Months later, some of the eggs hatch and the young sauropods are preyed upon by Ornitholestes. This episode follows the life of a young female herbivorous sauropod Diplodocus beginning at the moment when her mother lays a clutch of eggs at the edge of a conifer forest. The episode ends with the arrival of a migrating herd of the prosauropod Plateosaurus, foreshadowing the future dominance of the giant sauropods after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.Īnimals Coelophysis Cynodont Placerias Postosuchus Peteinosaurus Plateosaurus Dragonfly Lungfish Lacewingġ52 million years ago, Late Jurassic ( Colorado) Filming location: California State Parks, Chile, Tasmania, New Zealand

Finally, the wet season comes, and the majority of the Coelophysis have survived (including the female), along with the cynodont pair, who have a new clutch of eggs. The cynodont also resorts to hunting baby Coelophysis during the night. The Placerias herd embarks on a trek through parched wasteland in search of water and are not seen again, meanwhile the Coelophysis start killing and cannibalising their young. As the dry season continues however, food becomes scarce and extreme measures are taken by all animals. Wounded, sick and without a territory, the female dies and is eaten by a pack of Coelophysis. The female Postosuchus is later shown to have been wounded by Placerias's tusks (the wound is on her left thigh), and after being unable to successfully hunt another member of the Placerias herd she is beaten out of her territory by a rival male Postosuchus. At night, the pair of cynodonts are shown eating their remaining young, then moving away, while during the day, the Coelophysis work to expose the nest. Eventually, one young cynodont strays too close to the entrance and is eaten before the father can drive the predators away. Still searching for food, the Coelophysis are shown discovering the cynodont burrow (and are initially frightened away by the emerging male). Early pterosaurs called Peteinosaurus are depicted feeding on dragonflies and cooling themselves in what little water is present during the drought.

A female rauisuchian Postosuchus (one of the largest carnivores alive in the Triassic) is shown attacking the Placerias herd, and bites one of the members, driving the rest of the herd to retreat and leave the wounded and weakened member of the group to the carnivore. A male mammal-like cynodont is shown downstream, returning to his burrow from the river. The Coelophysis is shown stalking a herd of Placerias (a giant synapsid or mammal-like reptile), looking for weak members to prey upon. The episode follows a female Coelophysis as she tries to survive during the dry season in what will become the North American Southwest.

220 million years ago, Late Triassic (Arizona) Filming location: New Caledonia

Coelophysis walking with dinosaurs