The Last Day of the Dinosaurs facts for kids
The Last Day of the Dinosaurs is a 2010 Discovery Channel TV show. It's a documentary that tells the story of how the dinosaurs might have gone extinct. The show suggests that a giant asteroid hitting Earth was the main reason for their disappearance.
Contents
Dinosaurs You'll See
The Story of the Last Day
The documentary shows what might have happened on the day the dinosaurs disappeared. It starts in the Pacific Northwest of North America. A large flying reptile called a Quetzalcoatlus is looking for food. It tries to eat some baby Tyrannosaurus dinosaurs. But the father Tyrannosaurus fights back, and the Quetzalcoatlus flies away.
Meanwhile, a huge asteroid is getting closer to Earth. The show explains that this asteroid was part of a bigger space rock. That rock broke apart 150 million years ago. Now, one of its pieces is heading straight for our planet.
In the Pacific Northwest, two male Triceratops are fighting. They are trying to win the right to mate. One Triceratops wins, and the other walks away. Suddenly, two Tyrannosaurus rex attack and kill the winning Triceratops. They begin to eat it.
The Asteroid Hits
In what is now central Mexico, a group of giant Alamosaurus dinosaurs are looking for food. These dinosaurs are huge, even for dinosaurs. They are about 60 feet long and 40 feet tall. They weigh as much as 30 cars! Their massive size means they need to eat a lot of plants every day.
As the Alamosaurus graze, the asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere. It glows brighter than a million suns. The intense light is so strong it hurts the Alamosaurus' eyes, making them unable to see.
Then, the asteroid crashes into Earth. It hits the Gulf of Mexico, near the Yucatán Peninsula. In less than a second, it smashes deep into the planet. The air near the crash site gets incredibly hot, reaching 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The Alamosaurus are overwhelmed by the heat. Far away in the Pacific Northwest, the Quetzalcoatlus can see the huge impact.
Life After the Impact
Millions of tons of dust and rock are thrown into the air by the asteroid's crash. This forms a giant cloud. In Mongolia, which is 8,000 miles away, this cloud makes the air very hot. A group of Charonosaurus dinosaurs are drinking water. They are also protecting their eggs. A smart dinosaur called a Troodon tries to steal an egg. The mother Charonosaurus sees it, and the Troodon runs into a cave. Another Troodon is already inside. The two Troodons chase a Charonosaurus and kill it for food.
As the temperature rises to 120 degrees, the Troodons hide in the cool cave. The Charonosaurus also go into the cave to escape the heat. Even though they are enemies, they have to share the cave to survive.
Back in the Pacific Northwest, huge fires spread through the forests. The Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops run to escape the flames. They race up the hillsides, trying to get away.
New Dangers Emerge
In Mongolia, the temperatures finally start to drop. The Troodons come out of the cave and eat the dead Charonosaurus. Other Charonosaurus follow, but one stays close to the cave. However, they are not safe yet. The dust cloud from the asteroid causes a massive sandstorm. The small Troodons can crouch down and find cover. But the large Charonosaurus are caught in the open. As they try to breathe, sand fills their lungs, and they cannot survive. Hours later, the winds die down. The last Charonosaurus, protected by the cave, finds it is the only one left from its group. But the Troodons survived the storm.
The surviving Troodons return to their hunting spot, the watering hole. The last Charonosaurus is there, drinking. The Troodons are very hungry. One Troodon attacks the Charonosaurus. It slashes at its neck. The Charonosaurus is too tired to run. It falls to the ground, accidentally crushing the attacking Troodon beneath its weight. The other Troodon then eats its dead companion.
The Final Struggle
A week after the asteroid hit, food is very hard to find everywhere. In the Pacific Northwest, two Triceratops search for food. Their hunger leads them to the coast. They see a green island in the distance. This island was protected from the fires by the ocean. It has plenty of food. But when the asteroid hit, it caused a huge earthquake under the ocean. This created a giant tsunami. The ocean water pulls back, making a dry path to the island. The Triceratops walk across this land bridge. However, the tsunami then crashes down, flooding the land and drowning the Triceratops.
In the days and weeks that follow, very few dinosaurs remain. In Mongolia, the starving Charonosaurus stays near the cave that saved it twice. Suddenly, it collapses. It's not from hunger, but from a poisonous gas. This gas, called Hydrogen Sulfide, bubbles up from hot springs. The Troodon runs to the dead Charonosaurus. Then it also dies from breathing the gas.
In the Pacific Northwest, only a few dinosaurs are left in a gray, empty land. An Ankylosaurus, weak from hunger, looks for food. It finds a small bush. But a Triceratops roars at it, wanting the bush. Then, a T. rex appears. It roars at both plant-eaters. It kills the Triceratops. The Ankylosaurus tries to defend itself with its heavy tail club. But it is too weak. The Tyrannosaurus flips the Ankylosaurus over and bites its soft belly, killing it. Then, the Tyrannosaurus itself collapses from hunger. It falls onto the Triceratops' horn and dies.
A New Beginning
In Mexico, where the asteroid first hit, some life still remains. Buried safely in the cool ground, an Alamosaurus baby survived in its egg. An adult Alamosaurus also survived. Around the world, a few dinosaurs try to start over. But their species are already considered extinct. To survive, a species needs a certain number of individuals. If there are too few, they cannot recover.
But life on Earth is not completely gone. From the ruins, nature begins again. A group of animals that were small and not very successful when dinosaurs ruled now become the new leaders of Earth: mammals. Over time, they grow in numbers and become many different kinds of animals. Eventually, one species, humans, develops. They walk on two legs, grow bigger brains, and eventually, they rule the planet. They build tall cities, vehicles that can go to space, and powerful tools.
The show ends by saying that humans would never have existed if that chance asteroid collision 150 million years ago had not happened. That event sent the asteroid towards Earth and led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Things to Know
- The show suggests two asteroids collided 150 million years ago. Scientists do not have evidence for this specific event. Meteorites usually break up when they enter Earth's atmosphere.
- The Troodon mongoliensis dinosaur shown in the documentary did not live at the very end of the dinosaur age. It lived earlier in the Late Cretaceous period.
- The Charonosaurus dinosaur was not found in Mongolia. It lived in northeastern China, near the Amur River and the border with Siberia.
Fun Facts
- The dinosaur models used in this show are the same ones used in another documentary called Clash of the Dinosaurs. For example, the Parasaurolophus model was used for Charonosaurus. The Deinonychus model was used for Saurornithoides. The Sauroposeidon model was used for Alamosaurus. The same models for Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Quetzalcoatlus were also used.
- The show doesn't clearly explain how the female Quetzalcoatlus dies. However, she is last seen flying away from the tsunami. So, it is thought that the tsunami killed her.
- When the narrator talks about the air being hot enough to boil water off the Alamosaurus' skin, you can actually see water vapor rising from the dinosaurs' necks.
