Walking with Beasts Season 1 quotes

There is no such thing as a "sabre-toothed tiger". The correct name for these beasts is sabre-toothed cats, and there have been many different species. The largest, at over 300 kilograms, is this one - Smilodon, which means "knife tooth". Originally from North America, they came to South America two million years ago. The balance of life here changed as they took over the role of top predators.

[as the cats creep up on their prey] Smilodon are powerful killers, and able to accelerate explosively, but they are not built for long chases. Unless they get close, they don't stand a chance. One false move, and they will have to start all over again.

[about the Terror Birds] South America is not the only place Terror Birds are doing well. Once the land bridge opened up to North America, they were one of the few creatures to spread north successfully. While these Terror Birds pick over Smilodon leftovers, their cousins are running riot in Texas and Florida. They only died out just before modern humans appeared.

[about Megatherium] They might be herbivores, but they will eventually go for carrion to supplement their diet. And when they do, nothing gets in their way.

The brother is defeated... and fatally injured. Unlike Halftooth, this cat will get no second chance. The short, violent reign of the brothers is over.

Smilodon were very successful predators, and survived up until as recently as 10,000 years ago. But eventually the world around them changed too much. The climate became cooler and drier. The larger prey they specialized in killing disappeared. The sabre-toothed world came to an end.

This ice age is in fact only one of many. Two and a half million years ago the earth's climate started on a roller coaster of warmer and colder periods. There have been almost 50 ice ages so far, but this is the coldest yet.

Megaloceros are a giant form of deer, and the males sport a most impressive set of antlers. Each one is as long as a person. It's a wonder they can even hold their heads up.

Humans are predators unlike any before. They use not strength, but strategy, pushing the Megaloceros into the trees where their antlers prevent escape.

The Neanderthals are waiting. For them, the mammoths coming north is one of the most important times of the year. They are about to risk life and limb to hunt them. To take on a mammoth, they need every advantage they can get. They wait for dusk, when the cliff will become less visible, and they can make effective use of their secret weapon: fire.

The Neanderthals are supreme hunters, which is why they have lasted over 260 thousand years. But they have a weakness: they do not adapt well to change. As a result of the harsher climate and the arrival of other humans, Neanderthals are fast disappearing. In another 2,000 years, they'll be gone altogether.

Mammoths will last another 24,000 years. They are superbly adapted for this cold world. But when it gets warm again, the grassy plains they depend on will disappear. The humans have a different future ahead of them. When change comes, they will be able to deal with it, because they can adapt - and they have the ability to shape the world around them. One day, they'll look back on all this.

We have since built museums to celebrate the past, and spent decades studying prehistoric lives. And if all this has taught us anything, it's this: no species lasts forever.