Line #26 Series/AnimalArmageddon


1	[[quoteright:481:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/animal_armageddon.jpg]]
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3	''Animal Armageddon'' is a 2009 SpeculativeDocumentary series that aired on ''Creator/AnimalPlanet''. Each episode (there are eight in total, although the DVD only includes the first four) focuses on a different extinction event in Earth's history (although there are two episodes about the end of the Cretaceous, because, you know, dinosaurs). The basic plot is that several creatures are shown before the extinction occurs, and that only a few of those shown will survive the extinction event. It also features cutaway scenes of paleontologists talking about the extinctions and apocalyptic quotes from Literature/TheBible and other sources.
4	----
5	!!Provides Examples Of:
6	* AfterTheEnd: The immediate aftermath of a mass extinction has the landscape as a barren desert, the percentage of species that has gone extinct in the upper double digits, and a small handful of surviving species left to rebuild. Downplayed in that after a few million years it becomes a DawnOfAnEra.
7	* AlienSky: Mentioned in the Triassic episode, when the oceans being filled with purple bacteria causes the sky to be tinted yellow with ammonia.
8	** Also implied in the Permian episode, with atmospheric clouds of Hydrogen Sulfide.
9	** Skies in general are sometimes tinted red, yellow, orange, brown, or gray due to clouds of ash and dust in the atmosphere.
10	* AlwaysABiggerFish: After killing a juvenile [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs hadrosaur]], two ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' are driven from their kill by a '' Tyrannosaurus''.
11	* AnachronismStew: It's played straight, but only true paleobuffs will notice it.
12	** More noticeable in "The Great Dying", which somehow put the crocodile-like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Proterosuchus]]'' and the mammal ancestor ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Thrinaxodon]]'' in the Permian, while they are known only from the early Triassic.
13	*** To be fair for ''Proterosuchus'', a close relative called ''Archosaurus'' was known from the end of the Permian, and is the earliest known Archosauriform.
14	** What's ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Staurikosaurus]]'' doing at the very end of the Triassic?
15	** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Gigantopithecus]]'' 74,000 years ago. It went extinct a good 300,000 years ago.
16	* ApeShallNeverKillApe: Subverted. Hey, ''any'' species will commit cannibalism in the face of extinction.
17	* ApocalypseHow: The basic premise of the series is to depict real-life examples of Class 4 Apocalypses that happened in prehistory, including the 'big five' (Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous) and the Toba supervolcano. A hypothetical near-future extinction event with a chicxulub-sized asteroid hitting New York City is also presented, and humanity faces major societal disruption or even societal collapse in this scenario.
18	** ApocalypseWow
19	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: One of the weaknesses of Gorgonopsians as depicted in episode 5 is that they cannot chew, and instead take one bite out of a carcass and then abandon it, which serves them well in good times but proves their undoing in the extinction event. Real-life predators that cannot chew will instead tear out chunks of meat and swallow them whole, and would never be so wasteful as to abandon a carcass after just one bite.
20	* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: A recurring problem, especially given the [[SpecialEffectsFailure TV-grade CGI]]. To list some problems besides the special effects:
21	** Naked [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs raptors and troodonts]]. The raptors do have some feathers, but not ''nearly'' enough.
22	** Elephant-legged [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs ceratopsians and sauropods]], as well as incorrect hand posture on the carnivorous dinosaurs.
23	** Sauropods with their nostrils on the top of their head. A widespread image, but science shows it's wrong.
24	** And "''Phobosuchus''" should be called ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Deinosuchus]]'', and it went extinct noticeably before the end of the Cretaceous.
25	** Not to mention ''a 20-ton [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs mosasaur]]?!?''
26	** ''And a '''20,000-ton [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Dunkleosteus]]??!!??'''''
27	*** Perhaps they meant 20,000 ''pound''?
28	** Jawless fish are mentioned as going extinct in the Devonian extinction. While hard-shelled jawless fish did go extinct in the Devonian, Hagfish and Lampreys are jawless fish and are still extant.
29	*** Not to mention that the show used stock footage of ''Astraspis'' from the Ordovichian episode to mention jawless fish's extinction.
30	** The Permian Synapsids (such as ''Lystrosaurus'', Gorgonopsians, and Dicynodonts) are described as "mammal-like reptiles". [[ScienceMarchesOn Therapsids are currently considered proto-mammals rather than true reptiles]].
31	** ''Lystrosaurus'' is also described as ''related to'' Dicynodonts, and and that Dicynodonts went extinct in the Permian extinction while ''Lystrosaurus'' survived. ''Lystrosaurus'' is a type of Dicynodont, and while most Dicynodonts (including the eponymous ''Dicynodon'', which the Dicynodonts in the show apparently represent) did go extinct at the end of the Permian, a clade of Dicynodonts called the Kannemeyeriformes survived until near the end of the Triassic.
32	* BadassDecay: Orthocones, identified in the show as "straight nautiloids", are hit hard by this in the Ordovichian episode, as a result of the Ordovichian-Silurian extinction. At the beginning of the episode, an orthocone is described as "a merciless killer feared by all", and casually dining on Eurypterids. After being hit hard by the extinction, the tables have turned and Eurypterids have the upper hand over orthocones. By the Devonian, an orthocone only makes an unnamed cameo to [[MonsterMunch get eaten by a Dunkleosteus]] in the giant placoderm's EstablishingCharacterMoment.
33	** Inverted for the ancestors of Tetrapods in the Ordovician and Devonian episodes. Jawed fish are depicted evolving during the Ordovician extinction, and Tiktaalik evolves into Icthyostega during the Devonian extinction.
34	* BigCreepyCrawlies: [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Sea scorpions]] in the first episode and the giant (1-foot-long) cockroaches in the last episode.
35	* BittersweetEnding: An ApocalypseHow happens, more than half of all species go extinct, the landscape is reduced to a barren desert, the oceans have become cesspools, and a geological Period is brought to an end (or an entire ''Era'' in the case of the Permian and Cretaceous episodes), but the survivors of the extinction are always able to rebuild, and the next Period begins.
36	* CameraAbuse: When the [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsian]] kills a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'', the camera is splattered with blood.
37	* CrapsackWorld: Goes hand in hand with the extinction events.
38	* DawnOfAnEra: Each episode ends on an optimistic note by mentioning how the survivors of the mass extinction go on to dominate life in the next Period.
39	** This Trope is also specifically noted during the Triassic episode, when the Triassic extinction marks the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs.
40	* DragonAscendant: In several episodes, a secondary or even tertiary predator becomes the new Apex predator after the old one goes extinct or goes into decline- including Eurypterids in the Ordovician episode, ''Proterosuchus'' in the Permian episode, ''Staurikosaurus'' in the Triassic episode, and hawks and rats in the near-future episode.
41	* TheDreaded: Straight Nautiloids in the first episode, ''Dunkleosteus'' in the second, ''Tyrannosaurus'' in the third episode, and Gorgonopsians in the fifth episode are all depicted as this. Unfortunately, nature doesn't care about their reputation, and doesn't spare them from extinction.
42	* EarnYourHappyEnding: The survivors of the extinction.
43	* EndOfAnAge: Each mass extinction (except the Toba Super-eruption) represents the end of one geological Period and the beginning of the next.
44	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Half of the episodes give one to an apex predator of the time period- Straight Nautiloids for the Ordovician, ''Dunkleosteus'' for the Devonian, Gorgonopsians for the Permian, and ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' for the Cretaceous. Each of these apex predators is given a scene showing them hunting and eating, shortly before the extinction begins.
45	** Straight Nautiloids are described as merciless killers who prey on sea scorpions.
46	** A Dunkleosteus swims up to a Straight Nautiloid, [[BadassDecay the apex predator from the previous episode]], swallows it whole, and then chomps down with a powerful bite.
47	** A Gorgonopsian is shown stalking a herd of ''Lystrosaurus'', chases one, bites down on the neck while shaking it to death, then takes one bite and abandons the carcass.
48	** ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' is introduced scaring away a pair of Troodons from a wounded hadrosaur, casually tosses one of the Troodons aside, rips the Hadrosaur's head off, and swallows it whole.
49	%% * EverybodyDiesEnding: Invoked but averted. The opening lines of the Permian episode are "What would it take to exterminate life on earth? To kill every living thing?". The Triassic episode starts by showing the planet Mars and claiming that the Triassic extinction had the possibility to kill all life on earth and rendering the Earth a barren rock like the red planet ([[ForegoneConclusion it doesn't]]). Of course, both extinctions had surviving species that would go on to define life on earth in the next Period, and there is still life on Earth today.
50	* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Quite a number, but the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'' and young [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs hadrosaur]] stand out. In the first case, a [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsian]] bites down on its neck, [[CameraAbuse spurting blood on the camera]]. However, the gorgonopsian's jaw structure means that he can only shear off one piece of meat, leaving an enormous pool of blood. What's left of the lystrosaur is scavenged by the protomammal ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Thrinaxodon]]''. As for the hadrosaur, it is attacked by two ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' who fail to actually kill it. They are chased away by a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', who slits the hadrosaur's throat and eats its foot.
51	* FeatheredFiend: A scantily feathered ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]'' (with the model also used for ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Dromaeosaurus]]'') and naked ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' (with the model also used for ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Byronosaurus]]'').
52	* ForegoneConclusion: Some of the episodes try to add a sense of suspense by emphasizing how all life on Earth hangs precariously in the balance after a mass extinction... of course, the viewer is well aware that things eventually worked out, given how Earth is flourishing quite nicely.
53	* FromBadToWorse: Repeatedly at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous.
54	* GiantFlyer: The ever-popular ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]''.
55	* {{Gorn}}: Mostly averted. This is a noticeably less gory documentary than ''Series/JurassicFightClub'' and ''Series/MonstersResurrected''. However, it's played straight in "The Great Dying", when a [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsian]] rather brutally kills and eats a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]''.
56	* GrandFinale: [[spoiler: Mankind nearly goes extinct]] in the last episode.
57	* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted:
58	** Before the Ordovician extinction, the [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures eurypterids]] are easy prey for the straight nautiloids. During the extinction, the latter becomes smaller, turning the tables.
59	** In the grip of the Great Dying, the wolf-like [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles gorgonopsians]], the top predators before the extinction, are easy prey for the aquatic ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Proterosuchus]]''.
60	%% * {{Irony}}: The Permian extinction was the most severe mass extinction in prehistory, with nine out of ten species going extinct. And of the four animals depicted at the beginning of the episode- ''Lystrosaurus'', ''Thrinaxodon'', Dicynodonts, and Gorgonopsians- only two of them (Dicynodonts and Gorgonopsians) go extinct during the episode, and a fifth animal (''Proterosuchus'') appears halfway through the episode and becomes the apex predator in the early Triassic.
61	* JustBeforeTheEnd: Each episode begins shortly before the mass extinction, to establish what a healthy ecosystem in the time period looks like. Then the extinction hits.
62	%% * LemonyNarrator: By documentary standards, the narration in this episode is hammy and sensationalist, describing extinctions as conscious and actively trying to kill all life on earth, using poetic and military terms like describing extinctions as "wars" or "assaults", or invoking the possibility of an EverybodyDiesEnding ([[ForegoneConclusion that obviously won't happen]]) and melodramatic cliffhangers.
63	* MegaNeko: The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals cave lion]]. The "Sumatran leopard" and the pumas may qualify.
64	* MisplacedWildlife:
65	** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'' in Kansas. It's never been found in the Americas.
66	** ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Staurikosaurus]]'' in North America. It never made it outside South America.
67	** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Eudimorphodon]]'' and ''Megazostrodon'', on a related note. ''Eudimorphodon'' only lived in Europe and ''Megazostrodon'' only lived in South Africa.
68	** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Elasmotherium]]'' in the jungles of Sumatra. It lived on the tundra of Asia and Europe.
69	** [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Giant leopards]] are not known from Sumatra.
70	* MonstrousCannibalism: ''Dunkleosteus'', ''Rutiodon'', and ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' are all depicted resorting to cannibalism when all other sources of food have been exhausted.
71	* OutrunTheFireball: Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with implied instances in episodes 2 (or is it Outswim the Fireball?) and 8.
72	* PantheraAwesome: The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals cave lions]], pumas and "Sumatran leopard".
73	%% * PredatorsAreMean: Each of the apex predators in the series- Straight Nautiloids, ''Dunkleosteus'', Gorgonopsians, or ''Tyrannosaurus Rex''- are portrayed as TheDreaded, and go extinct at the end of the episode (or in the case of the Straight Nautiloid, are usurped), while 'underdog' species like Eurypterids and ''Thrinaxodon'' are portrayed more sympathetically and survive the extinction.
74	* RaptorAttack: A ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]'' with the wrong skull shape and a pair of naked ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' that take down a subadult [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs hadrosaur]]. Cameos by ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Dromaeosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Byronosaurus]]'' aren't any better.
75	* RocksFallEveryoneDies: The extinctions all qualify, with the most literal examples ever at the end of the Cretaceous [[spoiler:and the hypothetical future]].
76	* RodentsOfUnusualSize: In "The Next Extinction", after humanity hides underground to survive an asteroid strike, in cities, rats grow to the size of dogs.
77	* RuleOfCool: Several less cool and more plausible theories are abandoned in favor of cooler, less likely ones. This is especially noticeable in the Ordovician episode.
78	** The show definitely has a bias for showing the bigger and more odd looking animals, range and chronology be damned.
79	* ScavengersAreScum: Averted. Animals are often shown scavenging carrion when their normal sources of food have been exhausted, without being judged for it by the narrator.
80	** ''Thrinaxodon'' is introduced in the Permian episode as scavenging a carcass abandoned by a Gorgonopsian, and is presented more sympathetically than the apex predator.
81	%% * SeaMonster: [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Straight nautiloids, eurypterids,]] ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Dunkleosteus]]'' and [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs mosasaurs]].
82	* SmallTaxonomyPools: Orthocones and Eurypterids in the Ordovician episode, ''Dunkleosteus'' and ''Icthyostega'' in the Devonian episode, ''Lystrosaurus'' and Gorgonopsians in the Permian episode, ''Rutiodon'' and ''Eudimorphodon'' in the Triassic episode, and almost every named species in the Cretaceous and Toba episodes.
83	* SoleSurvivor: Of the named species in the Cretaceous episodes, ''Purgatorius'' is the only one that survives the Chicxulub impact.
84	* StockFootage/ RecycledAnimation:
85	** Volcanic eruption shots from the Devonian episode are recycled for the Permian and Triassic episodes. Volcano footage from the Permian episode is also recycled for the Triassic episode.
86	** Destroyed, desolated, and deserted landscapes from the Devonian and Cretaceous episodes are also recycled for the Permian and Triassic episodes.
87	** Footage from the Permian episode is also used to recap the Permian Extinction in the beginning of the Triassic episode, establishing that the Earth has only just recovered from one mass extinction and is about to face another.
88	* StockSoundEffect:
89	** One roar is used for the ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Triceratops, Velociraptor]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Dicynodon]]'', and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Elasmotherium]]''.
90	** The Gorgonopsians in the Permian episode use the same generic Large Animal Roars used in ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', and ''Film/GingerSnaps''.
91	** At one point in the Cretaceous episode a ''Tyrannosaurus Rex'' can be heard making the stock roar from ''Film/TheLandUnknown''.
92	** Since the special effects were from the same studio that made ''Series/{{Dogfights}}'', ''Animal Armageddon uses much of the same StockMusic as the latter show.

Context Series / AnimalArmageddon