Walking With Dinosaurs Remastered

Battles of the Giants

Last time on Walking with Dinosaurs: We explored the coral reefs of the Jurassic, today, we watch as the war between theropods and sauropods escalates.

Chapter 5: Battles of the Giants

Time: 106 Million Years Ago, Early Cretaceous

Place: Eastern North America

Dawn over the beginning of the Cretaceous. The land has changed much since the Jurassic, the continents are nearing their modern positions, but the sea levels are much higher, the climate is wetter, and North America is split in two by the Western Interior Seaway. Dinosaurs are entering their golden age, and several new species have evolved, the carcharodontosaurs, the spinosaurs, abelisaurs, ankylosaurs, and early tyrannosauroids all inhabit these landscapes. Even the sauropods are bigger than ever, these behemoths are sauroposeidon, at a baffling 60 feet tall, 80 feet long, and almost 70 tons, they are some of the biggest animals to ever walk the land. Sauroposeidon is a member of the family that gave rise to the biggest animals to ever walk the earth, the titanosaurs. These guys dwarfed any sauropod families that came before or after them, and became the dominant sauropods for the Cretaceous.

Sauroposeidon have a similar social structure to zebras, males hold control over a herd of females that they mate with and defend from other males. This old bull is the boss, and it isn't long before he has a challenger, this much younger male has recently reached sexual maturity, and he wants a herd of his own. The two size each other up, confrontations between these not-so-gentle giants rarely escalate into actual fights, but when they do, bones will break, the ground will shake, and everyone will know why they are called ""Earthquake God Lizards". 

Despite being almost 9 feet shorter than his opponent, the young male strikes first, body slamming the larger male and shoving him backwards, but the older male is more experienced, using his neck, he tips the younger male off balance, then he shoves him back. The young male loses his footing and topples over, and now his spectacular bulk brings about his own demise, the sheer weight of his body hitting the ground shatters every bone on the right side of his body. Now the scavengers come out to do their jobs, a pack of deinonychus emerges from the bushes. These Eagle-like animals are a type of dromaeosaur, a group of bird like dinosaurs with huge sickle claws on their feet. Even in a pack like this, these 11 foot long animals are far too small to stand a chance against a healthy adult sauroposeidon, and even then, their packs are nowhere near as organized as modern Wolf packs are. There is no dominant male or dominant female, no alpha or omega, just a simple hierarchy of ''whoever can beat up everybody else gets the best food".

Nearby, a different mating ritual is taking place, an Acrocanthosaurus bellows her mating call across the plains. Unlike sauroposeidon, or most other dinosaurs, actually, Acrocanthosaurus females are larger and more brightly colored than the males. And it is the females that hold down huge territories and battle over mates. This female has recently displaced the old ruler, and she is determined to make a place for herself in this new land. So far she hasn't caught anyone's attention yet, but she's nothing if not determined.

That Night

As the sun sets, the Acrocanthosaurus decides to put her mate calling on hold to go hunting. Nearby, a herd of Tenontosaurus rests in the bushes, these herbivores are closely related to hadrosaurs, but are more primitive, they lack hooves or crests, but have the beginnings of the hadrosaur's signature beak. Because they are prey items, tenontosaurus have developed a different sleep schedule from their predators, while large carnivores generally sleep where they want, whenever they want, and however long they want, tenontosaurus are very light sleepers and only sleep about 5 or 6 hours a day and only do so in dense, secluded thickets. A snapping twig is all it takes to jerk this subadult awake, but it isn't the Acrocanthosaurus that disturbed him.It's the deinonychus pack, and tenontosaurus are among their favorite prey items. Unlike wolves, Deinonychus lack a real strategy when hunting prey, preferring to just repeatedly bite and stab with their teeth and claws until the prey item dies. The problem is that even a subadult tenontosaurus is twice their size and armed with sharp claws and a long, heavy tail, the only things the deinonychus have going for them is their numbers and the cover of darkness. The biggest raptor decides to test her luck, jumping on the tenontosaurus' neck and attempting to sink in her claws. The Tenontosaurus, however, struggles viciously, managing to throw his attacker off, another deinonychus tries to jump on, but gets whacked away by the herbivore's massive tail. Sensing that he's outnumbered, the tenontosaurus tries to run, but finds himself surrounded.