Well then, after years of hype and speculation, Tim Haines new paleo-series is finally here. And I’ve now watched the first episode! I’ve not seen anyone else’s response yet so here is my raw first impression review (with some spoilers).
This is rather lengthy and unedited (I won't do a ramble like this for every episode), but in the end I recommend it. See last paragraph for summary.
----------------------- Part 1 – Sci-comm
Let me start of by focusing on the perhaps most important bit: is the science-communicating effective?
Honestly, regarding the central theme: I think some of the best I’ve seen! This episode, called “When the Earth Burned” focuses on the end-Permian extinction event (PTME), probably the largest extinction event in earth’s history in terms of percentual destruction of species and higher clades; and show does good job of portraying and communicating some of the core killer-mechanisms you come across in the literature – rising greenhouse gases, acid rains and so on. I particularly liked how they illustrated the “gorgonposid” being scarred from UV-radiation – as there is fossil evidence of plants seeds having undergone nasty mutations during the PTME, thought to be the result of a depleting ozone layer (caused by gases released from burned up salt deposits). And this is all alluded to.
The plot of the story essentially tracks a family of so called “gorgonopsids” migrating to higher altitudes, which works to illustrate the idea that life clung on mostly towards the polar region as the world heated, moving away from the suffocating tropics – and by the same principle lower elevation. However, I did come across one paper that suggested that high-latitude extinction of terrestrial fauna actually occurred prior to the Siberian traps eruption (though still linked volcanism around the Tethys), and conversely low-latitude terrestrial extinction being postponed, though I’m not too sure about all this so I’ll just link it below*. Nonetheless, I don’t think it matters toooo much, as they’re still victims of the PTME and the traps are almost certainly the primary cause of the main event that later wiped out 81% of marine life – making it the greatest extinction event ever. And the Permian animals featured are perhaps the most charismatic and popular fauna of this time period, so I can understand the effectiveness of using them as the lens from which the extinction is viewed in a TV drama. I also understand the decision to set it Russia as opposed to South Africa – we need to visualize the Siberian traps themselves.
But the really good part is the ending of the episode, where it connects the PTME to what has/is happening today with the rapidly rising CO2 emissions we’ve triggered and observed. The Permian devastation serves as a stark warning to what too much greenhouse gases can do, advising us to keep our emissions in check. But, even with the worst-case scenario visualized, the ending nonetheless remains optimistic; emphasizing that even if the Earth falls deeply out of balance, it still has a remarkable ability to bounce back - as illustrated in the colorful Triassic epilogue. The worst day on Earth is still better than the best day on Mars, thanks to a system of feedback loops that almost makes the Earth itself a self-preserving organism in of itself. And so, the show also emphasis the importance of these vital feedback mechanisms: things like wetlands that could act to buffer our rising emissions. The narration also correctly points out the cumulative nature of CO2 – it won’t just magically disappear because we stop emitting! So, we would be well advised to keep our ecosystems earth-systems as healthy as we can.
I think the episode does a good job of communicating these ideas without being too dumbed down, preachy, nor overly technical for a general audience. So, a big thumbs up here.
ALL RIGHT, that’s the main theme of Surviving Earth ep1.
Here are couple of science NITPICKS:
For some reason, the Siberian Traps (not named dropped) is assigned as a rift system. This is not true; it’s a large igneous province resulting from hot-spot volcanism. A rift can also be caused by mantle plume hot spots (if the crust on top is thin enough), but the traps never evolved into this. Just stack upon stack of endless basalt – a flood basalt. However, the narration correctly points out in that it erupted in the form of fissure eruptions, and visualizes it as such. Which is nice.
The narration, unsurprisingly, says 90% life got wiped out, which is better than saying 95% (which you often hear as well) but both these estimates stem from the original Sepkoski study which also used middle Permian data to obtain these Late Permian numbers. We now recognize the Capitanian as a separate extinction event occurring 10 Ma earlier. As such, the estimated figure these days for the PTME is closer to 81% extinction of marine species, and 69% for terrestrial vertebrates. Which is still MASSIVE, but you know.
Inostrancevia, once again, cursed to be called “gorgonopsid”, and then they couldn’t even bother with that and just went with “gorgon”. Also, as I saw someone else point out prior to the release: where did the lower canines go? Idk.. let me know if you noticed any other anatomical oddities.
I’m sure other people will point a whole bunch of other details like these but, overall, I think this episode had good sci-comm in terms of the MAIN theme and showing the struggles of Permian life a fairly engaging way.
------------------------------------------------------------- Part 2: filmmaking / presentation style
Getting into the more “artsy” aspect of the show: great to see a more focused story arc again following central protagonists, as opposed to the segmented style of Prehistoric Planet or The Dinosaurs. So, it does feel quite Walking With Dinosaurs in that regard, but generally more lighthearted. But I’d be lying if I said I felt attached to the main characters of this particular episode. The “alpha-male” rivalry plot is, uh, there. It exists. Could've focused a bit more on the young 'gorgo's overall in the story.
Most memorable moments: Elph playing dead and the whole Triassic bit. Quite enjoyed the Suminia bit as well, but it felt short.
Worst scene: scutosaurus herd running over the ‘gorgo’ mother. I think I saw the same shot repeated 4 times or something, completely took me out of it. The editing is mostly fine otherwise, but boy does it suffer from severe hiccups wherever they have assigned each commercial break. Before the breakpoint, there is a quick flash of what’s coming up (often spoiling the upcoming scene), and after the break there is a very repetitive and time-consuming recap of the last 5 minutes of the show. I guess it’s welcome for viewers who jump in late, as you don’t really miss anything because of this, but sticking around it feels as if the show thinks I’m suffering from severe dementia (especially when watching without commercial breaks, as I did). Certainly, something that needs to be fixed in a potential fan-edit. The narrator: eh, he’s fine. Unremarkable but tolerable, mostly lighthearted in tone, not particularly wide-ranging. A far cry from Attenborough or Kenneth Branagh, that’s for sure.
The music: didn’t even notice it, apart from the slight tango in the Triassic bit. Eh.
The CGI is pretty solid for the most part. Not every shot is a banger (the space shots are the worst part), but you’d be a spoiled for thinking everything these days will look like Prehistoric Planet, which is a technical outlier. Surviving Earth still has very high quality visual effects for a TV documentary. The Late Permian has never looked better!
Creature designs: I’m not the biggest nerd in this department, but I enjoyed most of them: Suminia, and all the Triassic critters especially. Although we didn’t rly get much of a good look at the “proto-pterosaur”.
The filming locations were nice, as a generalized analogue of highlands with conifer forests I think it works for the late Permian (same filming location as dimetrodon in WWM btw). But seeing New Caledonia again in the Triassic epilogue felt like such a treat, love this place.
In fact, I’d say the Triassic bit was probably my favorite part of the episode overall, despite being much shorter than the main Permian story. It’s colorful, the scene had an exciting atmosphere and creatures nicely foreshadows what’s to come in the so called “Age of Reptiles”. Life recovered, and it recovered spectacularly!
Well, that’s my first, lengthy, impression. The mid narration and annoying commercial-break editing is here to stay. Again, I didn’t feel particularly attached to the ‘gorgo’ family here, so I hope there are some stronger paleo-stories to come in the upcoming episode. However, if the core theme and messaging remains as strong as this episode, then this series might just be among the most relevant paleo-documentary ever. In many ways, 'Earth' (2023) remains a stronger paleo-documentary on earth-system science, but I do think Surviving Earth will have a much wider appeal. And, as we all like to see, it has some fun animated art of prehistoric wildlife ; )
ngl, I thought the first trailer for Surviving Earth was a bit shit but, NBC have now managed to cut together a new trailer that is far better edited! Check it out yo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtsCG...
Complete Surviving Earth spoiler synopsis, all in one place:
Episode 1: Permian - Triassic
"First up the big one PTME featuring the struggles of a gorgon (Inostrancevia) pack to survive in an overheating world. This episode also features Scutosaurus, Suminia and Elph. After the event we jump 10 million years forward to discover a reptile rebirth featuring cyamodus, dongosuchus, cymbospondylus and protopterosaurs."
Episode 2: Triassic
"Heads up for episode two - We start in the Carnian Pluvial Event and experience the beginnings of climate instability which leads to the rise of dinosaurs. It stars a hatchling Ischigualastia growing up in a drought. She meets panphagia, saurosauchus, and rhynchosaurs. We then jump forward 8 million years to when the climate is drier and more stable and dinosaurs dominate. These include lessemsaurus, zupaysaurus and the early mammal Chalminia."
Episode 3: Cretaceous - Paleocene
"Another old favourite the KT boundary. We are in the arctic circle with a mated pair of Nanuqsaurus. They are among the last non avian dinosaurs to survive after the impact. Edmontosaurus and dromeosaurs go the same way but we also meet Unnuakomys and Asteriornis whose descendants take over once the skies clear. Jump forward 5 million years and in the neotropical forests of the Palaeocene we meet Plesiadapis, Titanoides and Kosmodraco."
Episode 4: Cretaceous
"We go back from Ep. 3 to the OAE2 and witness a mother pliosaur and a mother spinosaurus struggle to raise their young as the oceans stagnate. Parapuzosia, Portunatasaurus, and Ichthyornis all feature. We then move on 5 million years, and the toxic crisis has passed, although the seas are still warm. A new class of apex predator has taken over: the mosasaurs. Nodosaurs, Cretoxyrhina, and Pteranodon are there too."
Episode 5: Carboniferous - Permian
"We travel further back for Episode 5 to the Carboniferous Forest Collapse. Here, amongst the giant-scale trees, Eryops, Dendromaia, Meganeura, Arthropleura, and Orthacanthus struggle to survive as the climate dries. In particular, we follow a female Diplocaulus as she struggles to keep her spawn alive. 20 million years later, the Earth is drier and new plants and animals dominate, like Dimetrodon and Cotylorhynchus. A different species of Diplocaulus has survived"
Episode 6: Ordovician - Silurian
"...the furthest back we travel is Episode 6, to the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction. In a stunning reef full of crinoids and Carolinites, a male Sacabambaspis tries to build a nest to attract a mate, despite the attentions of orthocones, giant sea scorpions, and Kingnites worms. Sea-level fall sees off his world, but 10 million years later the reefs are back. This time, however, fish like Nerepisacanthus have taken over, and scorpions have started to move onto land, where giant Prototaxites dominate."
Episode 7: Pliocene - Pleistocene
"Episode 7 is set at the end of the Pliocene in Central America. A matriarch leads her Cuvieronius herd on a migration in search of water. They end up crossing the Isthmus at Panama, becoming the first elephants in South America. Along the way they meet sabre-tooth cats (Smilodon gracilis), Glyptotherium, Falcontoxodon, giant sloths, and terror birds (Phorusrhacos). A million years later, the South American plains are thriving, but there is a new apex sabre-tooth predator: Smilodon populator."
Episode 8: Pleistocene
"Episode 8 comes right up to “recent” history at the end of the last Ice Age. A mother giant short-faced bear tries to protect her young after a massive flood stops the Gulf Stream. In her part of North America there are still mammalian megafauna like mastodon, woolly mammoth, stag moose, and dire wolves. All are driven to extinction by the cold shock of the Younger Dryas, except for humans, who come out of the event stronger."
And the last episode is of course the ice age. Epic floods from the melting glaciers of the most recent glacial period, messing with thermohaline circulation of the oceans and triggering the younger dryas - a brief return to coldness during the transition to the Holocene. This, and the colonization of humans in North America, coincides with the extinction of great many megafauna species on the North American continent.
Impossible pictures spoiler synopsis: "Surviving Earth heads up: Episode 8 comes right up to “recent” history at the end of the last Ice Age. A mother giant short-faced bear tries to protect her young after a massive flood stops the Gulf Stream. In her part of North America there are still mammalian megafauna like mastodon, woolly mammoth, stag moose, and dire wolves. All are driven to extinction by the cold shock of the Younger Dryas, except for humans, who come out of the event stronger."
While North America is one of those cases where you can make a strong argument for climate change for part of the megafauna extinction (and I think humans too), I do find it odd that they are (in this text anyway) blaming the extinction on a 'cold shock' (considering there had already been much colder periods before the Younger Dryas, not least of all the LGM when half the continent was locked under ice), rather than the rate of change between the various temperature stages. But perhaps that's just a this short synopsis simplifying the matter..
Surviving Earth - episode 7. Event: GABI (the great American biotic interchange), epochs: Pliocene-Pleistocene.
Impossible pictures spoiler synopsis: "Surviving Earth heads up: Episode 7 is set at the end of the Pliocene in Central America. A matriarch leads her Cuvieronius herd on a migration in search of water. They end up crossing the Isthmus at Panama, becoming the first elephants in South America. Along the way they meet sabre-tooth cats (Smilodon gracilis), Glyptotherium, Falcontoxodon, giant sloths, and terror birds (Phorusrhacos). A million years later, the South American plains are thriving, but there is a new apex sabre-tooth predator: Smilodon populator. "
Sounds like it could be a semi-problematic episode (already is with Phorusrhacos). Would've probably swapped the GABI for the Grande Coupure, in keeping it Cenozoic. But we've got to have our saber-toothed cats, I guess? Idk, we'll see...
Next up: the ice age finale! Really curious to see what time split this episode will have.
Episode 6 of Surviving Earth will be the Ordovician and Silurian. By far the episode I've been most excited for!!
Impossible pictures: "Surviving Earth – BTS: the furthest back we travel is Episode 6, to the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction. In a stunning reef full of crinoids and Carolinites, a male Sacabambaspis tries to build a nest to attract a mate, despite the attentions of orthocones, giant sea scorpions, and Kingnites worms. Sea-level fall sees off his world, but 10 million years later the reefs are back. This time, however, fish like Nerepisacanthus have taken over, and scorpions have started to move onto land, where giant Prototaxites dominate"
That leaves the GABI and the ice age as the remaining two episodes, all fully Cenozoic.
As the series was designed in chronological order (BTS pics and info suggest) and was later changed to non-chronological order (presumably by NBC exces, wanting to have lot's of explosions and popular reptiles early on in the series to hook viewers), I suspect the ice age episode will still be the finale; as it *might* have a finale design to it. Because of H. sapiens, climate change or whatever messaging it'll leave us pondering about in our current high extinction rate world. Perhaps, I don't really know.
Maybe I'll be proven wrong, and the fudging GABI turns out to be the finale lol We'll see tomorrow...
Episode 5. Finally!, the long awaited Carboniferous forest!
I've been cursed to have all the episode I've been looking forward to the most contained within the latter half of the series. Oh well, save the best for last, eh?
Impossible pictures: "Surviving Earth BTS – We travel further back for Episode 5 to the Carboniferous Forest Collapse. Here, amongst the giant-scale trees, Eryops, Dendromaia, Meganeura, Arthropleura, and Orthacanthus struggle to survive as the climate dries. In particular, we follow a female Diplocaulus as she struggles to keep her spawn alive. 20 million years later, the Earth is drier and new plants and animals dominate, like Dimetrodon and Cotylorhynchus. A different species of Diplocaulus has survived."
Recap: Episode 1: The Permian-Triassic ultra death extinction Episode 2: The Triassic British weather event Episode 3: The indifferent space rock event, followed by Paloecene (!!) Episode 4: The ocean man out of breath event
and now: Episode 5: The carboniferous rainforest collapse
Remaining for ep 6, 7 and 8:
Ordovician extinction (maybe with an silurian section) GABI (maybe Miocene/pliocene section? followed by pleistocene section) Missoula floods (time split in this episode is still unknown)
Looks like episode 4 will be the OAE2 - focusing on the best part of the Mesozoic: the seas!
There is also a spinosaurus or whatever.
From impossible pictures: "Surviving Earth – Episode 4 heads up: we go back from Ep. 3 to the OAE2 and witness a mother pliosaur and a mother spinosaurus struggle to raise their young as the oceans stagnate. Parapuzosia, Portunatasaurus, and Ichthyornis all feature. We then move on 5 million years, and the toxic crisis has passed, although the seas are still warm. A new class of apex predator has taken over: the mosasaurs. Nodosaurs, Cretoxyrhina, and Pteranodon are there too."
Paleo Edits
Surviving Earth – episode 1 first/impression review
Well then, after years of hype and speculation, Tim Haines new paleo-series is finally here. And I’ve now watched the first episode! I’ve not seen anyone else’s response yet so here is my raw first impression review (with some spoilers).
This is rather lengthy and unedited (I won't do a ramble like this for every episode), but in the end I recommend it. See last paragraph for summary.
-----------------------
Part 1 – Sci-comm
Let me start of by focusing on the perhaps most important bit: is the science-communicating effective?
Honestly, regarding the central theme: I think some of the best I’ve seen! This episode, called “When the Earth Burned” focuses on the end-Permian extinction event (PTME), probably the largest extinction event in earth’s history in terms of percentual destruction of species and higher clades; and show does good job of portraying and communicating some of the core killer-mechanisms you come across in the literature – rising greenhouse gases, acid rains and so on. I particularly liked how they illustrated the “gorgonposid” being scarred from UV-radiation – as there is fossil evidence of plants seeds having undergone nasty mutations during the PTME, thought to be the result of a depleting ozone layer (caused by gases released from burned up salt deposits). And this is all alluded to.
The plot of the story essentially tracks a family of so called “gorgonopsids” migrating to higher altitudes, which works to illustrate the idea that life clung on mostly towards the polar region as the world heated, moving away from the suffocating tropics – and by the same principle lower elevation. However, I did come across one paper that suggested that high-latitude extinction of terrestrial fauna actually occurred prior to the Siberian traps eruption (though still linked volcanism around the Tethys), and conversely low-latitude terrestrial extinction being postponed, though I’m not too sure about all this so I’ll just link it below*. Nonetheless, I don’t think it matters toooo much, as they’re still victims of the PTME and the traps are almost certainly the primary cause of the main event that later wiped out 81% of marine life – making it the greatest extinction event ever. And the Permian animals featured are perhaps the most charismatic and popular fauna of this time period, so I can understand the effectiveness of using them as the lens from which the extinction is viewed in a TV drama. I also understand the decision to set it Russia as opposed to South Africa – we need to visualize the Siberian traps themselves.
But the really good part is the ending of the episode, where it connects the PTME to what has/is happening today with the rapidly rising CO2 emissions we’ve triggered and observed. The Permian devastation serves as a stark warning to what too much greenhouse gases can do, advising us to keep our emissions in check. But, even with the worst-case scenario visualized, the ending nonetheless remains optimistic; emphasizing that even if the Earth falls deeply out of balance, it still has a remarkable ability to bounce back - as illustrated in the colorful Triassic epilogue. The worst day on Earth is still better than the best day on Mars, thanks to a system of feedback loops that almost makes the Earth itself a self-preserving organism in of itself. And so, the show also emphasis the importance of these vital feedback mechanisms: things like wetlands that could act to buffer our rising emissions. The narration also correctly points out the cumulative nature of CO2 – it won’t just magically disappear because we stop emitting! So, we would be well advised to keep our ecosystems earth-systems as healthy as we can.
I think the episode does a good job of communicating these ideas without being too dumbed down, preachy, nor overly technical for a general audience. So, a big thumbs up here.
ALL RIGHT, that’s the main theme of Surviving Earth ep1.
Here are couple of science NITPICKS:
For some reason, the Siberian Traps (not named dropped) is assigned as a rift system. This is not true; it’s a large igneous province resulting from hot-spot volcanism. A rift can also be caused by mantle plume hot spots (if the crust on top is thin enough), but the traps never evolved into this. Just stack upon stack of endless basalt – a flood basalt. However, the narration correctly points out in that it erupted in the form of fissure eruptions, and visualizes it as such. Which is nice.
The narration, unsurprisingly, says 90% life got wiped out, which is better than saying 95% (which you often hear as well) but both these estimates stem from the original Sepkoski study which also used middle Permian data to obtain these Late Permian numbers. We now recognize the Capitanian as a separate extinction event occurring 10 Ma earlier. As such, the estimated figure these days for the PTME is closer to 81% extinction of marine species, and 69% for terrestrial vertebrates. Which is still MASSIVE, but you know.
Inostrancevia, once again, cursed to be called “gorgonopsid”, and then they couldn’t even bother with that and just went with “gorgon”. Also, as I saw someone else point out prior to the release: where did the lower canines go? Idk.. let me know if you noticed any other anatomical oddities.
I’m sure other people will point a whole bunch of other details like these but, overall, I think this episode had good sci-comm in terms of the MAIN theme and showing the struggles of Permian life a fairly engaging way.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Part 2: filmmaking / presentation style
Getting into the more “artsy” aspect of the show: great to see a more focused story arc again following central protagonists, as opposed to the segmented style of Prehistoric Planet or The Dinosaurs. So, it does feel quite Walking With Dinosaurs in that regard, but generally more lighthearted. But I’d be lying if I said I felt attached to the main characters of this particular episode. The “alpha-male” rivalry plot is, uh, there. It exists. Could've focused a bit more on the young 'gorgo's overall in the story.
Most memorable moments: Elph playing dead and the whole Triassic bit. Quite enjoyed the Suminia bit as well, but it felt short.
Worst scene: scutosaurus herd running over the ‘gorgo’ mother. I think I saw the same shot repeated 4 times or something, completely took me out of it.
The editing is mostly fine otherwise, but boy does it suffer from severe hiccups wherever they have assigned each commercial break. Before the breakpoint, there is a quick flash of what’s coming up (often spoiling the upcoming scene), and after the break there is a very repetitive and time-consuming recap of the last 5 minutes of the show. I guess it’s welcome for viewers who jump in late, as you don’t really miss anything because of this, but sticking around it feels as if the show thinks I’m suffering from severe dementia (especially when watching without commercial breaks, as I did). Certainly, something that needs to be fixed in a potential fan-edit.
The narrator: eh, he’s fine. Unremarkable but tolerable, mostly lighthearted in tone, not particularly wide-ranging. A far cry from Attenborough or Kenneth Branagh, that’s for sure.
The music: didn’t even notice it, apart from the slight tango in the Triassic bit. Eh.
The CGI is pretty solid for the most part. Not every shot is a banger (the space shots are the worst part), but you’d be a spoiled for thinking everything these days will look like Prehistoric Planet, which is a technical outlier. Surviving Earth still has very high quality visual effects for a TV documentary. The Late Permian has never looked better!
Creature designs: I’m not the biggest nerd in this department, but I enjoyed most of them: Suminia, and all the Triassic critters especially. Although we didn’t rly get much of a good look at the “proto-pterosaur”.
The filming locations were nice, as a generalized analogue of highlands with conifer forests I think it works for the late Permian (same filming location as dimetrodon in WWM btw). But seeing New Caledonia again in the Triassic epilogue felt like such a treat, love this place.
In fact, I’d say the Triassic bit was probably my favorite part of the episode overall, despite being much shorter than the main Permian story. It’s colorful, the scene had an exciting atmosphere and creatures nicely foreshadows what’s to come in the so called “Age of Reptiles”. Life recovered, and it recovered spectacularly!
Well, that’s my first, lengthy, impression. The mid narration and annoying commercial-break editing is here to stay. Again, I didn’t feel particularly attached to the ‘gorgo’ family here, so I hope there are some stronger paleo-stories to come in the upcoming episode. However, if the core theme and messaging remains as strong as this episode, then this series might just be among the most relevant paleo-documentary ever. In many ways, 'Earth' (2023) remains a stronger paleo-documentary on earth-system science, but I do think Surviving Earth will have a much wider appeal. And, as we all like to see, it has some fun animated art of prehistoric wildlife ; )
Have you seen it yet? Did you enjoy it?
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1 week to go. Can you guess the title of episode 3 and 8?
When the...
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ngl, I thought the first trailer for Surviving Earth was a bit shit but, NBC have now managed to cut together a new trailer that is far better edited! Check it out yo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtsCG...
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Complete Surviving Earth spoiler synopsis, all in one place:
Episode 1: Permian - Triassic
"First up the big one PTME featuring the struggles of a gorgon (Inostrancevia) pack to survive in an overheating world. This episode also features Scutosaurus, Suminia and Elph. After the event we jump 10 million years forward to discover a reptile rebirth featuring cyamodus, dongosuchus, cymbospondylus and protopterosaurs."
Episode 2: Triassic
"Heads up for episode two - We start in the Carnian Pluvial Event and experience the beginnings of climate instability which leads to the rise of dinosaurs. It stars a hatchling Ischigualastia growing up in a drought. She meets panphagia, saurosauchus, and rhynchosaurs. We then jump forward 8 million years to when the climate is drier and more stable and dinosaurs dominate. These include lessemsaurus, zupaysaurus and the early mammal Chalminia."
Episode 3: Cretaceous - Paleocene
"Another old favourite the KT boundary. We are in the arctic circle with a mated pair of Nanuqsaurus. They are among the last non avian dinosaurs to survive after the impact. Edmontosaurus and dromeosaurs go the same way but we also meet Unnuakomys and Asteriornis whose descendants take over once the skies clear. Jump forward 5 million years and in the neotropical forests of the Palaeocene we meet Plesiadapis, Titanoides and Kosmodraco."
Episode 4: Cretaceous
"We go back from Ep. 3 to the OAE2 and witness a mother pliosaur and a mother spinosaurus struggle to raise their young as the oceans stagnate. Parapuzosia, Portunatasaurus, and Ichthyornis all feature. We then move on 5 million years, and the toxic crisis has passed, although the seas are still warm. A new class of apex predator has taken over: the mosasaurs. Nodosaurs, Cretoxyrhina, and Pteranodon are there too."
Episode 5: Carboniferous - Permian
"We travel further back for Episode 5 to the Carboniferous Forest Collapse. Here, amongst the giant-scale trees, Eryops, Dendromaia, Meganeura, Arthropleura, and Orthacanthus struggle to survive as the climate dries. In particular, we follow a female Diplocaulus as she struggles to keep her spawn alive. 20 million years later, the Earth is drier and new plants and animals dominate, like Dimetrodon and Cotylorhynchus. A different species of Diplocaulus has survived"
Episode 6: Ordovician - Silurian
"...the furthest back we travel is Episode 6, to the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction. In a stunning reef full of crinoids and Carolinites, a male Sacabambaspis tries to build a nest to attract a mate, despite the attentions of orthocones, giant sea scorpions, and Kingnites worms. Sea-level fall sees off his world, but 10 million years later the reefs are back. This time, however, fish like Nerepisacanthus have taken over, and scorpions have started to move onto land, where giant Prototaxites dominate."
Episode 7: Pliocene - Pleistocene
"Episode 7 is set at the end of the Pliocene in Central America. A matriarch leads her Cuvieronius herd on a migration in search of water. They end up crossing the Isthmus at Panama, becoming the first elephants in South America. Along the way they meet sabre-tooth cats (Smilodon gracilis), Glyptotherium, Falcontoxodon, giant sloths, and terror birds (Phorusrhacos). A million years later, the South American plains are thriving, but there is a new apex sabre-tooth predator: Smilodon populator."
Episode 8: Pleistocene
"Episode 8 comes right up to “recent” history at the end of the last Ice Age. A mother giant short-faced bear tries to protect her young after a massive flood stops the Gulf Stream. In her part of North America there are still mammalian megafauna like mastodon, woolly mammoth, stag moose, and dire wolves. All are driven to extinction by the cold shock of the Younger Dryas, except for humans, who come out of the event stronger."
Watch guide image I made:
bsky.app/profile/basaltweaver.bsky.social/post/3ml…
Best place for information on the show:
paleodocs.miraheze.org/wiki/Surviving_Earth
And that's it I guess, the story begins on June 11th
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Paleo Edits
And the last episode is of course the ice age. Epic floods from the melting glaciers of the most recent glacial period, messing with thermohaline circulation of the oceans and triggering the younger dryas - a brief return to coldness during the transition to the Holocene. This, and the colonization of humans in North America, coincides with the extinction of great many megafauna species on the North American continent.
Impossible pictures spoiler synopsis:
"Surviving Earth heads up: Episode 8 comes right up to “recent” history at the end of the last Ice Age. A mother giant short-faced bear tries to protect her young after a massive flood stops the Gulf Stream. In her part of North America there are still mammalian megafauna like mastodon, woolly mammoth, stag moose, and dire wolves. All are driven to extinction by the cold shock of the Younger Dryas, except for humans, who come out of the event stronger."
While North America is one of those cases where you can make a strong argument for climate change for part of the megafauna extinction (and I think humans too), I do find it odd that they are (in this text anyway) blaming the extinction on a 'cold shock' (considering there had already been much colder periods before the Younger Dryas, not least of all the LGM when half the continent was locked under ice), rather than the rate of change between the various temperature stages. But perhaps that's just a this short synopsis simplifying the matter..
1 month ago | [YT] | 381
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Paleo Edits
Surviving Earth - episode 7. Event: GABI (the great American biotic interchange), epochs: Pliocene-Pleistocene.
Impossible pictures spoiler synopsis:
"Surviving Earth heads up: Episode 7 is set at the end of the Pliocene in Central America. A matriarch leads her Cuvieronius herd on a migration in search of water. They end up crossing the Isthmus at Panama, becoming the first elephants in South America. Along the way they meet sabre-tooth cats (Smilodon gracilis), Glyptotherium, Falcontoxodon, giant sloths, and terror birds (Phorusrhacos). A million years later, the South American plains are thriving, but there is a new apex sabre-tooth predator: Smilodon populator. "
Sounds like it could be a semi-problematic episode (already is with Phorusrhacos). Would've probably swapped the GABI for the Grande Coupure, in keeping it Cenozoic. But we've got to have our saber-toothed cats, I guess? Idk, we'll see...
Next up: the ice age finale! Really curious to see what time split this episode will have.
1 month ago | [YT] | 427
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Paleo Edits
Episode 6 of Surviving Earth will be the Ordovician and Silurian. By far the episode I've been most excited for!!
Impossible pictures:
"Surviving Earth – BTS: the furthest back we travel is Episode 6, to the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction. In a stunning reef full of crinoids and Carolinites, a male Sacabambaspis tries to build a nest to attract a mate, despite the attentions of orthocones, giant sea scorpions, and Kingnites worms. Sea-level fall sees off his world, but 10 million years later the reefs are back. This time, however, fish like Nerepisacanthus have taken over, and scorpions have started to move onto land, where giant Prototaxites dominate"
That leaves the GABI and the ice age as the remaining two episodes, all fully Cenozoic.
As the series was designed in chronological order (BTS pics and info suggest) and was later changed to non-chronological order (presumably by NBC exces, wanting to have lot's of explosions and popular reptiles early on in the series to hook viewers), I suspect the ice age episode will still be the finale; as it *might* have a finale design to it. Because of H. sapiens, climate change or whatever messaging it'll leave us pondering about in our current high extinction rate world. Perhaps, I don't really know.
Maybe I'll be proven wrong, and the fudging GABI turns out to be the finale lol
We'll see tomorrow...
Update: GABI is ep7
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 337
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Paleo Edits
Episode 5. Finally!, the long awaited Carboniferous forest!
I've been cursed to have all the episode I've been looking forward to the most contained within the latter half of the series. Oh well, save the best for last, eh?
Impossible pictures:
"Surviving Earth BTS – We travel further back for Episode 5 to the Carboniferous Forest Collapse. Here, amongst the giant-scale trees, Eryops, Dendromaia, Meganeura, Arthropleura, and Orthacanthus struggle to survive as the climate dries. In particular, we follow a female Diplocaulus as she struggles to keep her spawn alive. 20 million years later, the Earth is drier and new plants and animals dominate, like Dimetrodon and Cotylorhynchus. A different species of Diplocaulus has survived."
Recap:
Episode 1: The Permian-Triassic ultra death extinction
Episode 2: The Triassic British weather event
Episode 3: The indifferent space rock event, followed by Paloecene (!!)
Episode 4: The ocean man out of breath event
and now:
Episode 5: The carboniferous rainforest collapse
Remaining for ep 6, 7 and 8:
Ordovician extinction (maybe with an silurian section)
GABI (maybe Miocene/pliocene section? followed by pleistocene section)
Missoula floods (time split in this episode is still unknown)
1 month ago | [YT] | 377
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Paleo Edits
Looks like episode 4 will be the OAE2 - focusing on the best part of the Mesozoic: the seas!
There is also a spinosaurus or whatever.
From impossible pictures:
"Surviving Earth – Episode 4 heads up: we go back from Ep. 3 to the OAE2 and witness a mother pliosaur and a mother spinosaurus struggle to raise their young as the oceans stagnate. Parapuzosia, Portunatasaurus, and Ichthyornis all feature. We then move on 5 million years, and the toxic crisis has passed, although the seas are still warm. A new class of apex predator has taken over: the mosasaurs. Nodosaurs, Cretoxyrhina, and Pteranodon are there too."
1 month ago | [YT] | 373
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