tyrannosaurus rex youngsters paddle through shallow ocean waters near a sandy shore, their powerful legs working hard to compensate for their disproportionately small arms. Long-necked sauropods nuzzle their heads in affectionate mating displays. And herds of duck-billed dinosaurs kick up clouds of dust as they migrate across vast deserts. These and other scenes from the official preview for “Prehistoric Planet,” a new documentary series on Apple TV+, offers a glimpse into dinosaurs and their Cretaceous neighbors, much as a nature documentary would present dramatic moments in the lives of modern animals.
Released on April 20, the trailer showcases stunning footage from around the world, combined with staggeringly realistic computer-generated imagery, to bring a variety of Cretaceous creatures back to life and challenge what viewers thought they knew about these animals that they once did. They once dominated ecosystems. on all continents.
New five-part series introduces habits, lifestyles and behaviors of long-extinct species and shows how dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago interacted, Apple TV+ representatives said in a statement.
From scenes that take place under the surface of the ocean to brutal battles on icy plateaus, the trailer introduces diverse habitats and offers a new perspective on a variety of dinosaurs, from the famous triceratops to the less familiar, heavily armored and tank-shaped nodosaurus.
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Renowned nature documentary host Sir David Attenborough narrates the series, and the trailer hints at untold stories of exciting mating competitions between colossal sauropods; clashes between theropod predators and triceratops dam; and cliff nesting habits pterosaurs. (Pterosaurs were flying archosaurs, not dinosaurs, but they lived alongside dinosaurs during the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods.)
Recent discoveries in paleontology have informed how dinosaurs and other Cretaceous animals from the “Prehistoric Planet” look, move and behave, according to Apple TV+. Viewers will meet two recently discovered species of Tyrannosaurus: Qianzhousaurus rex from eastern China, described in 2014 in the journal nature communicationsand the diminutive Nanuqsaurus – whose name means “polar bear lizard”, taken from the Alaskan Inupiat word “Nanuq” – which was also described in 2014, in the magazine plus one.
Qianzhousaurus It was a little smaller and thinner than tyrannosaurus rex, Live Science reported in 2014. It had a long snout, which led scientists to give it the nickname “Pinocchio rex”.
Other known dinosaurs, such as velociraptorThey have previously appeared in popular movies with scaly, lizard-like skin, but in the “Prehistoric Planet” trailer, these dinosaurs are covered in feathers, reflecting recent discoveries about how often feathers appeared in the world. theropod lineage. In one of the most dramatic images in the trailer, an extreme close-up of a velociraptor The huge claw suggests other adaptations that contributed to this dinosaur’s reputation as a deadly predator.
We’ll bring you more sneak peeks at this series in the coming weeks, check back here on Live Science for more theropod teasers and sauropod surprises.
“Prehistoric Planet” premieres May 23 on AppleTV+.
Originally published on Live Science.