Edmontosaurus/Segments

Main **Segments** Gallery

MainSegmentsGallery

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

## Ice Worlds

### Segment 1

***“ The little dromaeosaurs must work together if they are to take on big prey. And here comes their first chance of the season... ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*
Halfway through the first segment of Ice Worlds, as the sun rises over the mountains of Alaska for the first time in almost three months, two dromaeosaurs nuzzle each other before turning their attention to the bellows of a herd of dinosaurs in the distance.

***“ As winter slackens its grip, meltwater begins to flow with great power. The herd must wade through this deep, fast-flowing water. The leaders try to select the safest crossing. The herd follow cautiously. Young keep close to their parents. Putting a foot wrong here could cost them their life. The adults awaiting their turn grow nervous, and this bottleneck gives the dromaeosaurs a chance. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*

The *Edmontosaurus* herd, arriving for food that comes up during spring, faces an icy river, enlarged and made faster and stronger by the melting ice. Seeing the cautious herd held up by the river's icy bank, hesitant on traversing the hazardous river crossing, three dromaeosaurs, aware that some of the hadrosaurs won't survive the river crossing, make their way down the snowy cliff face of the upland forest, rushing at some of the juveniles in the herd, harassing and intimidating them. This, in turn, causes panic to spread through the whole herd, and soon, every member is frantically running and wading through the collapsing ice of the river. In the chaos, some of the juvenile hadrosaurs are left by their parents on the other side of the river.

One mother watches as her calf is dragged away by the currents, and tries to keep up with her offspring in hopes that it would make it. Fortunately, the young hadrosaur manages to climb up the snowy bank of the river, almost slipping off back into the river before successfully hauling itself up to reunite with its parent. Finally, both join the herd as they continue on their journey, leaving the dromaeosaurs on the other side of the raging rapids.

***“ The dromaeosaurs seem to have missed their chance. But the river has done their work for them. There are always casualties. It's a feast, and more food than these hunters have had all winter. In the ice world, seasonal opportunity is brief, spring is short, and summer will soon be over. There's a lot to be done before the challenges of winter return. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*
Not everyone is lucky to have survived. The three dromaeosaurs rush down the rocky banks of the river to claim the reward of their combined efforts and the river's unforgiving power, a dead juvenile hadrosaur. The three begin feasting on the body, with one briefly squabbling with another before going back to eating. The segment ends with the hadrosaurs, among them the lucky calf and its mother, traveling onwards alongside the frozen, fragile ice covering the massive river they just crossed.

### Segment 2

In the second segment of Ice Worlds, after being caught and driven away by his neighbor for stealing nesting materials, an *Ornithomimus* that was forced to nest by a riverbank faces another problem in the form of a male and female *Edmontosaurus* pair walking down the river.

***“ A couple of hadrosaurs wander by. They would eat leafy branches. So you have to be able to defend your property. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*
Though the thief does not have much on his nest yet, given how his nest is by the island's edge, the one most likely to be trampled or fed on by the hadrosaurs, he waves his feathered arms and hisses at the hadrosaurs to dissuade them from approaching his nest, just in case. The male only turns his head to notice the *Ornithomimus* hissing and waving his arms at him, but the hadrosaurs seem to be completely uninterested in his nest, only there to take a stroll through the area. With that problem over, the *Ornithomimus* turns around and is greeted by the sight of the neighbor he tried stealing from continuing to build his nest, which is now far more well-made and covered in more vegetation.

## Forests

In the fifth segment of Forests, an upland forest in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation is set alight by a strike of lightning. As the trees go up in flames, the inhabitants of the forest flee for their lives.

***“ Most animals flee. But this Edmontosaurus has a family to care for. She doesn't abandon them. Now, they must keep one step ahead of the blaze until it burns out. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
Among those trying to escape is an *Edmontosaurus* and her two offspring, trying to carefully make their way down the burning mountain slope.

***“ The female Edmontosaurus is leaving the forest. Against the odds, she's lead both her babies to safety. They will have to find new pastures until the forest plants recover. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
After showing various animals return to the forest to take advantage of what's left in the aftermath of the disaster, the segment ends with the female *Edmontosaurus* and her two juveniles leaving the forest in search of another place to feed.

## Swamps

**Swamps**, Segment V
**Setting**
Hell Creek Formation, Montana - South Dakota, USA

**Filming Location**
Bog Pond, Waterford, Oxford, Maine, USA
### Plot

In the fifth and final segment of Swamps, a wetlands region, flooded all year round and turned into a lush, excellent feeding ground during springtime, attracts herds of *Edmontosaurus* and *Triceratops*. The large number of herbivores in the area, however, attracts the attention of two *T. rex* brothers. They would prefer to ambush their prey, but with many of the herbivores already aware of their presence (including a formidable trio of *Triceratops*, which glare back at them while drinking from the swamp), the *T. rexes* postpone their attack for a better time.

***“ As darkness falls, some of the herds that had been grazing out in the open retreat into the forest for shelter. Now, the odds switch in favor of the predators. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Swamps*
As night falls, one tyrannosaur quickly looks over the area before waking his brother up, and together, using their superb low-light vision (due to having the largest eyes of any dinosaur) and near-silent movement (helped in part by their cushioned foot pads muffling every step) to their advantage, they sneaking up on a herd of *Edmontosaurus* grazing in the forest. Their plan in place, the *T. rex* brothers split and take up different positions. One deliberately makes a noise, alarming the herd, which is now aware that hunters are close by, but don't know exactly where the predators are. Taking advantage of this air of uneasiness spreading through the herd, one *T. rex* rushes out, attacking one *Edmontosaurus*, ramming at it full force while biting its back right leg. This sudden attack causes the herd to panic and rush right where the other hunter is waiting, allowing him to ambush an *Edmontosaurus* and bring his jaws down on its neck.

***“ A perfectly-executed plan by one of the greatest land predators that have ever lived in the swamps of our Prehistoric Planet. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Swamps*
Their target now singled out, the other *T. rex* arrives to help, and both brothers wrestle the *Edmontosaurus* to the ground. The hadrosaur, refusing to go down, put up a decent struggle, pushing, shaking, and kicking its attackers off at times, but in the end, the theropods put the *Edmontosaurus* down for good with bites to the neck and stomach. That night, as the rest of the hadrosaurs fled in fright, the *Tyrannosaurus* brothers feasted on their hard-earned catch.

### Trivia

* The original plan for this segment involved two juvenile *T. rexes* attacking an adult *Edmontosaurus*, only to be beaten up.
* With this segment, *T. rex* is the last of the four tyrannosaurs in the series shown hunting onscreen.
	+ As with *Tarbosaurus* and *Nanuqsaurus* (but not *Qianzhousaurus*), *T. rex* is shown engaging in cooperative hunting. Unlike the other two, which involves a trio of tyrannosaurs going after prey, the *T. rexes* hunt in pairs.
* *T. rex*, along with *Phosphorosaurus* (and *Kuru kulla* if one counts nest-raiding as hunting), is the only animal depicted hunting at night on Prehistoric Planet.
* According to Dr. Darren Naish, Prehistoric Planet's lead consultant, the narration bringing up the idea that *Edmontosaurus* is twice as fast as *T. rex* is a mistake. What was supposed to be stated was that both animals had a similar top speed.

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## References

### Dr. Darren Naish

1. ↑ *Edmontosaurus* is far from defenseless. The original plan for the *T. rex* hunt was to show two juvenile *T. rexes* (as opposed to the subadults of the final version) trying to take on an adult *Edmontosaurus*, only to be beaten back, though this particular idea never ended up getting developed.
2. ↑ The idea that *Edmontosaurus* is twice as fast as *T. rex* is a mistake, the narration was instead supposed to state that both animals had a similar top speed.

### Prehistoric Planet

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 I Know Dino: The Big Dinosaur Podcast, Episode 445: Dinosaurs in Swamps: Featuring Prehistoric Planet 2
2. ↑ As indicated by the name of the *T. rex* pair's theme in the Official Soundtrack, "Tyrannosaurus Brothers".