Last Day of the Dinosaurs (2010) Movie Script
Our world was once a world
dominated by dinosaurs.
They walked where we walk.
They drank the same water...
Breathed the same air...
And fought
on the same battlefields.
But then they faced the day
that none of us
can imagine...
Some of the
most critical hours
in the history of life on Earth.
This is the story of the day
their world ended...
the last day of the dinosaurs.
THE LAST DAY OF THE DINOSAURS
Earth
A warmer place
than it is today.
Along the west coast of
what's now North America,
mountains tower over
a large forested valley.
It's the domain of the ultimate form
of prehistoric evolution.
Dinosaurs.
And more than 350 pounds
with a wingspan of 40 feet,
Quetzalcoatlus is the largest
flying creature of all time.
A mile down,
a breakfast no carnivore
can not resist.
It will take this tiny hatchling
to become the most
fearsome predator.
But for now,
Tyrannosaurus Rex,
is just few inches tall,
not very scary
and completely exposed.
But... not completely unprotected.
The father, a fully grown T-Rex
is on a hunt.
Its acute sense of smell,
helps him sniff out prey
from great distances,
and it also serves him well
as a parent.
He knows when something is wrong.
Quetzalcoatlus' metabolism
demands that it eat regularly.
and powering this streamline body
means finding
rich sources of protein,
like a 3 pound baby T-Rex.
Quetzalcoatlus' huge wings
are perfectly adapted
for long distance gliding.
But its sheer size
makes it hard to lift off
when it's backed into a corner.
It's lucky...
this time.
Of the entire clutch
of T-Rex eggs,
only one chick survived.
And if it grows up,
it will grow to be 17 feet tall
and weigh more than 7 tons.
But surviving
to adulthood,
even for
Tyrannosaurus Rex
isn't written in stone.
Because a storm is coming.
Born of events
that took place long before.
This is the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter.
Billions of rocks
all hurdling through space,
in the same direction,
like traffic
on a freeway.
All,
except this one.
which is moving diagonally
on a completely different course.
It's like a 40 mile wide semi
suddenly slicing
across the highway.
But this truck
is going 22,000 miles an hour.
The two asteroids shattered
into millions of fragments.
But this fragment
over 6 miles across,
has a special destiny.
It's a rock
poised to change history.
Because it's heading
for the fifth largest planet
in the solar system.
The only planet
known to harbor life.
Planet Earth.
Meanwhile, the planet's
reptilian lords live
completely unaware of
what's heading their way.
Triceratops are among
the most widespread
dinosaurs on the
North American continent.
They're herbivores, but that
doesn't mean they're wallflowers.
Male Triceratops
take their mating rights...
very seriously...!
And weighing 6 tons each,
a face off can be fatal.
This time,
intimidation does the trick.
But there's another
enemy waiting in the wings.
He's not after
mating rights.
The Triceratops is fast
and well-armed enough
to stand a chance
against T-Rex...
...but not against two of them.
Hunting as a pair
one T-Rex go get
behind the deadly horns
and armored core.
There's enough meat here
to feed them both for weeks,
but they may not have
the time to enjoy it.
A quarter of million miles up,
is the earth's last hope of defense.
The Moon has saved
the planet before.
Its pockmarked surface
bears the scars of
countless collisions.
This crater
known as Tycho,
is more than 50 miles wide.
Created by a rock
only half the size of the one
that's on its way.
But the moon is rarely
in the right place,
at the right time.
Nothing can stop
the asteroid now.
This cosmic missile isn't
as alien as it seems.
Like the earth itself,
It's made up largely of rock
and water.
In the cold vacuum of space
the water freezes into
a hard permafrost.
But on the inside,
there's a chemical cocktail
composed of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen.
Key ingredients for life.
Asteroid fragments like this one
may have provide the building blocks
for life on Earth.
Life, it evolved into dinosaurs.
But what gives life,
can also take it away.
THE PACIFIC NORTHWES
Most
dinosaurs in the valley
hunt and forage during the day
and sleep at night.
This giant herbivore,
an Ankylosaurus
keeps one eye open
for predators.
Under the cover of darkness,
very different creatures
emerge from their hiding places.
Like Mesodma,
a primitive mammal
about the size of a possums.
like most other mammals,
Mesodma's life
is all about being with
the dinosaurs earth.
It only comes out at night,
to forage for tasty roots and insects.
While the giants sleep,
It's the meek that
witness a cosmic event.
A meteor shower.
Each streak of light
is a tiny fragment
of the asteroid collision.
Burning up
as it entered the atmosphere.
But these are mainly outrider
of the much larger missile
hurdling through space.
An asteroid locked into
a head-on collision.
The Day of Reckoning is here.
After a journey
last in a hundred million years,
an enormous chunk of cosmic rock
is approaching
the end of the line.
And the end of the line
is Earth.
In what is today
Central Mexico,
a herd of Alamosaurus,
is wandering the plains
in search of food.
They're recent species to evolve.
And even by dinosaur standards,
they're huge.
They're the last of the Sauropods,
the biggest animals
ever to walk the Earth.
and a staggering 40 feet tall,
Alamosaurus weigh
up to 30 ton.
To maintain that bulk,
they need to eat up to a ton
of leaves every day.
A vast herd like this one
strips a landscape of vegetation
in just a few hours.
Because she's a nomad
on a constant search for food,
when it's time for this female to lay
her eggs, she doesn't nest.
She simply lays eggs
in groups of 5 or 6,
to improve the chances
that some will survive.
Under normal conditions,
only one in 3,000 will produce
a mature Alamosaurus.
But the odd stacked
against these eggs,
are about to get astronomical.
Because now,
just 20 minutes away
is racing right at them.
The asteroid fragment's enormous mass
is only part of the threat.
The other part is velocity.
But as it get closer to the planet,
The Earth's gravitational pull
gets stronger
and the asteroid accelerates,
past 40,000-45,000 miles per hour
And mass times acceleration
equals force.
As the asteroid
encounters atmosphere,
friction turn it into a fireball
swooping over the Atlantic
and aimed at Mexico.
And... the Alamosaurus.
It takes just four minutes
to cross the ocean.
It crushes and superheats
the air surrounding it,
transforming gas and debris
into white-hot plasma.
At 35,000 degrees,
it's burning brighter
than a million suns.
It takes just 5 seconds
to flash through the atmosphere.
Impact seems instantaneous.
But hidden within the cataclysm,
are a series of discreet events
invisible to the naked eye
but key to understanding
what follows.
The asteroid's trajectory is shallow.
It flies in at about 30 angle
to the surface.
This means the full brunt
of its destructive power
will be thrown to the north of
the impact point.
Even before the fireball
touches down,
its sheer brightness in the sky
is unimaginable.
the light is so intense
that makes the Alamosaurus' flesh
seem transparent.
And burns flash frames
of their shadows onto the ground.
The scorching light sears
their eyeballs,
They have no way of
seeing what's headed their way,
but they can feel it.
An explosive force
of a hundred million megaton,
more powerful than all the nuclear
weapons ever built.
If the asteroid had
crashed into deep ocean,
some of the force
would have been absorbed.
Instead, it hits the shallow waters
of the gulf of Mexico.
which instantly vaporized.
In fraction of a second,
the entire asteroid
disintegrates into the planet.
Earth and rock also vaporized
in our hurled skyworld
at 100,000 miles an hour
Behind them,
earth's crust
explode from the ground.
the air temperature
now reaches 600 degrees
Hot enough to boil away
the water in the dinosaurs' skin.
which escapes with
sudden bursts of steam.
The fiery blast suck every
drop of moisture from the vegetation.
Anything directly exposed
to the blistering heat...
is simply boiled alive.
Just 108 seconds after impact
in the Gulf of Mexico
The bright streams of vaporized rock
can be seen in the
Pacific Northwest.
From their clifftop ruse
a breeding pair of Quetzalcoatlus
can see the glow of the fireball
high above the horizon
... 3,000 miles away.
That's how big it is.
Just 2 minutes has passed
since the asteroid
slammed into the Earth.
The body count back near
the crash site is amass.
Surprisingly, there are survivors.
Those lucky enough
to be shielded by a mountain
are spare the worse of the light
in heat blast.
But three more waves
of destruction are coming.
On impact,
boulders the size of buildings
blasted into the air
at supersonic speeds.
But what goes up...
... Must come down.
Hundreds of surviving Alamosaurus
are bombarded from above.
A second wave
hits from below.
An earthquake measuring
Nearly 60 times more powerful
than any earthquake
humans have experienced.
The third wave is the
blast postwave.
Radiating outward
in a perfect circle.
Packing a force that rips
through air
faster than
the speed of sound.
Stripping skin from flesh.
Lifting 30 ton dinosaurs
into the air like so many ragdolls.
Just 5 minutes have
passed since impact.
And three waves of destruction
have decimated an entire species.
Many other species
of dinosaurs in the region
shared the Alamosaurus' fate.
Most of the eggs too,
have been destroyed.
And the Earth
is a powerful protector.
Some eggs, buried in a cold ground
have survived.
New Alamosaurus life is growing.
There is still hope...
...for now.
An immense boulder
the size of mount everest
crashes into the gulf of Mexico,
driving entire species
of dinosaurs to extinction
in less than five minutes.
But the worst is still to come.
On the other side of the planet,
there is still no sign of trouble.
Mongolia is 8,000 miles
from the impact.
This scrubland here supports
hundreds of dinosaur species.
For a family of Kronosaurus,
it's business as usual
at a favorite watering hole.
They can weigh 4 tons
and grow to 40 feet in length.
But they're vegetarians
and docile,
except when they have to defend
themselves or their offspring.
which are now
at their most vulnerable
to the hungry predators
that lurk around every corner.
Armed with a Razor-Sharp,
oversized claw on its hind feet,
this is the jackal
of the Cretaceous Period.
Suurornithoides,
a very smart reptile.
Its brain-to-body-weight ratio
is among the highest
of any dinosaur.
It's hungry, but it knows better than
to take on a full grown Kronosaurus...
not when there are
easier targets,
In its rush to eat
The thief doesn't get as far
away from the enraged mother
as it should.
And it can smell its mistake.
It's a Mexican standoff
between two very
different kinds of dinosaur.
One has the speed and
smart of a carnivore
but the other is
But the large herbivores of this world
aren't made for fighting
And that's exactly what the
Saurornithoides is counting on,
especially when he's got backup.
Speed and strategy give
these small hunters the edge.
But neither great size nor
great intelligence is any guarantee
of safety from the kind of enemy
that is now approaching.
On the other side of the planet,
A fireball rises 100 miles
above ground zero.
pulverized stone and earth
fill the upper atmosphere
with a cloud of
microscopic dust and glass,
and it's spreading fast.
This is the Ejecta Cloud.
As the dust spreads
at high altitude,
trillions of tiny particles
re-enter the Atmosphere.
The friction creates
intense heat...
A 15,000-degree dust cloud
heating up everything beneath it.
From their Cliff-Top Perch
in the Pacific Northwest,
the male and female Quetzalcoatlus
have a clear view of the approaching cloud.
Down in the valley, a thick
ocean fog blocks out the sky.
The heavy blanket of moisture makes it
impossible to see the coming apocalypse.
But the animals down here
do get a warning.
Not from above,
but from below.
When the asteroid struck,
most of the energy
is deflected out or up.
Only 1% of the force
travels down into the ground.
But it's enough to ring
the planet like a bell.
Seismic waves radiate both
across and through the Earth.
after impact,
they reach the Pacific Northwest.
In the valley, the ground shakes as the 11.1
earthquake ripples through the ground.
Triceratops panic of
the sight of the valley
in a desperate attempt
to escape the tremors
and falling debris.
Smaller animals take
shelter on the ground.
Meanwhile,
The ejecta cloud is approaching
at 10,000 miles/hour
It bakes the Earth
with unrelented heat.
Million of volts
of static electricity
charge the cloud
like a giant battery,
creating a vast electrical storm.
Superheated rocks
shower the valley.
A burning hell.
The Quetzalcoatlus are fleeing
the quake's devastation below
But there's no way to hide
from a rain of fire.
Only the valley floor
can provide shelter,
but there too big
to descend quickly.
Until the males'
tattered wings
can no longer keep him aloft.
If his mate doesn't find shelter,
she'll be next.
On the mountain slopes,
a pair of Triceratops
emerges above the cool sea nest.
They're almost out of the
quake ravaged valley
when the ejecta cloud arrives...
Like a blowtorch.
A dinosaur paradise
just hours ago...
North America is
now a living hell.
But the Ejecta
isn't finished yet,
not by a long shot.
Less than an hour
since the asteroid impact,
hundreds of species of dinosaurs
lie devastated
across the western hemisphere.
The ejecta cloud continues
to spread at high altitude.
As it spans the globe, the effects
on the ground very dramatically.
the cloud rolls in
silently from the east.
In Mongolia, temperatures
on the ground tick upwards
a few degrees
hotter every second.
There's no audible warning,
only mounting heat.
As the air reaches
the only hope is shelter.
At 160 degrees, survival
is measured in minutes
Over 200 degrees, just seconds.
The temperature on the ground
in Mongolia peaks at 300 degrees.
But not every dinosaurs's
baked alive
The micro climate of a cave
can keep a handful of survivors
cool enough to breathe,
but it's a refuge
that has to be shared,
forcing an uneasy peace
between sworn enemies...
one that's already
fraying at the edges.
Back in the Pacific Northwest,
the dense fog still shields the valley
from the intense heat above.
In sheltered areas like this,
small pockets of dinosaurs
hang on.
For the Triceratops here,
the high temperatures and humidity
force them to keep moving.
For scavengers
There's no shortage of food.
But most animals caught by
Ejecta Cloud aren't so lucky.
The female Quetzalcoatlus,
is one of the few
survivors of her species.
The last thing these animals need
is a new threat.
But the aftereffects of impact
are just getting started.
Above the valley, and
across North America
The intense heat of the Ejecta Cloud
has ignited fires.
blazes so intense
they generate their own winds.
Down in the valley
the air pressure plummets,
creating a vacuum
that sucks in the flames.
The dry vegetation goes up
like a powder keg.
Building a wall of fire.
The front of the fire burns
hottest and fastest...
moving across the valley floor
at nine miles an hour.
T-Rex can run twice that speed,
but it can't keep
the pace up forever.
The valley basin is now
a fire storm
hot enough to melt
solid aluminum.
The panicked animals race up
the valley slopes.
but fire goes faster
uphill.
Some lucky creatures escape
below the flames.
But large dinosaurs
have no place to hide.
Her wings still damaged
from the falling ejecta,
the wounded Quetzalcoatlus
struggles to take off.
For dinosaurs,
time is running out.
Two hours after
the asteroid impact,
the entire planet is covered
in dust and smoke.
Fires rage across
The Western Hemisphere.
One of the few
remaining Quetzalcoatlus,
a flying pterosaurs
as big as a giraffe,
is struggling to get airborne.
From above, what was once
a lush valley
is now an inferno.
Animals that fly
can escape the flames,
but there are few places to land
and almost nothing to eat.
A food chain once is enough
to support giants
now lacks its basic components,
... Plants.
the temperatures are
finally dropping.
A handful of animals remain
safely holed up in their cave.
It seems the worst is over.
The Ravenous Saurornithoides
can't resist the sight of
an easy meal.
Soon,
The Braver Kronosaurus follow,
making their way back
towards the watering hole.
One stays near the protection
of the cave.
As the ejecta begins to clears,
the parting clouds reveal
the shift in temperature
is throwing earth's weather systems
into turmoil.
And in Mongolia,
powerful winds are gathering
billions of tons of dust and sand.
A dust storm forms as
hot air rises.
Thermal imaging shows
how it builds,
whipping up loose particles
of sand and dust
and gaining energy from
the heat of the sand itself.
The 300 degrees temperatures
that baked Mongolia
turn a common weather phenomenon
into a superstorm.
As it hits, The Saurornithoides
are small
enough to crouch for cover.
But the Kronosaurus
are out in the open.
The sand blasts their bodies.
The harder they struggle
and the deeper
they gasp for oxygen,
the more sand fills
their lungs...
until finally they can't breathe.
The superstorm engulfs much
of the continent.
It's hours before
the winds die down.
The last Kronosaurus,
protected once again by the cave,
heads to the watering hole
on her own.
Halfway there,
she finds
she's the last of the herd.
But she's not the last remaining
dinosaur in the neighborhood.
Huddled close to
a Kronosaurus Corpse,
the Saurornithoides was sheltered
Sukentang
from the worst of the storm.
But the sand has
swallowed their meal.
Instinct drives them
back to their prime hunting spot...
the watering hole,
where the last surviving
Kronosaurus
is taking in the
much-needed fluid.
She's lucky to be alive.
But too exhausted to run
from any new sign of danger.
And danger has arrived.
The Saurornithoides are
desperate for food.
But they're weak from hunger
and abofitting from the sandstorm.
Only one has the confidence
to attack.
Its prey is still too
exhausted to run.
But this time,
size dose matter.
The remaining Saurornithoides
moves in.
But it has no intention of
making a run at the Kronosaurus...
not when fate offers it a meal
that can't fight back.
A week after impact,
food is in very short supply
across the entire planet.
Life is hardest for
the plant eaters.
Huge herbivores have to eat
vast amount
just to sustain
their massive bulk.
But there are simply no
plants to be found.
They can only hope that something,
somewhere is growing.
The Carnivores are
more fortunate.
they can eat the Herbivores.
But two triceratops
are a little too much to take on...
for now.
Three days after
the asteroid impact,
A once blue planet
is shrouded in darkness
and the landscape is
anything but green.
Fire, heat and acid rain
have battered the terrain
until it's unrecognizable.
Normally, Triceratops wouldn't travel
more than a few miles a day.
They wouldn't have to.
But now most of the continent
is stripped of vegetation.
Hunger drives the
giant herbivores
toward the Pacific coast.
The devastation reaches
all the way to the sea.
But Geography has a way of
protecting certain places
from Cataclysmic events...
in this case, an island,
apparently untouched by
the surrounding desolation.
There may still be food here.
The female Quetzalcoatlus
has been flying for three days.
She's weak and
in desperate need of food.
From 1,000 feet up,
the island comes into view.
But all is not as peaceful
as it seems.
Deep below the surface,
The Ocean floor was shaken by
the asteroid's initial impact.
Sedimentary rock disintegrates
under the strain
and Collapses hundreds of feet
into the ocean floor.
On the surface
Sea level plunges,
triggering a massive swell.
At the coast,
the ocean is dragged back
hundreds of feet from the land.
Exposing huge expansive seabed.
The path to the island
is suddenly dry land.
The forest ahead of them
appears untouched
by the hellstorm of the ejecta.
it seems too good to be true.
Half a mile from the coast,
the three Triceratops
finally reach the Promised Land.
Sheltered from the ejecta
by sea mist
and protected from fires
by the surrounding ocean,
the island has all
the food they need.
The Quetzalcoatlus hasn't
had a decent meal for days.
The asteroid has awakened
the ocean's most destructive force...
A Mega Tsunami.
A wall of water, 300 feet tall.
Within seconds,
the land is deluged.
And as quickly as it came,
The flood is gone.
But this is only one in an
amens army of mega-tsunami.
The asteroid impact
against
more than 13,000 miles of coast.
Huge wafts of shoreline
simply wash away into the sea.
The avalanche of water leaves
countless dead in its wake.
But as devastating as
the first wave of disasters is,
there's more to come...
In the days following
the asteroid's arrival,
a series of plagues
have been unleashed on the planet.
Firestorms...
Earthquakes...
Sandstorms...
and towering tsunamis.
But these are only the outward
signs of a catastrophe
that reaches much deeper.
Across all continents,
thousands of dinosaurs
may be walking,
but their species are already dead.
Because to survive
any species needs to maintain
a critical mass of population
Fall below
that threshold,
and there's no way to
climb back from certain extinction.
The final nail in the coffin
may take a while to develop,
but it's no less deadly,
and no less final.
The coup de grace
for the dinosaurs
comes from
inside the planet.
Because when a rock
slams into the Earth
at 45,000 miles/hour
it shoots 1,000,000
megaton of energy
straight into the ground.
Seismic shock waves
ripple through the planet.
The aftershocks
continue for months
As tectonic plates shear and tear.
Deep inside the planet,
they trigger molten rock to
force its way to the surface
through newly formed fractures...
until it explodes from
the earth's crust
in violent Volcanic Eruptions.
The seismic waves awaken
dormant Volcanoes
around the world,
adding to the debris clouds
of dust and toxic gases
that already surround the globe.
The shroud is already
many miles deep,
a thick blanket
stopping light
and warmth
reaching the earth surface.
The planet plunges further
into a nuclear winter.
In the days and weeks
that follow,
the only growth to
thrive is fungus
which lives off the rotting remains.
Here in Mongolia,
few signs of dinosaurs remain.
and for the starving Kronosauraus
the future looks bleak.
But it stays near the cave
that has saved it twice
in the past.
The watering hole that once
provided plenty.
But the last Kronosaurus
doesn't fall victim to starvation.
Bubbling to the surface
is one of nature's
most toxic gases...
Hydrogen Sulfide.
Released from deep underground
by Volcanic activity,
it collects invisibly
in low lying areas
like the waterhole's natural basin
the gas paralyzes the lungs,
making escape impossible.
Then it kills by suffocation.
What was once a refuge...
is transformed
into a death trap.
The last dinosaur in this part
of Mongolia is dead.
Mexico, too
is a graveyard.
Just 500 miles
from ground zero
It's been hit by wave after wave
of devastation
There would seem to be little
that nature could throw at it.
And yet, amidst
all this destruction,
beneath the thin layer
of charged soil,
a lone Alamosaurus egg
survives.
In the Pacific Northwest,
just a handful of dinosaurs
patrol the gray wasteland.
An Ankylosaurus,
severely weakened by hunger,
searches the charred terrain
for something to eat.
and weighing 4 tons,
this heavily armored herbivore
is used to getting nearly
All it can find now
is a small bush.
And even that won't come
without a fight.
But hunger is the least
of their worries.
It's two of this world's
best armored warriors
versus a hungry Carnivore
that won't take no for an answer.
The Ankylosaurus's main
defense weapon
is a heavy tail club.
But it's too weak
to get in a good shot.
Not so T-Rex.
With food sources
disappearing,
starving giants are forced
to fight for every calorie.
Even to the death.
So the dinosaurs that outlast
the ejecta,
firestorms,
and poison gas
ultimately fall victim to the demands
of their own massive bodies.
It took 160 million years
to bring the dinosaurs
to this point of their evolution.
It took just one rock
to bring them down.
The events
triggered by the impact
flashed by a breakneck speed.
Seismic shocks caused
massive earthquakes
boulders the size of buildings
raining down
followed by a brutal
blast wave
all within the first 3 minutes.
By the time the super heated
Ejecta Cloud hit Mongolia
just 44 minutes later,
the whole planet
was in shock.
In the coming days,
forest fires race the earth.
Violent dust storms destroy
entire ecosystems.
Titanic waves
wreck coastlines.
Put all these together,
it is hard to believe
that anything on Earth
could have survived.
But something has.
Mexico, 500 miles
from the point of impact
the very first landmass
to feel the force
of the asteroid's strike...
a region that has suffered wave
upon wave of violence...
yet even here, even now,
life remains.
a last surviving
Alamosaurus egg.
Buried safe within the soil,
a chick has survived
the barrage of destruction.
And he's not alone.
All around the world,
small handfuls of dinosaurs
try to start over.
But inbreeding and disease,
weaken their
tiny populations.
Eventually,
the huge numbers of dinosaurs
that had ruled the world
are reduced to a single,
solitary dinosaur.
And it too, is gone.
And with it,
a dynasty that had
ruled the Earth
for 160 million years.
But dinosaurs weren't
the only animals on the planet.
There were other, humbler
lifeforms that had lived
in the dinosaurs' shadow
for a very long time.
When floods and
fire storms hit,
they found shelter on the ground.
Some hid deep inside
trees and plants.
Others took refuge
beneath the soil.
And small mammals,
like Mesodma,
survived by scampering into burrows.
Down here they were protected
from the worst the asteroid
could throw at them.
The earth would be inherited by
animals that were good at hiding.
Fish were sheltered
beneath the water.
So are the aquatic reptiles.
Birds, especially waterfowl,
could survive by diving underwater
or hiding in burrows.
It will be years before
all the Sun's energy
could reach the land again.
But the heavy cloud
slowly begins to clear.
In the Gulf of Mexico
where the asteroid struck,
a shallow crater
can be seen.
A tiny scar for such
a fatal wound.
Out of the ruins,
nature starts over.
Simple organisms like
mold and fungus dominate
the burnt
and rotting landscape.
Then new growth emerges,
and one plant in
particular...
Ferns...
Tough and resilient, they soon
carpet the planet in green,
It takes thousands of years for
ferns to give way to forests.
Breathing Oxygen
and life into the planet again,
and setting the stage
for a new era...
because waiting in the wings
are creatures
whose development
had long been thwarted
by the dinosaurs...
The mammals.
Unlike the dinosaurs,
the mammals are fast breeders,
brilliant adapters.
They multiply...
And diversify
exploding
across the planet.
But it's millions of years
before one very important species
branches off from its relatives,
and comes down from the trees.
They walk on two legs,
evolve bigger brains,
and eventually...
rule the planet.
Just as the dinosaurs
once did.
But unlike them,
They'll reshape the world,
building cities
that touch the sky...
vehicles that
can leave the planet...
and weapons that can destroy it.
But none of it could
have been possible
if a chance collision in space
hadn't sent an asteroid
hurdling toward earth
and doomed the dinosaurs
to extinction.
Only because they died
can human beings live.
dominated by dinosaurs.
They walked where we walk.
They drank the same water...
Breathed the same air...
And fought
on the same battlefields.
But then they faced the day
that none of us
can imagine...
Some of the
most critical hours
in the history of life on Earth.
This is the story of the day
their world ended...
the last day of the dinosaurs.
THE LAST DAY OF THE DINOSAURS
Earth
A warmer place
than it is today.
Along the west coast of
what's now North America,
mountains tower over
a large forested valley.
It's the domain of the ultimate form
of prehistoric evolution.
Dinosaurs.
And more than 350 pounds
with a wingspan of 40 feet,
Quetzalcoatlus is the largest
flying creature of all time.
A mile down,
a breakfast no carnivore
can not resist.
It will take this tiny hatchling
to become the most
fearsome predator.
But for now,
Tyrannosaurus Rex,
is just few inches tall,
not very scary
and completely exposed.
But... not completely unprotected.
The father, a fully grown T-Rex
is on a hunt.
Its acute sense of smell,
helps him sniff out prey
from great distances,
and it also serves him well
as a parent.
He knows when something is wrong.
Quetzalcoatlus' metabolism
demands that it eat regularly.
and powering this streamline body
means finding
rich sources of protein,
like a 3 pound baby T-Rex.
Quetzalcoatlus' huge wings
are perfectly adapted
for long distance gliding.
But its sheer size
makes it hard to lift off
when it's backed into a corner.
It's lucky...
this time.
Of the entire clutch
of T-Rex eggs,
only one chick survived.
And if it grows up,
it will grow to be 17 feet tall
and weigh more than 7 tons.
But surviving
to adulthood,
even for
Tyrannosaurus Rex
isn't written in stone.
Because a storm is coming.
Born of events
that took place long before.
This is the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter.
Billions of rocks
all hurdling through space,
in the same direction,
like traffic
on a freeway.
All,
except this one.
which is moving diagonally
on a completely different course.
It's like a 40 mile wide semi
suddenly slicing
across the highway.
But this truck
is going 22,000 miles an hour.
The two asteroids shattered
into millions of fragments.
But this fragment
over 6 miles across,
has a special destiny.
It's a rock
poised to change history.
Because it's heading
for the fifth largest planet
in the solar system.
The only planet
known to harbor life.
Planet Earth.
Meanwhile, the planet's
reptilian lords live
completely unaware of
what's heading their way.
Triceratops are among
the most widespread
dinosaurs on the
North American continent.
They're herbivores, but that
doesn't mean they're wallflowers.
Male Triceratops
take their mating rights...
very seriously...!
And weighing 6 tons each,
a face off can be fatal.
This time,
intimidation does the trick.
But there's another
enemy waiting in the wings.
He's not after
mating rights.
The Triceratops is fast
and well-armed enough
to stand a chance
against T-Rex...
...but not against two of them.
Hunting as a pair
one T-Rex go get
behind the deadly horns
and armored core.
There's enough meat here
to feed them both for weeks,
but they may not have
the time to enjoy it.
A quarter of million miles up,
is the earth's last hope of defense.
The Moon has saved
the planet before.
Its pockmarked surface
bears the scars of
countless collisions.
This crater
known as Tycho,
is more than 50 miles wide.
Created by a rock
only half the size of the one
that's on its way.
But the moon is rarely
in the right place,
at the right time.
Nothing can stop
the asteroid now.
This cosmic missile isn't
as alien as it seems.
Like the earth itself,
It's made up largely of rock
and water.
In the cold vacuum of space
the water freezes into
a hard permafrost.
But on the inside,
there's a chemical cocktail
composed of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen.
Key ingredients for life.
Asteroid fragments like this one
may have provide the building blocks
for life on Earth.
Life, it evolved into dinosaurs.
But what gives life,
can also take it away.
THE PACIFIC NORTHWES
Most
dinosaurs in the valley
hunt and forage during the day
and sleep at night.
This giant herbivore,
an Ankylosaurus
keeps one eye open
for predators.
Under the cover of darkness,
very different creatures
emerge from their hiding places.
Like Mesodma,
a primitive mammal
about the size of a possums.
like most other mammals,
Mesodma's life
is all about being with
the dinosaurs earth.
It only comes out at night,
to forage for tasty roots and insects.
While the giants sleep,
It's the meek that
witness a cosmic event.
A meteor shower.
Each streak of light
is a tiny fragment
of the asteroid collision.
Burning up
as it entered the atmosphere.
But these are mainly outrider
of the much larger missile
hurdling through space.
An asteroid locked into
a head-on collision.
The Day of Reckoning is here.
After a journey
last in a hundred million years,
an enormous chunk of cosmic rock
is approaching
the end of the line.
And the end of the line
is Earth.
In what is today
Central Mexico,
a herd of Alamosaurus,
is wandering the plains
in search of food.
They're recent species to evolve.
And even by dinosaur standards,
they're huge.
They're the last of the Sauropods,
the biggest animals
ever to walk the Earth.
and a staggering 40 feet tall,
Alamosaurus weigh
up to 30 ton.
To maintain that bulk,
they need to eat up to a ton
of leaves every day.
A vast herd like this one
strips a landscape of vegetation
in just a few hours.
Because she's a nomad
on a constant search for food,
when it's time for this female to lay
her eggs, she doesn't nest.
She simply lays eggs
in groups of 5 or 6,
to improve the chances
that some will survive.
Under normal conditions,
only one in 3,000 will produce
a mature Alamosaurus.
But the odd stacked
against these eggs,
are about to get astronomical.
Because now,
just 20 minutes away
is racing right at them.
The asteroid fragment's enormous mass
is only part of the threat.
The other part is velocity.
But as it get closer to the planet,
The Earth's gravitational pull
gets stronger
and the asteroid accelerates,
past 40,000-45,000 miles per hour
And mass times acceleration
equals force.
As the asteroid
encounters atmosphere,
friction turn it into a fireball
swooping over the Atlantic
and aimed at Mexico.
And... the Alamosaurus.
It takes just four minutes
to cross the ocean.
It crushes and superheats
the air surrounding it,
transforming gas and debris
into white-hot plasma.
At 35,000 degrees,
it's burning brighter
than a million suns.
It takes just 5 seconds
to flash through the atmosphere.
Impact seems instantaneous.
But hidden within the cataclysm,
are a series of discreet events
invisible to the naked eye
but key to understanding
what follows.
The asteroid's trajectory is shallow.
It flies in at about 30 angle
to the surface.
This means the full brunt
of its destructive power
will be thrown to the north of
the impact point.
Even before the fireball
touches down,
its sheer brightness in the sky
is unimaginable.
the light is so intense
that makes the Alamosaurus' flesh
seem transparent.
And burns flash frames
of their shadows onto the ground.
The scorching light sears
their eyeballs,
They have no way of
seeing what's headed their way,
but they can feel it.
An explosive force
of a hundred million megaton,
more powerful than all the nuclear
weapons ever built.
If the asteroid had
crashed into deep ocean,
some of the force
would have been absorbed.
Instead, it hits the shallow waters
of the gulf of Mexico.
which instantly vaporized.
In fraction of a second,
the entire asteroid
disintegrates into the planet.
Earth and rock also vaporized
in our hurled skyworld
at 100,000 miles an hour
Behind them,
earth's crust
explode from the ground.
the air temperature
now reaches 600 degrees
Hot enough to boil away
the water in the dinosaurs' skin.
which escapes with
sudden bursts of steam.
The fiery blast suck every
drop of moisture from the vegetation.
Anything directly exposed
to the blistering heat...
is simply boiled alive.
Just 108 seconds after impact
in the Gulf of Mexico
The bright streams of vaporized rock
can be seen in the
Pacific Northwest.
From their clifftop ruse
a breeding pair of Quetzalcoatlus
can see the glow of the fireball
high above the horizon
... 3,000 miles away.
That's how big it is.
Just 2 minutes has passed
since the asteroid
slammed into the Earth.
The body count back near
the crash site is amass.
Surprisingly, there are survivors.
Those lucky enough
to be shielded by a mountain
are spare the worse of the light
in heat blast.
But three more waves
of destruction are coming.
On impact,
boulders the size of buildings
blasted into the air
at supersonic speeds.
But what goes up...
... Must come down.
Hundreds of surviving Alamosaurus
are bombarded from above.
A second wave
hits from below.
An earthquake measuring
Nearly 60 times more powerful
than any earthquake
humans have experienced.
The third wave is the
blast postwave.
Radiating outward
in a perfect circle.
Packing a force that rips
through air
faster than
the speed of sound.
Stripping skin from flesh.
Lifting 30 ton dinosaurs
into the air like so many ragdolls.
Just 5 minutes have
passed since impact.
And three waves of destruction
have decimated an entire species.
Many other species
of dinosaurs in the region
shared the Alamosaurus' fate.
Most of the eggs too,
have been destroyed.
And the Earth
is a powerful protector.
Some eggs, buried in a cold ground
have survived.
New Alamosaurus life is growing.
There is still hope...
...for now.
An immense boulder
the size of mount everest
crashes into the gulf of Mexico,
driving entire species
of dinosaurs to extinction
in less than five minutes.
But the worst is still to come.
On the other side of the planet,
there is still no sign of trouble.
Mongolia is 8,000 miles
from the impact.
This scrubland here supports
hundreds of dinosaur species.
For a family of Kronosaurus,
it's business as usual
at a favorite watering hole.
They can weigh 4 tons
and grow to 40 feet in length.
But they're vegetarians
and docile,
except when they have to defend
themselves or their offspring.
which are now
at their most vulnerable
to the hungry predators
that lurk around every corner.
Armed with a Razor-Sharp,
oversized claw on its hind feet,
this is the jackal
of the Cretaceous Period.
Suurornithoides,
a very smart reptile.
Its brain-to-body-weight ratio
is among the highest
of any dinosaur.
It's hungry, but it knows better than
to take on a full grown Kronosaurus...
not when there are
easier targets,
In its rush to eat
The thief doesn't get as far
away from the enraged mother
as it should.
And it can smell its mistake.
It's a Mexican standoff
between two very
different kinds of dinosaur.
One has the speed and
smart of a carnivore
but the other is
But the large herbivores of this world
aren't made for fighting
And that's exactly what the
Saurornithoides is counting on,
especially when he's got backup.
Speed and strategy give
these small hunters the edge.
But neither great size nor
great intelligence is any guarantee
of safety from the kind of enemy
that is now approaching.
On the other side of the planet,
A fireball rises 100 miles
above ground zero.
pulverized stone and earth
fill the upper atmosphere
with a cloud of
microscopic dust and glass,
and it's spreading fast.
This is the Ejecta Cloud.
As the dust spreads
at high altitude,
trillions of tiny particles
re-enter the Atmosphere.
The friction creates
intense heat...
A 15,000-degree dust cloud
heating up everything beneath it.
From their Cliff-Top Perch
in the Pacific Northwest,
the male and female Quetzalcoatlus
have a clear view of the approaching cloud.
Down in the valley, a thick
ocean fog blocks out the sky.
The heavy blanket of moisture makes it
impossible to see the coming apocalypse.
But the animals down here
do get a warning.
Not from above,
but from below.
When the asteroid struck,
most of the energy
is deflected out or up.
Only 1% of the force
travels down into the ground.
But it's enough to ring
the planet like a bell.
Seismic waves radiate both
across and through the Earth.
after impact,
they reach the Pacific Northwest.
In the valley, the ground shakes as the 11.1
earthquake ripples through the ground.
Triceratops panic of
the sight of the valley
in a desperate attempt
to escape the tremors
and falling debris.
Smaller animals take
shelter on the ground.
Meanwhile,
The ejecta cloud is approaching
at 10,000 miles/hour
It bakes the Earth
with unrelented heat.
Million of volts
of static electricity
charge the cloud
like a giant battery,
creating a vast electrical storm.
Superheated rocks
shower the valley.
A burning hell.
The Quetzalcoatlus are fleeing
the quake's devastation below
But there's no way to hide
from a rain of fire.
Only the valley floor
can provide shelter,
but there too big
to descend quickly.
Until the males'
tattered wings
can no longer keep him aloft.
If his mate doesn't find shelter,
she'll be next.
On the mountain slopes,
a pair of Triceratops
emerges above the cool sea nest.
They're almost out of the
quake ravaged valley
when the ejecta cloud arrives...
Like a blowtorch.
A dinosaur paradise
just hours ago...
North America is
now a living hell.
But the Ejecta
isn't finished yet,
not by a long shot.
Less than an hour
since the asteroid impact,
hundreds of species of dinosaurs
lie devastated
across the western hemisphere.
The ejecta cloud continues
to spread at high altitude.
As it spans the globe, the effects
on the ground very dramatically.
the cloud rolls in
silently from the east.
In Mongolia, temperatures
on the ground tick upwards
a few degrees
hotter every second.
There's no audible warning,
only mounting heat.
As the air reaches
the only hope is shelter.
At 160 degrees, survival
is measured in minutes
Over 200 degrees, just seconds.
The temperature on the ground
in Mongolia peaks at 300 degrees.
But not every dinosaurs's
baked alive
The micro climate of a cave
can keep a handful of survivors
cool enough to breathe,
but it's a refuge
that has to be shared,
forcing an uneasy peace
between sworn enemies...
one that's already
fraying at the edges.
Back in the Pacific Northwest,
the dense fog still shields the valley
from the intense heat above.
In sheltered areas like this,
small pockets of dinosaurs
hang on.
For the Triceratops here,
the high temperatures and humidity
force them to keep moving.
For scavengers
There's no shortage of food.
But most animals caught by
Ejecta Cloud aren't so lucky.
The female Quetzalcoatlus,
is one of the few
survivors of her species.
The last thing these animals need
is a new threat.
But the aftereffects of impact
are just getting started.
Above the valley, and
across North America
The intense heat of the Ejecta Cloud
has ignited fires.
blazes so intense
they generate their own winds.
Down in the valley
the air pressure plummets,
creating a vacuum
that sucks in the flames.
The dry vegetation goes up
like a powder keg.
Building a wall of fire.
The front of the fire burns
hottest and fastest...
moving across the valley floor
at nine miles an hour.
T-Rex can run twice that speed,
but it can't keep
the pace up forever.
The valley basin is now
a fire storm
hot enough to melt
solid aluminum.
The panicked animals race up
the valley slopes.
but fire goes faster
uphill.
Some lucky creatures escape
below the flames.
But large dinosaurs
have no place to hide.
Her wings still damaged
from the falling ejecta,
the wounded Quetzalcoatlus
struggles to take off.
For dinosaurs,
time is running out.
Two hours after
the asteroid impact,
the entire planet is covered
in dust and smoke.
Fires rage across
The Western Hemisphere.
One of the few
remaining Quetzalcoatlus,
a flying pterosaurs
as big as a giraffe,
is struggling to get airborne.
From above, what was once
a lush valley
is now an inferno.
Animals that fly
can escape the flames,
but there are few places to land
and almost nothing to eat.
A food chain once is enough
to support giants
now lacks its basic components,
... Plants.
the temperatures are
finally dropping.
A handful of animals remain
safely holed up in their cave.
It seems the worst is over.
The Ravenous Saurornithoides
can't resist the sight of
an easy meal.
Soon,
The Braver Kronosaurus follow,
making their way back
towards the watering hole.
One stays near the protection
of the cave.
As the ejecta begins to clears,
the parting clouds reveal
the shift in temperature
is throwing earth's weather systems
into turmoil.
And in Mongolia,
powerful winds are gathering
billions of tons of dust and sand.
A dust storm forms as
hot air rises.
Thermal imaging shows
how it builds,
whipping up loose particles
of sand and dust
and gaining energy from
the heat of the sand itself.
The 300 degrees temperatures
that baked Mongolia
turn a common weather phenomenon
into a superstorm.
As it hits, The Saurornithoides
are small
enough to crouch for cover.
But the Kronosaurus
are out in the open.
The sand blasts their bodies.
The harder they struggle
and the deeper
they gasp for oxygen,
the more sand fills
their lungs...
until finally they can't breathe.
The superstorm engulfs much
of the continent.
It's hours before
the winds die down.
The last Kronosaurus,
protected once again by the cave,
heads to the watering hole
on her own.
Halfway there,
she finds
she's the last of the herd.
But she's not the last remaining
dinosaur in the neighborhood.
Huddled close to
a Kronosaurus Corpse,
the Saurornithoides was sheltered
Sukentang
from the worst of the storm.
But the sand has
swallowed their meal.
Instinct drives them
back to their prime hunting spot...
the watering hole,
where the last surviving
Kronosaurus
is taking in the
much-needed fluid.
She's lucky to be alive.
But too exhausted to run
from any new sign of danger.
And danger has arrived.
The Saurornithoides are
desperate for food.
But they're weak from hunger
and abofitting from the sandstorm.
Only one has the confidence
to attack.
Its prey is still too
exhausted to run.
But this time,
size dose matter.
The remaining Saurornithoides
moves in.
But it has no intention of
making a run at the Kronosaurus...
not when fate offers it a meal
that can't fight back.
A week after impact,
food is in very short supply
across the entire planet.
Life is hardest for
the plant eaters.
Huge herbivores have to eat
vast amount
just to sustain
their massive bulk.
But there are simply no
plants to be found.
They can only hope that something,
somewhere is growing.
The Carnivores are
more fortunate.
they can eat the Herbivores.
But two triceratops
are a little too much to take on...
for now.
Three days after
the asteroid impact,
A once blue planet
is shrouded in darkness
and the landscape is
anything but green.
Fire, heat and acid rain
have battered the terrain
until it's unrecognizable.
Normally, Triceratops wouldn't travel
more than a few miles a day.
They wouldn't have to.
But now most of the continent
is stripped of vegetation.
Hunger drives the
giant herbivores
toward the Pacific coast.
The devastation reaches
all the way to the sea.
But Geography has a way of
protecting certain places
from Cataclysmic events...
in this case, an island,
apparently untouched by
the surrounding desolation.
There may still be food here.
The female Quetzalcoatlus
has been flying for three days.
She's weak and
in desperate need of food.
From 1,000 feet up,
the island comes into view.
But all is not as peaceful
as it seems.
Deep below the surface,
The Ocean floor was shaken by
the asteroid's initial impact.
Sedimentary rock disintegrates
under the strain
and Collapses hundreds of feet
into the ocean floor.
On the surface
Sea level plunges,
triggering a massive swell.
At the coast,
the ocean is dragged back
hundreds of feet from the land.
Exposing huge expansive seabed.
The path to the island
is suddenly dry land.
The forest ahead of them
appears untouched
by the hellstorm of the ejecta.
it seems too good to be true.
Half a mile from the coast,
the three Triceratops
finally reach the Promised Land.
Sheltered from the ejecta
by sea mist
and protected from fires
by the surrounding ocean,
the island has all
the food they need.
The Quetzalcoatlus hasn't
had a decent meal for days.
The asteroid has awakened
the ocean's most destructive force...
A Mega Tsunami.
A wall of water, 300 feet tall.
Within seconds,
the land is deluged.
And as quickly as it came,
The flood is gone.
But this is only one in an
amens army of mega-tsunami.
The asteroid impact
against
more than 13,000 miles of coast.
Huge wafts of shoreline
simply wash away into the sea.
The avalanche of water leaves
countless dead in its wake.
But as devastating as
the first wave of disasters is,
there's more to come...
In the days following
the asteroid's arrival,
a series of plagues
have been unleashed on the planet.
Firestorms...
Earthquakes...
Sandstorms...
and towering tsunamis.
But these are only the outward
signs of a catastrophe
that reaches much deeper.
Across all continents,
thousands of dinosaurs
may be walking,
but their species are already dead.
Because to survive
any species needs to maintain
a critical mass of population
Fall below
that threshold,
and there's no way to
climb back from certain extinction.
The final nail in the coffin
may take a while to develop,
but it's no less deadly,
and no less final.
The coup de grace
for the dinosaurs
comes from
inside the planet.
Because when a rock
slams into the Earth
at 45,000 miles/hour
it shoots 1,000,000
megaton of energy
straight into the ground.
Seismic shock waves
ripple through the planet.
The aftershocks
continue for months
As tectonic plates shear and tear.
Deep inside the planet,
they trigger molten rock to
force its way to the surface
through newly formed fractures...
until it explodes from
the earth's crust
in violent Volcanic Eruptions.
The seismic waves awaken
dormant Volcanoes
around the world,
adding to the debris clouds
of dust and toxic gases
that already surround the globe.
The shroud is already
many miles deep,
a thick blanket
stopping light
and warmth
reaching the earth surface.
The planet plunges further
into a nuclear winter.
In the days and weeks
that follow,
the only growth to
thrive is fungus
which lives off the rotting remains.
Here in Mongolia,
few signs of dinosaurs remain.
and for the starving Kronosauraus
the future looks bleak.
But it stays near the cave
that has saved it twice
in the past.
The watering hole that once
provided plenty.
But the last Kronosaurus
doesn't fall victim to starvation.
Bubbling to the surface
is one of nature's
most toxic gases...
Hydrogen Sulfide.
Released from deep underground
by Volcanic activity,
it collects invisibly
in low lying areas
like the waterhole's natural basin
the gas paralyzes the lungs,
making escape impossible.
Then it kills by suffocation.
What was once a refuge...
is transformed
into a death trap.
The last dinosaur in this part
of Mongolia is dead.
Mexico, too
is a graveyard.
Just 500 miles
from ground zero
It's been hit by wave after wave
of devastation
There would seem to be little
that nature could throw at it.
And yet, amidst
all this destruction,
beneath the thin layer
of charged soil,
a lone Alamosaurus egg
survives.
In the Pacific Northwest,
just a handful of dinosaurs
patrol the gray wasteland.
An Ankylosaurus,
severely weakened by hunger,
searches the charred terrain
for something to eat.
and weighing 4 tons,
this heavily armored herbivore
is used to getting nearly
All it can find now
is a small bush.
And even that won't come
without a fight.
But hunger is the least
of their worries.
It's two of this world's
best armored warriors
versus a hungry Carnivore
that won't take no for an answer.
The Ankylosaurus's main
defense weapon
is a heavy tail club.
But it's too weak
to get in a good shot.
Not so T-Rex.
With food sources
disappearing,
starving giants are forced
to fight for every calorie.
Even to the death.
So the dinosaurs that outlast
the ejecta,
firestorms,
and poison gas
ultimately fall victim to the demands
of their own massive bodies.
It took 160 million years
to bring the dinosaurs
to this point of their evolution.
It took just one rock
to bring them down.
The events
triggered by the impact
flashed by a breakneck speed.
Seismic shocks caused
massive earthquakes
boulders the size of buildings
raining down
followed by a brutal
blast wave
all within the first 3 minutes.
By the time the super heated
Ejecta Cloud hit Mongolia
just 44 minutes later,
the whole planet
was in shock.
In the coming days,
forest fires race the earth.
Violent dust storms destroy
entire ecosystems.
Titanic waves
wreck coastlines.
Put all these together,
it is hard to believe
that anything on Earth
could have survived.
But something has.
Mexico, 500 miles
from the point of impact
the very first landmass
to feel the force
of the asteroid's strike...
a region that has suffered wave
upon wave of violence...
yet even here, even now,
life remains.
a last surviving
Alamosaurus egg.
Buried safe within the soil,
a chick has survived
the barrage of destruction.
And he's not alone.
All around the world,
small handfuls of dinosaurs
try to start over.
But inbreeding and disease,
weaken their
tiny populations.
Eventually,
the huge numbers of dinosaurs
that had ruled the world
are reduced to a single,
solitary dinosaur.
And it too, is gone.
And with it,
a dynasty that had
ruled the Earth
for 160 million years.
But dinosaurs weren't
the only animals on the planet.
There were other, humbler
lifeforms that had lived
in the dinosaurs' shadow
for a very long time.
When floods and
fire storms hit,
they found shelter on the ground.
Some hid deep inside
trees and plants.
Others took refuge
beneath the soil.
And small mammals,
like Mesodma,
survived by scampering into burrows.
Down here they were protected
from the worst the asteroid
could throw at them.
The earth would be inherited by
animals that were good at hiding.
Fish were sheltered
beneath the water.
So are the aquatic reptiles.
Birds, especially waterfowl,
could survive by diving underwater
or hiding in burrows.
It will be years before
all the Sun's energy
could reach the land again.
But the heavy cloud
slowly begins to clear.
In the Gulf of Mexico
where the asteroid struck,
a shallow crater
can be seen.
A tiny scar for such
a fatal wound.
Out of the ruins,
nature starts over.
Simple organisms like
mold and fungus dominate
the burnt
and rotting landscape.
Then new growth emerges,
and one plant in
particular...
Ferns...
Tough and resilient, they soon
carpet the planet in green,
It takes thousands of years for
ferns to give way to forests.
Breathing Oxygen
and life into the planet again,
and setting the stage
for a new era...
because waiting in the wings
are creatures
whose development
had long been thwarted
by the dinosaurs...
The mammals.
Unlike the dinosaurs,
the mammals are fast breeders,
brilliant adapters.
They multiply...
And diversify
exploding
across the planet.
But it's millions of years
before one very important species
branches off from its relatives,
and comes down from the trees.
They walk on two legs,
evolve bigger brains,
and eventually...
rule the planet.
Just as the dinosaurs
once did.
But unlike them,
They'll reshape the world,
building cities
that touch the sky...
vehicles that
can leave the planet...
and weapons that can destroy it.
But none of it could
have been possible
if a chance collision in space
hadn't sent an asteroid
hurdling toward earth
and doomed the dinosaurs
to extinction.
Only because they died
can human beings live.