- 5/26/2025
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00:00Over 66 million years ago, our world was ruled by an evil force.
00:30By dinosaurs.
00:39The largest animals that have ever walked the earth.
00:50Today, dinosaur experts across the globe are uncovering the bones they left behind.
01:00Allowing us to imagine how these extraordinary creatures may have lived.
01:09So that we can tell their story.
01:17And they can walk again.
01:29DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
01:349 MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS OF PARCHED SAND
01:579 million square kilometers of parched sand.
02:04The Sahara Desert is one of the most inhospitable environments on earth.
02:20But for dinosaur hunters like Dr. Nizar Ibrahim, it's a gateway to a lost world.
02:34DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
02:52Deep in a remote part of the desert known as the Kem Kem,
02:56Nizar and his team are excavating the remains of one of the largest predatory dinosaurs that ever lived.
03:14A Spinosaurus.
03:27Using the team's discoveries, we can imagine how it lived and died.
03:35100 million years ago.
03:57DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
04:03In the late Cretaceous period, Africa has just broken away from South America.
04:11DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
04:21And the land that will become the Sahara is a river system.
04:27DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
04:34Its waters support acres of scrub and forest that provide shade from the intense Cretaceous sun.
04:47Perfect for an afternoon nap.
04:58This is Sobek, the Spinosaurus.
05:0911 meters long, his powerful jaws packed with teeth.
05:16Disturbing this monster's sleep could have deadly consequences.
05:46DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
06:16DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
06:34But this isn't lunch.
06:40It's one of his babies.
06:47Sobek is a father.
06:56Like some species of modern birds, once the eggs are laid, the job of looking after the kids falls to him.
07:17DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
07:23Sobek must keep his young family alive until they can fend for themselves.
07:32DINOSAURS OF THE FUTURE
07:44A hundred million years later.
07:47Looks like bone.
07:49You got the location, Marco, right?
07:53Omar and the team are starting to uncover evidence that could shed light on how Spinosaurus raised their young.
08:06Bones that show Sobek wasn't built like other dinosaurs.
08:12So, Marco, you can see this nice little curvature here. I think this is certainly a vertebra.
08:19It's a little fragile, this one.
08:23This vertebra was part of Sobek's six-metre tail.
08:29All right, let's get it out and let's see if we can find more.
08:36In total, the team has recovered more than 40 tail bones.
08:42This should be vertebra number 22.
08:47Starting from the smallest one.
08:50And for Nizar and fellow paleontologist Francesca Borki, they reveal something unique.
08:59What I think is really remarkable is you get close to the tip of the tail and you still have these really long spines.
09:07Spines like these are not found on the tail bones of other predatory dinosaurs.
09:14Once you see the shape of the spines, it's quite narrow and flat.
09:22Basically just a giant paddle.
09:25The more we collect, the more aquatic this thing becomes.
09:31For Nizar, a thin, flat tail can mean only one thing.
09:38Spinosaurus was a swimmer.
09:54Underwater, Sobek is in his element.
09:59Using his huge tail to power him through the water.
10:08He's guarding a nursery pool.
10:12The place he and his babies call home.
10:22And with dad's back turned, the kids take to the water.
10:29This secluded backwater is the perfect learner pool.
10:43So while Sobek's patrolling, the babies hone their hunting.
10:50But it's not long before one of them gets into trouble.
10:56The baby's tail is too long.
11:00Sobek's tail is too short.
11:04Sobek's tail is too short.
11:08Sobek's tail is too short.
11:12Sobek's tail is too short.
11:16It's not long before one of them gets into trouble.
11:25If it doesn't get help soon, this baby will drown.
11:47Sobek's tail is too short.
12:00Dad to the rescue.
12:16Sobek gets too close to his dad.
12:31Sobek gets too close to his dad.
12:36With everyone safely back on the bank, the family settles down to sleep.
13:06But they must soon leave the safety of the nursery pool and travel somewhere Sobek knows they can catch far more substantial prey.
13:23And the journey ahead will be fraught with dangers.
13:36Because although the dig site is barren and lifeless today, Nizar and the team have evidence that when Sobek was alive, the Kem Kem was far more perilous.
13:55Lots of big predatory fish. This is a nice jaw. Absolute monster.
14:01Its rivers teemed with massive carnivorous fish.
14:08And enormous crocodiles.
14:15Tip of the snout, right? This is where the nose end is essentially. This will be the size of the biggest crocs today.
14:22Like nasty Oelocuchus.
14:26Oelocuchus is an extinct species of croc with jaws over a metre long.
14:34This tooth is very nice. Still here. Yeah, they're pretty robust.
14:42If the rivers were dangerous...
14:46Carcharodontosaurus tooth.
14:47The land was home to an even more deadly predator.
14:53Yes, it's very well preserved. I can see all of the serrations here.
14:57Like a steak knife, right?
15:00Carcharodontosaurus was the T-Rex of Africa.
15:05Three metres tall and armed with more than 50 flesh-cutting teeth.
15:09We've got several T-Rex-sized predatory dinosaurs, or even bigger than T-Rex. Big crocs, giant fish.
15:15Not very safe.
15:17Yeah. There are really many different ways to die.
15:23These lands were once home to more large predators than anywhere else in Earth's history.
15:40A fearsome collection of carnivores.
15:44But Sobek must navigate.
15:48If he's to feed his family.
16:00And there's danger lurking at every turn.
16:09Arrgh!
16:11Arrgh!
16:15Arrgh!
16:19Hidden from view, the murky waters are patrolled by at least eight species of ferocious crocodile.
16:40But that's the least of their worries.
16:44Because the family has just entered the territory.
16:54Of Carcharodontosaurus.
16:57Of Carcharodontosaurus.
17:07This fearsome six-tonne killing machine is also on the hunt for food.
17:27Arrgh!
17:29Arrgh!
17:33Arrgh!
17:43Arrgh!
17:51Time to get the babies to safety.
17:57Arrgh!
18:10With so many deadly predators around, it will take everything Sobek's got to reach his destination.
18:18Without his family becoming someone else's meal.
18:27MUSIC
18:38And not far from the dig site, on a remote plateau.
18:48The team has discovered signs of another monster.
18:53You good?
18:54We're ready to go whenever you are.
18:57Evidence that's best seen from the air.
19:11So how many pictures are we taking in total?
19:14About 500, 600.
19:15600.
19:22So we start down that ridge and then work our way over and do that whole site.
19:28MUSIC
19:41The photographic survey reveals what's hidden here.
19:48Arranged in rows, these aren't just boulders.
19:54They're footprints.
19:58MUSIC
20:01This is a dinosaur trackway.
20:08And to identify which dinosaur made it.
20:11A really big one.
20:13Nizar and colleague Dr Roy Smith take a closer look.
20:17You've got this edge here and then quite a nice shape around that side as well.
20:22Yeah, very nice.
20:23Each footprint is a cast of the foot that made it.
20:28So the claw over there, right?
20:30Yeah, I think there's two more there.
20:33The back of the foot.
20:35Yeah.
20:37And at over a metre across, they're some of the biggest ever found.
20:43This is really impressive.
20:45It was a bit missing, it would have been even bigger.
20:47It would have been even bigger.
20:49We've got a giant here.
20:51Yeah, yeah.
20:53These footprints were made by one of the largest dinosaurs that's ever lived.
21:08Titanosaurs.
21:10Huge, long-necked dinosaurs, 14 metres high.
21:23At more than 60 tonnes, each one weighs as much as a herd of elephants.
21:40But for one elderly member of the group, this has become its final resting place.
21:54And it could provide Sobek with the food he needs for his hungry babies.
22:13But they're not the only ones on the lookout for a free lunch.
22:18An adult Carcharodontosaurus
22:27has already laid claim to the carcass.
22:47With his babies to look after, Sobek can't risk injury.
22:56So he must now decide if it's a prize worth fighting for.
23:18Sobek is bigger.
23:22But one bite from these jaws could be fatal.
23:32Sobek's fearsome claws could give him the advantage.
23:40But crucially, the Carcharodontosaurus is not.
23:48He's built for hunting on land.
24:05So Sobek backs down.
24:18His family won't eat today.
24:25But if they can survive their journey, a much bigger prize awaits.
24:32As night falls, Nizar and the team examine an astonishing fossil.
24:40The place where this was found, it was so narrow,
24:43you could only just crawl on your belly, essentially.
24:49It's a very large fossil.
24:52It's a very large fossil.
24:54It's a very large fossil.
24:56It's a very large fossil.
24:58You can only just crawl on your belly, essentially.
25:01Discovered close to the dig site,
25:04it's the remains of an extinct species of fish.
25:10This is the head of Onchopristis.
25:13The brain case, the blade-shaped snout, it's all there.
25:21Onchopristis is commonly known as a saurskate
25:25because of the long snout lined with barbs it used to stun its prey.
25:31This would have been a fairly slow, bottom-dwelling, skate-like animal.
25:39That's insane.
25:45And with Spinosaurus so at home in water, Nizar has a theory.
25:50So this would have been one of the primary food sources for Spinosaurus.
25:55My God, it's amazing.
26:07Saurskate could grow up to four metres in length.
26:13So a single fish would make a sizeable meal.
26:20But once a year, like rays do today,
26:24it's thought they gather to breed...
26:30..in their thousands.
26:39This is a very large fish.
26:41It's a very large fish.
26:43This is a very large fish.
26:46Providing an incredible feast...
26:51..that awaits Sobek and his family.
27:03But in this predator-infested land,
27:06danger can strike at any time.
27:16SCREAMS
27:30And 100 million years ago,
27:33there weren't just predators on land and in the water.
27:39They were also in the air.
27:43So this is a lower jaw of Alanca.
27:47This is a chemchem pterosaur.
27:50It is a pretty remarkable specimen.
27:55Alanca was a huge flying reptile with a seven-metre wingspan.
28:02Twice that of any bird alive today.
28:08Essentially, what we're looking at here
28:11is the skull would be going back, you know.
28:14Like this? Yeah, something like this.
28:16A metre, more or less. Yeah. Pretty big.
28:19Yeah, it's probably the largest chemchem pterosaur.
28:24Its jaws reveal what this flying monster would have eaten.
28:29It's got this really interesting raised structure here.
28:32It's got, like, a Y shape.
28:34There's a corresponding matching part in the upper jaw.
28:38And so maybe this was something that was used to crush hard-shelled prey.
28:47Although it's adapted to eat shellfish,
28:50Alanca was so big, it didn't need to be piggy.
28:56It's possible that these things were catching little things on the ground,
29:00you know, when they walked on the ground.
29:02Maybe little dinosaurs, little crocs, amphibians,
29:06whatever they could catch.
29:08Yes, yes.
29:15With Alanca about, no small creature was safe.
29:37To reach the source gate breeding ground,
29:40Sobek must lead his young family through the forest.
29:51It's their final challenge.
29:57But the most deadly.
30:06Spinosaurus
30:24For Alanca, a young Spinosaurus would make a tasty meal.
30:36Spinosaurus
30:53And the dense foliage provides perfect cover
30:59for an ambush.
31:07Spinosaurus
31:26Spinosaurus
31:36Spinosaurus
31:49Spinosaurus
32:02Spinosaurus
32:07Spinosaurus
32:13Too late.
32:22Having come so far,
32:25losing one of his babies is a huge blow.
32:37Spinosaurus
32:39But if Sobek is to keep the others alive,
32:42he must keep moving.
32:58As the family emerges from the forest,
33:02their journey's end is in sight.
33:13The source gate breeding ground.
33:18And the promise of plentiful food for Sobek and his family.
33:31But for his babies to eat,
33:33Sobek will have to fight his way to the front of the queue.
33:53And at the dig,
33:55Nizar and paleontologist Dr. Gabriele Bindellini
33:59have evidence that could reveal how Spinosaurus
34:04settled their differences.
34:10So I think this is the tallest we've got.
34:14And it still missed a good portion at the tip.
34:19Yeah, I mean, I think we're missing 30, 35, maybe 40 centimetres.
34:27Which makes it super long.
34:29Yes.
34:30I'm going to take this end and hold it here.
34:35Over a metre and a half long,
34:37this is one of the 15 bones that rose up from Sobek's back,
34:41supporting his enormous sail.
34:47I've tried to visualise all of these other splines.
34:50I mean, it's a massive structure.
34:57Spinosaurus' sails are so big,
35:01they must have had an important function.
35:05It's probably, like, primarily a display structure.
35:08To be seen from the distance.
35:10Yeah, like...
35:11Peacock.
35:12Yeah, like a peacock's train.
35:15But unlike a peacock,
35:17Nizar believes the main function of Spinosaurus' sail
35:21might not have been to find a mate.
35:24So you're one Spinosaurus,
35:26and you're coming close to another Spinosaurus' territory.
35:29And what you're going to see, you're going to see this big sail.
35:32And just by looking at the sail, you can go,
35:34like, ooh, there's a really big Spinosaurus.
35:36I'd better not get close to this guy.
35:38Stay away from here.
35:39I think it would be very efficient
35:41at scaring off other predators or rivals.
35:44SPINOSAURUS
35:52Sobek's intimidating sail
35:55could be just what he needs
35:59to win a prime fishing spot.
36:02SPINOSAURUS
36:12Having run the gauntlet of chem chem predators,
36:16there's now only one thing
36:18standing between him and feeding his babies.
36:28A rival Spinosaurus.
36:32SPINOSAURUS
36:43Sobek must try to intimidate this older male
36:48and take his place on the bank.
36:57So he initiates a ritual dance.
37:03Showing off his sail.
37:19But as a young male,
37:21Sobek's sail is smaller.
37:33And not intimidating enough.
37:48Forced from the bank,
37:50where the fish are easier to catch,
37:52the job of feeding his hungry babies
37:57has just got much more difficult.
38:03SPINOSAURUS
38:17Can we get some measurements?
38:20Marko.
38:23But evidence from the dig
38:27140
38:29suggests Sobek may have been well equipped for the challenge.
38:37It's something we haven't really seen before.
38:41Something new.
38:44One of the missing foot bones.
38:49Sobek's foot bones are similar to those of water birds,
38:53meaning his feet could have been webbed.
39:02Helping him to swim after his prey.
39:14And if he caught it,
39:16Sobek had another adaptation.
39:20My teeth are really amazing.
39:23That made him a formidable underwater predator.
39:29If I didn't know Spinosaurus was here,
39:32I would say this is a crocodile tooth.
39:36Looking at it, the shape is basically the same, you know?
39:41Unlike the broad, blade-like teeth of other predatory dinosaurs,
39:46Spinosaurus' teeth are smooth and conical like a crocodile's,
39:50because they both eat the same food.
39:56This is basically your main piece of anatomical weaponry
40:01if you're going after fish.
40:03A really big fish, stabbing slippery prey.
40:07With more than 60 of these teeth in its long jaws,
40:13Spinosaurus was able to tackle the largest fish.
40:20Imagine having to hold on to a big, soft skate,
40:23fighting for its life.
40:25It definitely wasn't an easy catch.
40:27Yeah, I mean, they put up a real fight.
40:29You need these kind of killing tools, right, to hold on to the prey.
40:35Webbed feet and spiky teeth are critical adaptations
40:41that Sobek will need to make a catch.
40:51But even so,
40:55success
41:01is far from guaranteed.
41:07Although Sobek is faster,
41:11Spinosaurus is slower.
41:14Although Sobek is faster,
41:19the sawskate is more agile.
41:32Time for a change of tactics.
41:44Attacking from below,
41:49like a shark.
42:14Success.
42:22But getting his catch to his family
42:26won't be easy.
42:43This time, Sobek is in no mood to give up his kill.
43:14By leading them to this land of plenty,
43:18Sobek has ensured his baby's survival.
43:35But his moment of triumph is coming.
43:39But his moment of triumph
43:46has come at a terrible cost.
43:52So, these are small parts
43:56of the femur of the thigh bone of our Spinosaurus.
43:59Yeah. Wow.
44:01That's really nice, right?
44:03Slices cut through Sobek's bones
44:05have a disturbing story to tell.
44:08We looked at some of the sections.
44:10We looked at the growth lines under the microscope,
44:14trying to look at the age.
44:16They came out pretty nice.
44:18You know, it's not as easy as reading growth lines on a tree,
44:21but we can narrow it down to an age of 17 to 19 years at death.
44:27OK, so he wasn't that old.
44:29Yeah, like a young adult-ish.
44:32Other large predatory dinosaurs
44:34are thought to have had a lifespan of about 30 years.
44:39But Sobek's bones reveal he was barely an adult when he died.
44:47So maybe he could have lived a little bit longer.
44:50Yeah. If we assume a similar kind of lifespan for Spinosaurus,
44:53you know, late 20s, early 30s,
44:55it's a life-cut choice.
44:58The evidence, hidden within his bones...
45:07..suggests Sobek may not have lived to see his family grow up.
45:13Sobek may not have lived to see his family grow up.
45:44In providing for his babies...
45:49..he has paid the ultimate price.
46:13SNARLING
46:25GROWLING
46:33SNARLING
46:43SNARLING
46:50And as the great river ebbs and flows,
46:54it covers his body with layer upon layer of sediment...
47:04..preserving Sobek's story beneath the desert's shifting sands.
47:14Until he is eventually found...
47:18..100 million years later.
47:31Next time...
47:33..a gang of armoured dinosaurs battles to reach adulthood.
47:39GROWLING
47:41Hunted by one of the most fearsome predators...
47:47..that's ever lived.
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