Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari

Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari
Writer(s)	Tim Haines
Publisher	BBC Books (UK) Dorling Kindersley (USA)
Release Date	1 November 2001 (UK) November 2001 (USA)
Format	Hardback Book, 264 Pages
Price	£19.99
ISBN	ISBN 0-563-53763-9

USA cover.

Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari is the companion book to the original Walking with Beasts TV series. This book describes the last 65 million years of Earth's evolution, focusing on the Cenozoic and depicting all sorts of weird and wonderful animals, from the walking whale Ambulocetus to the greatest sabre-toothed cat of all time, Smilodon.

Contents

New Dawn

• Our world 49 million years ago
• 5 a.m. The quiet time
  • Small is beautiful
• 6 a.m. A dawn start
  • In the dinosaur's footsteps
• 9 a.m. End of the first shift
  • A close shave
• 12 noon. The swarming
  • The killer swarm
• 4 p.m. After the heat
• 6 p.m. The night shift takes over
• 12 midnight. Death out of the darkness
  • Marvellous Messel
  • Lakes of death
• 6 a.m. A new day

Whale Killer

• Our world 36 million years ago
• 90 degrees east
  • Paradise lost
  • A true sea serpent
• 80 degrees east
  • A sheep in wolf's clothing
• 35 degrees east
  • The fabulous Fayum
  • Our ancestors' ancestors
• 30 degrees east
  • Valley of the king lizards
• 10 degrees west

Land of the Giants

• Our world 24 million years ago
• The newcomer
  • Out in the open
  • Mythical beasts
• The world outside
  • All mouth
• First steps
  • Green and pleasant land
• The long march
  • Treasure hunters in the Gobi
  • Parade of giants
• Life and death
• A tall, dark stranger
• Alone at last
  • Death of an ocean

The Prey's Revenge

• Our world 3.2 million years ago
• Death in the family
  • Land of our fathers
• Home, sweet home
  • Walk the walk
  • Long in the tooth
  • Out of Africa
• Time to relocate
• On the move
• Pastures new
  • The original manhunter
• All change
  • Our feminine side
• Home security
  • Mankind's cradle

Sabre-tooth World

• Our world 1 million years ago
• Ruler of the pride
  • Empty lands
  • Rattling sabres
• The king is banished
• New regime
  • When continents collide
• In exile
• The regime cracks
  • The mother of all sloths
• Long live the king
  • Fashion victims

A Mammoth's Journey

• Our world 30,000 years ago
• Mid August
  • Life in the freezer
• September
• October
  • Ice giants
• November
  • Nearest and dearest
• March
• April
  • Killer apes
• June
  • The ice cometh
  • A tiny difference
• Afterword

Character boxes

• Gastornis
• Leptictidium
• Propalaeotherium
• Ambulocetus
• Giant ants (Formicium giganteum)
• Godinotia
• Basilosaurus
• Dorudon
• Brontotheres
• Andrewsarchus
• Apidium
• Moeritherium
• Hyaenodons
• Indricotheres (Paraceratherium previously Indricotherium and Baluchitherium)
• Amphicyonids (bear dogs)
• Entelodonts
• Chalicotheres (Chalicotherium)
• Australopithecus (Australopithecus afarensis)
• Deinotherium
• Ancylotherium
• Dinofelis
• Phorusrhacos
• Smilodon (Smilodon fatalis and Smilodon populator)
• Doedicurus
• Megatherium (Megatherium americanum)
• Macrauchenia
• Homo sapiens
• Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)
• Megaloceros
• European (Cave) lion
• Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis)
• Woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis)

Differences

New Dawn

• In the beginning of the episode "New Dawn", the female Gastornis tries to capture a Leptictidium after the small animal confronted another one of its kind; in the book, the Gastornis attack comes later during the day, when the Leptictidium is out with its young instead - there's no confrontation between the two Leptictidium.
• In the book, the Ambulocetus co-exists more or less peacefully with the crocodiles, even getting into a tug-of-war over an animal it had killed. In the tv program, there is no confrontation with the crocodiles; in fact, the crocodile that the Ambulocetus swam up to got quickly away from the animal.
• In the tv program, the ant attack does not bother the grazing Propalaeotherium. In the book, the Propalaeotherium are some of the first creatures to escape from the ant swarm; also, unlike the TV program, some ants do bite a young Leptictidium in the book, only to be eaten by the Leptictidium mother.
• In the book, after the Gastornis captured and ate one of the Propalaeotherium, it returns to its nest and gets bitten by the ants as well, unlike the program, where it doesn't occur. Also, some of the flying ants (absent from the tv program) get eaten by the Godinotia during the night, and the animal captured by the Ambulocetus during the night is a creodont, rather than a Cynodictis.

Whale Killer

• In the episode "Whale Killer", the Dorudon mob the female Basilosaurus near the end of the episode, while in the book, they do it in the beginning of the chapter. Consequently, the Basilosaurus mating takes place not in the beginning of the book chapter, as it took place in the program, but later on, after the Dorudon encounter.
• In the book, the Andrewsarchus manage to successfully steal the dead Embolotherium calf, while in the program, the mother manages to keep them away from its' dead offspring. Also, it takes place before the Basilosaurus comes to the mangroves, rather than later, as in the TV program. Plus, the encounter of a solitary Andrewsarchus with the sea turtles comes after the encounter with the Embolotherium, while in the TV program, it was in reverse.
• In the book, before coming to the mangroves, the Basilosaurus encounters some Isurus sharks, but gives them a wide berth. It also encounters some sea cows. Neither encounter takes place in the TV program.
• In the program, a shark jumps out of the water to catch an Apidium. In the book, the Apidium falls in the water first.

Land of the Giants (Originally named Land of Giants)

• In the book, the chapter opens with an old Hyaenodon chasing some Cynodictis away from its kill. In the tv program, it begins with the Indricotherium female giving birth.
• In the TV program, the Chalicotherium is killed by a single Hyaenodon, who is later driven off by several Entelodon. In the book, the Chalicotherium is killed by two Hyaenodon, and they drive off a lone Entelodon instead.
• In the book, the whole Cynodictis family drowns, while in the TV program the mother survives. Also, in the TV program, the episode ends with the Indricotherium calf driving off an Entelodon, while in the book it is a Hyaenodon instead.

The Prey's Revenge (Originally Next of Kin)

• In the book the old male is called Greybeard rather than Grey, and the younger male is named Bruiser, not Hercules. Also, the fight for dominance is won by Bruiser (Hercules) without any use of a stick, unlike in the TV program; also, in the book, the Australopithecus are much more aggressive and promiscuous than on TV.
• In the TV program, Greybeard's (Grey's) group are forced off by a rival group of Australopithecus - in the book the rivals briefly retreated when charged by Greybeard, something that did not happen on TV.
• In the book, the Deinotherium is spotted just in time, and the whole group is able to brachiate away from the animal, while in the program, the Deinotherium "trees" them instead; also, Babble (the Australopithecus female) is able to save her offspring, and not get chased into a tree.
• The scene with Blue searching through Deinotherium dung is absent from the TV program, same for the scenes where Blue is playing with Babble's baby, and where Bruiser (Hercules) intervenes before Babble can hurt Blue too much.
• In the program, Blackeye finds an ostrich egg, but Greybeard (Grey) steals it from her. In the book, Bruiser (Hercules) finds the egg first and breaks it (unlike the TV program) instead.
• In the book, the two males finally fight because a new female comes to the group; in the TV program, the two males finally fight over the picking rights for a zebra carcass instead.
• In the program, the Dinofelis manages to separate Blue from the rest of the Australopithecus - in the book, it actually pursues them up their tree, and the Australopithecus fight the cat off due to their mutual protection, not to protect Blue.

Sabre-Tooth World (Originally Sabre Tooth)

• In the beginning of the episode, it is Half Tooth who scares away the Phorusrhacos, while in the book it is a female Smilodon instead.
• In the book the Doedicurus mating fight comes before Half Tooth is challenged by the brothers, while in the TV program it is afterwards. Consequently, Half Tooth's encountar with the Megatherium occurs after the fight, and there's only one Megatherium, while in the program there are two.
• In the book, after the brothers take over the pride, the oldest female Smilodon also dies; plus a female's willingness to mate causes two brothers to fight.
• In the TV program, a lone Phorusrhacos kills a young Macrauchenia; in the book, there are two Phorsrhacos, and they kill a Hippidion calf. Also, the encounter between Half Tooth and a male Macrauchenia does not occur in the book.
• In the book, both Smilodon brothers confront the Megatherium, though only one gets killed; also, the attack of the Phorusrhacos on a young Doedicurus does not take place in the program.
• In the program, the last brother dies shortly after Half Tooth defeats him. In the book, both he and Half Tooth survive.

A Mammoth's Journey (Originally Mammoth Journey)

• The episode began with a female mammoth falling into a lake through the ice. In the book, though, this occurs later, with a male mammoth, as the book's chapter describes the mammoths startling a group of humans instead.
• In the book, humans kill a single Megaloceros, while in the program, they attack two (but one escapes). Also, one of them gets hurt by the Megaloceros in the process.
• In the program, the Neanderthal manages to escape the Coelodonta without too much pain; in the book, the Coelodonta breaks his hip and leg. Also, the book does not have the scene where two Coelodonta confront each other in the spring.
• In the book, at least one Neanderthal is killed by a mammoth, when they ambush the herd at a cliff's edge; also, only one mammoth is killed, when in the program there were two.
• In the program, the confrontation between the two mammoth males comes in the beginning, in the book it is at the end of the chapter.

External links

• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Beasts-Tim-Haines/dp/0563537639/
• http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Beasts-A-Prehistoric-Safari/dp/0789478293/