Primeval is coming to the BBC!
Big news: the BBC has a new hit series on its hands: Primeval.
Modern humans encountering and dealing with - not always violently, which is a change of pace these days - creatures from various eras in Earth’s prehistory.
And its not all dinosaurs!
In fact, one of the features is the Gorgonopsid, a species that gets very little press outside of the paleontological community. (there was exactly one on a single episode of the natural history series “Before the Dinosaurs”) Belonging to a group of animals commonly called mammal-like reptiles, Gorgonopsids roamed the supercontinent Pangea where you had scorching deserts and lush rainforests - and that’s a seasonal difference! Yes, Gorgonopsids, by dint of being mammal-like reptiles, are closer relatives to humans than, say, Stegosaurs or any other dinosaur, or even the pterodactyls...but they’re probably not the sort you’d want to invite to a family reunion, as they were fierce carnivores that may or may not’ve hunted in packs.
The sheer fact that Primeval is going to have mammal-like reptiles is enough to get me to watch it. Everything else can only be a bonus.
Granted, one of the big bad critters that’s going to be featuring in Primeval is the famed Cretaceous seabird Hesperonis. Yes, this fella could reach lengths of six or seven feet (two meters), I’ll grant you that. But if you look at where their legs attach to their bodies, you’ll realize that, unless you’re in the water, you’re not in much danger from them - on land, these birds were probably slower than a parapalegic giraffe.
(now that’s an image)
I wonder if they’re going to have any of the whale family...Rhodocetus, Ambulocetus, Pakicetus...
And now to watch it...
Modern humans encountering and dealing with - not always violently, which is a change of pace these days - creatures from various eras in Earth’s prehistory.
And its not all dinosaurs!
In fact, one of the features is the Gorgonopsid, a species that gets very little press outside of the paleontological community. (there was exactly one on a single episode of the natural history series “Before the Dinosaurs”) Belonging to a group of animals commonly called mammal-like reptiles, Gorgonopsids roamed the supercontinent Pangea where you had scorching deserts and lush rainforests - and that’s a seasonal difference! Yes, Gorgonopsids, by dint of being mammal-like reptiles, are closer relatives to humans than, say, Stegosaurs or any other dinosaur, or even the pterodactyls...but they’re probably not the sort you’d want to invite to a family reunion, as they were fierce carnivores that may or may not’ve hunted in packs.
The sheer fact that Primeval is going to have mammal-like reptiles is enough to get me to watch it. Everything else can only be a bonus.
Granted, one of the big bad critters that’s going to be featuring in Primeval is the famed Cretaceous seabird Hesperonis. Yes, this fella could reach lengths of six or seven feet (two meters), I’ll grant you that. But if you look at where their legs attach to their bodies, you’ll realize that, unless you’re in the water, you’re not in much danger from them - on land, these birds were probably slower than a parapalegic giraffe.
(now that’s an image)
I wonder if they’re going to have any of the whale family...Rhodocetus, Ambulocetus, Pakicetus...
And now to watch it...