Last Day of the Dinosaurs is a documentary released in 2010 by the Discovery Channel that focuses on the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event, which famously killed off the non-avian dinosaurs, paving the way for mammals and birds to become the dominant animals.
Plot[]
It begins 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous pacific northwest. A lone Quetzalcoatlus soars over a valley when it spies a nest of Tyrannosaurus eggs. It lands and proceeds to consume several newly hatched when the father tyrannosaurus returns from hunting. Unable to fly away through the forest due to its large size, the pterosaur just narrowly manages to fly away but not before the Tyrannosaur bites its foot, it having to peck at its eye to force it to let go. The attack results in only one baby surviving.
It cuts to 100 million years earlier (sometime during the mid-Jurassic period) in the asteroid belt. A small asteroid slam into a much larger one, causing it to explode and scatter. One part of this asteroid starts flying towards Earth 100 million years later in the Cretaceous.
Meanwhile, two Tyrannosaurus (possibly the parents) find and hunt down a Triceratops, which had prior lost a fight over mating rights with another male triceratops.
Off in Mexico, a huge herd of hundreds of Alamosaurus travels through an open plain in search of food. During this, one of the females lays a small clutch of eggs just before an asteroid enters the earth's atmosphere. The asteroid collided in the Gulf of Mexico 500 miles away. The impact causes hundreds of them to be blinded by the light and scorched alive by the heat. Other members survived this due to being behind a mountain, but moments later, debris launched by the asteroid rain down and crush many more Alamosaurus, followed by a magnitude 11.1 earthquake that cripples the remaining herd just as the blast pulse wave finishes them all off. The only survivors are a few remaining eggs, buried in the soil.
In Mongolia, a herd of Charonosaurus reside at a watering hole, with a nest of eggs nearby. A Saurornithoides appears shortly after they are laid and steals an egg before retreating into a nearby cave. The mother finds it, but finds a second Saurornithoudies with it, causing it to retreat and be chased by them. The two Saurornithoudies manage to take her down.
Back in the pacific northwest, the impact causes an ejecta cloud that begins engulfing the planet: a mated pair of Quetzalcoatlus observe it approaching the valley from 3,000 miles away. As it does, the valley suffers from a seismic earthquake, causing both the pterosaurs to flee, and a pair of Triceratops to flee from the forest. The pterosaur pair are caught by the approaching ejecta cloud, being caught in a burning shower of debris. The male plummets from the air to his death after the debris damages his wings. The pair of Triceratops reach outside of the valley but get caught and burned alive by the ejecta cloud shortly after. The Ejecta Cloud causes firestorms all around the planet, igniting the valley and sending numerous dinosaurs into a panic: a herd of Triceratops, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, an Ankylosaurus, and the mourning female Quetzalcoatlus are forced to flee while smaller animals hide underground.
In Mongolia, three Charonosaurus and a pair of Saurornithoides seek shelter in a cave as the ejecta cloud reaches them. After five hours of this, the temperature cools down, and the dinosaurs (except for one female Charonosaurus) leave the cave. Shortly afterwards, a massive sandstorm engulfs the area, which the Saurornithoides survive by hiding behind a deceased Charonosaurus, as the remaining herd suffocates from the sandstorm. After it passes, the lone female Charonosaurus returns to the watering hole alone, where a starving Saurornithoides attempt to hunt her. However, the struggling animal falls on the hunter, killing it instantly. The remaining hunter eats it shortly afterwards.
Four days later in the pacific northwest, a small herd of four Triceratops travel in search for food, followed by both the Tyrannosaurus and Quetzalcoatlus. Eventually they reach the coast, where they find a lone island with plant life still abundant on it. During this, the sea suddenly shifts away, revealing a land bridge. Three of the Triceratops cross the land bridge to the island, as the Quetzalcoatlus eats the fish stranded on the land bridge. A huge megastunami occurs during this, catching and drowning them.
Ten days since impact, the remaining female Charonosaurus dies from toxic fumes that starts coming up from the watering hole. The last remaining Saurornithoides tries to eat the recently deceased animal, but quickly dies from the same toxic fumes.
Back in the Pacific Northwest, a starving Ankylosaurus finds a small patch of vegetation. A lone Triceratops finds it too and, just before a fight can occur, a Tyrannosaurus arrives. The T Rex and Triceratops fight, the rex losing an eye while the Triceratops loses its horn, before the Triceratops is then killed. Afterwards, the Tyrannosaurus faces against the Ankylosaurus, whom which it flips over and tears open its neck. As the Tyrannosaurus leaves, it trips over the Ankylosaurus's tail, and skewers itself on the Triceratops horn, dying in the process.
In the end, an Alamosaurus baby emerges from an egg that was sheltered away in the ground, but it too goes extinct due to inbreeding and disease. The film then shows the mammals and the one group of dinosaurs who survived, birds who hid from the asteroid who survived the extinction, who then proceed to diversify, and rule the world, just as the dinosaurs once did.
Animals Featured[]
- Alamosaurus
- Ankylosaurus
- Charonosaurus
- Mesodma
- Quetzalcoatlus
- Saurornithoides
- Triceratops
- Tyrannosaurus
Trivia[]
- The documentary reuses several dinosaur models and a few scenes from the 2009 documentary Clash of the Dinosaurs: The Parasaurolophus, Deinonychus, and Sauroposeidon models were used for Charonosaurus, Sauronithoides, and Alamosaurus notably (although the dinosaurs described didn't look similarly to the forementioned models in real life).
- The cover of the documentary features the 'V-rex' from King Kong, oddly enough.
Gallery[]
