safety in numbers. 182 00:32:15,725 --> 00:32:18,895 Turtles first evolved back in the Triassic. 183 00:32:21,189 --> 00:32:24,400 But by the time they'd conquered the seas, the ocean was home to deadly 184 00:32:24,484 --> 00:32:27,737 predators. 185 00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:36,037 At eight meters long, this is a Plesiosaur. 186 00:32:46,631 --> 00:32:53,554 It, too, is a reptile… but one that spends its entire life at sea. 187 00:33:43,604 --> 00:33:48,901 As the Plesiosaur can only eat so much, gathering in huge numbers like this allows 188 00:33:48,985 --> 00:33:54,323 many more turtles to survive. 189 00:33:57,869 --> 00:34:03,791 All that remains… is to haul themselves up onto the beach where they were born… and 190 00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:09,797 find the perfect spot to lay their eggs. 191 00:34:28,608 --> 00:34:34,030 Almost two months later, and the females' efforts are rewarded. 192 00:34:36,824 --> 00:34:37,867 Hatchlings. 193 00:34:41,829 --> 00:34:45,833 But each one now has its own gauntlet to run… 194 00:34:49,962 --> 00:34:53,341 …As they instinctively head towards the ocean. 195 00:35:16,072 --> 00:35:17,365 Pterosaurs. 196 00:35:19,575 --> 00:35:23,621 Long before the existence of birds, this group of ancient reptiles made a huge 197 00:35:23,704 --> 00:35:27,792 evolutionary step. 198 00:35:36,384 --> 00:35:37,927 They took to the wing… 199 00:35:45,726 --> 00:35:48,855 …And became masters of the air. 200 00:35:58,447 --> 00:35:59,824 Totally defenseless… 201 00:36:02,368 --> 00:36:04,328 …This hatchling's only chance… 202 00:36:06,372 --> 00:36:07,623 …İs to carry on… 203 00:36:11,419 --> 00:36:15,590 …İgnoring the near misses… and hoping that the Pterosaurs will be spoiled for 204 00:36:15,673 --> 00:36:19,886 choice. 205 00:36:24,849 --> 00:36:26,225 Every lucky escape… 206 00:36:29,020 --> 00:36:31,355 …Brings it closer to the water's edge. 207 00:36:42,283 --> 00:36:46,746 Yet, even those that reach the oceans aren't safe. 208 00:37:00,676 --> 00:37:02,678 Only by getting to deeper water… 209 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:06,891 …Can it avoid the Pterosaurs… 210 00:37:11,395 --> 00:37:13,856 …And escape into the blue. 211 00:37:33,292 --> 00:37:37,922 Reptiles once ruled the skies and the waves. 212 00:37:39,632 --> 00:37:44,011 But despite their supremacy, Pterosaurs and Plesiosaurs would both go extinct in 213 00:37:44,095 --> 00:37:48,516 time. 214 00:38:08,786 --> 00:38:14,959 Yet, one of the ruling reptiles from this era has survived. 215 00:38:20,631 --> 00:38:27,054 They're such perfect stealth hunters that even after 200 million years… 216 00:38:29,265 --> 00:38:31,726 …Little has bettered them. 217 00:38:36,022 --> 00:38:37,606 Oblivious to the danger… 218 00:38:39,358 --> 00:38:42,153 …Wildebeest come to quench their thirst. 219 00:39:33,454 --> 00:39:34,372 Almost. 220 00:39:37,625 --> 00:39:38,834 But it doesn't matter. 221 00:39:41,462 --> 00:39:45,341 The Nile crocodile knows the wildebeest will return. 222 00:39:49,220 --> 00:39:51,180 Just as they always have. 223 00:39:59,688 --> 00:40:04,777 To avoid detection, the crocodile silently submerges. 224 00:40:06,821 --> 00:40:08,197 Holding its breath… 225 00:40:10,116 --> 00:40:11,742 …For up to an hour. 226 00:40:21,919 --> 00:40:26,424 Crocodiles can slow their heart rate to just two beats a minute. 227 00:40:31,095 --> 00:40:33,639 Almost completely shutting down. 228 00:40:37,268 --> 00:40:40,980 In a way the reptiles perfected millions of years ago. 229 00:40:59,748 --> 00:41:03,085 Yet, in the moment, it launches its attack. 230 00:41:08,757 --> 00:41:15,681 It goes from inertia to explosive energy in just a fraction of a second… 231 00:41:24,940 --> 00:41:27,401 …Generating enough speed and power… 232 00:41:34,074 --> 00:41:36,619 …To launch its five-meter-long body… 233 00:41:38,871 --> 00:41:41,373 …Out of the water. 234 00:41:48,923 --> 00:41:50,508 All on an empty stomach… 235 00:41:53,052 --> 00:41:54,303 …And a single breath. 236 00:42:05,064 --> 00:42:09,276 It's a technique as successful for crocodiles now… 237 00:42:11,028 --> 00:42:14,156 …As it was for their prehistoric ancestors. 238 00:42:23,165 --> 00:42:27,878 Today's crocodiles dominate the waters they live in. 239 00:42:30,589 --> 00:42:34,051 But they are not the widespread predators they once were. 240 00:42:36,428 --> 00:42:41,058 For back in the Triassic, the forces of nature would send the story of life in a 241 00:42:41,141 --> 00:42:45,771 completely new direction. 242 00:42:52,570 --> 00:42:57,825 Sustained volcanic eruptions caused another period of global warming. 243 00:43:01,954 --> 00:43:07,001 As sea temperatures rose, they supercharged oceanic evaporation. 244 00:43:11,338 --> 00:43:18,137 In northern Pangea, moisture-laden winds hit a 3000-meter high ridge… 245 00:43:23,350 --> 00:43:27,104 …Creating mega monsoonal weather systems. 246 00:43:37,823 --> 00:43:39,950 And it started to rain. 247 00:43:43,787 --> 00:43:45,456 On a Biblical scale. 248 00:44:08,103 --> 00:44:11,940 Across the planet, storms raged. 249 00:44:26,246 --> 00:44:30,417 The downpours lasted more than a million years… 250 00:44:34,046 --> 00:44:39,176 …Turning the dry deserts of early Pangea into a distant memory. 251 00:44:49,728 --> 00:44:54,608 In the far north, torrents flowed from high in the mountains. 252 00:45:36,734 --> 00:45:40,404 Surface water rewrote the landscape… 253 00:45:42,990 --> 00:45:46,243 …Carrying with it nutrient-rich silt. 254 00:45:49,997 --> 00:45:56,044 The waterways soon covered more than 1.6 million square kilometers-- 255 00:46:02,843 --> 00:46:05,929 An area the size of Alaska. 256 00:46:07,306 --> 00:46:11,018 -Creating the largest delta in Earth's history. 257 00:46:15,397 --> 00:46:21,069 These fertile waterways became the lifeblood of a new world. 258 00:46:24,114 --> 00:46:26,366 The fuel for evolution. 259 00:46:31,663 --> 00:46:34,041 Conifers rose to the fore. 260 00:46:38,962 --> 00:46:42,216 And for the first time since the Permian extinction… 261 00:46:45,511 --> 00:46:50,474 …Our planet returned to a forested land of giants. 262 00:46:54,853 --> 00:47:00,484 210 MILLION YEARS AGO 263 00:47:11,787 --> 00:47:16,834 Many ancient reptiles failed to adapt to this new landscape. 264 00:47:21,463 --> 00:47:25,801 But one group embraced this change in plant life… 265 00:47:28,679 --> 00:47:32,140 …And would soon rise to take over the world. 266 00:47:43,235 --> 00:47:47,406 The youngsters start life much like other reptiles. 267 00:47:57,541 --> 00:47:59,251 They hatch from eggs. 268 00:48:05,507 --> 00:48:07,050 They have scaly skin. 269 00:48:13,891 --> 00:48:16,560 And they are left to fend for themselves… 270 00:48:19,479 --> 00:48:21,773 …From the moment they enter the world. 271 00:48:31,491 --> 00:48:33,201 But there are differences. 272 00:48:38,916 --> 00:48:42,419 They have a much more efficient breathing system that continuously pumps 273 00:48:42,502 --> 00:48:46,006 blood across their lungs… 274 00:48:51,011 --> 00:48:55,140 …Allowing them to run without having to stop to catch their breath. 275 00:49:12,282 --> 00:49:16,662 Their legs extend beneath their body rather than to the side so they can walk 276 00:49:16,745 --> 00:49:21,166 upright. 277 00:49:39,559 --> 00:49:46,483 This allows tiny hatchlings to grow into adults that are 50 times their size. 278 00:49:55,575 --> 00:50:02,541 They're part of the reptile family tree… but are their own unique branch. 279 00:50:17,681 --> 00:50:23,687 Early giants, like Plateosaurus, can reach the new taller food sources. 280 00:50:26,314 --> 00:50:30,110 Their stomachs can digest the tough conifer needles. 281 00:50:32,904 --> 00:50:39,828 And their sheer volume helps them maintain a higher body temperature day and night. 282 00:50:55,677 --> 00:51:00,348 It's a winning formula that will herald a new age. 283 00:51:10,317 --> 00:51:11,359 The Jurassic. 284 00:51:29,252 --> 00:51:36,176 This new dynasty would rule for more than 150 million years. 285 00:51:45,852 --> 00:51:49,815 The reign that would see the rise of some of the most iconic creatures to ever walk 286 00:51:49,898 --> 00:51:53,860 the earth. 287 00:52:00,450 --> 00:52:05,038 Welcome to the age of dinosaurs.