Before the Dinosaurs: Walking With Monsters
Many people think of the dinosaurs as the first inhabitants of the earth, but this prequel toWalking With Dinosaursputs viewers in the midst of a host of strange creatures that inhabited the earth millions of years before the dinosaurs ever existed.  With the help of complex computer animation and the research of hundreds of paleontologists, the BBC presents an extremely realistic picture of the earth's earliest, most primitive aquatic inhabitants and chronicles their evolution to the precursors of man himself and the mighty dinosaurs.  The firstWalking With Monstersepisode begins in the Cambrian period 530 million years ago, showcasing how a simple jellyfish-like sea creature evolved over 200 million years into new creatures with eyes and protective external and internal skeletal systems.  These adaptations resulted in the world's first fish, arthropods, amphibians, and land-loving reptiles.  The second episode details the giant insects of the Carboniferous period 300 million years ago and demonstrates how evolution empowered amphibians and reptiles by creating mechanisms to regulate their own body temperature and developing specialized teeth.  The final episode begins in the late Permian period 250 million years ago when the earth was essentially one large desert full of volcanic activity.  While much of earth's life was extinguished during this period, adaptation and evolution continued, bringing the development of a specialized hip in a tiny reptile called the Euparkeria that would prove to be the forerunner of mammals and evolve into the dinosaurs in the Triassic period.  While some criticize this project as a somewhat overly dramatic presentation of speculative paleontology as fact, this program utilizes scientific inference to bring pre-history to life and highlight the amazing adaptations and evolution of the earth's earliest inhabitants.  The bonus "Trilogy of Life" feature details the research, vision and hard work inherent in the creation of theWalking With Monsters,Walking With DinosaursandWalking With Prehistoric Beasts.  (Ages 6 and older)--Tami Horiuchi