The 'Trilogy of Life': 'Walking with Monsters' Quiz

Answer: Anomalocaris

Anomalocaris was the first huge animal of its time. At about one meter long, it had serrated teeth in a circular jaw that could crush prey. Covered in boney plates for protection, it was indeed top dog in the early oceans. A brief battle between two Anomalocaris occurred, and one of them got injured. That injury would be exploited by a swarm of Haikouichthys, who tackle the injury for a nibble. An easy meal for these little tadpole-like vertebrates, who would go on to evolve into stronger forms.

Answer: Cephalaspis

Cephalaspis was a primitive form of fish. It had no jaw, but had a small mouth at the bottom of its armoured head. It was depicted as a bottom feeding fish that had to contend with the many predatory sea scorpions, like Brontoscorpio and Pterygotus.

Cephalaspis would migrate upstream to lay their eggs, swimming up over parts of the land to the spawning site, but it leaves them vulnerable to Brontoscorpio, who are able to climb up to land to nab them. It would be sheer numbers that keep the fish successful, and life continues with their next generation.

Answer: Hynerpeton

Hynerpeton was the first amphibian to walk the Earth. It had teeth that could catch fish easily and had the ability to make sound with its primitive voice box. The segment follows a male who finds himself a mate, and as they court, he is stalked by a giant lobe-finned fish called Hyneria, who pops out of the water to catch him like a killer whale beaching for a seal. Using its powerful fins, it dragged itself to the unaware amphibian and drowned him for lunch. Despite his untimely death, the mating was a success and the widowed female would lay eggs.

Over time, the eggs would gain protective shells for better protection, and it is here that reptiles would evolve, leaving the need to stay in the water behind, but they would encounter a strange land on the ground. The Arthropods are back!

Answer: Petrolacosaurus

Petrolacosaurus was an early form of reptile. Only 40 centimetres in length, it was a tiny member of the ecosystem. Its future is destined to be great, paving the way for other reptiles and synapsids, but here, Petrolacosaurus is victim to giant bugs.

Meganeura was a massive dragonfly the size of an eagle, with a one meter wingspan. Arthropleura was a three meter long ancestor of millipedes that was a herbivore. These insects grew so large thanks in part to the high oxygen levels of the Earth. With more oxygen, it gives the chance for their exoskeletons to grow.

By the end of the segment, a massive thunderstorm ravages the forest, and since there is more oxygen, it means that fires would absolutely devastate the area. Only Petrolacosaurus would prevail, and the insects would never return to massive sizes ever again as oxygen levels tumble over time.

Answer: Mesothelae

Mesothelae is something of a mishap for the show. At the time of production, there was a fossil called Megarachne, which was at first described as a giant form of spider the size of a football. But, nearing the end of production, the fossil was found to be of a type of sea scorpion. Being too late to turn back, they went on with the show and called it a 'Mesothelae spider' as a somewhat more generic term for the now fictitious creature.

In its depiction on the Carboniferous segment, the Mesothelae is seen hunting and catching a Petrolacosaurus for a meal. Later, if luck had it, the spider's underground lair became the epicentre of a lightning strike, which burned the forest, and left a toasted spider in its wake.

Answer: Dimetrodon

Dimetrodon may look like a reptile, but it is indeed closely related to mammals. Its unusual sail was used to regulate temperature or for aggressive males, sexual display. It was four meters long, and weighed up to 500 lbs. Dimetrodon wasn't the only sailback, on the plains there was a plant eater of equal stature called Edaphosaurus. One poor Edaphosaurus youngster would fall victim to Dimetrodon.

This segment follows a female Dimetrodon as she is brooding her eggs. She does a nine month long vigil to keep her eggs at the right temperature, and she goes on without hunting, as her instincts tell her to always take care of her nest
The months go on, through winter and many battles with other Dimetrodon, she finally sees the fruit of success when they hatch, and her bond is severed. The hatchlings run for the safety of the trees, with their mother and other Dimetrodons in pursuit, for food. Dimetrodon would resort to cannibalism in the fight for survival.

Answer: Pangaea

The Earth was a giant single land mass called Pangaea, and in the center of it all was an uphill battle for any hardy creature. The amphibians who flourished in swampy lands are now dying in the sand, and giant predators like Inostrancevia, called Gorgonopsid on the show, would take anything and everything for a meal.

Inostrancevia had a large jaw full of teeth, including a pair of sabre-like canines that could rip flesh off bone. Inostrancevia was the largest species of its kind, but that alone won't help it in the desert, as it got mummified in a massive sandstorm. The Permian Mass Extinction was going to wipe it out of life, along with 90 percent of life on Earth.

Answer: Diictodon

Diictodon was a tiny therapsid that had many mammalian adaptations. With a pair of tusks from its beak and strong arms for digging, it was able to withstand the punishing heat of day and most importantly, get precious food and water from tubers and plants they can only reach by digging.

They were one of the most successful creatures of their species, and eventually their descendants would get bigger.

Answer: Lystrosaurus

With a name meaning 'shovel lizard', Lystrosaurus plowed its way to the Triassic to dominate the landscape. About the size of a pig and retaining many of the features that mole rat sized Diictodon had, it stripped vegetation and migrated the land to find more food. Every year, the herd must face the dangers of migration, with predators making a bloodbath out of these creatures. Drowning them in the water is the crocodile-esque predator Proterosuchus, while the venomous Euchambersia would stalk the Lystrosaurus herd at night and kill them off with a single bite.

Lystrosaurus had it rough, and while they are top dog of the Triassic, they are in fact the last few of their kind. They were the last chapter for their kind, and the battle of monsters was coming to an end. A new force had arrived that would change this world forever.

Answer: Euparkeria

Euparkeria was an Archosaur, making it a close relative of dinosaurs, crocodiles and eventually, birds. Its speed and agility helped it evade the preying eyes of the Proterosuchus in a few occasions. But on one occasion, it grew to a massive size, because in the next 20 million years, Euparkeria's descendants would become the mighty dinosaurs.

Life had come full circle, and we have come back to the beginning of the 'Trilogy of Life', the age of the dinosaurs has dawned.