Prehistoric Predators
Prehistoric Predators was a 2007 National Geographic Channel program based on different predators that lived in the past, including Smilodon and Megalodon. The series investigated how such beasts hunted and fought other creatures, and what drove them to extinction. The program's investigative style was somewhat followed by the recent Discovery Channel documentary, Monsters Resurrected.
Featured animals
Pleistocene: 1.8-10 000 years ago North America: Smilodon fatalis, Arctodus simus (short-faced bear), Canis dirus (dire wolf), American lion, ancient bison, Megalonyx, Hagerman horse, Columbian mammoth, caribou (cameo) and dromedary (cameo)
Miocene-Pliocene: 15-3 million years ago South America, North America: Kelenken, Glyptodon, Homalodotherium, Titanis, Canis edwardii, Smilodon gracilis and Equus
Miocene-Pleistocene: 20-2 million years ago The Atlantic: Megalodon, Cetotherium, Squalodon, dugong, great white shark (cameo), green sea turtle (cameo),
Oligocene-Miocene: 32-19 million years ago North America: Archaeotherium, Hyaenodon horridus, Dinictis, Mesohippus, Poebrotherium, Subhyracodon, Chalicotherium , Oreodont, Daeodon and Amphicyon ingens
Episodes
| No. | Episode title |
|---|---|
| 1 | "Sabretooth" |
| Smilodon is shown as an apex predator. It is depicted defeating Dire wolves, living in prides and killing even mammoths. | |
| 2 | "Terror Raptor" |
| The huge bird of South America, Titanis and Kelenken are shown as apex predators. Titanis comes into competition with the Edwards wolf (Canis edwardii). It is shown chasing wolves away (and vice versa) and eating horses. | |
| 3 | "Killer Pig" |
| The Archaeotherium was the biggest beast of the Badlands and more powerful than any other. It evolved into the even larger Daeodon (aka Dinohyus). | |
| 4 | "Giant Bear" |
| Double the size of the largest living bear and you get Arctodus simus, the giant short-faced bear. At 11 feet tall and a weight of 1200 pounds, it was the largest mammalian carnivore ever to walk the Earth. The bear is shown defeating Smilodon and Megalonyx, and scaring off dire wolves. | |
| 5 | "Razor Jaws" |
| The only one who would dare attack an Archaeotherium was Hyaenodon, with its powerful razor jaws. | |
| 6 | "Dire Wolf" |
| The savage dire wolf was the biggest wolf on the planet. It hunted down bison in packs of 30 or more. | |
| 7 | "Monster Shark" |
| The huge, powerful shark, megalodon, was up to 52 feet long and weighed as much as 47 tonnes (52 tons). | |