Amazon.com
Many people think of the dinosaurs as the first inhabitants of the earth, but this prequel to Walking With Dinosaurs puts viewers in the midst of a host of strange creatures that inhabited the earth millions of years before the dinosaurs ever existed. With the help of complex computer animation and the research of hundreds of paleontologists, the BBC presents an extremely realistic picture of the earth's earliest, most primitive aquatic inhabitants and chronicles their evolution to the precursors of man himself and the mighty dinosaurs. The first Walking With Monsters episode begins in the Cambrian period 530 million years ago, showcasing how a simple jellyfish-like sea creature evolved over 200 million years into new creatures with eyes and protective external and internal skeletal systems. These adaptations resulted in the world's first fish, arthropods, amphibians, and land-loving reptiles. The second episode details the giant insects of the Carboniferous period 300 million years ago and demonstrates how evolution empowered amphibians and reptiles by creating mechanisms to regulate their own body temperature and developing specialized teeth. The final episode begins in the late Permian period 250 million years ago when the earth was essentially one large desert full of volcanic activity. While much of earth's life was extinguished during this period, adaptation and evolution continued, bringing the development of a specialized hip in a tiny reptile called the Euparkeria that would prove to be the forerunner of mammals and evolve into the dinosaurs in the Triassic period. While some criticize this project as a somewhat overly dramatic presentation of speculative paleontology as fact, this program utilizes scientific inference to bring pre-history to life and highlight the amazing adaptations and evolution of the earth's earliest inhabitants. The bonus "Trilogy of Life" feature details the research, vision and hard work inherent in the creation of the Walking With Monsters, Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Prehistoric Beasts. (Ages 6 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 46 reviews)

Another Must-Have Dino Series

If you're into serious research material, then add this DVD to your shopping cart ASAP! It seems everyone forgets there WAS a time before dinosaurs, but no book ever depicted the animals of that period. As a bonus, detailed narration and careful production will entertain everyone in the family.
November 11, 2008

Best of "Walking With"

This was the last one of the famous series "Walking With..." and best produced too. This is good for children of 11 and up in my opinion but not allow them to see alone: could be scary! But is the best way for stimulate science interest. Enjoy
November 02, 2008

Very entertaining

I bought this for a child who really enjoys it. Its entertaining for the whole family. Jennifer Smith Miguel, [...]
October 25, 2008

Life After Life Before

My son (6) has watched this video every night since it arrived over a week ago. He is engaged, intrigued, and has the rest of the family hooked as well.
October 11, 2008

James Arndt, Montgomery Alabama

Impressive video. This video brings to life the periods before the dinosaurs with realistic images. This section of the series should have focused more into the Devonian Period (Age of Fish)and included more footage into this period of Earth's history. There were some impressive fish during this period. The series does focus on the huge fish called Hyneria, but the footage on this fish does not appear to contain the large teeth found in fossil finds. This video series is a close second to Walking with Dinosaurs. However, I have read that the series appears to have made an error on the cat sized spider, which was identified recently as a eurypterid instead of a spider. The series does concentrate heavily on the spider, and should have put more time into Devonian fish species, since recent fossil finds have identified magnificent types. Otherwise, the series is truly a great piece of work!! 5 Stars in my opinion.
September 19, 2008

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