1
00:00:06,006 --> 00:00:08,008
[tense music playing]
2
00:00:16,099 --> 00:00:18,101
[growls softly]
3
00:00:23,064 --> 00:00:28,945
[Morgan Freeman] Two million years ago,
and our planet is a very different place.
4
00:00:29,029 --> 00:00:30,572
[growls]
5
00:00:31,906 --> 00:00:34,242
[growls]
6
00:00:34,325 --> 00:00:37,704
A saber-toothed cat, the Smilodon.
7
00:00:37,787 --> 00:00:39,789
[ominous music playing]
8
00:00:40,415 --> 00:00:42,417
[growls]
9
00:00:43,918 --> 00:00:46,212
A fearsome predator of its age.
10
00:00:51,384 --> 00:00:56,931
Standing in the way, a giant terror bird,
two meters tall.
11
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[barks, roars]
12
00:01:03,229 --> 00:01:04,606
[growls softly]
13
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Both sides are armed...
14
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and prepared for a fight.
15
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[roars]
16
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[trills]
17
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[dramatic music playing]
18
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This is the story
of the great battles for survival
19
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and the dynasties
that would take over the world.
20
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[roars]
21
00:01:43,144 --> 00:01:48,066
This is the story of life.
22
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[music intensifies, ends]
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[rousing music playing]
24
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{\an8}[low growling]
25
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[snarling]
26
00:02:21,224 --> 00:02:23,309
{\an8}[trilling]
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{\an8}[screeching]
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{\an8}[rousing music continues]
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[growling]
30
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[wind howling]
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{\an8}[rumbling]
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[rousing music intensifies]
33
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[music fades]
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{\an8}[tranquil music playing]
35
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If you know where to look,
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you can still find clues
to the origins of life on our planet.
37
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This is not just a gathering
of marine predators.
38
00:03:28,833 --> 00:03:32,921
It is a coming together
of ancient bloodlines.
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Sharks, living fossils,
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virtually unchanged
for hundreds of millions of years.
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Dolphins, air-breathing mammals
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whose ancestors once roamed on land.
43
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[clicking]
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[bellows]
45
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Whales, bigger than any other animals
that have ever lived.
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00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:00,740
[bellows]
47
00:04:05,328 --> 00:04:06,746
Birds,
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the last survivors of the dinosaurs...
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the world's greatest dynasty.
50
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[dramatic music playing]
51
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All predators,
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all hunting the same prey,
53
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but all with totally different origins.
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There are more than ten million species
of plant and animals alive today.
55
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[rousing music playing]
56
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And yet, they are just 1%
of all species that have ever existed.
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[birds chirping]
58
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,513
By traveling back in time,
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we'll meet many of the 99%
that have gone extinct...
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[growling]
61
00:05:14,522 --> 00:05:16,149
[roaring]
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...to reveal
the most extraordinary story of all,
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the story of life on our planet.
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[grunting]
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[growling]
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[roaring]
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[music fades]
68
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[thunder rumbles]
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Life and all its incredible variety
had to start somewhere.
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[thunder continues]
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00:06:08,659 --> 00:06:13,247
The first spark appeared
four billion years ago.
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Perhaps uniquely,
our planet had just the right conditions.
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Liquid water, energy from the Sun,
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and the perfect chemistry
for life to take hold.
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[dreamy music playing]
76
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The exact process
is lost in the mists of time.
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But what it produced
was a tiny single living cell.
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00:06:55,498 --> 00:06:56,624
LUCA,
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00:06:57,542 --> 00:07:01,003
the Last Universal Common Ancestor...
80
00:07:05,133 --> 00:07:09,971
from which all life,
everything, is descended.
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00:07:16,310 --> 00:07:17,603
[music ends]
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From these humble beginnings,
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life took billions more years
to develop real complexity.
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00:07:36,122 --> 00:07:39,876
A feat it first achieved in the oceans.
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[squelching]
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The earliest animals to attain supremacy
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were simple life forms.
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[water babbling]
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These invertebrates,
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animals without backbones,
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00:08:03,774 --> 00:08:06,944
ruled the seas for many millions of years.
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Throughout history,
life has been waging an unending war.
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One dynasty rising,
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only to be vanquished by the next.
95
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Plants were among the first
to conquer the land...
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00:08:34,889 --> 00:08:37,642
creating conditions that, in time,
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allowed the invertebrates to follow
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and take over.
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[chirping]
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00:08:55,618 --> 00:08:58,579
But the invertebrates
could not rule forever.
101
00:09:00,122 --> 00:09:02,124
[ominous music playing]
102
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A new dynasty would surpass them.
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One that also came from the water.
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[growling]
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00:09:25,565 --> 00:09:26,983
The amphibians...
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[grunting]
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...whose novel body plan
of four limbs and a backbone
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00:09:38,578 --> 00:09:41,998
would prove
an enduring blueprint for success.
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[grunting]
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Their reach was limited
by their ties to water.
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00:09:54,385 --> 00:09:58,598
But they spawned another dynasty
with no such binds.
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00:10:03,686 --> 00:10:05,062
The reptiles.
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00:10:05,563 --> 00:10:06,939
[low growl]
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00:10:07,773 --> 00:10:10,568
Able to exploit even the driest regions,
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00:10:11,694 --> 00:10:14,864
their sprawling gait
carried them around the world.
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00:10:14,947 --> 00:10:16,532
[growling]
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00:10:22,622 --> 00:10:26,876
For the first time in history,
there was a global power.
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00:10:29,545 --> 00:10:31,380
From these early reptiles
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came the most iconic dynasty of them all.
120
00:10:36,218 --> 00:10:38,429
[majestic music playing]
121
00:10:39,972 --> 00:10:41,557
The dinosaurs.
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[bellowing]
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[grunting]
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00:10:53,402 --> 00:10:58,157
They were to rule
for over 150 million years.
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[croaking]
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00:11:04,789 --> 00:11:06,916
[bleating]
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00:11:06,999 --> 00:11:09,293
A group of astonishing variety,
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00:11:09,377 --> 00:11:11,420
whose absolute dominion
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00:11:12,213 --> 00:11:16,258
was only cut short by calamitous bad luck.
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[bellowing]
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00:11:18,469 --> 00:11:20,346
[squawking]
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00:11:22,598 --> 00:11:24,600
[wind howling]
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00:11:25,768 --> 00:11:27,228
Out of their shadows
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00:11:28,229 --> 00:11:31,899
rose the last great bloodline.
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00:11:34,568 --> 00:11:35,903
The mammals.
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00:11:37,571 --> 00:11:39,949
[low growling]
137
00:11:43,077 --> 00:11:47,331
One of whom would go on
to change our planet
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00:11:48,624 --> 00:11:50,292
like nothing before.
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00:11:50,376 --> 00:11:52,420
[music ends]
140
00:11:54,088 --> 00:11:56,090
[birds chirping]
141
00:11:58,718 --> 00:12:01,637
The rise and fall of these dynasties,
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00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:03,889
over four billion years,
143
00:12:03,973 --> 00:12:06,434
has not just been a matter of chance.
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00:12:09,395 --> 00:12:10,604
The whole journey,
145
00:12:11,272 --> 00:12:15,568
from the beginning of life
to the infinite variety we know today,
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00:12:17,319 --> 00:12:20,740
has been driven
by certain fundamental principles.
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00:12:23,284 --> 00:12:25,119
The rules of life.
148
00:12:27,663 --> 00:12:33,627
The first rule is the best adapted
will always win through.
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00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:41,594
Every one of these butterfly eggs
looks identical.
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00:12:44,305 --> 00:12:47,183
But each has
a different combination of genes
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00:12:48,309 --> 00:12:52,605
that makes them,
individually, completely unique.
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00:12:52,688 --> 00:12:54,690
[birds tweeting]
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00:12:56,442 --> 00:12:58,444
[tranquil music playing]
154
00:13:01,405 --> 00:13:05,743
Some will have genetic qualities
that help them survive.
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00:13:14,835 --> 00:13:20,007
Qualities that will pass
from generation to generation...
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00:13:26,055 --> 00:13:27,306
until eventually,
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00:13:28,057 --> 00:13:31,519
one will be so different
to its predecessors
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00:13:31,602 --> 00:13:34,230
that it becomes an entirely new species,
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00:13:36,899 --> 00:13:40,486
better adapted to its environment.
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00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,201
This is evolution.
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- [rustling]
- [birds chirping]
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00:13:50,287 --> 00:13:52,915
[music intensifies]
163
00:13:56,919 --> 00:14:00,339
But the caterpillars
aren't the only ones evolving.
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00:14:03,008 --> 00:14:05,010
[rustling, creaking]
165
00:14:08,138 --> 00:14:12,434
Everything in this forest
is fighting for survival...
166
00:14:13,894 --> 00:14:15,479
[swooshing]
167
00:14:15,563 --> 00:14:18,357
...including the plants.
168
00:14:25,447 --> 00:14:29,243
Unchecked, the caterpillars
would strip them bare.
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00:14:29,326 --> 00:14:31,579
[munching]
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00:14:31,662 --> 00:14:33,664
[dramatic music playing]
171
00:14:38,586 --> 00:14:43,716
But this plant has evolved
its own adaptations for survival.
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00:14:46,927 --> 00:14:48,804
Poison in its leaves,
173
00:14:49,847 --> 00:14:52,850
capable of killing
anything that eats them.
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00:14:54,685 --> 00:14:56,228
It's chemical warfare.
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00:14:56,854 --> 00:14:58,856
[ominous music playing]
176
00:14:59,732 --> 00:15:02,568
Then a new species of caterpillar evolves...
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00:15:05,279 --> 00:15:08,908
that can eat
the otherwise poisonous leaves,
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00:15:09,825 --> 00:15:12,328
along with any eggs that might be on them.
179
00:15:20,336 --> 00:15:21,795
In response,
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00:15:21,879 --> 00:15:25,257
other butterflies adapt
to only lay on plants
181
00:15:25,341 --> 00:15:26,842
that are free of eggs...
182
00:15:27,968 --> 00:15:29,803
[birds tweeting]
183
00:15:31,221 --> 00:15:33,182
[serene music playing]
184
00:15:33,265 --> 00:15:37,144
...ensuring their young
have the best possible start.
185
00:15:47,655 --> 00:15:50,032
But the plants retaliate...
186
00:15:50,699 --> 00:15:52,576
[sinister music playing]
187
00:15:52,660 --> 00:15:54,620
...forming growths on their leaves
188
00:15:55,704 --> 00:15:57,706
that mimic butterfly eggs...
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00:16:04,964 --> 00:16:08,801
deterring any females from laying there.
190
00:16:12,596 --> 00:16:17,726
What's more, the fake eggs
produce a sweet nectar that attracts ants...
191
00:16:20,521 --> 00:16:23,190
that feed on caterpillars.
192
00:16:23,273 --> 00:16:25,317
[sinister music continues]
193
00:16:29,738 --> 00:16:34,326
The first rule of life,
that the best adapted will win through...
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00:16:34,410 --> 00:16:36,078
[music ends]
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00:16:36,161 --> 00:16:39,999
...has produced the huge diversity
that exists today.
196
00:16:40,666 --> 00:16:42,668
[birds tweeting]
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00:16:49,591 --> 00:16:50,884
The next rule of life
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00:16:51,844 --> 00:16:54,304
is that competition drives adaptation.
199
00:17:02,813 --> 00:17:08,068
And the most acute competition
comes from one's own kind.
200
00:17:09,236 --> 00:17:11,238
[ominous music playing]
201
00:17:14,700 --> 00:17:16,201
A male terror bird.
202
00:17:21,248 --> 00:17:24,376
His territory is the lakeshore.
203
00:17:30,174 --> 00:17:32,551
[growls, roars]
204
00:17:37,097 --> 00:17:39,725
- [distant call]
- But he's not alone.
205
00:17:39,808 --> 00:17:42,186
[roars]
206
00:17:43,353 --> 00:17:45,981
A younger male wants this prime spot.
207
00:17:46,565 --> 00:17:48,067
- [distant call]
- [grunts]
208
00:17:48,734 --> 00:17:50,736
[roars]
209
00:17:52,780 --> 00:17:54,323
[roars]
210
00:17:54,406 --> 00:17:56,825
The older one can't ignore the threat.
211
00:17:58,535 --> 00:18:00,788
[tense music playing]
212
00:18:10,422 --> 00:18:12,424
[roars]
213
00:18:14,009 --> 00:18:15,344
[roars]
214
00:18:16,678 --> 00:18:18,806
The youngster refuses to back down.
215
00:18:22,351 --> 00:18:24,812
He needs a territory of his own.
216
00:18:28,107 --> 00:18:30,442
[both roaring]
217
00:18:35,072 --> 00:18:37,825
The two begin a ritual display.
218
00:18:39,159 --> 00:18:41,745
[grunting]
219
00:18:48,669 --> 00:18:50,629
Assessing the other's strength...
220
00:18:52,089 --> 00:18:55,092
[snarling]
221
00:18:57,261 --> 00:18:59,221
...while showing off their own.
222
00:19:07,688 --> 00:19:09,648
Their coordinated moves
223
00:19:10,149 --> 00:19:12,067
as formal as a dance.
224
00:19:18,282 --> 00:19:19,366
[growls]
225
00:19:20,993 --> 00:19:22,995
[snarling]
226
00:19:24,496 --> 00:19:26,582
Who will be the first to back down?
227
00:19:35,465 --> 00:19:36,675
Or attack?
228
00:19:38,969 --> 00:19:41,471
[tense music continues]
229
00:19:44,892 --> 00:19:49,021
With nothing to separate them,
a fight is inevitable.
230
00:19:51,481 --> 00:19:52,691
[roars]
231
00:19:53,275 --> 00:19:57,029
[roaring]
232
00:19:59,281 --> 00:20:01,283
- [roaring]
- [tense music intensifies]
233
00:20:02,993 --> 00:20:04,328
But they have company.
234
00:20:10,459 --> 00:20:13,295
- [growling]
- [grunting]
235
00:20:13,962 --> 00:20:16,590
The Smilodon's mammalian cunning
236
00:20:16,673 --> 00:20:19,551
was one reason terror birds went extinct.
237
00:20:23,972 --> 00:20:25,599
[growling]
238
00:20:25,682 --> 00:20:30,270
Competition, both within
and between species,
239
00:20:31,021 --> 00:20:33,148
has always driven evolution.
240
00:20:36,944 --> 00:20:41,490
But it's not just those doing battle
that are always changing.
241
00:20:42,699 --> 00:20:45,619
So too is the battlefield itself,
242
00:20:46,453 --> 00:20:49,081
which leads to the third rule of life.
243
00:20:50,832 --> 00:20:53,752
Earth never remains stable for long.
244
00:20:54,836 --> 00:20:56,713
Sometimes that helps life.
245
00:20:57,547 --> 00:20:59,967
Sometimes it hinders it.
246
00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:03,262
[dramatic music playing]
247
00:21:05,973 --> 00:21:10,477
Throughout history, volcanoes have been
one of the greatest agents of change.
248
00:21:12,104 --> 00:21:14,106
[rumbling]
249
00:21:14,815 --> 00:21:16,733
[explosive crashing]
250
00:21:28,537 --> 00:21:31,456
Eruptions lasting thousands of years
251
00:21:32,666 --> 00:21:37,212
have repeatedly engulfed
vast swathes of our planet.
252
00:21:39,589 --> 00:21:42,301
Pumping gases into the atmosphere,
253
00:21:42,384 --> 00:21:43,844
changing the climate,
254
00:21:43,927 --> 00:21:45,012
and, at worst...
255
00:21:45,095 --> 00:21:46,346
[rumbling]
256
00:21:46,430 --> 00:21:48,890
...causing global mass extinction.
257
00:21:59,318 --> 00:22:01,278
The world has rarely been stable.
258
00:22:01,903 --> 00:22:04,573
At times, a realm of fire.
259
00:22:07,159 --> 00:22:09,619
At times, a realm of ice.
260
00:22:11,371 --> 00:22:13,373
[wind howling]
261
00:22:19,171 --> 00:22:22,758
Our changing planet has created
so many challenges for life.
262
00:22:25,052 --> 00:22:26,595
From toxic seas...
263
00:22:28,513 --> 00:22:30,682
[cracking, rumbling]
264
00:22:30,766 --> 00:22:32,392
...to global wastelands...
265
00:22:35,604 --> 00:22:37,981
and periods of almost endless rain.
266
00:22:38,065 --> 00:22:39,066
[whooshing]
267
00:22:39,149 --> 00:22:40,859
[rumbling]
268
00:22:41,943 --> 00:22:44,071
[thunder crashing]
269
00:22:45,072 --> 00:22:47,324
At four different times,
270
00:22:48,742 --> 00:22:52,746
the planet has pushed life
to the very edge of existence.
271
00:22:53,789 --> 00:22:57,751
Each time, more than three-quarters
of all species
272
00:22:57,834 --> 00:23:00,379
were lost in mass extinctions.
273
00:23:00,962 --> 00:23:02,964
- [thunder crashing]
- [wind howling]
274
00:23:05,384 --> 00:23:08,345
Ours can be a brutal planet.
275
00:23:17,312 --> 00:23:19,106
But there was one period
276
00:23:20,315 --> 00:23:25,028
when Earth was stable
for 100 million years.
277
00:23:25,112 --> 00:23:27,114
[tranquil music playing]
278
00:23:29,116 --> 00:23:34,663
A period which allowed one group
to become the mightiest of dynasties.
279
00:23:39,251 --> 00:23:42,295
This was the age of dinosaurs.
280
00:23:43,213 --> 00:23:45,215
[grunting]
281
00:23:52,305 --> 00:23:57,894
The long calm helped dinosaurs
to proliferate in huge numbers.
282
00:24:07,821 --> 00:24:10,198
These are Maiasaura,
283
00:24:11,700 --> 00:24:16,371
gentle plant eaters
that form herds many thousands strong.
284
00:24:17,205 --> 00:24:19,666
[grunting, snorting]
285
00:24:26,506 --> 00:24:29,801
This mass gathering provides safety,
286
00:24:31,178 --> 00:24:32,929
and not just for the adults.
287
00:24:39,227 --> 00:24:41,563
This rather cautious female
288
00:24:42,439 --> 00:24:44,649
is keen to get back to her nest.
289
00:24:47,986 --> 00:24:49,196
[snorts]
290
00:24:51,865 --> 00:24:53,450
[growls softly]
291
00:24:57,579 --> 00:25:00,749
Maiasaura means "good mother."
292
00:25:01,249 --> 00:25:02,626
[growls softly]
293
00:25:04,377 --> 00:25:05,921
Like the other females,
294
00:25:06,796 --> 00:25:09,799
she has made her nest
in an enormous colony.
295
00:25:13,094 --> 00:25:14,095
To reach it,
296
00:25:14,679 --> 00:25:17,891
she must run the gauntlet
of defensive mothers
297
00:25:17,974 --> 00:25:19,726
keen to protect their young.
298
00:25:20,268 --> 00:25:22,270
[growling]
299
00:25:24,940 --> 00:25:26,149
[snorting]
300
00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:30,862
[hissing growl]
301
00:25:31,947 --> 00:25:34,074
[growls]
302
00:25:34,157 --> 00:25:35,867
In avoiding one aggressor,
303
00:25:36,993 --> 00:25:38,703
she strays too close to the next.
304
00:25:38,787 --> 00:25:40,163
- [snarls]
- [grunts]
305
00:25:40,914 --> 00:25:43,250
[snarls]
306
00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:44,668
[grunts]
307
00:25:47,254 --> 00:25:49,923
[grunts, roars]
308
00:25:52,592 --> 00:25:54,135
[grunts softly]
309
00:25:54,219 --> 00:25:57,889
At last, she reaches her own nest.
310
00:25:57,973 --> 00:25:59,975
[bleating]
311
00:26:02,894 --> 00:26:04,896
- [mother grunts softly]
- [babies bleat]
312
00:26:08,066 --> 00:26:11,570
She feeds her young
in a very bird-like way.
313
00:26:19,411 --> 00:26:21,746
[roars]
314
00:26:21,830 --> 00:26:24,124
- [growls]
- [grunts]
315
00:26:26,793 --> 00:26:28,378
[roars]
316
00:26:31,131 --> 00:26:34,050
She'll protect them in the nest
for many months,
317
00:26:35,552 --> 00:26:38,763
until they are big enough
to join the rest of the herd.
318
00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:41,266
[bleating]
319
00:26:47,272 --> 00:26:51,776
Yet the planet didn't just support
large numbers of dinosaurs,
320
00:26:52,944 --> 00:26:58,700
its stability also supported dinosaurs
of every shape and size.
321
00:27:00,243 --> 00:27:02,078
[bellowing]
322
00:27:04,581 --> 00:27:06,583
[squawking]
323
00:27:08,043 --> 00:27:10,337
[trilling]
324
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,426
Triceratops is very different
to the defenseless Maiasaura.
325
00:27:22,265 --> 00:27:26,269
Weighing five tons
and boasting three horns,
326
00:27:26,936 --> 00:27:28,355
she is heavily armored...
327
00:27:30,774 --> 00:27:36,071
adapted to a world
where the best form of defense is attack.
328
00:27:42,577 --> 00:27:47,123
With the breeding season imminent,
she needs to be in peak condition.
329
00:27:49,834 --> 00:27:54,631
And that means finding the best food
wherever she can.
330
00:27:59,886 --> 00:28:02,597
But her search has taken her
far from the herd...
331
00:28:05,475 --> 00:28:08,478
and closer to the edge of the forest.
332
00:28:12,524 --> 00:28:14,609
[snorting]
333
00:28:18,863 --> 00:28:20,532
She's right to be nervous.
334
00:28:21,574 --> 00:28:24,869
Triceratops aren't the only giants
in these woods.
335
00:28:28,289 --> 00:28:30,417
[ominous music playing]
336
00:28:35,088 --> 00:28:36,464
[quiet growl]
337
00:28:38,925 --> 00:28:40,802
Tyrannosaurus rex.
338
00:28:41,511 --> 00:28:43,513
[grunting]
339
00:28:44,514 --> 00:28:46,266
The ultimate predator.
340
00:28:53,857 --> 00:28:56,067
She has her two youngsters with her.
341
00:29:02,115 --> 00:29:04,117
[growls quietly]
342
00:29:13,001 --> 00:29:14,544
[hissing, snarling]
343
00:29:16,045 --> 00:29:18,047
- [dramatic music playing]
- [roaring]
344
00:29:22,802 --> 00:29:24,971
The siblings are faster than their mother.
345
00:29:25,054 --> 00:29:27,474
- [Tyrannosaurus squeals]
- [Triceratops bellows]
346
00:29:29,809 --> 00:29:31,019
They work as a team.
347
00:29:31,102 --> 00:29:33,021
- [bellowing]
- [hissing]
348
00:29:34,063 --> 00:29:36,858
The Triceratops
can hold off the youngsters,
349
00:29:37,859 --> 00:29:39,027
but not the adult.
350
00:29:39,110 --> 00:29:41,112
- [hissing]
- [roaring]
351
00:29:50,288 --> 00:29:52,290
[Tyrannosaurs squealing, roaring]
352
00:30:00,632 --> 00:30:03,343
Only the protection of the herd
can save her.
353
00:30:04,761 --> 00:30:07,639
[Triceratops grunting]
354
00:30:07,722 --> 00:30:09,390
They form a defensive wall.
355
00:30:09,474 --> 00:30:10,767
[grunting]
356
00:30:10,850 --> 00:30:12,393
[roars]
357
00:30:15,939 --> 00:30:20,235
Even the world's greatest predator
knows when she's beaten.
358
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,906
- [Tyrannosaurus snarling]
- [Triceratops roaring]
359
00:30:28,284 --> 00:30:30,286
[screeching]
360
00:30:32,747 --> 00:30:34,499
Unlike the young male.
361
00:30:34,582 --> 00:30:36,334
[roaring]
362
00:30:36,417 --> 00:30:38,419
[squealing]
363
00:30:41,756 --> 00:30:44,259
[roaring]
364
00:30:55,979 --> 00:30:58,273
Dinosaurs might still rule today
365
00:30:58,356 --> 00:31:01,568
if conditions on Earth
had remained the same.
366
00:31:03,778 --> 00:31:06,698
But everything was about to change,
367
00:31:07,490 --> 00:31:09,742
and in just one day.
368
00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:17,709
[explosive crash]
369
00:31:18,877 --> 00:31:20,879
[rumbling]
370
00:31:20,962 --> 00:31:24,257
An asteroid the size of Mount Everest,
371
00:31:25,592 --> 00:31:28,511
traveling 20 times faster than a bullet,
372
00:31:28,595 --> 00:31:30,388
smashed into the planet.
373
00:31:33,016 --> 00:31:35,018
[dramatic music playing]
374
00:31:36,436 --> 00:31:41,524
It blew a hole
20 kilometers deep and 180 wide...
375
00:31:45,153 --> 00:31:48,239
setting off
an earth-shattering chain of events.
376
00:31:53,369 --> 00:31:57,874
Rising from the massive crater
came the real killer.
377
00:32:01,336 --> 00:32:05,340
A wall of ash and debris
hundreds of kilometers thick...
378
00:32:07,508 --> 00:32:09,385
that enveloped the globe.
379
00:32:09,469 --> 00:32:11,471
[rumbling]
380
00:32:15,350 --> 00:32:17,435
The cloud blocked out the sunlight,
381
00:32:18,770 --> 00:32:21,898
leading to the death
of almost all dinosaurs...
382
00:32:24,108 --> 00:32:26,110
[melancholic music playing]
383
00:32:35,036 --> 00:32:38,289
...and three-quarters of life on Earth.
384
00:32:44,045 --> 00:32:46,798
The annihilation was global.
385
00:32:55,264 --> 00:32:58,184
It was the world's fifth mass extinction.
386
00:33:00,895 --> 00:33:03,231
[melancholic music continues]
387
00:33:14,325 --> 00:33:16,327
[music fades]
388
00:33:29,382 --> 00:33:31,092
But there were survivors.
389
00:33:34,595 --> 00:33:40,184
Survivors that would form the basis
of all species that exist today.
390
00:33:44,063 --> 00:33:46,065
[peaceful music playing]
391
00:33:50,236 --> 00:33:54,115
The birds were
the only remaining dinosaurs.
392
00:33:59,871 --> 00:34:03,082
Today, they number
more than 10,000 species...
393
00:34:03,166 --> 00:34:04,542
[chirping]
394
00:34:04,625 --> 00:34:07,128
...occupying every habitat on Earth.
395
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,885
But the birds didn't have the planet
to themselves.
396
00:34:16,721 --> 00:34:21,184
Another great dynasty
also rose from the ashes.
397
00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:30,359
The mammals.
398
00:34:35,281 --> 00:34:39,911
Under the dinosaurs,
they had been a mere footnote in history.
399
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,122
[grunting, snuffling]
400
00:34:48,419 --> 00:34:50,213
Without the asteroid strike,
401
00:34:50,838 --> 00:34:54,842
none of these survivors
would have had a chance to rule.
402
00:34:59,972 --> 00:35:02,934
From the cataclysm of the mass extinction
403
00:35:04,435 --> 00:35:06,813
came this new multitude of life
404
00:35:08,731 --> 00:35:11,567
in all its wondrous variety...
405
00:35:14,195 --> 00:35:17,198
{\an8}[uplifting music playing]
406
00:35:19,033 --> 00:35:24,247
...all perfectly adapted
to the challenges of life.
407
00:35:24,330 --> 00:35:26,541
[birds trilling, chirping]
408
00:35:32,046 --> 00:35:35,007
The struggle to protect
and raise one's young,
409
00:35:38,094 --> 00:35:39,595
to find food,
410
00:35:40,263 --> 00:35:41,764
and to breed.
411
00:35:46,602 --> 00:35:48,980
The cast of characters may have changed,
412
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,694
but the essentials remain the same.
413
00:35:57,238 --> 00:36:02,702
Water and the energy from the Sun
continue to support life,
414
00:36:02,785 --> 00:36:06,372
just as they have for billions of years.
415
00:36:10,918 --> 00:36:12,920
[chirping]
416
00:36:16,090 --> 00:36:20,178
Even today, the rules of life still apply.
417
00:36:23,723 --> 00:36:27,351
Only the best adapted will win through.
418
00:36:27,435 --> 00:36:29,437
[tense music playing]
419
00:36:36,569 --> 00:36:38,571
[birds squawking]
420
00:36:39,238 --> 00:36:42,742
Competition drives evolution.
421
00:36:47,872 --> 00:36:51,792
And a rapidly changing planet
causes chaos.
422
00:36:51,876 --> 00:36:53,628
[grunting]
423
00:36:53,711 --> 00:36:55,880
[squealing]
424
00:37:02,011 --> 00:37:05,890
These rules of life
determine how dynasties will rise
425
00:37:06,974 --> 00:37:08,726
and how they will fall.
426
00:37:10,603 --> 00:37:12,605
[chirping]
427
00:37:13,356 --> 00:37:15,858
Every single thing alive today
428
00:37:17,193 --> 00:37:20,613
can trace its heritage back
four billion years.
429
00:37:26,327 --> 00:37:29,830
This in the face of incredible odds.
430
00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:31,332
[grunting]
431
00:37:31,415 --> 00:37:33,417
[majestic music playing]
432
00:37:39,757 --> 00:37:44,178
99% of all species that have ever existed
433
00:37:44,887 --> 00:37:47,265
are now extinct.
434
00:37:47,348 --> 00:37:48,599
[chirping]
435
00:37:52,895 --> 00:37:58,317
Life today is the 1% that made it through.
436
00:37:58,901 --> 00:38:00,778
[squeaking]
437
00:38:09,787 --> 00:38:14,500
This series will explore
the most important milestones
438
00:38:14,583 --> 00:38:15,960
in the history of life.
439
00:38:20,464 --> 00:38:21,757
[grunts]
440
00:38:25,678 --> 00:38:29,307
From when mammals established themselves
as a global power...
441
00:38:32,768 --> 00:38:34,562
[heavy grunting]
442
00:38:37,315 --> 00:38:41,986
...to the ancestors of the birds
first taking to the air...
443
00:38:42,069 --> 00:38:44,071
[triumphant music playing]
444
00:38:48,117 --> 00:38:51,037
...to the evolution of hard-shelled eggs
445
00:38:51,954 --> 00:38:55,875
that led to the rise
of the mighty dinosaurs.
446
00:38:59,337 --> 00:39:01,339
[growling]
447
00:39:04,216 --> 00:39:09,180
And even the moment
when animals first came out of the water.
448
00:39:13,184 --> 00:39:15,186
[whooshing]
449
00:39:18,397 --> 00:39:23,069
In the next chapter,
we go back to life's origins in the sea...
450
00:39:30,201 --> 00:39:33,079
and the very first fights for survival...
451
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,292
on our extraordinary planet.
452
00:39:38,959 --> 00:39:40,753
[ominous music playing]
453
00:39:43,589 --> 00:39:45,591
[music intensifies, ends]
454
00:39:48,260 --> 00:39:50,262
[rousing music playing]