History Characters / WalkingWithBeasts

* HeinousHyena: Although it's not a true hyena -- in fact, it's not even a true carnivoran -- its name and coloration are both meant to evoke these creatures. They're also aggressive carnivores, significant threats to the episode's herbivores and important antagonists in the young indricothere's story. Furthermore, the opening scene where two ''Hyaenodon'' try to snatch the newly born indricothere calf from its mother is a direct homage to spotted hyenas frequently stalking mother giraffes in labor and trying to nab their calf.

** The fact it's present in the episode at all. ''Ambulocetus'' is not a native of the German Messel Pit, and its fossils are only known from Pakistan, thousands of miles away, but a semi-aquatic whale is a much cooler predator to focus on than a plain old crocodile. During the Ypresian-lower Lutetian (around the time "New Dawn" is set), ancient cetaceans were still largely restricted to the Indian subcontinent, but not long after, in the upper Lutetian-lower Bartonian (circa 43-40 mya), they were far more widespread, including finds from the United States and even Peru.

** The fact it's present in the episode at all. ''Ambulocetus'' is not a native of the German Messel Pit, and its fossils are only known from Pakistan, thousands of miles away, but a semi-aquatic whale is a much cooler predator to focus on than a plain old crocodile.

* MisplacedWildlife: Lampshaded. The narrator states that it reached the lake after swimming upstream from the ocean. It still beggars belief, as early whales like this are only known from India and Pakistan, at the time an island in the middle of the Tethys Sea, while the episode is set in Germany's Messel Shales, which would be around '''5,206 kilometres''' to travel.

* HeinousHyena: Although it's not a true hyena -- in fact, it's not even a true carnivoran -- its name and coloration are both meant to evoke these creatures. They're also aggressive carnivores, significant threats to the episode's herbivores and important antagonists in the young indricothere's story.

* AnachronismStew: ''Smilodon populator'' evolved over 200,000 years after the time this episode was set in. Several other species depicted are also anachronistic, although not their genera.

** While large terror birds did briefly coexist with sabre-tooth cats with ''Titanis'', it only coexisted with the earliest and smallest ''Smilodon'' species, ''S. gracilis'', which lived two million years ago, not one million years, and in North America, not South America.

* AnachronismStew: ''Phorusrhacos'' became extinct 13 million years ago, though other terror birds persisted until about 100,000 years ago, although this was because there was a hypothesis at the time that lumped other large terror birds into the genus, such as the much later ''Titanis'', as noted in supplementary material.

* CompositeCharacter: Its name and existence in South America come from the Miocene-aged ''Phorusrhacos longissimus'' but most other aspects, such as it living in the Pleistocene alongside ''Smilodon'' and (outdated) wing claws are based on North American ''Titanis walleri''. Notably, supplementary material shows that the producers treated ''Titanis'' as a synonym of the earlier-named ''Phorusrhacos''. Furthermore, a line from the narrator about how this terror bird has "cousins" in Texas and Florida implies they are meant to be a different species from "''Phorusrhacos walleri''" (and they obviously aren't P. ''longissimus'', who vanished 14 million years earlier).

* InformedSpecies: The actual species is probably meant to be ''Titanis'', the last known giant terror bird, but the ''Phorusrhacos'' name was used because ''Phorusrhacos'' was South American rather than North American.

* RuleOfCool: Their deadly swarming behaviour. Somewhat justified since ants are social insects, and even your average ants will swarm if they find a big source of food.

* RuleOfCool: The idea that ''Dinofelis'' was a specialized primate killer is merely conjectural- evidence suggests that leopards filled that role instead. There is also no evidence that ''Dinofelis'' perched its prey on trees, or even that ''Dinofelis'' climbed trees at all. The reason leopards do this today is to prevent larger carnivores like lions from stealing their kills; ''Dinofelis'' coexisted with lions and a larger sabertooth, ''Homotherium'', but was itself larger and heavier than a leopard.

* RuleOfCool: Besides all the ArtisticLicensePaleontology, there is the scene where the pride's younger females decide to test their hunting abilities on a NighInvulnerable ''Doedicurus'', rather than choosing a viable and less dangerous target.

* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: In addition, terror birds would have had no trouble coexisting as a predator with sabretooths, as they were much faster and hunted faster prey. In fact, they were the only South American carnivore along with opossums to migrate northward successfully during the Great American Interchange. This is mentioned by the narrator, despite the constant theme of terror birds being outcompeted by cats.

* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Its colorations are similar to an impala's, complementing the ''Smilodon'''s lion.

* MixAndMatchCreatures: A llama-like animal with a tapir-like head. Ironically, while both existed in South America in this time and still do today, they are not related to South American native ''Macrauchenia'', but are recent immigrants from North America instead. Their feet are rhinoceros-like, which never colonized South America.
* ScienceMarchesOn: Today we think ''Macrauchenia'' hadn't the trunk but a bulbous bose instead, more looking like a cross between a llama and a moose than to a llama and a tapir.

* CurbStompBattle: He kills a smilodon with a DopeSlap.

* AnachronismStew: The one specimen we have (a skull) hails from the Irdin Manha Formation, which is Mid Eocene in age, not Late Eoecene.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The model is very similar to "Cruel Sea"'s ''Hybodus'' (minus ''Hybodus'''s dorsal fin spikes and horns), and its role is the same: to be irrelevant next to the episode's PrehistoricMonster[=/=]SeaMonster that is the real protagonist/antagonist.

* PandaingToTheAudience: The color of their face is based on a modern giant panda. The narrator says "their closest modern relatives are actually horses". This is not true, belonging to a distinct branch of the Perissodactyls than horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs.

* RuleOfCool: The narration says that they are as large as a rhinoceros but no known hyeanodont even approached the size of the smallest rhino (the Sumatran rhino, which can still reach a whopping 800 kg). The largest species of ''Hyaenodon'' itself, the very fragmentary ''Hyeanodon gigas'' (on which the show’s version seems to be based on), is estimated to have weighed anywhere from 250 to 378 kg, putting it in the same size range as a tiger, or possibly slightly larger.

* WhosLaughingNow: The ''Leptictidium'' family inspects its corpse, the morning after the volcanic gas release.

* RogerRabbitEffect: Live-acted by a modern tamandua, although it was actually a relative of pangolins rather than anteaters (although a scaleless pangolin would resemble an anteater).

* GagPenis: The male has a comically large one that is fully visible after it detatchs from the female. Also modern whales have often big penis.

* {{Irony}}:
** Most fossils of this marine species have been found in the Sahara Desert, in areas that are now among the driest on Earth.
** The complete species name, ''Basilosaurus cetoides'', means "Emperor Lizard shaped like a whale". It's the complete opposite: a true whale, shaped like a reptile.

* NonIndicativeName: It's not a reptile, despite its scientific name meaning "Kingly whale-like lizard".
* OddNameOut: Among the protagonist species, and most of the mammals in the series, the name ''Basilosaurus'', as noted above, sounds more like the name of a Mesozoic reptile than it does a mammal, much less a large whale. [[note]]This is because when the species was discovered, it was initially assumed to have been a large marine reptile. By the time the mistake was realized, the rules of zoological nomenclature dictated that the original name couldn't be changed [[/note]]

* TheWorfEffect: Her EstablishingCharacterMoment has her playing with the former top predators of the ocean as if they were ragdolls.

----* AllForNothing: A mother wastes away defending her calf from ''Andrewsarchus'' in the aftermath of a brutal drought, unaware that it is stillborn.

* CowTools: The structures, actually part of the nasal bones, are too brittle to be of actual use fighting. If anything, it's the ''female'' structures that are more resistant unlike what you would expect from an ungulate. While they are still used for display and dominance in the show, in real life this isn't as sure, and some artists have even restored ''Embolotherium'' with their nostrils at the top of them.

* ThreateningShark: Subverted, although played straight in the swamp.

* TheWorfEffect: Eaten by the ''Basilosaurus'' in its [[EstablishingCharacterMoment very first scene]]. Also shown to avoid ''Moeritherium''.

* AbusiveParents: The mother indricothere pushes her calf away rudely several times, including once when she could not lactate because she was dehydrated, and another when she was mating with her new suitor. When calves turn three years old, all maternal instinct vanishes and she drives them away to fend for themselves.

* CowTools: The relatively small tusks are visible sometimes but they don't seem to have a function in the show (modern suggestions include peeling bark, like elephant tusks, and playing a part in mating-related rituals and fights). Oddly, they are somewhat similar to the teeth of oviraptorosaurs which evolved [[FollowTheLeader earlier]] in the same area and are just as baffling to scientists.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The mother expells the protagonist from her side when she is about to have a new baby.

* FullBoarAction: This was where the term "killer pig" came from. Also modern giant hippopotamuses are often killers of humans.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: Downplayed in the case of Grey and Hercules. While Blue is doubtlessly Grey's son, it is unclear if Hercules is Grey's younger brother or an adult son. They are most likely related, it is jsut never stated how.

* BladeOnAStick: Their killing spears, unlike the neanderthals, have stone tips.

* MixAndMatchCritters: A rabbit-sized kangaroo crossed with an elephant shrew. It also has bizarrely human-like hands. Maybe in RealLife was not a hopper but a runner, like a miniature dinosaur.
* TheNoseKnows: The family istinctively knows by smell that the ''Ambulocetus'' in front of them is dead at the end of the story. ''Leptictidium'' are portrayed with a very sensitive mobile "proboscis".

* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: The family is deep in their den when the volcanic gas releases. They wake up to find all their neighbors dead.

* ScienceMarchesOn: Before the show all paleo-fans knew the bird as ''Diatryma'', see UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs.

* MisplacedWildlife: Lampshaded. The narrator states that it reached the lake after swimming upstream from the ocean. It still beggars belief, as early whales like this are only known from India and Pakistan while the episode is set in Germany's Messel Shales, which would be around '''5,206 kilometres''' to travel.

* RuleOfCool: Shown ambushing land animals rather than catching fish (which were probably its main diet instead, as in its ecological equivalent the Nile crocodile).

* ManiacMonkeys: They act somewhat creepily during the storm.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The accompanying media shows them woke during the day, when they should be asleep.

* AllThereInTheManual: Only called "giant ants" in the episode.

* HiveMind: Justified since all ants have this.

* StrongAnts: Gladly averted. They rely on numbers, not strength.

* TheWorfEffect: They get pass the ''Gastornis'' vigilance and kill its chick just as it is being born.

* GagPenis: The male has a comically large one that is fully visible after it detatches from the female. Also modern whales have often big penis.

* RuleOfCool: It was only 20 tons in RealLife, one-third its weight in the show. This was because it was very thin (more like an anaconda than a whale).

* ScienceMarchesOn: At the time of the show ''Basilosaurus'' was thought the most powerful extinct whale of the Cenozoic, but in TheNewTens ''Lyviatan melvillei'' was found, a sperm-whale that would perhaps have swallowed a basilosaur whole with its huge mouth and teeth (it lived after it). See UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs.

* RuleOfCool: In real life, it's only known from one skull found in Mongolia in the early 20th century. All we know is that it was big and had a big head.

----
* EleventhHourSuperpower: After a whole day, the mother gives up the defense of her calf, only to mistake the effects of two ''Andrewsarchus'' battling for the carcass for her calf moving. Convinced that it's still alive, the mother goes full RhinoRampage on the ''Andrewsarchus'' and makes them flee.
* AllForNothing: A mother wastes away defending her calf from ''Andrewsarchus'' in the aftermath of a brutal drought, unaware that it is stillborn.

* AnachronismStew: ''Chalicotherium'', the creature these guys are based on, didn't appear until well after the time period that their episode is set in (being known from the Mid Miocene to Early Pliocene). A similar-sized relative called ''Borissiakia'' did live in Central Asia during the Late Oligocene.

* RuleOfCool: Because the genus of reference, ''Chalicotherium'' is not known from the place the episode is set in until later, the show crew handwaved their chalicothere as a close relative of ''Chalicotherium'' that is yet to be discovered.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Appears as a villain because it hunts ''Australopithecus''; in the next episode, another sabertooth cat, ''Smilodon'' gets a protagonic role and more sympathy.

* CowTools: Nobody knows what the downward pointing tusks were for in reality.

* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: It is more istinctive compared to the mammoths of the last episode, yet the behaviour of both is closely patterned after modern elephants. The ''Deinotherium'' is an antagonist to the ''Australopithecus'', so it displays dangerous elephant behaviour, while the mammoth is a protagonist, so it displays more peaceful elephant behaviour and the more questionable one is downplayed by it happening to larger animals that can actually take it.

* LastOfItsKind: One of the last calicothere species in existence, described in the episode as "the last". It has no panda-like face this time, and has a striped body that the cousin of the previous episode lacks.
* LovableCoward: Is easily scared off the australopithecines, despite them not having a chance of hurting them.

* AnachronismStew: ''Phorusrhacos'' became extinct 13 million years ago, though other terror birds persisted until about 100,000 years ago.

* MightyGlacier: As a super strong sloth, this is to be expected.

* OneHitKill: Kills one of the brothers this way with it's huge claws.

* {{Bambification}}: Averted. They are depicted as animals like anyone else.

* NonIndicativeName: They are named after the Apis bull of Myth/EgyptianMythology because the first known fossil was first believed to belong to a small ungulate, but it counts as a LuckyTranslation in English because of its resemblance to the word "ape".

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Can be said to appear as [[TheGhost a name drop]] and a [[TheVoice disembodied voice]].

** Downplayed in the case of the Neanderthal that was charged at by the wooly rhino. He still sustains injuries in the form of broken bones, but that he survived and walked away from the encounter is still a testament to how tough Neanderthals were.
** They're also only species in the series shown to weaponize fire, using it to drive a pair of mammoths off of a cliff to their deaths.

* AllThereInTheManual: The species is Homo sapiens.
* ArtisticLicenseHistory: They're relatively light-skinned, but most humans would have been much darker since they hadn't had much to diverge from African ancestors, and it wasn't until the advent of agriculture in the Neolithic they lightened up.