Walking with...

The "Walking with..." series (also known as the "Trilogy of Life" or "Walking with Prehistoric Animals" series) is a collection of shows that are produced by the BBC and are made by Impossible Pictures. The aim of the series and specials, along with books, is to recreate extinct animals and presents them as a wildlife documentary. All the shows (with the exception of "Chased by Dinosaurs" and "Sea Monsters") focus on one individual of a certain species or that species as the main characters in each episode. Creatures were realized through computer graphics and animatronics and are directed by Tim Haines.The concept for the series was imagined by Tim Haines and Jasper James.

Shows

TV series

"Walking with Dinosaurs" (1999)

This series is focused on the rise, success, and the demise of the dinosaurs and other Mesozoic animals in the Mesozoic Era.

"Walking with Beasts" (2001)

This series was a sequel to "Walking with Dinosaurs", and its focus is on the world after the dinosaurs, and the rise of the mammals and birds in the Cenozoic Era.

"Walking with Cavemen" (2003)

This series is focused on the evolution of the our species, humans. (Note it is not always considered as part of the "Walking with..." series as it was not a Tim Haines production).

"Walking with Monsters" (2005)

The series was a prequel to "Walking with Dinosaurs", and its focus is life before the dinosaurs in the Paleozoic Era.

TV specials

"The Ballad Of Big Al" (2001)

This special follows the life and death of Big Al, a famous "Allosaurus" skeleton found with various injuries.

"Chased By Dinosaurs" (2002)

This is the first time that an actor was featured in the "Walking with" series. Real-life zoologist Nigel Marven travelled through time in search for various dinosaurs.

"Sea Monsters" (2003)

Nigel Marven is featured a second time, this time he dives in the seven deadliest seas of all time, and encounters creatures such as "Basilosaurus" and "Dunkleosteus".

Spin-offs

"Prehistoric Planet" (2002-2003)

A alternative release of the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts series. Unlike the original versions, it has two new narrators, and violent scenes and depictions of animals mating have been cut out. It was targeted more towards children and was shown only in America.

Artistic touches

Throughout the series, there is a recurring gag in which prehistoric animals sometimes breaking the fourth wall (interact with the camera, interact with the human host, camera crew, etc).

Walking with Monsters:
*A "Brontoscorpio" stings the camera and cracks the lens.
* Another "Brontoscorpio" bumps the camera with its claw as it crawls onto land.
*A "Hynerpeton" knocks the camera while it is swimming, so does a "Hyneria".
*A "Hynerpeton" spits on the camera.
*A "Hyneria" splatters water on the camera while diving back into the water.
*A Mesothelae crawls on the camera, and so does an "Arthropleura".
*A Mesothelae kicks dirt on the camera when it crawls over it.
*A "Dimetrodon" shakes intestines to avoid eating the feces inside, and most of it splats onto the camera.
*A "Dimetrodon" digs up some dirt, and it lands on the camera.
*A baby "Dimetrodon" splatters some dung on the camera when it jumps in a pile of it.
*A "Gorgonops" sniffs the camera.
*A "Gorgonops" splatters water on the camera when it jumps in some water.
*A "Diictodon" looks curiously at the camera.
*A "Proterosuchus" knocks the camera while it is swimming.
*A "Lystrosaurus" bumps and sniffs the camera.Walking with Dinosaurs:
*A "Liopleurodon" flipper bumps the camera.
*A "Tyrannosaurus" roars, flecking the camera lens with saliva.The Balled of Big Al:
*A young Allosaurus bumps the camera with its head.Chased by Dinosaurs:
*A "Therizinosaurus" licks the camera, however it was Nigel's camera
*A herd of hadrosaurs acciendently disturb camp.
*A "Giganotosaurus" attacks a camp, leaving behind a tooth.Walking with Beasts:
*A group of "Formicium" swarm over the camera when attacking the "Gastornis" chick
*A troop of "Apidium" hastily climb down the camera during the shark attack.
*A "Basilosaurus" fluke occasionally hits the camera.
*A "Paraceratherium" aggressively rushes and knocks down the camera.
*A troop of "Australopithecus" threw rocks, one rock splitting the camera lense.
*A Mammoth sprays mud on the camera.Walking with Cavemen:
*A "Homo ergaster" stabs an antelope, causing blood splat at the screen.
*Several hominids attack, disturb by, or curious at the geep.

Books

Related books issued by the BBC and DK include:

* "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History" by Tim Haines
* "Walking with Dinosaurs 3-D Dinosaurs" by Stephen Cole
* "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence" by David Martill and Darren Naish
* "Walking with Dinosaurs Sticker Book" by Stephen Cole
* "Walking with Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts" by Mike Benton
* "Walking with Dinosaurs Photo Journal" by Stephen Cole
* "Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari" by Tim Haines
* "Walking with Beasts Photo Journal" by Stephen Cole
* "Allosaurus! The Life and Death of Big Al" by Stephen Cole
* "The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life" by Tim Haines and Paul Chambers
* "Sea Monsters" by Nigel Marven and Jasper James
* "Prehistoric Park" by Kristin Bienert
* "Prehistoric Park, Creatures and Beasts" by Brandon Snider

Paleontological Inaccuracies

Despite the "Walking with" series being such a successful documentary series, it had also made controversy around the series' paleontological inaccuracies. Even the book also has some errors.

TV Series

* "Cephalaspis" was not the ancestor of gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) as they appear in the fossil record before "Cephalaspis". Furthermore, even though "Cephalaspis" was found only during the early Devonian, it is shown being pursued by the Late Silurian "Brontoscorpio".
* "Pterygotus" was neither 3 meters long (being actually 2.3 meters), nor the largest arthropod, either its cousin "Jaekelopterus rhenaniae", or the giant myriapod, "Arthropleura", was
* "Diictodon", "Gorgonops" and "Rhinesuchus" are only known from South Africa, yet in episode 3 they are portrayed living with "Scutosaurus", which have only been found in Siberia, However, since the continents were all connected at the time it is conceivable that "Gorgonops" could have lived in Russia too, but there is no evidence for this.
* In the series, "Petrolacosaurus" is incorrectly identified as an ancestral synapsid, when in fact, it was an early diapsid and could therefore not have been the ancestor of any synapsids (e.g. "Edaphosaurus"). The most basal synapsid, "Archaeothyris", would have been a more suitable candidate (although the book states it is an early diapsid.
* In the Discovery Channel version, the narrator says the following about "Euparkeria": "Giants such as "Tyrannosaurus" and "Brontosaurus" can trace their family tree back to this little insect eater." The name "Brontosaurus" is invalid; the valid name is "Apatosaurus". (In the BBC version "Diplodocus" is said, which is correct.)
* "Euparkeria" is not the ancestor of the dinosaurs, being basal to crocodile-bird split.
*"Mesothelae" had originally been referred to as "Megarachne" (which, at the time, was thought to be a giant spider) and removing the scene would have been impossible.
* When the Hynerpeton evolves into Petrolacosaurus, it shows the egg gradually becoming shelled from the bottom up, which, in real life, would mean that that the animal that was in between the two animals would have an egg that was half-shelled.
*"Prehistoric Park", "Chased by Dinosaurs" and "Walking with Dinosaurs" portrayed "Troodon", "Velociraptor", "Dromaeosaurus", "Utahraptor", young "Tyrannosaurus", adult "Ornithomimus" and "Mei" as being scaled and featherless, whereas the majority of scientists now agree that all of these dinosaurs had feathers, based on fossil evidence. However, this may have been due to lack of evidence of feathers at the time or because of technical difficulties. Though the book "Prehistoric Park, Creatures and Beasts" clearly states that Troodon and Mei Long has light feathers, which may have been mis-calculation.
* Throughout the series, they portray some of the theropods with their hands bend backwards. However, it's nearly imppossible for the animal in real life.
*"Velociraptor" did not live in heavily forested areas. All of the sites where "Velociraptor" fossils were found suggest that the animal lived in sandy, arid environments with many sand dunescite_journal |last=Jerzykiewicz |first=Tomasz |coauthors=& Russell, Dale A. |year=1991 |title=Late Mesozoic stratigraphy and vertebrates of the Gobi Basin |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=345–377 |doi=10.1016/0195-6671(91)90015-5] (with one specimen apparently being smothered to death by a sand dunecite_book |last=Osmólska |first=Halszka |year=1997 |chapter=Barun Goyot Formation |editors=Currie, Philip J. & Padian, Kevin (eds.). |title=Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs |location=San Diego |publisher=Academic Press |pages=p.41 |isbn=0-12-226810-1] ).
*"Ornitholestes" didn't have a nasal crest. However, this discovery was made after the program had been made.
*"Ornithocheirus" was not the largest known pterosaur, "Quetzalcoatlus" or Hatzegopteryx was.
*"Giganotosaurus" was depicted on the show as the largest carnivorous dinosaur, though current size estimates favor "Spinosaurus". However, this discovery was made after the program had been made.
*"Argentinosaurus" is said to have been the biggest dinosaur. That record may actually belong to poorly known forms such as "Bruhathkayosaurus" or "Amphicoelias fragilimus".
*"Allosaurus" was not the biggest Jurassic carnivore; that record belongs either to "Torvosaurus" , "Epanterias" or "Saurophaganax" (although "Epanterias" is argued to be a big specimen of "Allosaurus"; and the "Allosaurus" featured in the show fits in the size range of "Epanterias".).
*"Tylosaurus" is depicted as a "sixty foot giant" in "Chased by Sea Monsters", but no mosasaur has been found over 49 feet in length (surprisingly the book states 49 feet).
*"Liopleurodon" was overestimated to be 25 metres (82 feet) long and 150 tons. These lengths were based on what was at first believed to be tooth marks from a juvenile "Liopleurodon". It was more likely to have grown to 12 metres (39 feet) long. In Walking with Dinosaurs: The Next Chapter, they fixed this with a more reasonable 40 feet long.
*"Cymbospondylus" was not the largest ichthyosaur, an unnamed species was.
*The Neanderthal was not the last survivor of the genus "Homo", besides humans: the highly debated "Homo floresiensis" was.
*Some paleanthropologists believe the African "H. heidelbergensis" is merely an archaic form of modern humans.
*Some paleanthropologists do not recognize "H. ergaster" and "H. erectus" as separate species. Even if they were separate, some believe "H. erectus" did survive and evolved into the highly controversial "Homo floresiensis".
*"Ornithomimus" and "Incisivosaurus" were more likely omnivores rather than true herbivores.
*"Mei" was not 7ft long.
*"Microraptor" wasn't the ancestor of birds, just a close relative.
*It's unlikely that "Tyrannosaurus" could run at 40mph.
*If "Microraptor" glided with its hind legs sticking to the sides, its legs would dislocate. More likely, it glided with its legs down.

Book

*On page 209, on the family tree, "Pteranodon" is incorrectly placed in the crocodiles branch.
*On page 21, "Cameroceras" is misspelled as "Cameraceras".
*"Coelophysis" is repeated misclassified as a coelurosaur (pp. 70, 100, 107).
*On page 128, "Protoceratops" is incorrectly identified as an ornithopod, while it's actually a cerapod.
*On page 164, "Arsinoitherium" is misclassified as an ancient species of elephant.
*On page 166, they say say whales are decsented from "Andrewsarchus", in reality they're more closer to hippos then "Andrewsarchus".

References

External links

* [http://www.impossiblepictures.co.uk Impossible Pictures homepage]
* [http://walkingwith.wikia.com Impossible Pictures Wiki]