It’s finally happening. After years of vague statements and out-of-context pictures, we’ve finally gotten a full trailer for the upcoming documentary Surviving Earth, from the creators of the original Walking with Dinosaurs (here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it already).
The trailer itself isn’t very in-depth, but it shows enough footage from the series that, combined with the previously known info and some educated guesses, we can pretty confidently piece together what every episode will be about. The first half of each episode will show life either before or during a major extinction, and the second half will show life afterwards.
With that in mind, here’s my attempt at summarizing the rough premise of each episode, including the extinctions that will be shown, the time periods that will be portrayed when talking about those extinctions, and even some of the animals (though I’m sure there will be more).
Episode 1: Ordovician Mass Extinction
First half: Ordovician (unknown location), 455 million years ago (Sacabambaspis, Endoceras, trilobite)
Second half: Silurian (unknown location), 420 MYA (Prototaxites, eurypterid)
Episode 2: Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse
First half: Carboniferous (unknown location), 305 MYA (Arthropleura, meganisopteran, early amniote)
Second half: Early Permian (North America), 285 MYA (Dimetrodon, Diplocaulus)
Episode 3: Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction
First half: Late Permian (Russia), 252 MYA (Inostrancevia, Scutosaurus, Suminia, dicynodont)
Second half: Middle Triassic (Europe), 242 MYA (Cyamodus, ichthyosaur, dinosauromorph)
Episode 4: Carnian Pluvial Episode and Triassic Mass Extinction
First half: Late Triassic (Argentina), 230 MYA (Ischigualastia, Panphagia, Saurosuchus, Hyperodapedon)
Second half: Early Jurassic (South Africa), 195 MYA (Massospondylus, Dracovenator, mammaliaform)
Episode 5: Cenomanian-Turonian Boundary Event
First half: Cenomanian (Morocco), 94 MYA (Spinosaurus, pliosaur)
Second half: Santonian (Western Interior Seaway), 85 MYA (Pteranodon, Cretoxyrhina, nodosaurid, mosasaur)
Episode 6: Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction
First half: Maastrichtian (Alaska), 66 MYA (Nanuqsaurus, Edmontosaurus, Dromaeosaurus)
Second half: Paleocene (North America), 58 MYA (Plesiadapis, Kosmodraco, Titanoides)
Episode 7: Pliocene-Pleistocene Glaciation
First half: Pliocene (South America), 4 MYA (megalodon, terror birds)
Second half: Early Pleistocene (South America), 1 MYA (Smilodon, Cuiveronius, ground sloth)
Episode 8: Pleistocene Megafauna Extinction
First half: Late Pleistocene (North America), 12 thousand years ago (mammoths, short-faced bears, humans)
Second half: Holocene (further details unknown)