Before the Dinosaurs / Rise of Man (DSC CHAN 11-05-2005)

[Desdichado]

Actually--it turns out I didn't miss it after all, I just assumed that at 11 PM I had. I only missed the first 15 minutes of it. I was damn tired at 1 AM when it ended, though.

 

[Desdichado]

I for one, was giddy with excitement when I heard about Before the Dinosaurs. Paleontology has always been a hobby of mine, and while I enjoyed Walking With Dinosaurs and When Dinosaurs Roamed America, I am quite pleased that The Discovery Channel is brave enough to produce shows that focus on more obscure ages in prehistory.

Indeed. I was a little disappointed in the brevity they gave to most ages, and the fact that they concentrated so much on such well-known animals after all.

I wish that it had been about an hour longer, and spent the last hour really concentrating on the "dynastic war" between the "thecodonts" and the "therapsids". It was barely touched, and represented on the one side by only Euparkeria. It would have been nice if they'd gone all the way into the Later Triassic when the first dinosaurs and first mammals really started showing up.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I didn't even know about it beforehand, and just accidentally saw an add for it an hour before it came on. I love synapsid reptiles... they don't get enough press IMHO. I did notice one error; I forget the name of the synapsid herbivore, but the narrator was talking about how it used stones to help process the food it ate. The script called the stones "gastropods"...it should've been "gastroliths". Gastropods are snails and the like... and really not much good for grinding up food in a beastie's belly. That irked me. And during commercial breaks, the announcer called the show "Prehistoric Incident" a couple times.

But...aside from those, I truly enjoyed the show. "Rise of Man" was interesting, but I haven't seen all of it yet.

 

[Desdichado]

I didn't even know about it beforehand, and just accidentally saw an add for it an hour before it came on. I love synapsid reptiles... they don't get enough press IMHO. I did notice one error; I forget the name of the synapsid herbivore, but the narrator was talking about how it used stones to help process the food it ate. The script called the stones "gastropods"...it should've been "gastroliths". Gastropods are snails and the like... and really not much good for grinding up food in a beastie's belly. That irked me. And during commercial breaks, the announcer called the show "Prehistoric Incident" a couple times.

It was Scutesaurus--not a synapsid, actually. I noticed that error too, though. What I didn't like is how they presented as if they have the explanation for the Permian Extinction event all sewed up--it was a massive drought!

Doesn't do much to explain all the marine extinctions, in my opinion. Or a lot of other details about the extinction event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian-Triassic_extinction_event

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

It was Scutesaurus--not a synapsid, actually. I noticed that error too, though. What I didn't like is how they presented as if they have the explanation for the Permian Extinction event all sewed up--it was a massive drought!

Doesn't do much to explain all the marine extinctions, in my opinion. Or a lot of other details about the extinction event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian-Triassic_extinction_event

Right...Scutesaurus was not a synapsid! My bad! I've only been able to watch it in bits and pieces because I ran a really lackluster game Saturday night, then had to wear the Dad hat after that and read my son the riot act about some school work as well as taking a short road trip to visit family... I hope to sit down and watch it straight through tonight.

And while there are indications of a huge drought at the end of the Permian, I don't think that was it entirely. There was a 90% (by some estimates) die off of all life on the planet then... and unless the friggin' sea dried up, that doesn't explain the marine extinction at all.

 

[Shag]

What were those giant centepedes called? They were cool!

 

[Mark CMG]

What were those giant centepedes called? They were cool!

Oh, yeah. Those ten-foot long bastards that could rear up to the height of a modern-day human being. Quite the creature feature.

 

[DMH]

From GURPS Dinosaurs, Arthropleurids are the group that millipede kin is part of.

One things that really annoyed me was the absence of how scorpions were the ancestors of the arachnids and the onyciphorians (sp) became the myriopods (millipedes and kin) and insects.

 

[Scorpionfolke]

From GURPS Dinosaurs, Arthropleurids are the group that millipede kin is part of.

One things that really annoyed me was the absence of how scorpions were the ancestors of the arachnids and the onyciphorians (sp) became the myriopods (millipedes and kin) and insects.

I really liked the protoscorpions---they'll definately end up in a game or two

 

[Angel Tarragon]

If you ever get the chance watch Origins: Battle For The Planet on The Science Channel. You will see how close we came to not be the dominant species. If we hadn't, here is a pic of what might be and what their world might look like.