The Serengeti, an important ecosystem to many creatures, from the dung beetle to the elephants, everything is important, but was their a prehistoric variant of the Serengeti? In fact, yes. Today we're travelling to North America in a place called the Morrison, the Late Jurassic produced some of the most majestic animals, and the most majestic are found here. An Allosaurus walks in. This is the story of Apex Predators
Intro rolls
We see the Allosaurus sniffing the air
Allosaurus, they are the most abundant predator here. They have two crests on top of their eyes for display and their one of the fastest animals around. Allosaurus are often called the Lions of the Jurassic but they are more comparable to Leopards.
We then cut over to a bunch of herbivores including Brachiosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, Dryosaurus and Camptosaurus. More abundant then the predators are the prey, from the small Dryosaurus.
To the giant Brachiosaurus.
They all play a vital role in the ecosystem, if one is gone the food chain is disrupted. We get some scenery of all the herbivores, some are drinking water, some are eating the foliage and others are resting under the shade.
We then see a female Dryosaurus. This Dryosaurus mother has babies to look after, the burrow keeps herself and her babies safe. This burrow wasn't made by her but another creature who abandoned it, warthogs today live in abandoned Aardvark burrows.
We go back to the Allosaurus but this time there are other Allosaurus with it. These Allosaurus are hunting for big prey, Diplodocus.
Alone, an Allosaurus could never take down a healthy adult, but multiple Allosaurus team up to take down such big prey, these are called gangs. The Allosaurus run in the heard and snarl at random points, they eventually find an old Diplodocus and attack it. They stop this old Diplodocus from escaping, while the others make there escape this one is trapped. The rest escape and the Allosaurus slowly tire out the Diplodocus. Even an old one is dangerous, they tire it out and some times try to attack it, but Diplodocus are equipped with a whip like tail that can shatter bone, Africa Buffalo hunts often go wrong for Lions. This is a risky game. One of the Allosaurus gets a bite. Allosaurus don't have a powerful bite force, its weaker than that of a Lion, but Allosaurus has strong neck muscles so it hits with its jaws with great force like an axe. The Diplodocus tires out and dies. A meal this big can feed all of the Allosaurus for weeks, but Allosaurus don't tend to share. A small Allosaurus tries to eat but is chased away by a bigger one.
We then see a group of Ceratosaurus chilling in the forest.
These are Ceratosaurus, there not the largest predator around, but don't let that fool you, they still are formidable creatures. They are most comparable to Cheetahs, fast but too weak to protect their kill. A juvenile Ceratosaurus stumbles upon the mother Dryosaurus's burrow, the mother proceeds to scream and scare the juvenile. A mother would even stand off against a young Ceratosaurus.
We then go to a watering hole and Allosaurus is there. The watering hole, prey is plentiful, but dinosaurs don't come here for food, they come for water. The Allosaurus drinks water. Here, predator and prey co-exist.
Later we see that Allosaurus finds a dead Camarasaurus.
A dead Camarasaurus, this one died to injuries. They're like Elephants. A predator wouldn't miss out on a chance to feast on a Camarasaurus, including the larger ones. We see a Torvosaurus foot stomp on a ground and then we see the entire creature.
Torvosaurus, the true lion of the Jurassic, and the largest predator around, big enough to feast on the Camarasaurus by it self. The Allosaurus bellows. The Torvosaurus hisses at the Allosaurus and then it runs away with a chunk of meat. Its not easy being at the middle of the food chain, you have to look for food and try to not to become food.
We then see an Ornitholestes looking for food.
This small dinosaur is an Ornitholestes. They are like vultures, scavenging for leftovers, but they also hunt small animals. Ornitholestes finds a generic lizard. He must keep looking. Then a heard of Brachiosaurus arrives and the Ornitholestes flees. Brachiosaurus, at 25 tons they are the largest animal around, there long necks allow them to reach the leaves up high, like Giraffes.
We go back to the Allosaurus who is hunting again. Allosaurus is hunting yet again, he spots a heard of Stegosaurus.
Stegosaurus is dangerous game, they are equipped with plates on their bac and deadly spikes on their tail called a thagomizer, They are the Rhinos of the Jurassic. Only the most desperate would try to hunt them, but there is an adolescent, which would be more easier. Then a Camptosaurus spots the Allosaurus and makes loud noises alerting the others.
Camptosaurus have keen eyesight and have lots of stamina, but they aren't fast or weaponized like Stegosaurus, similarly Stegosaurus don't have good eyesight. They team up to survive, this is called a symbiotic relationship. The hunt got a lot harder. The Allosaurus goes near the adolescent. The Allosaurus snarls and the Stegosaurus grunts. The Allosaurus tries to bite but the Stegosaurus doges and hits it with its thagomizer on the leg and then it falls to the ground breaking its ribs. The Allosaurus has broken multiple bones, such large injuries almost always means death. The Allosaurus screams in pain and all the other dinosaurs leave except for a group of Ceratosaurus. The Allosaurus slowly closes its eyes. The once mighty predator is no more. The Ceratosaurus start feasting on the Allosaurus. He has become food for other creatures, this harsh environment of the Morrison is in many ways similar to out Serengeti, they may have not been as big, but one thing never changed, everything is important for the ecosystem.
End credits roll
The Jurassic is when Dinosaurs became large, but its during the Cretaceous they will diversify into the famous families. Next time we'll be visiting Early Cretaceous Europe, a land surrounded by water, to see how Dinosaurs evolved into many strange forms. An Iguanodon grunts.
