''The Dinosaurs!'' is an American television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

produced by

WHYY-TV WHYY-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Wilmington, Delaware, United States, serving as the primary PBS member station for the Philadelphia area. It is owned by WHYY, Inc., alongside NPR member WHYY-FM (90.9). WHYY-TV and WH ...

for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in 1992, featuring some of the then-modern theories about

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

and how they lived. It aired four episodes from November 22 to November 25, 1992.

The program

The program features the age of dinosaurs, from the appearing of the early forms like ''

Herrerasaurus ''Herrerasaurus'' is likely a genus of saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic period. Measuring long and weighing around , this genus was one of the earliest dinosaurs from the fossil record. Its name means "Herrera's lizard", after the ...

'', to the ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'' and

Ceratopsians Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Late Jura ...

of the late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. The possibilities whether dinosaurs were active,

warm-blooded Warm-blooded is a term referring to animal species whose bodies maintain a temperature higher than that of their environment. In particular, homeothermic species (including birds and mammals) maintain a stable body temperature by regulating ...

animals, had parental care, and the theory that they are the ancestors to

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

are featured. What caused their extinction is also discussed.

Episodes''The Dinosaurs!'' at LaserDisc Database.
/ref>

* Part 1 - The Monsters Emerge * Part 2 - Flesh on the Bones * Part 3 - The Nature of the Beast * Part 4 - The Death of the Dinosaur

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals

* ''

Alioramus ''Alioramus'' (; meaning 'different branch') is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period of Asia. It currently contains two species. The type species, ''A. remotus'' is known from a partial skull and three foo ...

'' * ''

Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...

'' * ''

Ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

'' * ''

Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, m ...

'' * ''

Apatosaurus ''Apatosaurus'' (; meaning "deceptive lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first-known species, ''A. ajax'', in 1877, a ...

'' * ''

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

'' * ''

Archelon ''Archelon'' is an extinct marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous, and is the largest turtle ever to have been documented, with the biggest specimen measuring from head to tail and in body mass. It is known only from the Pierre Shale and ...

'' * ''

Barosaurus ''Barosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of giant, long-tailed, long-necked, herbivore, plant-eating Sauropoda, sauropod dinosaur closely related to the more familiar ''Diplodocus''. Remains have been found in the Morrison Formation from the Jurassic, Up ...

'' * ''

Baryonyx ''Baryonyx'' () is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Smokejack Clay Pit, of Surrey, England, in ...

'' * ''

Brachiosaurus ''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about . It was first Species description, described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 in paleontology, 1903 from fossi ...

'' * ''

Brontosaurus ''Brontosaurus'' (; meaning "thunder lizard" from the Ancient Greek, Greek words , "thunder" and , "lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period. It was describe ...

'' * '' Caenagnathus'' * ''

Camarasaurus ''Camarasaurus'' ( ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Its fossil remains have been found in the Morrison Formation, dating to the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages of the Jurassic, betwe ...

'' * ''

Camptosaurus ''Camptosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of plant-eating, beaked ornithischian dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic Period (geology), period of western North America and possibly also Europe. The name means 'flexible lizard' (Ancient Greek, Greek (') meaning ...

'' * ''

Carnotaurus ''Carnotaurus'' (; ) is a genus of Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period, probably sometime between 72 and 69 million years ago. The only species is ''Carnotaurus sastrei''. Known from a si ...

'' * ''

Centrosaurus ''Centrosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur from Campanian age of Late Cretaceous Canada. Their remains have been found in the Dinosaur Park Formation, dating from 76.5 to 75.5 million years ago. Discovery and nami ...

'' * ''

Ceratosaurus ''Ceratosaurus'' (from Greek 'horn' and 'lizard') is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian ages). The genus was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othni ...

'' * ''

Chirostenotes ''Chirostenotes'' ( ; named from Ancient Greek, Greek 'narrow-handed') is a genus of oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous (about 76.5–75 million years ago) of Alberta, Canada. The type species is ''Chirostenotes pergracilis''. ...

'' * ''

Coelacanth Coelacanths ( ) are an ancient group of lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii) in the class Actinistia. As sarcopterygians, they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (the terrestrial vertebrates including living amphibians, reptiles, bi ...

'' (seen in the animation background in "The Death of the Dinosaur") * ''

Coelophysis ''Coelophysis'' ( Traditional English pronunciation of Latin, traditionally; or , as heard more commonly in recent decades) is a genus of coelophysid Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived Approximation, approximately 215 to 201.4 million y ...

'' * ''

Compsognathus ''Compsognathus'' (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''kompsos''/κομψός; "elegant", "refined" or "dainty", and ''gnathos''/γνάθος; "jaw") is a genus of small, bipedalism, bipedal, carnivore, carnivorous theropoda, theropod dinosaur. Members o ...

'' * ''

Corythosaurus ''Corythosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 77–75.7 million years ago, in what is now Laramidia, western North America. Its name is derived from the Anci ...

'' * '' Cryptoclidus'' * ''

Deinonychus ''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of Dromaeosauridae, dromaeosaurid Theropoda, theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period (ge ...

'' * ''

Desmatosuchus ''Desmatosuchus'' (, from Greek language, Greek δεσμός ''desmos'' 'link' + σοῦχος ''soûkhos'' 'crocodile') is an extinct genus of archosaur belonging to the Order Aetosauria. It lived during the Late Triassic. Description ''Desma ...

'' * ''

Dilophosaurus ''Dilophosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 186 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserv ...

'' * ''

Dimorphodon ''Dimorphodon'' ( ) is a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from Europe during the early Jurassic Period (about 201-191 million years ago).Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. ...

'' * ''

Diplodocus ''Diplodocus'' (, , or ) is an extinct genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic of North America. The first fossils of ''Diplodocus'' were discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othnie ...

'' * ''

Dryosaurus ''Dryosaurus'' ( , meaning 'tree lizard', Greek ' () meaning 'tree, oak' and () meaning 'lizard', (the name reflects the forested habitat, not a vague oak-leaf shape of its cheek teeth as is sometimes assumed) is a genus of an ornithopod dinos ...

'' * ''

Edmontosaurus ''Edmontosaurus'' ( ) (meaning "lizard from Edmonton"), with the second species often colloquially and historically known as ''Anatosaurus'' or ''Anatotitan'' (meaning "duck lizard" and "giant duck"), is a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) din ...

'' * ''

Eoraptor ''Eoraptor'' () is a genus of small, lightly built, Basal (phylogenetics), basal sauropodomorpha, sauropodomorph dinosaur. One of the earliest-known dinosaurs and one of the earliest sauropodomorphs, it lived approximately 231 to 228 million yea ...

'' * ''

Euoplocephalus ''Euoplocephalus'' ( ) is a genus of large herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaurs, living during the Late Cretaceous of Canada. It has only one named species, ''Euoplocephalus tutus''. The first fossil of ''Euoplocephalus'' was found in 1897 in Albe ...

'' * ''

Heterodontosaurus ''Heterodontosaurus'' is a genus of heterodontosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic, 200–190 million years ago. Its only known member species, ''Heterodontosaurus tucki'', was named in 1962 based on a skull discovered in South ...

'' * ''

Hylaeosaurus ''Hylaeosaurus'' ( ; Greek: / "belonging to the forest" and / "lizard") is a herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived about 136 million years ago, in the late Valanginian stage of the early Cretaceous period of England. It was found i ...

'' * ''

Hypacrosaurus ''Hypacrosaurus'' (meaning "near the highest lizard"

reek υπο-, ''hypo-'' = less + ακρος, ''akros'', high Reek may refer to: Places * Reek, Netherlands, a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Croagh Patrick, a mountain in the west of Ireland nicknamed "The Reek" People * Nikolai Reek (1890–1942), Estonian military commander * Salme Ree ...

because it was almost but not quite as large as ''Tyrannosaurus'') is an extinct genus of hadrosaurid, duckbill dinosaur simila ...

'' * ''

Hypsilophodon ''Hypsilophodon'' (; meaning "high-crested tooth") is a neornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this ...

'' * ''

Ichthyosaurus ''Ichthyosaurus'' (derived from Greek () meaning 'fish' and () meaning 'lizard') is a genus of ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian - Pliensbachian) of Europe (Belgium, England, Germany and Portugal). Some specimens of the ichthy ...

'' * ''

Iguanodon ''Iguanodon'' ( ; meaning 'iguana-tooth'), named in 1825, is a genus of iguanodontian dinosaur. While many species found worldwide have been classified in the genus ''Iguanodon'', dating from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, Taxonomy (bi ...

'' * ''

Lambeosaurus ''Lambeosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period of western North America. The first skull of ''Lambeosaurus'' found was used by palaeontologist Lawrence M. Lambe to justify the creation of ...

'' * ''

Lesothosaurus ''Lesothosaurus'' is a Monotypic taxon, monospecific genus of ornithischian dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now South Africa and Lesotho. It was named by paleontologist Peter Galton in 1978, the name meaning "lizard from L ...

'' * '' Lexovisaurus'' * ''

Maiasaura ''Maiasaura'' (from the Greek ''μαῖα'', meaning "midwife" and ''σαύρα'', the feminine form of ''saurus'', meaning "reptile") is a large herbivorous saurolophine hadrosaurid ("duck-billed") dinosaur genus that lived in the area currently ...

'' * ''

Megalosaurus ''Megalosaurus'' (meaning "great lizard", from Ancient Greek, Greek , ', meaning 'big', 'tall' or 'great' and , ', meaning 'lizard') is an extinct genus of large carnivorous theropod dinosaurs of the Middle Jurassic Epoch (Bathonian stage, 166 ...

'' * '' Microceratus'' * '' Mixosaurus'' * ''

Mosasaurus ''Mosasaurus'' (; "lizard of the Meuse (river), Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic Squamata, squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian an ...

'' * ''

Ornitholestes ''Ornitholestes'' (meaning "bird robber") is a small theropod dinosaur of the late Jurassic ( Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, middle Kimmeridgian age, about 154 million years agoTurner, C.E. and Peterson, F., (1999). "Biostratigrap ...

'' * ''

Ornithomimus ''Ornithomimus'' (; "bird mimic") is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaurs from the Campanian and Maastrichtian ages of Late Cretaceous Western North America. ''Ornithomimus'' was a swift, bipedal dinosaur which fossil evidence indicates wa ...

'' * '' Orodromeus'' * ''

Oviraptor ''Oviraptor'' (; ) is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. The first remains were collected from the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia in 1923 during a paleontological expedition led by Roy Chapman ...

'' * ''

Pachycephalosaurus ''Pachycephalosaurus'' (; meaning "thick-headed lizard", from Greek ''pachys-/'' "thickness", ''kephalon/'' "head" and ''sauros/'' "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid ornithischian dinosaur. The type species, ''P. wyomingensis'', ...

'' * '' Pachyrhinosaurus'' * ''

Parasaurolophus ''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "beside crested lizard" in reference to ''Saurolophus'') is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, a ...

'' * ''

Pinacosaurus ''Pinacosaurus'' (meaning "Plank lizard") is a genus of ankylosaurid thyreophoran dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous (Campanian, roughly 75 to 71 million years ago), mainly in Mongolia and China. The first remains of the genu ...

'' * ''

Plateosaurus ''Plateosaurus'' (probably meaning "broad lizard", often mistranslated as "flat lizard") is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 214 to 204 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Eu ...

'' * '' Postosuchus'' * ''

Protoceratops ''Protoceratops'' (; ) is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 75 to 71 million years ago. The genus ''Protoceratops'' includes two species: ''P. andrewsi'' and the larger ''P. hellenik ...

'' * ''

Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (; from and ) is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of over . They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in presen ...

'' (seen in the animation background in "Flesh on the Bones") * ''

Pterodactylus ''Pterodactylus'' (from ) is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, ''Pterodactylus antiquus'', which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehis ...

'' * ''

Quetzalcoatlus ''Quetzalcoatlus'' () is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous in North America. The Type (biology), type specimen, recovered in 1971 from the Javelina Formation of Texas, United States, ...

'' * ''

Rhamphorhynchus ''Rhamphorhynchus'' (, from Ancient Greek ''rhamphos'' meaning "beak" and ''rhynchus'' meaning "snout") is a genus of long-tailed pterosaurs in the Jurassic period. Less specialized than contemporary, short-tailed pterodactyloid pterosaurs such ...

'' * ''

Riojasaurus ''Riojasaurus'' (meaning "lizard from La Rioja") was a herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur named after La Rioja Province in Argentina where it was found in the Los Colorados Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin by José Bonaparte. ...

'' * ''

Saltasaurus ''Saltasaurus'' (which means "lizard from Salta") is a genus of saltasaurid dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period of Argentina. Small among sauropods, though still heavy by the standards of modern creatures, ''Saltasaurus'' was ...

'' * ''

Saurolophus ''Saurolophus'' (; meaning "lizard crest") is a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Asia and North America, that lived in what is now the Horseshoe Canyon and Nemegt formations about 70 million to 66 million ...

'' * '' Saurosuchus'' * ''

Scelidosaurus ''Scelidosaurus'' (; with the intended meaning of "limb lizard", from Greek / meaning 'rib of beef' and ''sauros''/ meaning 'lizard')Liddell & Scott (1980). Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. is a ge ...

'' * ''

Scolosaurus ''Scolosaurus'' is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaurs within the subfamily Ankylosaurinae. It is known from the lower levels of the Dinosaur Park Formation and upper levels of the Oldman Formation in the Late Cretaceous (latest middle ...

'' * ''

Scutellosaurus ''Scutellosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of basal thyreophoran dinosaur that lived approximately 196 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Arizona, USA. It is classified in Thyreophora, the armoured dinosaurs; ...

'' * ''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...

'' * ''

Struthiomimus ''Struthiomimus'', meaning "ostrich-mimic" (from the Greek στρούθειος/''stroutheios'', or "of the ostrich", and μῖμος/''mimos'', meaning "mimic" or "imitator"), is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous of Nor ...

'' * ''

Styracosaurus ''Styracosaurus'' ( ; meaning "spiked lizard" from the Ancient Greek / "spike at the butt-end of a spear-shaft" and / "lizard") is an extinct genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) of North America. ...

'' * ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

'' * ''

Troodon ''Troodon'' ( ; ''Troödon'' in older sources) is a controversial genus of relatively small, bird-like theropod dinosaurs definitively known from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period (about 77 million years ago). It includes at l ...

'' * ''

Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in th ...

'' * '' Wuerhosaurus'' * ''

Xiphactinus ''Xiphactinus'' (from Latin and Greek for "sword-ray") is an extinct genus of large predatory marine ray-finned fish that lived during the late Albian to the late Maastrichtian. The genus grew up to in length, and superficially resembled a garga ...

Animations

Some animated depictions were made to give an impression of how the

might or could have looked and how they might or would have behaved. Those animations have been featured in other media since. Some of them have been available to see in public computers at

Swedish Museum of Natural History The Swedish Museum of Natural History (), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg. The museum was founded in 1819 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, but goes bac ...

. Many of the animations have also been uploaded on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Home video

The series was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

in 1993. The VHS edition was re-issued on November 10, 1998 with different package artwork. It was re-issued again on November 2, 1999. There have been no plans or discussions for a DVD or Blu-ray release.

References

Sources

* https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Nature-Beast-Barbara-Feldon/dp/6303196152 * http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/189451/The-Dinosaurs-The-Nature-of-the-Beast/overview * http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/31515/L-PBS-1029-6/Dinosaurs!-The-%281992%29 Documentary television series about dinosaurs PBS original programming 1990s American television miniseries 1992 American television series debuts 1992 American television series endings {{sci-documentary-stub

The program

Episodes''The Dinosaurs!'' at LaserDisc Database./ref>

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals

Animations

Home video

References

Sources

Episodes''The Dinosaurs!'' at LaserDisc Database.
/ref>