Walking with Beasts - Episode 3: Land of Giants

Description

Walking with Beasts is a 2001 six-part television documentary produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. In North America it has been retitled Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and the original Discovery Channel broadcast was narrated by Stockard Channing. Like its predecessor, Walking with Dinosaurs, it recreates life in the Cenozoic by using a combination of both computer-generated imagery and animatronics. However, the Miocene period is not included. Also like its predecessor, it was re-edited and re-narrated as a "second season" of Prehistoric Planet for the Discovery Kids lineup. Some of the concepts it illustrates are the evolution of whales, the evolution of horses, and the evolution of humans.

Episode 3: "Land of Giants"

25 Million Years Ago - Late Oligocene - Mongolia

The third episode takes place during the late Oligocene, in Mongolia, where there were seasonal rains followed by a long drought. It tells the story of a mother Paraceratherium or Indricotherium (identified as Indricothere), a massive hornless rhinoceros that was the largest land mammal to have ever lived.The episode first shows the mother Paraceratherium giving birth, and then tending to the male calf as it matures. A few minutes after giving birth, the mother defends the helpless calf from several Hyaenodon. Also, the mother's old calf tries to come back, but is chased away. It gives a snapshot into the future of the calf. The mother raises her calf for three years, but eventually chases him away after she mates with another male. The episode then chronicles the young Paraceratherium travels until it reaches adulthood, including encounters with the Cynodictis (identified as bear dog), and the large aggressive Entelodon (identified as Entelodont).
    * Paraceratherium
    * Hyaenodon
    * Entelodon
    * Chalicotherium
    * Cynodictis

Tags