Tarchia/Segments

## TarchiaBrainy One

* Badlands IV
* Uncovered

## Presence

* Deserts (Segment 4)
	+ Several adults
* Badlands (Segment 4)
	+ 1 adult male
	+ 2 juveniles
* How Did Ankylosaurs Use Their Tail?
	+ Stock footage from Badlands

 Main **Segments** Gallery

MainSegmentsGallery

These are Prehistoric Planet segments which feature ***Tarchia***.

## Deserts

**Deserts**, Segment IV
**Setting**
Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

**Filming Location**
Namibia, southern Africa
In the fourth segment of Deserts, several specimens of *Tarchia* are seen with the other species of dinosaurs, congregating around a temporary oasis in the desert. However, they are not identified or even given a brief moment of focus during this segment.

## Badlands

**Badlands**, Segment IV
**Setting**
Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

**Filming Location**
Some places in Saudi Arabia, like Al-'Ula city in the Medina Province and Tabuk City of the Tabuk Region

***“ Without water, no animal can survive. Yet, this is home to these young Tarchia. They are desert-living ankylosaurs, heavily-armored, with huge, clubbed tails. Dark patches protect the Tarchias' eyes from the glaring sun. And this is the sound of Tarchia's very own air-conditioning system. Their large nose cools the air as it leaves the body, condensing - and so conserving - valuable water with every breath. It allows them to survive long periods without drinking as they search for a meal. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Badlands*
In the fourth, penultimate segment of Badlands, two young *Tarchia* are seen traveling through the desert, under the great heat of the sun. While they are capable of surviving for long periods without water, they are still traveling in search of a meal, and, should they come upon the right place, an oasis, for they may remember the few places where natural springs occur.

***“ The high temperatures here create scouring winds which carve the rocks into extraordinary shapes. But they also strip the ground of soil. Some plants, however, manage to take root in cracks between the rocks. Any meager mouthful is worth competing for. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Badlands*
The brothers come up to the entrance of a canyon. One of the *Tarchia* feeds on a dry patch of vegetation. When the other *Tarchia* tries to feed on the same plant alongside him, the first *Tarchia* shoves him aside, forcing him to wander onwards alone to find food for himself. Entering the canyon, he finds an oasis surrounded by seven *Prenocephale*. Startled and forced to step aside when the ankylosaur walked in to get his drink, the pachycephalosaurs weren't happy. They begun growling and nipping at the intruder in an attempt to force him away, but by simply smashing his tail on the sandy ground, the *Tarchia* intimidated the smaller creatures into backing off and letting him have his peace.

***“ In the end, the Prenocephale are little more than annoying. But an adult Tarchia is another matter, especially one almost twice the youngster's weight. It wields a club weighing almost fifty pounds. If this comes to a fight, the juvenile can't win... but reinforcements are on the way. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Badlands*
As he explores more of the canyon around the oasis, he finds an adult *Tarchia* sleeping in a cave. Not willing to share the sanctuary he secured for himself, the adult, almost twice the juvenile's weight, stepped out to confront and threaten the juvenile, who, despite standing his ground, seems aware that he is clearly outmatched should the adult decide to get physical with his fifty-pound club. Fortunately, he is reminded that he is not alone. Just then, the juvenile's brother arrives to his aid, ready to face the adult alongside him.

***“ The pair are reunited. Now, there are twice as many swinging clubs for the adult to deal with. He decides that, perhaps, there is enough water here for everyone to share. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Badlands*
Together, the two young *Tarchia* intimidate the adult, forcing him to leave them be. Realizing that he is now the one who is outmatched, the elder *Tarchia* backs off and lets them share the oasis he once claimed as his own. With the conflict settled, the pair of juvenile *Tarchia* drink from the oasis in peace as the seven *Prenocephale* continue to watch them from atop the rocks on the opposite side of the spring.

## Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered - How Did Ankylosaurs Use Their Tail?

  **How Did Ankylosaurs Use Their Tail?**
**Subject**
The anatomical features, strength, and purpose of ankylosaur tails as weapons for various combat-related purposes.

**Experts**
Dr. Susannah Maidment, Professor Paul Barrett, Dr. Darren Naish
***“ On numerous occasions within the history of life, animals have evolved specialized structures that only function in combat. These are often quite large and unusual structures like the horns of rhinos, the antlers of deer, the horns of antelope. ”***

― **Dr. Darren Naish**, *Lead Scientific Consultant*
Footage from the Badlands *Tarchia* segment is used for this Uncovered segment, which is focused on the discussion of ankylosaur tail clubs.

Considered as one of the most bizarre animals to ever exist, with their spikes, plates, and even bony eyelids, the one feature considered as the trait that sets them apart from any animal alive today is their extraordinary tail, for at the end of it are two huge lumps of armor, fused to the final vertebrae of the tail to form a hammer-like structure. When these clubs (like, for example, the club of *Anodontosaurus*, pointed on both sides, a fossil of which is shown during the segment) were first discovered, they were interpreted as a weapon of sorts. Comparisons with animals alive today, with their massive, unusual structures, powerful muscles, and specialized bones, support the idea that they were used for battle. For ankylosaurs, evidence on the pelvis showed muscles that extended down the tail, attached to the stiffened "handle" of the tail club to allow the tail to swing with such power.

***“ It's very stiff, it's stiffened by lots of bony rods that run along the length of the tail that would have a lot of force behind it when it was swung from side to side. Some paleontologists have calculated that it could be swung with enough force to devastate a car. ”***

― **Professor Paul Barrett**, *Natural History Museum*
Given this strength, they could, in theory, break the legs of predators. The new question is whether they used these clubs to also fight each other for reasons such as disputes over territory, mates, and leadership. While *Tarchia* itself is already known to have suffered pelvic and tail injuries that likely resulted from intraspecific combat (even possessing a tail club that became asymmetrically shaped due to being worn down by repeated usage), a 2022 study appears to have confirmed this, with evidence of injuries among ankylosaurs that proved that they also used their clubs for intraspecific combat.

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## Trivia

### Badlands

* The two young *Tarchia*, stated to be juveniles, appear huge, about half the size of the adult they encounter. This is not without precedent, as, based on *Pinacosaurus*, an earlier ankylosaur from Mongolia and China, *Tarchia* may have grown to at least 60% of their adult size without reaching sexual maturity yet. An adult *Pinacosaurus* is around 5 meters (16 feet) in length, while the holotype specimen is only 3 meters (10 feet) long, still considered a juvenile due to some bones either being fewer in number or still being fused (four of their rear dorsal vertebrae are fused into a "sacral rod").
* *Tarchia* is the only herbivore in the series to be attacked by another herbivore of a different species (as members of an omnivorous family, *Prenocephale* still counts as a plant-eater).
	+ While *Prenocephale* is the only herbivore in the series to attack another herbivore of a different species, the same cannot be said for *Tarchia*, which didn't actually fight back, but instead ended the altercation by scaring them off.
* Had the conflict between the *Tarchia* came to blows, the fourth segment of Badlands would have been the eighth segment to feature intraspecific combat.

### Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered - How Did Ankylosaurs Use Their Tail?

* While not given further elaboration, the 2022 study referenced by the end of this segment is almost certainly about the paper surrounding the remains of *Zuul crurivastator*, the first member of the ankylosaurini tribe known from a complete skull and tail club, as well as the most complete ankylosaurid specimen thus far recovered from North America. The holotype specimen of *Zuul* is found to have pathological osteoderms focused on the hip region as opposed to being distributed randomly across the body, indicating consistent injuries and attacks to the flanks due to tail club attacks from a rival. This study theorizes that, while ankylosaur tail clubs serve their purpose well as lethal, bone-shattering self-defense weapons against predators, they primarily evolved for combat against other ankylosaurs.

## References

### General

1. ↑ BTS: Apple TV+'s Prehistoric Planet
2. ↑ A new ankylosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia and implications for paleoecology of armoured dinosaurs
3. ↑ Martin, A. J. (2006). *Introduction to the Study of Dinosaurs* (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. p. 560.
4. ↑ Palaeopathological evidence for intraspecific combat in ankylosaurid dinosaurs

### Dr. Darren Naish

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 I Know Dino: The Big Dinosaur Podcast, Episode 444: Dinosaurs in the Badlands: Featuring 2 Producers from Prehistoric Planet 2