History RuleOfCool / WalkingWith

** '''Sabre Tooth''': ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' roaring just like lions (only felids pertaining to the modern genus ''[[PantheraAwesome Panthera]]'' can roar thanks to their specialized larynxes), and showing the same let's-kill-all-the-cubs behaviour typical of modern lions. But the most awesome example is the giant sloth ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Megatherium]]'' stealing a carcass to Smilodons [[spoiler: and killing one of them in the process]].

* '''Death Of A Dynasty''': [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Dromaeosaurus]] living alongside ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''. It may be considered an example of RuleOfCool since dromaeosaurid remains coming from that period are very scanty, while those of the better-known but less dramatic relative ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' are much more complete (however Prehistoric Park averted it showing the latter in the small predator role).

! Walking With Monsters: This one might as well be named "Walking With RuleOfCool". It's filled with it from start to finish. Not counting the "Theia" hypothesis about the Moon's birth presented as fact, we have:

* Walking With Dinosaurs:
** '''New Blood''': There is no proof of cannibalism in [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Triassic cynodonts]].

** '''Time Of The Titans''': We're unsure about [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs stegosaurs]] using their plates to frighten predators (though their plates didn't flush red from blood, being covered in horn and all), but it's cooler showing them this way; the same thing about the symbiotic behaviour in the tiny pterosaur called ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Anurognathus]]''.
*** Also note that this episode (placed in Late Jurassic North America) is the most StockDinosaurs-filled of the six of WWD: we can see the largest/most striking animals of each subgroup, but not their smaller relatives just because they aren't spectacular enough (with the notable exception of an unnamed small bipedal herbivore similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Othnielia]]''). We can see ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' but not the smaller, horned ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ceratosaurus]]'' (very common in old films but very rare in modern TV); ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Diplodocus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Brachiosaurus]]'' but not ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Camarasaurus]]'' [[note]]''Camarasaurus'' was the most common dinosaur of that habitat and was huge like its relatives, but since it didn't bear any record in length, height or weight, it was probably judged as "not cool enough"[[/note]]; the iconic ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Stegosaurus]]'' shows up while ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'''s relative ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Camptosaurus]]'' is absent being not so impressive-looking (never mind ''Camptosaurus'' was probably the main prey of ''Allosaurus''), and the robustly built ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ornitholestes]]'' instead of the slenderer ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Coelurus]]'' (although the latter appears in the book).
*** The "Ballad of Big Al" (also placed in the same habitat) had the possibility to add more non-stock animals as well, but producers decided instead to add only one dino, a stock one (and how!): ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Apatosaurus]]'' aka ''Brontosaurus''.
** '''Cruel Sea''': ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Liopleurodon]]'' was not ''that'' big (1 ton and 20 ft seem more reasonable measures than 150 tons and 80 ft), nor was the largest carnivorous animal that ever lived. The narrator [[HandWaved handwave]]s it by mentioning that it was an unusually large and extremely old specimen, over one-hundred years in age.
*** The large Mid-Jurassic carnivore ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Eustreptospondylus]]'' shown surviving in [[AnachronismStew Late Jurassic]] islets (the stock ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Compsognathus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Archaeopteryx]]'' did inhabit these islands at that epoch, but they were probably not spectacular enough for [[TheWorfEffect iconic opening scene]]).
*** The plesiosaur ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Cryptocleidus]]'' weighed much less than eight tons in RealLife (perhaps its much larger relative ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Elasmosaurus]]'' did weigh so).
** '''Giant Of The Skies''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Ornithocheirus]]'' wasn't the largest pterosaur ever, and like ''Liopleurodon'' it wasn't ''that'' big anyway as shown in the program (best estimates say a wingspan of 20 ft, while other pterosaurs reached 39 ft). We can also count the ZergRush -like full bird attack against the old gigantic pterosaur. In reality, the bird portrayed (''Iberomesornis'') is known from only one postcranial skeleton.

*** The fact that [[MisplacedWildlife North American]] dromaesaurids appear in this episode at all, for that matter (and do the purely speculative pack hunting their [[RaptorAttack media appearances]] are known for). Apparently the fish-eating spinosaurid ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Baryonyx]]'' was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]] going to appear in their place.
** '''Spirits Of The Ice Forest''': This is the most speculative episode, because dinosaurs from Cretaceous Australia are poorly-known compared to those from other habitats. In addition, all animals portrayed are more or less oversized in respect to their RealLife counterparts.
*** The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'' relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Muttaburrasaurus]]'' with air sacs to produce loud sounds: this one is a classic (but not demonstrated) theory about several iguanodontians and hadrosaurs including ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Edmontosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Saurolophus]]''.
*** Only one skeleton can be attributed with security to ''Leaellynasaura''; there are other possible remains but their assigntion is problematic. So all the talk of ''Leaellynasaura'' being social, hyerarchic and building communal nests is speculative. Interestingly, remains of simple, individual burrows have been later attributed to ''Leaellynasaura'' and similar dinosaurs.

** '''Death Of A Dynasty''': [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Dromaeosaurus]] living alongside ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''. It may be considered an example of RuleOfCool since dromaeosaurid remains coming from that period are very scanty, while those of the better-known but less dramatic relative ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' are much more complete (however Prehistoric Park averted it showing the latter in the small predator role).

*** It's interesting, though, that ''T. rex'' and Ceratopsians ''do not battle'' this time (don't worry, they'll fight each other in ''Prehistoric Park''...)
*** However in the companion book, a ''Tyrannosaurus'' does bring down a wounded ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeCeratopsids Torosaurus]]'' (in the series, it survives and the ''rex'' is shown eating a ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Triceratops]]'').
*** Weirdly inverted with ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]''; even if it wasn't known as a giant stork-like pteroaur [[note]]although this suggestion for their habits had been around since at least the early 90's, so they could easily have opted for that if they wanted to be "edgy"[[/note]], at the time it was commonly depicted as a giant vulture/marabou like scavenger. Instead, they opted for an ''Ornithocheirus'' like fish eater (nevermind that it lived inland and was found nowhere near the coast, as the episode implied it was a vagrant from the sea), not even dignifying it with a mention of its status as the second largest flying animal that ever lived.
*** Though it was mentioned in the narration as a "13-meter giant", so it's possible that the writers simply felt that having to add onto that the explicit statement that it was the largest flying vertebrate ever would just be insulting the viewer's intelligence.
* Walking With Beasts:
** '''New Dawn''': Carnivorous [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant ants]]... just that. We don't know if they were really that voracious or ''even'' if they were carnivorous.
*** Other example is the whale-ancestor ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Ambulocetus]]'' portrayed just like modern Nile crocodiles are in most documentaries, feeding only upon land mammals, while in RealLife it probably ate mostly fish (just like Nile crocodiles do). Not to mention dropping it on the will-be German Messel Shales and handwaving it as a vagrant animal far from its coastal range.
*** ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Gastornis]]'' portrayed as the apex predator of Eocene Europe, and the implication that flightless birds were the dominant predators all over the world in that time. Even the partidaries of carnivorous ''Gastornis'' (and [[ScienceMarchesOn this is now disproven]]) agreed that it was not built for speed and had to be an ambush predator, but the show's version sprints after its prey all the time. Other predators like creodont mammals and especially running crocodiles are ignored.
*** We don't know how many eggs ''Gastornis'' laid at a time. However, it is more dramatic if it is only one and the ants eat it.
** '''Whale Killer''': ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Basilosaurus]]'' throwing a shark in the air just like orcas do with seals. And 60 tons seem too much for this very long but slender cetacean (perhaps 20 tons is a more reasonable measure).
*** The hungry ''Basilosaurus'' looking for food in a mangrove swamp, as a way to introduce a new cool looking location and the Egyptian El Fayyum fossil faunas. Even the narrator calls this rare.
*** ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Andrewsarchus]]'', at the time believed to be the largest mesonychid ever, as the representative of this group in the series, even though the genus is known almost exclusively from a jawless skull.
*** ''Andrewsarchus'' eating nesting sea turtles in the coast. Its remains (along with those of its screen partner, ''Embolotherium'') were found in Mongolia, and while the show moves them to Pakistan, they still never come near the protagonist ''Basilosaurus''.
*** A ''[[ThreateningShark Physogaleus]]'' grabbing an ''Apidium'' sitting outside the water. A crocodile would be more likely.
** '''Land Of Giants''': Among the several ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Hyaenodon]]'' species of different size (from a small dog to a large cow), the largest of them all was chosen, and the narrator claimed they were the size of a ''rhinoceros''. Also, "[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals bear-dogs]]" (only distant relatives of modern canids) [[AllAnimalsAreDogs acting just like actual dogs]].
*** Which might make the last example an aversion, as the bear-dog species depicted is of the smaller, dog-like kind, rather than the nowadays more famous, bear-sized variety.
*** The BulletTime scene. In "New Dawn" it can be justified as a way to show the ''Gastornis'''s run and the ''Propalaeotherium'' it's after. This one feels like someone bet the animators they couldn't do a low speed OrbitalShot around a ''Hyaenodon'' slipping on the mud while hunting.
*** Because ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Chalicotherium]]'' is not found in Asia until later, [[WordOfGod the crew]] called their beast "chalicothere" and {{handwave}}d it as a close relative of ''Chalicotherium'' that [[http://www.abc.net.au/beasts/evidence/prog3/page3_2.htm has not been discovered yet]].
*** In general, the episode was based on the older Hsanda Ghol Formation but was moved forward in time so it could include chalicotheres and ''Daeodon''-like entelodonts, which are not found in it (and as far we know, could not survive in a desert environment).
** '''Next Of Kin''': ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Deinotherium]]'' entering in "musth" and chasing all the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Australopithecus]]'' they meet just like modern elephants; however, deinotheres ''weren't'' elephants, just distant relatives (as much as we are related to baboons) and we have no proof about such a behaviour. Again, like hyenodonts, only the largest species of ''Deinotherium'' show up (the smaller ones weren't bigger than modern elephants).
*** ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Dinofelis]]'' as a specialized australopitecine killer, being later driven back by a concerted effort of the [[CowardlyLion australopitecine group]]. This is a showcase of Bob Brain's book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?'', where he argued that ''Dinofelis'' preyed mainly on primates and that its extinction happened when hominids got too smart and turned the tables on it. However, there are no australopithecine fossils with ''Dinofelis'' bites. There are australopithecines with leopard bites, but leopards are considerably smaller and they are still around, and also a later hominid species with bites of ''Megantereon'', a sabertoothed cat smaller than ''Dinofelis''. A study using calcium isotopes, though not completely conclusive, found that their sample of ''Dinofelis'' had the results expected of an animal that fed solely on grass-eaters like ungulates, while the ones of ''Megantereon'', leopard and hyena fossils were compatible with predation of omnivores like primates.
*** ''Dinofelis'' was also given a SignatureScene where it climbed a tree carrying a felled ''Australopithecus'' just like leopards do with their prey (and we know leopards did with australopithecines, in fact). However, ''Dinofelis'' was heavier and larger than a leopard, with leg proportions more like a jaguar or a lion. Both can climb trees, but do it more rarely and never take their prey there.
*** The early scene with the male ''Australopithecus'' knuckle-walking and waddling, for no real reason other than to dramatically rise when the narrator says "this ape walks ''upright''".

*** Smilodon being able to run. In Real Life they were laughably slow runners and could barely turn while moving at any speed. They used raw strength and surgical cuts to the throat, not mobility, to make a kill.
*** Regarding the lion-like behavior, ''Smilodon'' is thought to have been a pack-hunter based on evidence from the La Brea Tar Pits, and there is really only one extant species of large pack-hunting cat to base their behavior on.
*** La Brea also tells us that there was no noticeable size difference between male and female ''Smilodon'' like there is in big cats. If ''Smilodon'' lived in packs, these were packs with little male-on-male conflict, like wolf packs, rather than the harem type of lions.
*** Prehistoric Park repeats the trope showing again roaring Smilodons.
*** About roaring ''Smilodons'' according to recent evidence, yes, they could.
*** Setting the [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs obligatory]] ''Smilodon''-centric episode not in the La Brea Tar Pits like [[SmallReferencePools every other documentary]], but in South America just after the Great American Interchange (stated, but all of the species in the episode except the birds had not even evolved yet when the episode was set, they are modern animals). This allowed them to feature the biggest sabertoothed cat ever (''S. populator'', rather than the stock ''S. fatalis''), the biggest ground sloth (''Megatherium''), the biggest and best defended glyptodont (''Doedicurus'') and the weirdest ungulate in the Western hemisphere at that time (''Macrauchenia''). Note that ''Smilodon'' is the only northern immigrant featured while every other taxon originates in South America. If the episode was set before Panama the closest looking thing to ''Smilodon'' would be the less impressive ''[[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110925202917/dinosaurs/images/5/51/Thylacosmilus_lentis.jpg Thylacosmilus]]''. And RealLife ''S. populator'' probably hunted more often other immigrants like horses, llamas and young mastodonts, and worried more about defending its kills from hyena-like dire wolves and the giant bear ''Arctotherium'' than about terror birds and ground sloths.
*** It didn't allow them to use terror birds, who had already disappeared from South America (and we now know, also North America and thus everywhere), but they ignored it.

** '''Mammoth Journey''': The [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Woolly Rhino]] attacking that poor [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Neanderthal]] [[RhinoRampage only a few seconds after having perceived its presence, and without any apparent reason]]. RealLife modern rhinoceroses ''aren't'' normally that aggressive (while elephants can be such, because of their "musth").
*** Subverted/inverted in ''Prehistoric Park''; here the male mammoth does charge Nigel ''and'' the huge rhino ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Elasmotherium]]'' which flees immediately (despite ''Elasmotherium'' weighting 5 tons as much as a male mammoth and had probably more chances to win a fight against the latter, being faster and more agile).
* Walking With Monsters: This one might as well be named "Walking With RuleOfCool". It's filled with it from start to finish. Not counting the "Theia" hypothesis about the Moon's birth presented as fact, we have:

** '''Silurian Period''': Armoured fish ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Cephalaspis]]'' portrayed as a tireless migrant despite it was a bad swimmer in RealLife (and depicted so [[{{CanonDiscontinuity}} just a moment before]] during the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Brontoscorpio]]'''s chase); not to mention that scorpion which moults ''onto land'' instead of into water (with a high risk to get dehydratated...). Also Brontoscorpio being shown instead of the more classic-but-smaller [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Palaeophonus]] to represent the passage from water to land among arthropods. ''Pterygotus'' was also not the largest sea scorpion, that title belongs to a larger relative that lived later.
** '''Devonian Period''': Always-screeching protoamphibian ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Hynerpeton]]'' (shaped upon the iconic ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Ichthyostega]]'') that lays eggs with the same look of a frog's eggs. Also the ''Hyneria'' being used instead of the iconic ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Eusthenopteron]]'' to represent the transition from fish to amphbians because it's larger. And being oversized.
** '''Carboniferous Period''': The most RuleOfCool-filled of all: ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Arthropleura]]'' rearing just like a cobra to frighten enemies, and the giant [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures anthracosaurian]] amphibian ''impaling'' the "giant millipede" after the fight. And [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant spiders]] with ''black venom'' (RealLife spiders have colourless, water-looking poison) and apparently ''laughing sadistically upon its victims'' before destroying the nest of the tiny protoreptile ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Petrolacosaurus]]'' (with the narrator saying "ARTHROPODS ARE BACK!").
** '''Early Permian Period''': The rival female [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Dimetrodon]] chooses to lay her eggs ''just over another Dimetrodon nest'' despite all the endless room available... Interesting that Dimetrodonts are represented in a strong Komodo Dragon-like fashion in this show, despite being mammal relatives (and correctly shown with mammal-like skin instead of scaly, at last). Not to mention the Dimetrodont which [[CameraAbuse sprays dung over the camera]] and the babies which ''dive themselves in dung'' to repel the (alleged) cannibalistic adults...
** '''Late Permian Period''': The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Gorgonopsid]] shown is the largest member of its family (most relatives were much smaller than the near-reptile ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Scutosaurus]]'' which appears as its prey); the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Diictodon]]''s playing a sort of Wack-a-mole with the gorgonopsid; the giant amphibian [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures labirhynthodont]] which produces a "cocoon" just like modern lungfishes (there is no proof of this); and it seems there are ''too many'' Gorgonopsids that manage to survive around such a small lake almost empty of food...
** '''Early Triassic Period''': The herbivorous stem-mammal ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Lystrosaurus]]'' and the croc-like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Proterosuchus]]'' behaving just like modern wildebeest and Nile crocodiles; another stem-mammal, the carnivorous [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles therocephalian]], with a venom so powerful that "it's several times more lethal that a black mamba's" (we don't know even if it was venomous at all, although it has been seriously suggested by palaeontologists.).
* Sea Monsters plays it straight more than any other Walking With continuation: but it may be a bit more justified this time, since the purpose of this program was just showing "the most dangerous prehistoric marine wildlife".

* The books also details many events of from the series much differently, much more violently, and with a bigger emphasis on RuleOfCool and what may be NightmareFuel for some. [[AdaptationExpansion They also include new scenes.]] Examples:

** And perhaps the most violent scene of all: [[spoiler:the ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ankylosaurus]]'' (who is a mother this time) isn't satisfied with "just" breaking the leg and messing up the internal organs of the ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''... it brings her down to the ground, and continues to bash the ''T. rex'''s head with its clubbed-tail into a bloody mess... in front of their kids. The ''Tyrannosaurus'' chicks later drink the blood of their mother.]]

** '''Early Triassic Period''': The herbivorous stem-mammal ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Lystrosaurus]]'' and the croc-like [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles chasmatosaurs]] behaving just like modern wildebeest and Nile crocodiles; another stem-mammal, the carnivorous [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles therocephalian]], with a venom so powerful that "it's several times more lethal that a black mamba's" (we don't know even if it was venomous at all, although it has been seriously suggested by palaeontologists.).

** '''Carboniferous Period''': The most RuleOfCool-filled of all: ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Arthropleura]]'' rearing just like a cobra to frighten enemies, and the giant [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures anthracosaurian]] amphibian ''impaling'' the "giant millipede" after the fight. And [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant spiders]] with ''black venom'' (RealLife spiders have colourless, water-looking poison) and apparently ''laughing sadistically upon its victims'' before destroying the nest of the tiny protoreptile ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Petrolacosaurus]]'' (with the narrator saying "ARTHROPODS ARE BACK!").

** '''Late Permian Period''': The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Gorgonopsid]] shown is the largest member of its family (most relatives were much smaller than the near-reptile ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Scutosaurus]]'' which appears as its prey); the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Diictodon]]''s playing a sort of Wack-a-mole with the gorgonopsid; the giant amphibian [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures labirhynthodont]] which produces a "cocoon" just like modern lungfishes (there is no proof of this); and it seems there are ''too many'' Gorgonopsids that manage to survive around such a small lake almost empty of food...
** '''Early Triassic Period''': The herbivorous stem-mammal ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'' and the croc-like [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles chasmatosaurs]] behaving just like modern wildebeest and Nile crocodiles; another stem-mammal, the carnivorous [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles therocephalian]], with a venom so powerful that "it's several times more lethal that a black mamba's" (we don't know even if it was venomous at all, although it has been seriously suggested by palaeontologists.).

** The special was a two-parter, the other episode being ''The Giant Claw''. Not ''that'' Film/TheGiantClaw, but it also centers around a freaky-looking animal, the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Therizinosaurus]]'', the famed [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]-Film/EdwardScissorhands-{{Wolverine}}-osaurus. It turns out it was actually a gentle herbivore, but not before slapping a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Tarbosaurus]]'' (the Asian "twin" of ''T. rex'') right in the face with those (arguably fragile) claws. Actual (albeit naked) ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]''s are also included, though they are easily scared away by the film crew.
*** Fragile? A fossil has been found of a Tarbosaurus with a fractured skull, probably by a therizinosaur claw or an ankylosaur tail club (it's in the hands of a private collector, though)
*** Talking about the "largest theropod" argument: if a complete ''Therizinosaurus'' skeleton is discovered in the future it could become the ''real'' largest theropod: thanks to its bulky body, it was perhaps ''heavier'' than the modern "biggest one", the sail-backed ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Spinosaurus]]'' (made famous by ''Film/JurassicParkIII''). But don't forget the equally impressive giant ornithomimosaur ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Deinocheirus]]'': if its forelimbs were proportionate to the body, it might result as long as ''Spinosaurus'' and perhaps even taller than it. Let's see the awesome concurrence: both ''Deinocheirus'' and ''Therizinosaurus'' were large herbivorous (at least omnivorous in the case of ''Deinocheirus'') theropods which dispute the record of the "longest forelimbs" among bipedal dinos; both are rather mysterious, since they are mainly known just from their forelimbs which once lead to the belief that they were predators even more powerful than ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''; and both lived in the same habitat, were described in the same country (Mongolia) and entered the dinosaur list in the same period (the 1970's)! It will be awesome to see a ''Therizinosaurus'' vs ''Deinocheirus'' fight; or, alternatively, ''Deinocheirus'' vs ''Tarbosaurus''.

** While in the series, the giant pterosaur ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]'' just catches a fish, eats it, and then flies away, in the book, the poor thing is mangled and pulled into the lake by a bunch of giant crocs ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Deinosuchus]]''.

*** A ''[[EverythingIsEvenWorseWithSharks Physogaleus]]'' grabbing an ''Apidium'' sitting outside the water. A crocodile would be more likely.
** '''Land Of Giants''': Among the several ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Hyaenodon]]'' species of different size (from a small dog to a large cow), the largest of them all was chosen, and the narrator claimed they were the size of a ''rhinoceros''. Also, "[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals bear-dogs]]" (only distant relatives of modern canids) [[AllAnimalsAreDogs acting just like actual dogs]].

*** Because ''Chalicotherium'' is not found in Asia until later, [[WordOfGod the crew]] called their beast "chalicothere" and {{handwave}}d it as a close relative of ''Chalicotherium'' that [[http://www.abc.net.au/beasts/evidence/prog3/page3_2.htm has not been discovered yet]].

** '''Next Of Kin''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMAmmals Deinotherium]]'' entering in "musth" and chasing all the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Australopithecus]]'' they meet just like modern elephants; however, deinotheres ''weren't'' elephants, just distant relatives (as much as we are related to baboons) and we have no proof about such a behaviour. Again, like hyenodonts, only the largest species of ''Deinotherium'' show up (the smaller ones weren't bigger than modern elephants).
*** ''Dinofelis'' as a specialized australopitecine killer, being later driven back by a concerted effort of the [[CowardlyLion australopitecine group]]. This is a showcase of Bob Brain's book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?'', where he argued that ''Dinofelis'' preyed mainly on primates and that its extinction happened when hominids got too smart and turned the tables on it. However, there are no australopithecine fossils with ''Dinofelis'' bites. There are australopithecines with leopard bites, but leopards are considerably smaller and they are still around, and also a later hominid species with bites of ''Megantereon'', a sabertoothed cat smaller than ''Dinofelis''. A study using calcium isotopes, though not completely conclusive, found that their sample of ''Dinofelis'' had the results expected of an animal that fed solely on grass-eaters like ungulates, while the ones of ''Megantereon'', leopard and hyena fossils were compatible with predation of omnivores like primates.

*** Subverted/inverted in ''Prehistoric Park''; here the male mammoth does charge Nigel ''and'' the huge rhino ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Elasmotherium]]'' which flees immediately (despite ''Elasmotherium'' weighting 5 tons as much as a male mammoth and had probably more chances to win a fight against the latter, being faster and more agile).

** '''Cambrian Period''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Anomalocaris]]'' fighting each other without any apparent reason, and the tiny vertebrate-ancestor ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Haikhouichthys]]'' scavenging the flesh of the loser ''Anomalocaris'' just like modern hagfish and lampreys; [[note]]Modern jawless vertebrates such as lampreys and hagfish are very specialized animals, while ''Hakhouichthys'', being a very early animal, was more likely a filter-feeder, see UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLife.[[/note]] Also, the only true Cambrian invertebrate shown is, naturally, the first superpredator Anomalocaris (The others are [[AnachronismStew generic trilobites]].
** '''Silurian Period''': Armoured fish ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Cephalaspis]]'' portrayed as a tireless migrant despite it was a bad swimmer in RealLife (and depicted so [[{{CanonDiscontinuity}} just a moment before]] during the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Brontoscorpio]]'''s chase); not to mention that scorpion which moults ''onto land'' instead of into water (with a high risk to get dehydratated...). Also Brontoscorpio being shown instead of the more classic-but-smaller [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Palaeophonus]] to represent the passage from water to land among arthropods. ''Pterygotus'' was also not the largest sea scorpion, that title belongs to a larger relative that lived later.
** '''Devonian Period''': Always-screeching protoamphibian ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Hynerpeton]]'' (shaped upon the iconic ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Ichthyostega]]'') that lays eggs with the same look of a frog's eggs. Also the [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Hyneria]] being used instead of the iconic [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures Eusthenopteron]] to represent the transition from fish to amphbians because it's larger. And being oversized.

*** Also note that this episode (placed in Late Jurassic North America) is the most StockDinosaurs-filled of the six of WWD: we can see the largest/most striking animals of each subgroup, but not their smaller relatives just because they aren't spectacular enough (with the notable exception of an unnamed small bipedal herbivore similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Othnielia]]''). We can see ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' but not the smaller, horned ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ceratosaurus]]'' (very common in old films but very rare in modern TV); ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Diplodocus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Brachiosaurus]]'' but not ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeSauropods Camarasaurus]]'' [[note]]''Camarasaurus'' was the most common dinosaur of that habitat and was huge like its relatives, but since it didn't bear any record in length, height or weight, it was probably judged as "not cool enough"[[/note]]; the iconic ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Stegosaurus]]'' shows up while ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'''s relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Camptosaurus]]'' is absent being not so impressive-looking (never mind ''Camptosaurus'' was probably the main prey of ''Allosaurus''), and the robustly built ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Ornitholestes]]'' instead of the slenderer ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Coelurus]]'' (although the latter appears in the book).

*** The fact that [[MisplacedWildlife North American]] dromaesaurids appear in this episode at all, for that matter (and do the purely speculative pack hunting their [[RaptorAttack media appearances]] are known for). Apparently the lesser known spinosaurid ''Baryonyx'' was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]] going to appear in their place.

*** The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'' relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Muttaburrasaurus]]'' with air sacs to produce loud sounds: this one is a classic (but not demonstrated) theory about several iguanodontians and hadrosaurs including ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurs Edmontosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurs Saurolophus]]''.

** '''Death Of A Dynasty''': [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Dromaeosaurus]] living alongside ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''. It may be considered an example of RuleOfCool since dromaeosaurid remains coming from that period are very scanty, while those of the better-known but less dramatic relative ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' are much more complete (however Prehistoric Park averted it showing the latter in the small predator role).

*** Weirdly inverted with ''Quetzalcoatlus''; even if it wasn't known as a giant stork-like pteroaur [[note]]although this suggestion for their habits had been around since at least the early 90's, so they could easily have opted for that if they wanted to be "edgy"[[/note]], at the time it was commonly depicted as a giant vulture/marabou like scavenger. Instead, they opted for an ''Ornithocheirus'' like fish eater (nevermind that it lived inland and was found nowhere near the coast, as the episode implied it was a vagrant from the sea), not even dignifying it with a mention of its status as the second largest flying animal that ever lived.

*** ''Gastornis'' portrayed as the apex predator of Eocene Europe, and the implication that flightless birds were the dominant predators all over the world in that time. Even the partidaries of carnivorous ''Gastornis'' (and [[ScienceMarchesOn this is now disproven]]) agreed that it was not built for speed and had to be an ambush predator, but the show's version sprints after its prey all the time. Other predators like creodont mammals and especially running crocodiles are ignored.

** '''Whale Killer''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Basilosaurus]]'' throwing a shark in the air just like orcas do with seals. And 60 tons seem too much for this very long but slender cetacean (perhaps 20 tons is a more reasonable measure).

*** ''Andrewsarchus'', at the time believed to be the largest mesonychid ever, as the representative of this group in the series, even though the genus is known almost exclusively from a jawless skull.

*** ''Dinofelis'' as a specialized australopitecine killer, being [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome later driven back]] by a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming concerted effort]] of the [[CowardlyLion australopitecine group]]. This is a showcase of Bob Brain's book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?'', where he argued that ''Dinofelis'' preyed mainly on primates and that its extinction happened when hominids got too smart and turned the tables on it. However, there are no australopithecine fossils with ''Dinofelis'' bites. There are australopithecines with leopard bites, but leopards are considerably smaller and they are still around, and also a later hominid species with bites of ''Megantereon'', a sabertoothed cat smaller than ''Dinofelis''. A study using calcium isotopes, though not completely conclusive, found that their sample of ''Dinofelis'' had the results expected of an animal that fed solely on grass-eaters like ungulates, while the ones of ''Megantereon'', leopard and hyena fossils were compatible with predation of omnivores like primates.

** '''Early Triassic Period''': The herbivorous stem-mammal ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosarianReptiles Lystrosaurus]]'' and the croc-like [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles chasmatosaurs]] behaving just like modern wildebeest and Nile crocodiles; another stem-mammal, the carnivorous [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles therocephalian]], with a venom so powerful that "it's several times more lethal that a black mamba's" (we don't know even if it was venomous at all, although it has been seriously suggested by palaeontologists.).

*** Other example is the whale-ancestor ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Ambulocetus]]'' portrayed just like modern Nile Crocodiles are in most documentaries, feeding only upon land mammals, while in RealLife it probably ate mostly fish (just like Nile crocodiles do). Not to mention dropping it on the will-be German Messel Shales and handwaving it as a vagrant animal far from its coastal range.

*** Talking about the "largest theropod" argument: if a complete ''Therizinosaurus'' skeleton is discovered in the future it could become the ''real'' largest theropod: thanks to its bulky body, it was perhaps ''heavier'' than the modern "biggest one", the sail-backed ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Spinosaurus]]'' (made famous by ''Film/JurassicParkIII''). But don't forget the equally impressive giant ornithomimid ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Deinocheirus]]'': if its forelimbs were proportionate to the body, it might result as long as ''Spinosaurus'' and perhaps even taller than it. Let's see the awesome concurrence: both ''Deinocheirus'' and ''Therizinosaurus'' were large herbivorous (at least omnivorous in the case of ''Deinocheirus'') theropods which dispute the record of the "longest forelimbs" among bipedal dinos; both are rather mysterious, since they are mainly known just from their forelimbs which once lead to the belief that they were predators even more powerful than ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''; and both lived in the same habitat, were described in the same country (Mongolia) and entered the dinosaur list in the same period (the 1970's)! It will be awesome to see a ''Therizinosaurus'' vs ''Deinocheirus'' fight; or, alternatively, ''Deinocheirus'' vs ''Tarbosaurus''.
*** The rest of the body of ''Deinocheirus'' has now been found. While it had a much lighter build than Therizinosaurus, it was probably one of the tallest, if not ''the'' tallest, of all theropod dinosaurs. Depending on whether it's row of extended spines sported a sail, a clump of muscles or a hump of fat, it could have been remarkably powerful creature.
* The books also detail many events of from the series much differently, much more violently, and with a bigger emphasis on RuleOfCool and what may be NightmareFuel for some. [[AdaptationExpansion They also include new scenes.]] Examples:

*** The rest of the body of Deinocheirus has now been found. While it had a much lighter build than Therizinosaurus, it was probably one of the tallest, if not ''the'' tallest, of all theropod dinosaurs. Depending on whether it's row of extended spines sported a sail, a clump of muscles or a hump of fat, it could have been remarkably powerful creature.

*** Only one skeleton (the type fossil) can be attributed with security to ''Leaellynasaura'', and all other possible remains are isolated leg bones whose assignation is problematic. So all this talk of ''Leaellynasaura'' being social and hyerarchic and building communal nests is speculative, but it was the show's way to show ''Leallynasaura'' surviving the Antarctic winter. Interestingly, remains of individual burrows, only a few million years younger, [[ScienceMarchesOn have been found in the area since then]].

*** It's interesting, though, that T. rex and Ceratopsians ''do not battle'' this time (don't worry, they'll fight each other in ''Prehistoric Park''...)

*** Weirdly inverted with ''Quetzalcoatlus''; even if it wasn't known as a giant stork-like pteroaur [[note]]although this suggestion for their habits had been around since at least the early 90's, so they could easily have opted for that if they wanted to be "edgy"[[/note]], at the time it was commonly depicted as a giant vulture/marabou like scavenger. Instead, they opted for an ''Ornithocheirus'' like fish eater (nevermind that it lived inland and was found nowhere near the coast, as the episode implied it was a vagrant from the sea), not even dignifying it with a mention of it's status as the second largest flying animal that ever lived.

** '''New Dawn''': Carnivorous [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant ants]]....just that. We don't know if they were really that voracious or ''even'' if they were carnivorous at all.
*** Other example is the whale-ancestor ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Ambulocetus]]'' portrayed just like modern Nile Crocodiles are in most documentaries, feeding only upon land mammals, while in RealLife it probably ate mostly fish (just like Nile crocodiles). Not to mention dropping it on the will-be German Messel Shales and handwaving it as a vagrant animal far from its coastal range.
*** ''Gastornis'' being portrayed as the apex predator of Eocene Europe, plus the implication that flightless birds were the dominant predators all over the world in that time. Even the partidaries of ''Gastornis'' being carnivorous (and this has been disproved) agreed that it was not built for speed and had to be a strict ambush predator, but the show's version sprints after its prey all the time. Other predators like creodont mammals and especially running crocodiles are ignored.

*** The hungry ''Basilosaurus'' looking for food in a mangrove swamp, as a way to introduce a new cool looking location and the El Fayum fossil faunas. Even the narration clarifies that this is extremely rare.
*** ''Andrewsarchus'', at the time believed to be the largest mesonychid ever, as the representative of this group in the series, even though the genus is known solely from a jawless skull.

** '''Land Of Giants''': Among the several ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Hyaenodon]]'' species of different size (from a small dog to a large cow), the largest of them all was chosen. Also, "[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals bear-dogs]]" (only distant relatives of modern canids) [[AllAnimalsAreDogs acting just like actual dogs]].

** '''Next Of Kin''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMAmmals Deinotherium]]'' entering in "musth" and chasing all the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Australopithecus]]'' they meet just like modern elephants; however, deinotheres ''weren't'' elephants at all, just distant relatives (as much as we are related to baboons) and we have no proof about such a behaviour. Again, like hyenodonts, only the largest species of ''Deinotherium'' show up (the smaller one weren't bigger than modern elephants).

*** It is also unlikely that ''Dinofelis'', being the largest predator around, would climb trees carrying its prey like a leopard, given that leopards do this to keep their meal safe from larger predators like lions (who have ''Dinofelis''' size, and don't climb trees).

** '''Mammoth Journey''': The [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Woolly Rhino]] attacking that poor [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Neanderthal]] [[RhinoRampage only few second after having perceived its presence, and without any apparent reason]]. RealLife modern rhinoceroses ''aren't'' normally that aggressive (while elephants ''can'' be such because of their "musth").
*** Subverted/inverted in ''Prehistoric Park''; here the male mammoth does charge Nigel ''and'' the huge rhino ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Elasmotherium]]'' which flees immediately (despite ''Elasmotherium'' weighs 5 tons as much as a male mammoth and has probably more chances to win a fight against the latter, being faster and more agile).
* Walking With Monsters: Actually, this one might as well be named "Walking With RuleOfCool", it's filled with it from start to finish. Not counting the "Theia" hypothesis about the Moon's birth presented as fact, we have:

*** The large Mid-Jurassic carnivore ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Eustreptospondylus]]'' shown surviving in [[AnachronismStew Late Jurassic]] islets (the stock ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Compsognathus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Archaeopteryx]]'' did inhabit these islands at that epoch, but they were probably not spectacular enough for [[TheWorfScene iconic opening scene]]).

*** Another possible example of RuleOfCool is the pack of ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Coelophysis]]'' being capable of ripping off the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Postosuchus]]'''s tough skin with their weak jaws.

*** Also note that this episode (placed in Late Jurassic North America) is the most StockDinosaurs-filled of the six of WWD: we can see the largest/most striking animals of each subgroup, but not their smaller relatives just because aren't spectacular enough (with the notable exception of an unnamed small bipedal herbivore similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Othnielia]]''). We can see ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' but not the smaller, horned ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ceratosaurus]]'' (very common in old films but very rare in modern TV); ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Diplodocus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Brachiosaurus]]'' but not ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeSauropods Camarasaurus]]'' [[note]]''Camarasaurus'' was the most common dinosaur of that habitat and was huge like its relatives, but since it didn't bear any record in length, height or weight, it was probably judged as "not cool enough"[[/note]]; the iconic ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Stegosaurus]]'' shows up while ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'''s relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Camptosaurus]]'' is absent being not so impressive-looking (never mind ''Camptosaurus'' was probably the main prey of ''Allosaurus''), and the robustly built ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Ornitholestes]]'' instead of the slenderer ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Coelurus]]'' (although the latter appears in the book).

** '''Cruel Sea''': ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Liopleurodon]]'' was not ''that'' big (1 ton and 20 ft seem more reasonable measures than 150 tons and 80 ft), nor was the largest carnivorous animal ever lived. The narrator tries to [[HandWaved handwave]] it mentioning that it was an unusually large specimen, not to mention extremely old, over one-hundred years in age.
*** The large Mid-Jurassic carnivore ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Eustreptospondylus]]'' shown surviving in [[AnachronismStew Late Jurassic]] islets (the stock ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Compsognathus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Archaeopteryx]]'' did inhabit these islands at that epoch, but they were probably not spectacular enough).

** '''Giant Of The Skies''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Ornithocheirus]]'' wasn't the largest pterosaur ever, and like ''Liopleurodon'' it wasn't ''that'' big anyway as shown in the program (best estimates say a wingspan of 20 ft, while other pterosaurs reached 39 ft). We can also add the ZergRush -like full bird attack against the old gigantic pterosaur.
*** And then, among Early Cretaceous dromaeosaurids, the 18ft long ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Utahraptor]]'' was preferred to the much smaller ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Deinonychus]]'', despite the former is far less-known scientifically than the latter. It's interesting though, that WWD Utahraptors are portrayed with the body and skull design ''Deinonychus'' was thought to have: thus ''Deinonychus'' ''was'' represented in the show in an indirect way (much like the ''Film/JurassicPark'' "velociraptors"), but this time is justified, since we don't know how ''Utahraptor'''s head looked since its skull has never been discovered except for the very end of its snout).
** '''Spirits Of The Ice Forest''': This is the most speculative of the six episode of WWD, because dinosaurs from Cretaceous Australia are poorly-known compared to those from other habitats. One may add that all the animals portrayed seem more or less oversized in respect to their RealLife counterparts.
*** The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'' relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Muttaburrasaurus]]'' with air sacs for making loud sounds: this one is a classic (but not demonstrated) theory regarding some iguanodontians and hadrosaurs like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurs Edmontosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurs Saurolophus]]'' because of the shape of their skull.
*** Only one known skeleton (the type fossil) can be attributed with security to ''Leaellynasaura'', and all other possible remains are isolated leg bones whose assignation is problematic. All the talk of ''Leaellynasaura'' being social and hyerarchic and building communal nests is speculative.

** '''New Blood''': There is no proof of cannibalism in [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Triassic cynodonts]].

** '''Cruel Sea''': ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Liopleurodon]]'' was not ''that'' big (1 ton and 20 ft seem more reasonable measures than 150 tons and 80 ft), nor was the largest carnivorous animal ever lived. The narrator tries to [[HandWaved handwave]] it mentioning that it was an unusually large specimen, not to mention extremely old, over one-hundred years in age.

*** The plesiosaur ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Cryptocleidus]]'' weighed much less than eight tons in RealLife (perhaps its much larger relative ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Elasmosaurus]]'' did weigh so).

** '''Sabre Tooth''': ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' roaring just like lions (only felids pertaining to the modern genus ''[[PantheraAwesome Panthera]]'' can roar thanks to their specialized larynxes), and showing the same let's-kill-all-the-cubs behaviour typical of modern lions. But the most awesome example is the giant sloth ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Megatherium]]'' stealing a carcass to Smilodons [[spoiler: and killing one of them in the process]].

*** Setting the [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs obligatory]] ''Smilodon''-centric episode not in the La Brea Tar Pits like [[SmallReferencePools every other documentary]], but in South America just after the Great American Interchange (stated, but all of the species in the episode except the birds had not even evolved yet when the episode was set, they are modern animals). This allowed them to feature the biggest sabertoothed cat ever (''S. populator'', rather than the stock ''S. fatalis''), the biggest ground sloth (''Megatherium''), the biggest and best defended glyptodont (''Doedicurus'') and the weirdest ungulate in the Western hemisphere at that time (''Macrauchenia''). Note that ''Smilodon'' is the only northern immigrant featured while every other taxon originates in South America. If the episode was set before Panama the closest looking thing to ''Smilodon'' would be the less impressive ''[[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110925202917/dinosaurs/images/5/51/Thylacosmilus_lentis.jpg Thylacosmilus]]''. And RealLife ''S. populator'' probably hunted more often other immigrants like horses, llamas and young mastodonts, and worried more about defending its kills from hyena-like dire wolves and the giant bear ''Arctotherium'' than about terror birds and ground sloths.

** '''Mammoth Journey''': The [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Woolly Rhino]] attacking that poor [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Neanderthal]] [[RhinoRampage only few second after having perceived its presence, and without any apparent reason]]. RealLife modern rhinoceroses ''aren't'' normally that aggressive (while elephants ''can'' be such because of their "musth").

** '''Early Permian Period''': The rival female [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Dimetrodon]] chooses to lay her eggs ''just over another Dimetrodon nest'' despite all the endless room available... Interesting that Dimetrodonts are represented in a strong Komodo Dragon-like fashion in this show, despite being mammal relatives (and correctly shown with mammal-like skin instead of scaly, at last). Not to mention the Dimetrodont which [[CameraAbuse sprays dung over the camera]] and the babies which ''dive themselves in dung'' to repel the (alleged) cannibalistic adults...

*** However it's worth noting that the stock sea reptile ''[[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Elasmosaurus]]'' shows up accurately at last, with relatively stiff necks (and not snake- or swan-like as seen in almost every other portrait).

** [[TheWoobie As if he hadn't suffered enough already]], the male ''Ornithocheirus'' from "Giant of the Skies" gets physically attacked everytime he tries to land on the mating grounds; he's bitten by the other males, pecked at until his head starts bleeding and has his wings ''torn to shreds'' before dying of his injuries a while later. In the episode, the other males just yell at him until he leaves and he dies of exhaustion, heat stress and starvation.

*** Another possible example of RuleOfCool is the pack of ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Coelophysis]]'' being capable of ripping off the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Postosuchus]]'''s tough skin with their weak jaws.
** '''Time Of The Titans''': We're unsure about [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs stegosaurs]] using their plates to frighten predators (though their plates didn't flush red from blood, being covered in horn and all), but it's cooler showing them this way; the same thing about the symbiotic behaviour in the tiny pterosaur called ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Anurognathus]]''.
*** Also note that this episode (placed in Late Jurassic North America) is the most StockDinosaurs-filled of the six of WWD: we can see the largest/most striking animals of each subgroup, but not their smaller relatives just because aren't spectacular enough (with the notable exception of an unnamed small bipedal herbivore similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Othnielia]]''). We can see ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' but not the smaller, horned ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ceratosaurus]]'' (very common in old films but very rare in modern TV); ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Diplodocus]]'' and ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Brachiosaurus]]'' but not ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeSauropods Camarasaurus]]'' [[note]]''Camarasaurus'' was the most common dinosaur of that habitat and was huge like its relatives, but since it didn't bear any record in length, height or weight, it was probably judged as "not cool enough"[[/note]]; the iconic ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Stegosaurus]]'' shows up while ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'''s relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Camptosaurus]]'' is absent being not so impressive-looking (never mind ''Camptosaurus'' was probably the main prey of ''Allosaurus''), and the robustly built ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Ornitholestes]]'' instead of the slenderer ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Coelurus]]'' (although the latter appears in the book).
*** The "Ballad of Big Al" (also placed in the same habitat) had the possibility to add more non-stock animals as well, but producers decided instead to add only one dino, a stock one (and how!): ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Apatosaurus]]'' aka ''Brontosaurus''.

*** The large Mid-Jurassic carnivore ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Eustreptospondylus]]'' shown surviving in [[AnachronismStew Late Jurassic]] islets (the stock ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Compsognathus]]'' and ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Archaeopteryx]]'' did inhabit these islands at that epoch, but they were probably not spectacular enough).

*** And then, among Early Cretaceous dromaeosaurids, the 18ft long ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Utahraptor]]'' was preferred to the much smaller ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Deinonychus]]'', despite the former is far less-known scientifically than the latter. It's interesting though, that WWD Utahraptors are portrayed with the body and skull design ''Deinonychus'' was thought to have: thus ''Deinonychus'' ''was'' represented in the show in an indirect way (much like the ''Film/JurassicPark'' "velociraptors"), but this time is justified, since we don't know how ''Utahraptor'''s head looked since its skull has never been discovered except for the very end of its snout).

*** The ''[[STockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'' relative ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurPredecessors Muttaburrasaurus]]'' with air sacs for making loud sounds: this one is a classic (but not demonstrated) theory regarding some iguanodontians and hadrosaurs like ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurs Edmontosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeHadrosaurs Saurolophus]]'' because of the shape of their skull.

** '''Death Of A Dynasty''': [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Dromaeosaurus]] living alongside ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''. It may be considered an example of RuleOfCool since dromaeosaurid remains coming from that period are very scanty, while those of the better-known but less dramatic relative ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Troodon]]'' are much more complete (however Prehistoric Park averted it showing the latter in the small predator role).

*** However in the companion book, a ''Tyrannosaurus'' does bring down a wounded ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeCeratopsids Torosaurus]]'' (in the series, it survives and the ''rex'' is shown eating a ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Triceratops]]'').

* Related to the ''Sea Monsters'' example above, the ''Land of Giants'' special also details Nigel Marven's efforts to track down the largest of all the dinosaurs and the biggest land predator ever: ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Argentinosaurus]]'' and ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Giganotosaurus]]'', respectively. We get to see a whole pack of ''Giganotosaurus'' bring down a small ''Argentinosaurus'', but if this wasn't cool enough for the viewers, they included a scene of Nigel's plane flying alongside a (still oversized) ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Ornithocheirus]]'', and as the icing on the cake, included the gigantic crocodilian ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Sarcosuchus]]''. Naturally, recent studies indicate ''Giganotosaurus'' wasn't the largest carnivorous dinosaur, and there may have been bigger dinosaurs than ''Argentinosaurus'', but at the time it was made, they were considered record-holders.
** The special was a two-parter, the other episode being ''The Giant Claw''. Not ''that'' Film/TheGiantClaw, but it also centers around a freaky-looking animal, the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Therizinosaurus]]'', the famed [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]-Film/EdwardScissorhands-{{Wolverine}}-osaurus. It turns out it was actually a gentle herbivore, but not before slapping a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Tarbosaurus]]'' (the Asian "twin" of ''T. rex'') right in the face with those (arguably fragile) claws. Actual (albeit naked) ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]''s are also included, though they are easily scared away by the film crew.

*** Talking about the "largest theropod" argument: if a complete ''Therizinosaurus'' skeleton is discovered in the future it could become the ''real'' largest theropod: thanks to its bulky body, it was perhaps ''heavier'' than the modern "biggest one", the sail-backed ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Spinosaurus]]'' (made famous by ''Film/JurassicParkIII''). But don't forget the equally impressive giant ornithomimid ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Deinocheirus]]'': if its forelimbs were proportionate to the body, it might result as long as ''Spinosaurus'' and perhaps even taller than it. Let's see the awesome concurrence: both ''Deinocheirus'' and ''Therizinosaurus'' were large herbivorous (at least omnivorous in the case of ''Deinocheirus'') theropods which dispute the record of the "longest forelimbs" among bipedal dinos; both are rather mysterious, since they are mainly known just from their forelimbs which once lead to the belief that they were predators even more powerful than ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''; and both lived in the same habitat, were described in the same country (Mongolia) and entered the dinosaur list in the same period (the 1970's)! It will be awesome to see a ''Therizinosaurus'' vs ''Deinocheirus'' fight; or, alternatively, ''Deinocheirus'' vs ''Tarbosaurus''.

** The wounded ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Postosuchus]]'' puts up a real fight, and manages to snatch a ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Coelophysis]]'' before they overwhelm it.
** A herd of ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Diplodocus]]'' mowing down a group of small predatory ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherSmallTheropods Coelurus]]'' with their spiky necks.
** The ''[[STockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]''-scene in the small canyon involves more predators (although the ''Allosaurus'' attack from the end is missing).

** While in the series, the giant pterosaur ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus]]'' just catches a fish, eats it, and then flies away, in the book, the poor thing is mangled and pulled into the lake by a bunch of giant crocs ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Deinosuchus]]''.
** And perhaps the most violent scene of all: [[spoiler:the ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Ankylosaurus]]'' (who is a mother this time) isn't satisfied with "just" breaking the leg and messing up the internal organs of the ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs T. rex]]''... it brings her down to the ground, and continues to bash the ''T. rex'''s head with its clubbed-tail into a bloody mess... in front of their kids. The ''Tyrannosaurus'' chicks later drink the blood of their mother.]]

** '''Time Of The Titans''': We're unsure about [[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs stegosaurs]] using their plates to frighten predators, but it's cooler showing them this way; the same thing about the symbiotic behaviour in the tiny pterosaur called ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Anurognathus]]''.

** '''Giant Of The Skies''': ''[[UsefulNotes/PRehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles Ornithocheirus]]'' wasn't the largest pterosaur ever, and like ''Liopleurodon'' it wasn't ''that'' big anyway as shown in the program (best estimates say a wingspan of 20 ft, while other pterosaurs reached 39 ft). We can also add the ZergRush -like full bird attack against the old gigantic pterosaur.

*** Though it was mentioned in the narration as a "13-meter giant", so it's possible that the writers simply felt that having to add onto that the explicit statement that it was the largest flying vertebrate ever would just be [[ViewersAreMorons insulting the viewer's intelligence]].

*** ''Dinofelis'' as a specialized australopitecine killer, being [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome later driven back]] by a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming concerted effort]] of the [[CowardlyLion australopitecine group]]. This is a showcase of Bob Brain's book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?'', where he argued that ''Dinofelis'' preyed mainly on primates and that its extinction happened when hominids got too smart and turned the tables on it. However, there are no australopithecine fossils with ''Dinofelis'' bites - there are with leopard bites, but leopards are considerably smaller and they are still around, and also a later hominid species with bites of ''Megantereon'', a sabertoothed cat smaller than ''Dinofelis''.[[note]]A study of calcium isotopes, though far less conclusive, found that their sample of ''Dinofelis'' had the results expected for an animal that fed solely on grass-eaters like ungulates, while the ones for ''Megantereon'', leopard and hyena were compatible with predation of omnivores like primates.[[/note]]
*** The early scene with the male ''Australopithecus'' knuckle-walking and waddling, for no real reason than to dramatically get up when the narrator says "this ape walks upright".

*** The pack's younger females testing their hunting abilities on a ''Doedicurus'', a car-sized glyptodont with a flail-like tail. Surely there wasn't a less dangerous candidate?

**** To be fair, the narration makes a point of mentioning that, because ''Postosuchus'''s hide was so tough, the ''Coelophysis'' used their narrow snouts to pick at the meat ''underneath'' the hide (which was accessible through the gaps in the armor), essentially eating ''Postosuchus'' from the inside out.

*** To be fair, there is fragmentary evidence of very large Liopleurodons or similar giant Pliosaurs implying they may have grown up to 70 ft.

**** Actually, skip that bit. It turns out ''Basilosaurus'' was actually a shallow-water specialist and the real error is the fact it was driven there by starvation, rather than living there its entire life. In fact its fossils have been found in El Fayum. The nonexistent inability to hunt in shallow water was put to make the situation more desperate for the protagonist, but in RealLife the shallows would have been where it had its greatest advantage.

** The special was a two-parter, the other episode being ''The Giant Claw''. Not ''that'' TheGiantClaw, but it also centers around a freaky-looking animal, the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Therizinosaurus]]'', the famed [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]-Film/EdwardScissorhands-{{Wolverine}}-osaurus. It turns out it was actually a gentle herbivore, but not before slapping a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Tarbosaurus]]'' (the Asian "twin" of ''T. rex'') right in the face with those (arguably fragile) claws. Actual (albeit naked) ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]''s are also included, though they are easily scared away by the film crew.

** Inverted with the fact they did not show the other giant marine predator from Megalodon't ocean (and boy there are A LOT of giant marine predators in that time, much more than the Cretaceous)

*** Setting the [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs obligatory]] ''Smilodon''-centric episode not in the La Brea Tar Pits like [[SmallReferencePools every other documentary]], but in South America just after the Great American Interchange. This allowed them to feature the biggest sabertoothed cat ever (''S. populator'', rather than the stock ''S. fatalis''), the biggest ground sloth (''Megatherium''), the biggest and best defended glyptodont (''Doedicurus'') and the weirdest ungulate in the Western hemisphere at that time (''Macrauchenia''). Note that ''Smilodon'' is the only northern immigrant featured while every other taxon originates in South America. If the episode was set before Panama the closest looking thing to ''Smilodon'' would be the less impressive ''[[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110925202917/dinosaurs/images/5/51/Thylacosmilus_lentis.jpg Thylacosmilus]]''. And RealLife ''S. populator'' probably hunted more often other immigrants like horses, llamas and young mastodonts, and worried more about defending its kills from hyena-like dire wolves and the giant bear ''Arctotherium'' than about terror birds and ground sloths.