History Series / WalkingWithBeasts

** Averted in 'Mammoth Journey', where the humans (neanderthals ''and'' modern humans) are treated like any other predator, and the mammoths are the clear protagonists.
*** Just to be clear how much this is averted, in "Mammoth Journey" a mammoth bull casually finds two cave lions ''feeding on a dead man.'' We don't even see how he died, only the mammoth scaring the lions away because they are on his path. The narrator also matter-of-factly reveals -- just after their successful hunt of the mammoths -- that neanderthals will die out within the next few thousand years, in the same tone given to any other species on the show that went extinct.

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* MatchCut: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve3m8phIVno brilliant cut]] from a ''Homo sapiens'' carving a mammoth sculpture from wood, to it appearing eons later in an exhibit at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

* '''New Dawn:''' (49 MYA, Germany) In the early Eocene, several million years following the K/T extinction, giant, flightless predatory birds like ''Gastornis'' are portrayed as the dominant species, while small mammals like the hopping ''Leptictidium'', the ancestral horse ''Propalaeotherium'' and the early primate ''Godinotia'' are potentially easy prey for them (and, more sporadically, the early semi-aquatic whale ''Ambulocetus'').

* '''Next of Kin''' (3.2 MYA, Ethiopia) An orphan member of a tribe of the early human-ancestors ''Australopithecus'' must struggle to gain acceptance among his group within the cutthroat landscape of Pliocene east Africa.
* '''Sabre Tooth''' (1 MYA, Paraguay) Early in the Pleistocene, a saber-toothed cat ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' named Half-Tooth has his pride taken away from him by a brotherly pair of rival males and must eke out a living alone in the South American pampas grasslands amongst heavily-armoured glyptodonts, elephant-size ground sloths and nine-foot predatory "terror birds".
* '''Mammoth Journey''' (30 KYA, Western Europe) During the late Pelistocene, a herd of woolly mammoths begin their annual migration from the North Sea (a dry plain in this time) to the Swiss Alps for the winter, and must brave the harsh elements and the hungry predators (including cave lions and early human hunter-gatherers) to reach their destination.

* '''New Dawn:''' (49 MYA, Germany) In the early Eocene, near the start of the Mammal Age, giant flightless birds like ''Gastornis'' are portrayed as the dominant species, while small mammals like ''Leptictidium'', ''Propalaeotherium'' and ''Godinotia'' are potentially easy prey for them.
* '''Whale Killer''' (36 MYA, Tethys Sea) A pregnant specimen of the early toothed whale ''Basilosaurus'' is obligated to go to extreme methods to feed herself and her unborn calf.
* '''Land of Giants''' (25 MYA, Mongolia) A young ''Paraceratherium'' (a.k.a. ''Indricotherium'') must endure the hardships of the Mongolian desert on its journey to become the largest land mammal to roam the Earth.
* '''Next of Kin''' (3.2 MYA, Ethiopia) An orphan member of a tribe of the early human-ancestors ''Australopithecus'' must struggle to gain acceptance among his group.
* '''Sabre Tooth''' (1 MYA, Paraguay) A saber-toothed cat ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' named Half-Tooth has his pride taken away from him by a brotherly pair of rival males.
* '''Mammoth Journey''' (30 KYA, Western Europe) A herd of Woolly Mammoths begin their annual migration from the North Sea (a dry plain in this time) to the Swiss Alps for the winter, and must brave the harsh elements and the hungry predators to get there, including early man.

** "Land of Giants" includes a chalicothere based on, well, ''Chalicotherium'' -- which appeared slightly later in real life. The [[AllThereInTheManual accompanying material]] {{handwave}}s this as the chalicothere being a currently undiscovered close relative of the later species.
** The bear-dog in the same episode is based on ''Cynodictis'', which was already extinct. This is probably why it is also called a "bear dog" and not ''Cynodictis''.
** In the episode "Saber Tooth", the terror bird ''Phorusrhacos'' is featured as a lesser rival predator to ''Smilodon''. However, by the time the episode is set, all terror birds had already gone extinct (the case of the Miocene ''Phorusrhacos'' being present in the Pleistocene falls under ScienceMarchesOn, as it was once thought younger terror bird species belonged under ''Phorusrhacos'').

* InferredHolocaust: In-universe. Many episodes end with a remark about how the climate shifted later and the species portrayed disappeared with no modern descendants. While this is averted in "Next of Kin", which ends on a [[TheyReallyDoLoveEachOther positive note]] and ''Australopithecus'' being lauded as a [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman forefather to Humanity]], the sequel series ''Series/WalkingWithCavemen'' tells explicitely that a climate change at the beginning of the Pleistocene drove to extinction ''Ancylotherium'', ''Deinotherium'', ''Dinofelis'' and the ''Australopithecus'' descendants that stuck to a vegetarian only diet (''Paranthropus'') instead of increasing their meat consumption (''Homo habilis'').

* NoFocusOnHumans: Humans appear in "Mammoth Journey", both ''H. sapiens'' and H. neanderthalensis'', but both only appear as secondary characters, and, as the title of the episode implies, the main characters are woolly mammoths.

** The ''Leptictidium'' family survives the release of volcanic gas from the lake. They smell and hop pass the once dangerous ''Ambulocetus'', who did not.

** ''Chalicotherium'' has a horse-like face, arched back and arms like a gorilla, and long curved claws like a ground sloth. The color of the face loosely resembles a [[PandaingToTheAudience panda]].

* PandaingToTheAudience: The ''Chalicotherium'''s faces recall that of a giand panda in colors, and the narrator explicitly says "they walk like gorillas and eat like pandas, but their closest relatives are actually horses". The latter is actually an imprecision, because despite their horse-like head, chalicotheres were not more related with equines than to tapirs and rhinoceroses.

* NoisyNature: ''Gastornis'' and the Entelodonts are particularly prone to this; ''Gastornis'' in particular announcing its attacks with loud screeches.

** Entelodonts bully every creature in their way, but get a taste of their own medicide when an adolescent male indricothere shows them who the ''real'' beast is.

* DeathOfAChild: All but OnceAnEpisode. The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Gastornis]]'' chick gets eaten by [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant ants]], some ''Smilodon'' cubs are killed by other ''Smilodon''s, a good many ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Dorudon]]'' calves are eaten by ''Basilosaurus'', a brontothere calf is shown dead, some baby bear dogs are killed in a flood, and a baby ''Macrauchenia'' gets downed by a terror bird. In the book, the latter is replaced by a ''Hippidion'' calf. Also, while it doesn't happen in the program or the book, there exists a promo image which shows a ''Hyaenodon]]'' dragging a dead indricothere calf.

* '''Sabre Tooth''' (1 MYA, Paraguay) A saber-toothed cat ''Smilodon'' named Half-Tooth has his pride taken away from him by a brotherly pair of rival males.

** Two invading ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' kill another ''Smilodon'''s cubs, a behaviour based on modern lions.

** A ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' cub is chased by a pair of ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Phorusrhacos]]'' at the beginning of the ''Saber Tooth'' episode, but then Half-Tooth appears out of nowhere and scares the Terror Birds away just when they're about to eat the cub.

** ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Megatherium]]'', meet ''Smilodon''. One slap later, ''Smilodon'' meets the Grim Reaper.

* DeathOfAChild: All but OnceAnEpisode. The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Gastornis]]'' chick gets eaten by [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant ants]], some ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' cubs are killed by other ''Smilodon''s, a good many ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Dorudon]]'' calves are eaten by ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Basilosaurus]]'', a [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs brontothere]] calf is shown dead, some baby [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals bear dogs]] are killed in a flood, and a baby ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Macrauchenia]]'' gets downed by a [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs terror bird]]. In the book, the latter is replaced by a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Hippidion]]'' calf. Also, while it doesn't happen in the program or the book, there exists a promo image which shows a ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Hyaenodon]]'' dragging a dead [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs indricothere]] calf.

* EatsBabies: Young animals are very vulnerable, and convenient targets to predators. The [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeOtherExtinctCreatures giant ants]] and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Basilosaurus]]'' succeed. The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Hyaenodon]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Phorusrhacos]]'', and [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs cave lion]] try to, but fail. Being a MamaBear to prevent exactly that, is a cultivated talent among both mammals and birds.

* FullBoarAction: The [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs entelodonts]] are referred to as "Hogs from Hell", even though strictly speaking they aren't pigs. They appear in the episode fighting each other or scaring away predators from their kills.

** It turns out, the elephant-sized sloth ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Megatherium]]'' can kill a ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' with a swipe of its claws. Then again, it is the size of an elephant, has armour-plated skin, stands 3 metres high, and has huge claws.

* MamaBear: The [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs brontothere]] and [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinossurs indricothere]] are both extremely protective of their calves, fighting off gigantic predators such as the ''Andrewsarchus'' and the ''Hyaenodon''.

* MegaNeko: ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Dinofelis]]'', two enormous prehistoric cats. Cave lions, despite being larger than modern lions (and as a result, the largest cats portrayed in the series) are not given enough time or prominence to count.

** The Indian, marine ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Ambulocetus]]'' appears in a freshwater lake of Germany, where it would be in direct competition with crocodiles. This is {{Handwave}}d as the animal swimming upriver from the ocean.

* RhinoRampage: The [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs woolly rhino]] attacks a Neanderthal for little reason. Although not actual rhinos, the brontotheres also invoke this, with the [[MamaBear mother brontothere]] charging at the Andrewsarchus defending her already dead calf. The rhino relative ''Indricotherium'' displays some rhino-like behavior, but it fights like a giraffe due to having a longer neck and no horns.
* ScavengersAreScum: Played straight mainly with the [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals entelodonts]]. They are portrayed with enormously wide open mouths, always-growling attitude, and are even called [[{{Demonization}} the Hogs from Hell]] at one point. They mainly appear bullying other animals or fighting each other in their episode, but to be fair, they are also shown suffering from starvation and as a prey for the predatory ''Hyaenodon''s and bullied by the young indricothere -- even though these things have passed less-noticed. True predators like ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' tend to receive a more neutral, sometimes even heroic, portrayal, like what happens in the classic true documentaries showing lions and hyenas to make things clear.

* SeaMonster: ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Basilosaurus]]'', a predatory whale the size of modern filter-feeding whales, is viewed as such by some, but like all the other characters of the program is actually a real animal trying to survive in a hard environment with scarce available food. The even more powerful cetacean ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Lyviatan melvillei]]'' is not portrayed only because was described only in TheNewTens by science, after the show.

* SillySimian: Small primates ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeMammals Godinotia]]'' and ''Apidium'' may count as subversions. Despite being more comical than other animals, they have very minor roles that don't influence the plot and serve mostly as easy kills for other animals.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: The second ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Smilodon]]'' brother is fatally wounded in the original episode, but in the corresponding chapter of the book, he just runs away.

* SubvertedTrope: In the previous series, Walking with Dinosaurs, an animal lineage's long-term success would be paralleled by their representative doing well in the episode, such as the ''Coelophysis'''s success in ''New Dawn'' and the mammal's success in ''Death of a Dynasty''. ''New Dawn'' flips this on its head; the three animals that get killed by the gas wave- ''Ambulocetus'', ''Godinotia'', and ''Propaleotherium'', are all part of families that lived to the modern day. The two genera that escape it- ''Leptictidium'' and ''Gastornis'', do not.

** ''Apidium'' fossils are found in the Jebel Qatrani Formation, which is now understood to mostly be early Oligocene in age about 30 million years ago (six million years after this episode takes place). At the time the documentary was made, the formation was thought to date to the late Eocene, so this falls under ScienceMarchesOn.