In life, he was the most magnificent beast ever to take to the wing
He ruled the skies supreme,
flying far and wide
over the lands of the dinosaurs
This is the story of the last journey
this giant ever made
It is the start of a time called the Cretaceous
The movement of the continents
is not only breaking up the landmasses,
but it continues to push up sea levels
This has opened new seaways and coastlines
(Squawking)
Where once there was solid land, now there are ragged cliffs,
buzzing with an abundance of flying reptiles called pterosaurs
Pterosaurs have been here for 100 million years
Many species are huge Wingspans of six metres and more are common
But there is one species that dwarfs them all
He is Ornithocheirus -
12 metres from wing tip to wing tip
and a body bigger than a man's
The undisputed king of the skies
This giant is over 40 years old
Most of his life has been spent wandering the globe,
in search of food,
but every year, there is an interruption to this nomadic life
It will soon be time to find a mate
On the rocks, the mating season for another pterosaur is under way -
the bizarre-looking Tapejara
Pterosaurs' wings are thin membranes of skin
that stretch from elongated fingers on their forelimbs
to the ends of their hindlimbs
Their bones are hollow and light
They are masters of the air,
but on land they are cumbersome,
with their legs joined up by the wings
Squatting on all fours, the males try and claim an area
from which to display to the females
They show off their colourful crests
until one competitor backs down
A large crest is also a lure to the females
A potential mate soon makes a cautious approach,
her head dipped in submission
As in any competition, there are losers
Unable to secure himself a good display patch,
this male is perilously close to a blowhole
Down here, he has little chance of attracting a mate
(Honking call)
Instinct tells the Ornithocheirus that it is time to move on
He must return to his breeding site in Europe,
on the other side of the world
For this giant of the sky,
it will be the last great flight he ever makes
What he is about to undertake
is the most astounding journey in the animal kingdom
From the shores of the great southern continent,
he will travel to North America,
cross the Atlantic seaway,
and fly on to the islands
which mark where Europe will one day be formed
Spread out below him will be the majesty and spectacle
of a world ruled by dinosaurs
In just a few days, he reaches the southern tip of North America
Below him, a column of Iguanodon
stretches along a beach,
grazing the edge of a dense forest
A thousand tonnes of dinosaur are on the move
Hundreds of mouths are searching
for a fresh place to satisfy their enormous appetites
The young play around the adults
Although these herbivores walk on four legs,
Iguanodon can run on just two
This makes them quite nimble,
certainly more so than the lumbering plant-eater, Polacanthus,
that is accompanying the herd
(High-pitched shrieking)
The wall of flesh travels slowly onward,
following the path of the Ornithocheirus,
but there is a setback ahead
(Thunder)
The climate in the time of the dinosaurs is warm and tropical
There are only two seasons - dry and wet
Now is the time of year for tropical storms
In moments, the short stretch of coast is drenched -
welcome relief for thirsty plants
and lean rivers,
but it is a disaster for a migrating pterosaur
The Ornithocheirus is grounded by the heavy rain,
frustrating his urge to get to the breeding site
He shelters as best he can -
the downy fur on his body must be kept dry
For the Iguanodon herd, the rain is no hindrance
These are among the most successful dinosaurs on the planet,
populating every continent,
thriving on a variety of vegetation
The river estuary provides them with an ideal break in the forest
There is fresh water
and the banks here are thick with lush podocarp scrub and tree ferns
One reason Iguanodon are so successful
is they have a new way of tackling plants
Most dinosaurs can only crudely slice food with their teeth,
but Iguanodon are the first herbivores
to have back teeth that can grind up vegetation
This ability to chew
speeds digestion of even the toughest plant material
The forests near the equator
are also witness to another landmark in evolution
The first simple flowers have arrived,
adding a dash of colour to an otherwise green world
It is the start of a new relationship with insects
Attracted by the colour and smell,
this wasp is feasting on pollen
It will unwittingly spread it to other flowers,
speeding up the plant's reproduction
The plants that have evolved this feature are flourishing,
and soon will dominate the flora of the world
The next day, the weather starts to improve
The Ornithocheirus waits impatiently in his cave,
and busies himself with grooming
He is plagued by parasites that bite vessels on his wing membrane
If he is to find a mate,
he must be in prime condition
He has to keep the parasites in check
In the morning air,
smaller reptiles are now out on the wing
But the Ornithocheirus is so large, he must wait
until the heat of the day creates warm updraughts of air,
strong enough to lift him
But time is short His body is already showing signs
of readiness for mating
Faint colours have started to bloom
on his beak's display crest
At last, he can resume his epic journey
For thousands of kilometres, he follows the coast of North America
Like all giant pterosaurs, he uses his enormous wings
to ride on the warm air currents that rise over land
His whole body weighs less than 100 kilograms,
and this helps him glide effortlessly over huge distances
But soon he must face open water
This is the young Atlantic
It is still only 300 kilometres wide
To reach the other side, he'll need all his gliding skills
to exploit air currents that form over waves
Along the way, he must feed
But flying low brings its dangers
Hungry monsters watch him from below the waves
An entire day on the wing,
and he has arrived on the most western of Europe's islands
Again, the landscape is dominated by a huge herd of Iguanodon
But this time, it is a larger European species,
up to three tonnes apiece
These animals are again accompanied
by a spiky Polacanthus
These armoured herbivores
are often found around Iguanodon herds,
presumably for mutual protection
There is safety in numbers
(Growling)
They are being watched
by a pack of carnivorous Utahraptors
For the moment, they are biding their time
Meanwhile, another conflict is looming
A small pterosaur fishes the waters of the lake
Its success has not gone unnoticed by Ornithocheirus
The giant turns bully
Under cover of the pencil pines,
a female Utahraptor has been stalking
Her chosen prey are the Iguanodon
Somewhere close by are the rest of the pack
(Low growling)
With lethal claws, this five-metre killer is well-armed
And long fingers help her
to latch on to swift-moving larger prey
(Bellowing)
(Hissing)
(Bellowing)
Raptors have the short legs of a sprinter
and do not pursue their prey for long
This one saves her energy for later
Eventually, the herbivores lose their nervousness,
and they start to move on
As the Iguanodon file down to a lake to drink,
a Polacanthus lags behind to gorge on conifers,
and becomes separated from the herd
The Utahraptors soon reappear,
tails held rigid for balance,
but the Polacanthus displays his formidable defences
For a predator, there are far easier meals nearby
The whole herd has reached the lakeside
In the background,
the Ornithocheirus sits safe on his rock
The raptors are closing in
The Iguanodon sense the threat
and start to get nervous
After one unsuccessful attack,
the raptors are being more cautious, and it is paying off
They are within striking distance
(Guttural roar)
This is the first kill they have made for over a week
They will eat as much as 100 kilograms each in one sitting
The youngest of the Utahraptors hovers nearby
There is a pecking order to this feast,
and the large adults come first
However, the youngster is hungry
and he tries his luck
(Snarling)
The response from the adults is immediate and intimidating
This is not a confrontation he can win
High above, the Ornithocheirus leaves these killing fields
for a safer place to pass the night
He finds what appears to be an ideal spot to rest,
before his final push to the mating grounds
But from within the dense forest, he is being watched
by relatives of the raptors
These, though, are birds - flying dinosaurs
that share the same ancestors as the carnivorous raptors
They have evolved feathers which turn their arms into wings
At this time of year, they have eggs to protect,
and the presence of the intruder
sets off a chain reaction of aggression
Next to the Ornithocheirus,
the birds look no bigger than insects
Their feathered wings are more resistant to damage
than the skin membrane of the pterosaur,
especially among branches and twigs
In the future,
the pterosaurs will surrender the skies to the birds
He eventually reaches Cantabria, which will one day form Spain
He is exhausted by his 14,000 km journey
Ahead lies the mating ground
Every year of his adult life,
he has returned to this same spot to mate
The beach is full of male Ornithocheirus competing for space
As the old male approaches,
he knows that the nearer the centre of this intimidating throng,
the more attractive he will be to the females
He heads for the dominant position
he has occupied in previous years - right in the middle
But this time, he faces a challenge to his supremacy
Again and again, he tries to land,
but the males on the ground fend him off
Eventually, his weariness tells,
and he has to land elsewhere
His position among the males
has been usurped by younger animals
They advertise their vigour and size
to warn off rival males,
and to attract females out of the air
For the outcast,
the world has been turned upside down
Now banished to the outskirts of the mating area,
he will be lucky to attract a female at all
(Honking call)
In the blistering heat of midday,
his instincts force him to keep trying
The females are unmoved
The centre of the beach
A female has just landed
and submits herself to a male
who flashes his red crest to impress her
Mating itself is brief Afterwards, the male will resume displaying
to attract more females
The female herself will now leave
Three days later and, at last,
the breeding site is emptying of males
It is still fiercely hot
Our Ornithocheirus has yet to mate
Worse still, his fruitless exertions under the blazing sun
have taken a heavy toll
(Weak honks)
Heat stress and lack of food have all but killed him
The king of the skies has lost his majesty
His life has run full circle
In his time, he travelled the globe,
but death finds him here,
in the very same place
where he first mated some 40 years ago
On the beach are others who lost out
in this struggle to reproduce
But nature is seldom wasteful-
they have become food for the next generation
The pterosaurs continued to rule the skies
for millions of years, while on land,
the dinosaurs spread to every part of the globe
In the next episode, we will see how they conquered
the most extraordinary environment of all-
the dark forests of the South Pole
(Fierce roar and high-pitch screams)