Last Day of the Dinosaurs

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Our world was once a world

dominated by dinosaurs.

They walked where we walk.

They drank the same water...

Breathed the same air...

And fought

on the same battlefields.

But then they faced the day

that none of us

can imagine...

Some of the

most critical hours

in the history of life on Earth.

This is the story of the day

their world ended...

the last day of the dinosaurs.

THE LAST DAY OF THE DINOSAURS

Earth

A warmer place

than it is today.

Along the west coast of

what's now North America,

mountains tower over

a large forested valley.

It's the domain of the ultimate form

of prehistoric evolution.

Dinosaurs.

And more than 350 pounds

with a wingspan of 40 feet,

Quetzalcoatlus is the largest

flying creature of all time.

A mile down,

a breakfast no carnivore

can not resist.

It will take this tiny hatchling

to become the most

fearsome predator.

But for now,

Tyrannosaurus Rex,

is just few inches tall,

not very scary

and completely exposed.

But... not completely unprotected.

The father, a fully grown T-Rex

is on a hunt.

Its acute sense of smell,

helps him sniff out prey

from great distances,

and it also serves him well

as a parent.

He knows when something is wrong.

Quetzalcoatlus' metabolism

demands that it eat regularly.

and powering this streamline body

means finding

rich sources of protein,

like a 3 pound baby T-Rex.

Quetzalcoatlus' huge wings

are perfectly adapted

for long distance gliding.

But its sheer size

makes it hard to lift off

when it's backed into a corner.

It's lucky...

this time.

Of the entire clutch

of T-Rex eggs,

only one chick survived.

And if it grows up,

it will grow to be 17 feet tall

and weigh more than 7 tons.

But surviving

to adulthood,

even for

Tyrannosaurus Rex

isn't written in stone.

Because a storm is coming.

Born of events

that took place long before.

This is the asteroid belt

between Mars and Jupiter.

Billions of rocks

all hurdling through space,

in the same direction,

like traffic

on a freeway.

All,

except this one.

which is moving diagonally

on a completely different course.

It's like a 40 mile wide semi

suddenly slicing

across the highway.

But this truck

is going 22,000 miles an hour.

The two asteroids shattered

into millions of fragments.

But this fragment

over 6 miles across,

has a special destiny.

It's a rock

poised to change history.

Because it's heading

for the fifth largest planet

in the solar system.

The only planet

known to harbor life.

Planet Earth.

Meanwhile, the planet's

reptilian lords live

completely unaware of

what's heading their way.

Triceratops are among

the most widespread

dinosaurs on the

North American continent.

They're herbivores, but that

doesn't mean they're wallflowers.

Male Triceratops

take their mating rights...

very seriously...!

And weighing 6 tons each,

a face off can be fatal.

This time,

intimidation does the trick.

But there's another

enemy waiting in the wings.

He's not after

mating rights.

The Triceratops is fast

and well-armed enough

to stand a chance

against T-Rex...

...but not against two of them.

Hunting as a pair

one T-Rex go get

behind the deadly horns

and armored core.

There's enough meat here

to feed them both for weeks,

but they may not have

the time to enjoy it.

A quarter of million miles up,

is the earth's last hope of defense.

The Moon has saved

the planet before.

Its pockmarked surface

bears the scars of

countless collisions.

This crater

known as Tycho,

is more than 50 miles wide.

Created by a rock

only half the size of the one

that's on its way.

But the moon is rarely

in the right place,

at the right time.

Nothing can stop

the asteroid now.

This cosmic missile isn't

as alien as it seems.

Like the earth itself,

It's made up largely of rock

and water.

In the cold vacuum of space

the water freezes into

a hard permafrost.

But on the inside,

there's a chemical cocktail

composed of carbon,

hydrogen and oxygen.

Key ingredients for life.

Asteroid fragments like this one

may have provide the building blocks

for life on Earth.

Life, it evolved into dinosaurs.

But what gives life,

can also take it away.

THE PACIFIC NORTHWES

Most

dinosaurs in the valley

hunt and forage during the day

and sleep at night.

This giant herbivore,

an Ankylosaurus

keeps one eye open

for predators.

Under the cover of darkness,

very different creatures

emerge from their hiding places.

Like Mesodma,

a primitive mammal

about the size of a possums.

like most other mammals,

Mesodma's life

is all about being with

the dinosaurs earth.

It only comes out at night,

to forage for tasty roots and insects.

While the giants sleep,

It's the meek that

witness a cosmic event.

A meteor shower.

Each streak of light

is a tiny fragment

of the asteroid collision.

Burning up

as it entered the atmosphere.

But these are mainly outrider

of the much larger missile

hurdling through space.

An asteroid locked into

a head-on collision.

The Day of Reckoning is here.

After a journey

last in a hundred million years,

an enormous chunk of cosmic rock

is approaching

the end of the line.

And the end of the line

is Earth.

In what is today

Central Mexico,

a herd of Alamosaurus,

is wandering the plains

in search of food.

They're recent species to evolve.

And even by dinosaur standards,

they're huge.

They're the last of the Sauropods,

the biggest animals

ever to walk the Earth.

and a staggering 40 feet tall,

Alamosaurus weigh

up to 30 ton.

To maintain that bulk,

they need to eat up to a ton

of leaves every day.

A vast herd like this one

strips a landscape of vegetation

in just a few hours.

Because she's a nomad

on a constant search for food,

when it's time for this female to lay

her eggs, she doesn't nest.

She simply lays eggs

in groups of 5 or 6,

to improve the chances

that some will survive.

Under normal conditions,

only one in 3,000 will produce

a mature Alamosaurus.

But the odd stacked

against these eggs,

are about to get astronomical.

Because now,

just 20 minutes away

is racing right at them.

The asteroid fragment's enormous mass

is only part of the threat.

The other part is velocity.

But as it get closer to the planet,

The Earth's gravitational pull

gets stronger

and the asteroid accelerates,

past 40,000-45,000 miles per hour

And mass times acceleration

equals force.

As the asteroid

encounters atmosphere,

friction turn it into a fireball

swooping over the Atlantic

and aimed at Mexico.

And... the Alamosaurus.

It takes just four minutes

to cross the ocean.

It crushes and superheats

the air surrounding it,

transforming gas and debris

into white-hot plasma.

At 35,000 degrees,

it's burning brighter

than a million suns.

It takes just 5 seconds

to flash through the atmosphere.

Impact seems instantaneous.

But hidden within the cataclysm,

are a series of discreet events

invisible to the naked eye

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