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Animal Armageddon (view source)

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* [[Always a Bigger Fish]]: After killing a juvenile [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|hadrosaur]], two ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Troodon]]'' are driven from their kill by a ''[[Tyrannosaurus Rex|Tyrannosaurus]]''.
* [[Anachronism Stew]]: It's played straight, but only true paleobuffs will notice it.
** More noticeable in "The Great Dying", which somehow put the crocodile-like ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Proterosuchus]]'' and the mammal ancestor ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Thrinaxodon]]'' in the Permian, while they are known only from the later Triassic.
** What's ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Dinosaurs/Primitive Dinosaurs|Staurikosaurus]]'' doing at the very end of the Triassic?
** ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|Gigantopithecus]]'' 74,000 years ago. It went extinct a good 300,000 years ago.
* [[Ape Shall Never Kill Ape]]: Subverted. Hey, ''any'' species will commit cannibalism in the face of extinction.
* [[Apocalypse How]]: The basic premise of the series. Generally, it's a [[Apocalypse How/Class 4|Class 4]] event. A future [[Apocalypse How/Class 1|Class 1]] or [[Apocalypse How/Class 2|Class 2]] are implied, with regards to humanity.
** [[Apocalypse Wow]]
* [[Badass]]: There's always at least one in each episode, with [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|straight-shelled nautiloids]] in the Ordovician, ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|Dunkleosteus]]'' in the Devonian, [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|gorgonopsians]] in the Permian, [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|tyrannosaurs]] and [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|mosasaurs]] in the Cretaceous, [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|cave lions]] in the Ice Age and [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|humans]] in the modern world. {{spoiler|And they're typically the ones that go extinct first.}}
* [[Big Creepy-Crawlies]]: [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|Sea scorpions]] in the first episode and the giant (1-foot-long) cockroaches in the last episode.
* [[Camera Abuse]]: When the [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|gorgonopsian]] kills a ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Lystrosaurus]]'', the camera is splattered with blood.
* [[Crapsack World]]: Goes hand in hand with the extinction events.
* [[Documentary of Lies]]: Usually averted, but it's played straight in the episode about the Triassic-Jurassic extinction. It claims that the Triassic extinction (which, while bad, wasn't going to do much more than wipe out most of the larger animals) nearly wiped out all life on Earth and turned Earth into a new Mars.
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* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]: The survivors of the extinction.
* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: Three of the episodes feature these great reptiles, with cameo appearances in the eighth episode.
* [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]]: ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|Gigantopithecus]]'' [[Anachronism Stew|226,000 years after they went extinct]].
* [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks]]: They survived the Cretaceous extinction event.
* [[Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods]]: [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|Nautiloids and ammonites]].
* [[Family-Unfriendly Death]]: Quite a number, but the ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Lystrosaurus]]'' and young [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|hadrosaur]] stand out. In the first case, a [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|gorgonopsian]] bites down on its neck, [[Camera Abuse|spurting blood on the camera]]. However, the gorgonopsian's jaw structure means that he can only shear off one piece of meat, leaving an enormous pool of blood. What's left of the lystrosaur is scavenged by the protomammal ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Thrinaxodon]]''. As for the hadrosaur, it is attacked by two ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Troodon]]'' who fail to actually kill it. They are chased away by a ''[[Tyrannosaurus Rex]]'', who slits the hadrosaur's throat and eats its foot.
* [[Feathered Fiend]]: A scantily feathered ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Velociraptor]]'' (with the model also used for ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - /Dinosaurs/Birdlike Theropods|Dromaeosaurus]]'' and naked ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Troodon]]'' (with the model also used for ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - /Dinosaurs/Birdlike Theropods|Byronosaurus]]'').
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]
* [[Giant Flyer]]: The ever-popular ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]''.
* [[Gorn]]: Mostly averted. This is a noticeably less gory documentary than ''[[Jurassic Fight Club]]'' and ''[[Monsters Resurrected]]''. However, it's played straight in "The Great Dying", when a [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|gorgonopsian]] rather brutally kills and eats a ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Lystrosaurus]]''.
* [[It Got Worse]]: Repeatedly at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous.
* [[Grand Finale]]: {{spoiler|Mankind nearly goes extinct}} in the last episode.
* [[Mega Neko]]: The [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|cave lion]]. The "Sumatran leopard" and the pumas may qualify.
* [[Misplaced Wildlife]]: ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Lystrosaurus]]'' in Kansas. It's never been found in the Americas.
** ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Dinosaurs/Primitive Dinosaurs|Staurikosaurus]]'' in North America. It never made it outside South America.
** ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Eudimorphodon'' and ''Megazostrodon]]'', on a related note. ''Eudimorphodon'' only lived in Europe and ''Megazostrodon'' only lived in South Africa.
** ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|Elasmotherium]]'' in the jungles of Sumatra. It lived on the tundra of Asia and Europe.
** [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|Giant leopards]] are not known from Sumatra.
* [[Outrun the Fireball]]: Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with implied [[Outrun the Fireball|Outrun the Fireballs]]s in episodes 2 (or is it Outswim the Fireball?) and 8.
* [[Panthera Awesome]]: The [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|cave lions]], pumas and "Sumatran leopard".
* [[Prehistoric Monster]]: Not the worst case, but not a realistic portrayal either.
* [[Ptero-Soarer]]: ''Almost'' avoided with their ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]''. They flap their wing membranes a bit too fast. ''So close!''
** Their ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Eudimorphodon]]'' nearly made the cut, too. In one scene, however, it's shown to be bipedal. ''Damn!!''
* [[Raptor Attack]]: A half-arsed ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Velociraptor]]'' with the wrong skull shape and a pair of naked ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Troodon]]'' that take down a subadult [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|hadrosaur]].
** Cameos by ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - /Dinosaurs/Birdlike Theropods|Dromaeosaurus]]'' and ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - /Dinosaurs/Birdlike Theropods|Byronosaurus]]'' aren't any better.
* [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies]]: The extinctions all qualify, with the most literal examples ever at the end of the Cretaceous {{spoiler|and the hypothetical future}}.
* [[Rodents of Unusual Size]]: In "The Next Extinction", after humanity hides underground to survive an asteroid strike, in cities, rats grow to the size of dogs.
* [[Sea Monster]]: [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|Straight nautiloids, eurypterids, ''Dunkleosteus]]'' and [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|mosasaurs]].
* [[Seldom-Seen Species]]: A healthy variety. ''Astraspis'', straight-shelled nautiloids, eurypterids, ''Tiktaalik'', ''Materpiscis'', ''Bothriolepis'', ''Purgatorius'', gorgonopsians, ''Thrinaxodon'', ''Proterosuchus'', ''Eudimorphodon'', ''Rutiodon'', ''Desmatosuchus'', ''Staurikosaurus'', ''Megazostrodon'', and ''Stegodon''.
* [[Shown Their Work]]: All of the talking heads. Hey, they even got Mathew Wedel (and unlike in ''[[Clash of the Dinosaurs|another show]]'', he wasn't [[Quote Mine|quote mined]]!).
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** Elephant-legged [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|ceratopsians and sauropods]], as well as incorrect hand posture on the carnivorous dinosaurs.
** Sauropods with their nostrils on the top of their head. A widespread image, but science shows it's wrong.
** And "''Phobosuchus''" should be called ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Deinosuchus]]'', and it went extinct noticeably before the end of the Cretaceous.
** Not to mention ''a 20-ton [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|mosasaur]]?!?''
** ''And a '''20,000-ton [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|Dunkleosteus]]??!!??'''''
* [[Speculative Documentary]]
* [[Stock Dinosaurs]]: Not that many, compared to the rest of the cast. Among the great stock dinosaurs, there's ''Triceratops'', ''Tyrannosaurus'', ''Velociraptor,'' and the woolly mammoth. Among the semi-stock dinosaurs, there's hadrosaurs. Among the rare stock dinosaurs, there's mosasaurs.
* [[Stock Sound Effect]]: One roar is used for the ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Triceratops'', ''Velociraptor]]'', ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]'', ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Dicynodon]]'', and ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Mammals|Elasmotherium]]''.
* [[Rule of Cool]]: Several less cool and more plausible theories are abandoned in favor of cooler, less likely ones. This is especially noticeable in the Ordovician episode.
* [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]]: And its Asian relative ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Dinosaurs/Large Theropods|Tarbosaurus]]''.
* [[The Hunter Becomes the Hunted]]: Before the Ordovician extinction, the [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Other Extinct Creatures|eurypterids]] are easy prey for the straight nautiloids. During the extinction, the latter becomes smaller, turning the tables.
** In the grip of the Great Dying, the wolf-like [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|gorgonopsians]], the top predators before the extinction, are easy prey for the aquatic ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life /Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Proterosuchus]]''.
* [[The Magic Goes Away]]
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:TurnLive-Action TV of the Millennium/Live Action TV2000s]]
[[Category:Dinosaur Media]]
[[Category:Edutainment Show]]
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