List of creatures in Primeval
Encyclopedia
The following is a complete list of creatures from the universe of ITV
science fiction television
series Primeval
and also any spin-off merchandise. The series includes various imaginary species which are not native to the series setting, with some being prehistoric and others being futuristic. Various creatures were designed with some artistic license
, for dramatic effect. A number of creatures from the Walking with...
series were also reimagined for dramatic effect.
In 2007 Character Options announced they would create Primeval action figures, including both a flying Rex and a large plush toy Rex, Future Predators, Hesperornis and Dodos).
s are a group of marine animals of the subclass Ammonoidea in the class Cephalopoda, phylum Mollusca. Ammonites' closest living relative is probably not the modern Nautilus
(which they outwardly resemble), but rather the subclass Coleoidea (octopus
, squid
, and cuttlefish
). Their fossil shells usually take the form of planispirals, although there were some helically spiralled and non-spiralled forms (known as "heteromorphs"). Many Ammonites lived in the open water of ancient seas, rather than at the sea bottom. Many of them are thought to have been good swimmers with flattened, discus-shaped, streamlined shells. Ammonites preyed on fish, crustaceans and other small creatures; while they themselves were preyed upon by marine reptiles.
Helen Cutter leaves Ammonites as calling card
s on Nick's desk, and on Stephen's grave
in episode 2.7.
, which are described as large hadrosaurs that move in large herds, stampeding whenever they are threatened by a predator such as the Tyrannosaurus
. They were said to be a yellow-brown color with dark brown camouflage stripes down their back, similar to the Iguanodon in The Lost Island.
was a tiny pterosaur
that had a short head with pin-like teeth for catching insects, and although it traditionally is ascribed to the long tailed pterosaur group, its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more maneuverability for hunting in woodland.
Anurognathus lived in the Late Jurassic period, 130 million years ago and had a wingspan of 50 cm (19.7 in) and a 50 cm (19.7 in) long body (skull included), it could not have weighed more than a few grams. Despite this they prove to be creatures of devastating violence.
Anurognathus live like a flying piranha fish, with an amazingly keen sense of smell able to detect blood from hundreds of feet away. A swarm
can strip flesh from bones in minutes. They also swarm in huge flocks and overcome prey through weight in numbers.
This fictional species of Anurognathus evolved from the Jurassic species Anurognathus ammoni which lived about 150 million years ago and had small needle like teeth for hunting insects. This evolved form has slicing teeth for taking lumps of flesh off large dinosaurs. This behavior may be slightly based on the theory that a similar anurognathid pterosaur, Jeholopterus
, was a hematophagous creature, like the modern vampire bat. The creatures seen here were re-imagined from the ones in Walking with Dinosaurs
by the producers for dramatic effect.
In episode 5.5 a flock appears at the New Dawn power station. They attack Matt and Emily and later kill two Prospero guards. They later attack and kill April. What happened to them is unknown.
was a 2 – long (about 6 m (19.7 ft) long in the series) relative of centipede
s and millipede
s, native to the Upper Carboniferous
of Britain
and the United States
. It was the largest known land invertebrate
of all time and grew so large because of the high percentage of oxygen
in the Earth
's atmosphere
at that time. A burrower, they have poor eyesight but have excellent sense of smell and touch. One appears in the second episode. Although not a carnivore, they have powerful pincers and venomous bite and can easily be provoked into attacking. For dramatic effect, the Arthropleura in episode 1.2 was heavily re-imagined as it was venomous, larger than the real animal and highly aggressive.
Symptoms of the Arthropleura poisoning include uncontrolled shaking, anaphylaxis
and short term memory loss in recovered patients.
Once bitten the venom then begins to slowly attack the central nervous system
, not so far removed from modern biochemistry
as to be totally ineffective, and any enzyme inhibitor would be detrimental to an extent. However, as the Arthropleura are detritus
eaters they make no attempt to eat their victims. Fortunately the hospital staff discovered that the venom has a modern day equivalent, thus producing an anti-venom.
An Arthropleura also reappeared in the series finale of Series 2 as one of the many creatures captured by Leek. When the security system holding it failed, it ran amok, although how it had survived thus far without the carboniferous atmosphere that it needed to live, remains a mystery.
Arthropleura also featured in the advertising campaign for the show, appearing in The London Paper on the 16 February 2007. The Arthropleura portrayed here is different from the creatures seen in the fossil record, in addition to the Arthropleura in Walking with Monsters
as well as in Prehistoric Park
, re-imagined by the producers to make it scarier.
are believed to be the ancestors of modern-day humans.
Helen Cutter believed the only way to stop the destruction of life on earth was to stop humans from evolving, so she attempted to wipe out our ancestors. She began by poisoning the members of the "First Family
" in episode 3.10, but is killed herself before she can complete her plan. Danny Quinn later found several more living in the Rift Valley as he attempted to find his way back to the anomaly.
, when they run into a mammal described as being similar to a badger. It briefly snarls at the team, and then runs off. It turns out to have been later feasting on a dead Iguanodon
calf.
In episode 5.1, one attacked a roadworker who fell into one of its tunnels, and returned when Matt, Becker and Abby arrived, attempting to attack them as they fired their EMDs, which did not affect it. It then attacked a man at a barbecue, which alerted the team who tried to use lethal weapons to bring it down, only for the creature to drag Connor into its tunnel. As the team located its nest, it succumbed to the damage done to it and died, leaving Connor to find dozens more inside the building. Connor filled the building with gas and escaped with Matt as the building was blown up in order to exterminate them.
which is seen as a symbol of death in its homeland. The creature may speak some kind of language, as it makes a kind of hissing, whispering noise when it is alone.
It was responsible for the disappearance of two boys 14 years before the present, including Patrick Quinn, and leaving Ryan Mason the only survivor. In the present day it was being fed raw meat by a girl in order to keep it from eating neighbouring pets. When the team arrived at the now abandoned house they could not find the creature due to its camouflage ability, and later it attacked Abby when she was alone. Abby later followed it and discovered the girl feeding it. She and Ryan were in the house when it attacked again, however when the others arrived it killed a real estate agent. It attacked Danny Quinn, and it went through its anomaly when it reopened, however it came back, only to be shot several times by Danny as it fell back through, possibly dead.
In episode 4.7 Patrick Quinn, who in fact survived and went through the anomaly, stated that the Camouflage beasts kept coming for him and was forced to kill them to survive. The trauma caused him to also see humans as animals, and became convinced that killing humans is not any different from killing animals.
, later named "Rex", entered the present in the series' premiere, and despite attempts to send it back to the Permian
, was adopted by Abby and quickly became a mascot for the team. Coelurosauravus is incorrectly shown to be capable of powered flight rather than simple gliding, and shown to be far larger than its real size of 30 cm (11.8 in). Its head crest is also entirely speculative.
In episode 1.1, Rex was kept by Ben Trent after he came through the Permian anomaly, and was assumed to be the flying lizard Draco volans until Abby Maitland arrived and said he wasn't. After encountering a Scutosaurus
and a group of others, Rex was taken to the Home Office to be examined. He escaped the lab and flew around the building, and Abby kept him from leaving. He was returned through the Permian anomaly by Nick Cutter, but came back to the present and was taken back to Abby's flat in secret. Abby had to adjust the temperature of her flat so that it was similar to his own environment, and Connor Temple discovered him, but agreed to not reveal Rex's pressence. Rex escaped from the flat in episode 1.5, and was accidentally transported to a golf course where Connor tried to catch him. Rex ran off as they were attacked by a Pteranodon, and Abby pleaded to Cutter to let her keep him. Rex was later found and returned to the flat.
In episode 2.2, Rex took an instant dislike to Connor's new girlfriend Caroline Steel, attempting to bite her. In episode 2.4 he was left in the freezer by Caroline, and was found by Abby before he completely froze. By the next day he had recovered. In episode 2.5 Caroline attempted to capture Rex by leaving food out for him, and he flew around the flat trying to avoid her but was knocked down by a tennis racket. Caroline took Rex to Oliver Leek, who kept him in his creature prison. In episode 2.7 he was released along with the other creatures, and found a shaft to the surface which was used by the team to escape. Rex was shot by a guard, and Caroline asked to redeem herself by getting Rex out.
Rex was shown to still be living with Abby and Connor in episode 3.1, and in episode 3.6 Abby's brother Jack bet Rex during a game of poker with a friend and lost. He was put on E-Bay for sale which allowed Connor to notice what Jack had done. They attempted to get Rex back, and finally did so when Connor had Captain Becker threaten the seller. Abby brought Rex over to James Lester's flat where Connor was staying in episode 3.9, and Rex played with Connor's two Diictodon
, Sid and Nancy.
During Abby and Connor's disappearance, Rex was relocated to the new ARC inside the menagerie, living alongside other creatures that hadn't been returned to their own eras. Abby reunited with Rex in episode 4.2 after she had returned and been placed in charge of the creatures. In episode 4.3 Rex escaped the menagerie and caused the ARC to go into lockdown when he was scanned by Phillip Burton's bio-scanner. The room was drained of oxygen, and Connor managed to cancel the lockdown in time to be able to resuscitate Rex. In episode 5.4 he was in Abby's lab when the ARC was invaded by Future Beetles and flew around the ARC. Abby searched for him to rescue him before a gamma ray was released, and later returned to the menagerie.
species and also one of the largest elephant
s to have ever lived, measuring 4 m (13.1 ft), at the shoulder and weighing 10 t (9.8 LT) with tusks 5 m (16.4 ft) long. It was a herbivore
, with a diet consisting of varied plant life ranging from grasses to conifers. It has been estimated that a large male would have eaten approximately 300 kg (661.4 lb), of plant material daily.
The remains of Columbian Mammoths were discovered in the La Brea Tar Pits
in California
and this mammoth also lived in Mexico
, where its remains are very common. It was one of the last members of the Megafauna to become extinct, with several specimens dating only about 7,800 years ago.
The Mammoth appears in series two holding up traffic on the M25 motorway
. As it desperately tries to make its way to the nearby trees, it completely destroys all the nearby cars. Using female elephant urine, the team manage to lead it into a lorry trailer and trap it, taking it back to the ARC where it was kept in a large garage.
After being chased through the ARC by a Future Predator, Lester releases the Mammoth which impales the predator on its tusks. Lester then jokes that his children have been wanting him to get a pet. The Mammoth was seen in the new ARC's menagerie in episode 4.2 and episode 4.4.
In episode 5.5, the anomaly on the M25 reopened and another Mammoth (possibly more) entered it.
are described as "Giant Crocodiles" and that females were more dominant than males. Connor and Abby lure the Deinosuchus using Aerosols while Captain Becker and his men dart it with tranquillisers. They never do get them back to the past and remain in Leek's old bunker where he kept all his army of creatures.
is captured by the Russian anomaly team, and taken to a building in their camp where live specimens are taken. It is described as a hairy badger-like marsupial and is also an insectivore, as it is described crunching on live locusts.
are small burrowing mammal-like reptiles.
A group of over fifteen individuals appear to be traversing air vents in a hospital, chewing through the electricity that the team will need to remove them. Abby catches one which sends of a distress signal calling them all back through the anomaly but one drops from the roof (Sid) and lands inside a trolley Connor is pushing. A single Diictodon
tried to escape through an anomaly, which disappears. It later becomes apparent that Abby and Conner adopt two to keep Rex company. In episode 3.5 they are called Sid and Nancy and are living with Connor while Abby's brother is staying. When Connor was staying with Lester, the two caused him much grief.
are encountered by Helen, Jenny and the group of men assigned to help them. They are described as being as big as alligators, basking in groups like iguanas or sea lions and also have a crippling amount of bacteria in their mouth, similar to a Komodo dragon
. The group of Dimetrodon are disturbed by the team and one man is badly bitten. He never recovers from the ensuing infection, but is later killed in the Cretaceous by a pack of Troodon.
s are flightless birds from the late Holocene
. The Dodo was found only on the islands of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, they stand about 1 m (3 ft) tall, weighing about 23 kg (50.7 lb). Dodos have greyish plumage, a 23 cm (9.1 in) bill with a hooked point, very small wings, stout yellow legs, and a tuft of curly feathers on its rear end. The sternum is insufficient to support flight; these ground-bound birds evolved to take advantage of an island ecosystem with no predators. They live on fallen fruit and in the Primeval Universe they exist in a symbiotic relationship with the Ambalacoque tree.
The name came from the Portuguese word doudo or doido, itself a loanword from Old English (cf. English "dolt"). The name was given because the Dodo apparently never tried to run or escape when hunted - hence, they were traditionally regarded as stupid. The species was hunted to extinction by the late 17th century, shortly after the first arrival of people on the Dodo's native Mauritius
.
They were the main focus in episode 1.4. Nick Cutter quickly realizes they are just friendly and trusting, never having to deal with predators before. In reality they were as intelligent as any other bird. The Dodos are themselves harmless, but some carry deadly parasites.
is a Cretaceous
dinosaur. A promotional picture for that episode shows that it has sharp teeth, which is unlikely for a probably herbivorous creature, and two, small, wing-like sails on its back in the manner of Amargasaurus
. The picture shows a very long but not forked tongue. The dinosaur also has grasping talons on its hind legs, shown in the image lashing out at the knight.
A female appears in episode 3.7, having lived in Medieval times before being chased through an anomaly to the present by a knight who assumed it to be a dragon. The Dracorex had been injured after having a wooden stake driven into its side, and Abby and Becker cornered it in a strawberry patch where it collapsed of its own accord. Abby removed the stake with Becker and cared for it with Connor as she helped to patch it up. It was later moved to the ARC. It escaped from the new ARC's menagerie in episode 4.1 due to an error caused by Jess. It knocked Matt down in a corridor before it arrived in the hub where Jess was. Becker and soldiers arrived to contain it, but it was lead into Lester's office by Matt, who left it some water. Some time later Becker tranquilised it and it was moved back to the menagerie,
are prehistoric rhinoceros, but larger and have more brittle horns which are used for display during mating seasons. These beasts able to scare off big predators like Andrewsarchus. The males have a heart shaped horn on top of their noses which is about 70 cm (27.6 in) and the females have a some sort of stump.
A herd of Embolotherium appeared from an anomaly and caused damage in a campsite. There is one male and several females, accompanied by a baby. The male killed a quad-bike rider after he disturbed the infant. The females were gathered around a tent, trapping another man, and Connor distracted the male by having it chase him in a go-cart. The baby was also trapped inside the tent, so Abby and Sarah saved it after making their way through the herd. Later the team attempted to force them through the anomaly, only for it to close as Connor lead the bull to the females and caused them all to stampede. They charged towards the campsite, however Eve managed to open an anomaly to send them all back through.
come through an anomaly from the Cenozoic onto Oxford Street, killing three people and damaging cars and buses, as well as chasing Connor, Abby and Jenny at different stages in the chapter. One is brought down by Cutter's tranquilliser darts and the other is killed by Hemple, the team's artillery expert for the book.
, a tyrannosauroid dinosaur about 4 metres long. The creatures kill several people, then die in a storm.
, which are described as small quadrupedal animals that run on their hind legs when frightened. Because the anomaly site is closed off for the chapter involving the Archosaurs, no members of the public are attacked, but Abby is bitten through a gauntlet by one. The Euparkeria are all rounded up and released through the anomaly before it closes.
, that move around in enormous swarms led by a huge Queen. Their mandibles are so strong they can chew through concrete.
They appear via an anomaly opened by Connor, kill a guard and cause chaos throughout the ARC going through the vents and piping. Becker shot some of the swarm with an EMD, including the Queen, and othes were killed with pesticide. Their venom is not extremely poisonous, but one beetle bit Jess, who went into anaphylaxis
. Matt and Connor rigged the anomaly creator to explode in a gamma ray
burst to kill the remaining beetles.
. The team track it down to its lair in the ruins of an Incan temple in the Peruvian jungle. After they disrupt its control over the Thylacosmilus, the creature retreats through the anomaly with them seconds before it closes. Cutter later theorises to Lester the creature may have been seen later in history by the Incas and incorporated into their mythology. The creature had several unusual abilities, such as the ability to control other creatures through the use of pheromones (like a queen bee controls a beehive), and a tongue with a tip covered in many tiny teeth that can burrow into flesh.
The fungus is probably the evolved form of the contemporary Cordyceps
fungus of south-east Asia for its lifecycle bears a strong resemblance to the fungus. Cordyceps grows inside a host (usually an ant), replacing the surrounding tissue with its own, avoiding the vital organs. It then alters the host's behaviour to make it go to an area of suitable conditions. Cordyceps then grows throughout the host's body, killing it, before becoming completely rooted in the ground or stem the host found itself on. Cordyceps then sporulates, infecting more hosts, by either inhaling the spores through the windpipe or spores falling through pores in the exoskleteton or skin. The Cordyceps fungus probably evolved into the future fungus to attack bigger prey, such as the Megopteran.
The fungus was found by Sir Richard Bentley's assistant after he went through an anomaly in a flat, and accidentally transferred it to the present where Bentley was infected by it. As he slowly took over him, a sample of Connor's at the ARC affected another man, and more quickly turned him into a Fungus Creature. Connor and Sarah's belief that overheating it would kill it was thought to have worked only to learn it actually spread the spores even more, leading the flamethrower-wielding team to capture it instead. After freezing the fungus instead, they found it worked and prepared the ARC to freeze their captured creature, only for it to escape and attack Jenny before it succumbed to the cold.
s, and like bats use echolocation to hunt and locate prey, with the ears having moved to the front of the face. They are extremely agile, however it comes at a cost as they are easily stunned by powerful blows. The Future Predators are known to have caused the most deaths out of any creature in the series, both on-screen deaths, and total (if what Helen Cutter said about them wiping out humanity in the future was true). TV critic Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune described the Future Predator as "an apelike and skull-headed thing that sort of represents the ultimate dumbing down of the human race"
Their first appearance is in episode 1.6. A mating pair lived in the Permian era after going through an anomaly, and Helen realised they were from the future. When an anomaly lead to the present they went through, and proceeded to kill a lion and four innocent people, including Abby Maitland's boss. Helen, believing there was only one, warned the team about it, and they failed in their attempt to kill it initially. Connor Temple came up with an idea to track its echolocation, but was attacked in a car before he was saved by Abby and Stephen Hart. Nick Cutter lead the team to its lair, where they discovered it had given birth to five infants before they were attacked by the male. Nick managed to kill it, and he and Helen planned to use the infants to locate the future anomaly in the Permian to try prevent more from going though into that era. However the female Predator followed and attacked them, killing Tom Ryan and his men before a Gorgonopsid arrived and knocked it down. Three of the infants were killed before the mother fought back, and though it managed to inflict heavy wounds on the Gorgonopsid it was crushed and killed. Nick and Helen unknowingly left the remaining two infants in the Permian.
In episode 2.6, Oliver Leek had control of a Predator using a "neural clamp", which he had taken to the ARC and kill some of the staff discreetly before going after James Lester. Lester made several attempts to fight back, turning on Connor's I-Pod speakers on loud and using a machinegun from the armoury before being cornered in the main room. Leek had the Predator leap to deliver the final blow, only for it to become impaled on the tusk of a Columbian Mammoth that Lester had just let loose. In episode 2.7 it is revealed Leek has successfully captured a pack of Predators, and using neural clamps to maintain control over them, referring to them as his "Praetorian Guard". Nick was pursued by one through the facility until he managed to draw it in close with his blood before ripping the neural clamp from its head, killing it. Leek threatened to use the rest of his controlled Predators to tear Nick apart, however Nick freed them of their mind control devices by forcing the one he had into a fuse box, disabling the rest. They then turned on Leek and killed him before they were locked in a feeding chamber along with all of the other creatures that Leek, Helen and their soldiers had locked kept. They were among the creatures that killed Stephen as he sacrificed himself to keep the creatures locked up to have them kill one another.
In episode 3.1 Future Predators appear in their own environment in an old city. They were the inadvertent guards for a mysterious artefact. Soldiers sent by Christine Johnson to recover the artefact killed a young Predator before an adult kills all but one of the soldiers. In episode 3.4, Christine was shown to have been operating on one in an attempt to learn how to recreate its echolocation. It woke up, and Christine had it killed. In episode 3.8, a pack of Future Predators stalked the team when they arrived in the future. Captain Becker killed one while accidentally alerting several others to their pressence due to the noise from his gun. An infant leaped out of a car to attack Danny Quinn, scarring his neck before he stomped on it. More approached as the team were rescuing Jack Maitland, and Becker lead them away. The team were trapped in an abandoned bus by the Predators before several Megopterans arrived and the two species fought amongst themselves, and the still alive Becker killed another as it came towards the team. In episode 3.9, a Predator kills Christine after she was pushed through an anomaly leading to the future by Helen. In episode 3.10 one stalked Danny, Connor and Abby as they searched for Helen, but was locked away from them. It soon broke into the room along with several others, narrowly missing their quarry as they escaped into the Cretaceous through an anomaly which was closed to prevent them following.
In episode 5.6, the Future Predators are shown differently, having evolved to survive in the harsh landscape caused by Philip Burton. They are much quicker then before, have more sun-damaged skin, and with food so scarce they attack each other to claim prey for themselves. One prepared to attack Connor before a storm came up, and it fought with another before the victor was brought down by Abby. A group attacked as Connor, Abby and Matt Anderson made their way back to the anomaly, though they fought amongst themselves. A pair went through an anomaly created by Connor into the ARC, and attacked Lester and Jess Parker. They severely injured Lester, and when the team arrived Abby came up with a plan to paralyse them by using ultra-sonic noise. The first had Abby pinned before Becker killed it with his EMD, and the other froze as Abby initiated her plan, and Becker was able to use his EMD to kill it with only a few close range blows.
The "Future Predators" also appear on the Watch YouTube Game. They attack your computer screen and it takes five hits to kill them.
have been found with litter in their stomachs, including plastic bags, tins and car registration plates: the basketball and the shoe found in the Future Shark's stomach could be a reference to this.
In episode 2.4 this creature prepared to attack Jenny Lewis in the water before it was shot by Stephen Hart and then captured by the team who suspected it of killing a boy. After examining the creature in their ARC, Nick Cutter concluded it was probably the descendant of the shark. Since no remains of the boy were found in the creature's stomach, and sharks typically take days to digest their prey, it did not kill the missing boy.
, a distinct arachnid
order. The name derives from Latin, and means those that flee from the sun. The adults are up to 1 m (39.4 in) wide, by 1 m long, because the lush rainforest
of the Carboniferous saturates the atmosphere with oxygen, allowing them to grow larger than modern arthropod
s. They have pincers instead of fangs - like the modern day camel spider
, only much bigger. They also have long pedipalps, which function as sense organs similar to insects' antennae and give the appearance of the two extra legs. Pedipalps terminate in reversible adhesive organs. They do not appear to make webs or produce venom but they nest in large groups and are very defensive of their offspring.
A nest of them appears in the second episode. Ryan and the other special forces enter the tunnel, and they are attacked by a whole group of them, killing one of the soldiers. They find out that the spiders did not kill the pest controller, because the bite looked different. Eventually it is discovered that they avoid light, and by using torches, all the Giant Spiders were driven back through the anomaly by the end of episode 1.2.
These creatures are based on fragmentary fossils which scientists thought was a 1 m wide spider but this has just recently been reclassified as a type of scorpion. The Giant Spiders also featured in the advertising campaign for the show. First on giant billboards on 1 February 2007 and again in The London Paper on 16 February 2007.
is one of the largest species of carnivorous dinosaurs. It is shown to be able to run at high speed for a surprisingly long distance, considering its huge size and weight. It is dubbed a "G-Rex" by the characters throughout the episode because it is pictured just like a T-Rex just slightly bigger.
In episode 3.4, one appears at an airport and starts attacking a news crew investigating the anomaly. It ate Nigel Marven
, then went back through before it returned and ran out onto the runway, attacking an aeroplane. Connor Temple lured it away with a luggage carrier before it tripped over the small vehicle and pinned Connor down on the runway. Then a helicopter piloted by Danny Quinn lured it back through the anomaly. Danny came back in time to reveal that there was a large pack on the other side of the anomaly, and Connor only just manages to lock the anomaly in time.
ia are a group of creatures that were at one time called "mammal-like reptiles", though in most current classification systems, they are not classed as reptiles as they are more closely related to mammals. Their mammalian specializations include differentiated tooth shape, the fully developed temporal fenestra, pillar-like rear legs and even ear bones, as well as other traits associated with its mammal
ian descendants. Arguments have even been made for synapsids of its time being endothermic.
What’s really special about Gorgonopsids is their patience and implacability. Once they have smelt blood they have a tendency to pursue their prey at all costs. In fact it was this keen sense of smell that originally tempted it into the cold present, lured by the smell of humans and waste from a supermarket. They then store their kills in trees like leopard
s.
They also appear to be resilient and long lived as one male Gorgonopsid was still defending the territory around the anomaly for at least eight years, even after suffering horrible injuries after a fight with a Future Predator which it killed by rearing up on its hind legs and crushing it under its weight. Due to the thick armour on their back, the only way to combat them with regular fire arms is to aim for their underside.
This new species is a typical representative of the Gorgonopsia
, It is distinguished from other species by a longer snout, and other details of the bones of the skull. It also has naked skin
with short bristly hair rather than scales
. This creature is based on Gorgonops longifrons found in the Karoo Basin in South Africa which was between 3 and 4 m (9.8 and 13.1 ft) long and had 8 cm (3 in) sabres.
is an extinct genus of flightless aquatic birds that lived during the Late Cretaceous
. Hesperornis were fairly large birds, reaching up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length. They had virtually no wings, swimming with powerful hind legs. Their toes were probably lobed rather than being webbed, as in today's grebe
s; like in these, the toes could rotate well, which is necessary to decrease drag in lobed feet but not in webbed ones such as in loon
s, where the toes are simply folded together. Like many other Mesozoic
birds such as Ichthyornis
, Hesperornis had teeth in its beak
which were used to hold prey (most likely fish
). In the hesperornithiform lineage they were of a different arrangement than in any other known bird (or in non-avian theropod dinosaurs), with the teeth sitting in a longitudinal groove rather than in individual sockets.
They hunted in the waters of the North American Inland Sea which then were tropical waters, much warmer than today. They probably fed mainly on fish, their teeth were helpful in dealing with slippery or hard-shelled prey. Later as Nick Cutter swims through the anomaly he finds himself in a tropical sea with a flock of Hesperornis swimming around him. He later finds a Hesperornis rookery amongst the rocky shoreline. Two Hesperornis investigate, but Helen Cutter shoos them off by throwing small stones, and says that they "tend to be more dumb than violent, only attacking when they're in a panic or disturbed."
Hesperornis is shown as being covered in scales when in real life, Hesperornis was likely covered in feathers. Also they were not able to stand upright or walk as the legs attached far at the back and sideways, with even the lower leg being tightly attached to the body. Thus, they were limited to sliding on their belly or galumphing.
is an extinct genus of Hyaenodonts, a group of carnivorous creodonts of the family Hyaenodontidae. Some species of this genus were amongst the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammals of their time, others were only of the size of a marten
. They had very massive skulls but only small brains. It had a long skull with a narrow snout - much larger in relation to the length of the skull than in canine carnivores, for instance. Its neck was shorter than its skull, while its body was long and robust and terminated in a long tail. Despite the name, these creatures are not related to hyenas.
A total of two adults and three cub Hyaenodons came through an anomaly in the wine cellar of a stately mansion, where Jenny Lewis is getting married, in episode 4.6, making a den. An adult killed a wedding planner in the cellar where the pups were. Connor stunned one male Hyaenodon and it was sent back through the anomaly. He was trapped in the cellar because of the female, and gave some wine to two cubs to knock them out and returned them to the anomaly before trying to get the third through as well, only to allow the male back through. The two adults attacked the wedding party and were fought off with medieval weapons. All the Hyaenodons were returned.
in 2009. The prehistoric crocodile had oversized tusks embedded toward the front of its upper and lower jaws, inspiring Sereno's affectionate nickname, the BoarCroc. Like many crocodiles of the Cretaceous period, Kaprosuchus was not restricted to river ecosystems; judged by its long legs and impressive dentition, this four-legged reptile roamed the plains of Africa much in the style of a big cat. In fact, with its big tusks, powerful jaws and 6.1 metres (20 ft) span, Kaprosuchus may have been capable of taking down comparably sized herbivorous (or even carnivorous) dinosaurs.
A Kaprosuchus appeared in episode 4.2, having grown from a hatchling flushed into the sewer 5 years previously into an adult preying on the homeless living by the Thames. It's presence was discovered by Connor, Abby and Duncan, who alerted the ARC with Matt after he saved them from its initial attack when its home was set on fire by construction workers. Though it was brought down by an EMD and contained, it woke up and escaped, chasing Duncan into a maze of containers, killing an soldier. After forcing it out of a maze of containers, the team inadvertently killed it with EMDs since the firepower was too much for it.
Another appears in Episode 5.5, coming through a new anomaly during the anomaly convergance, and attacking Connor and Philip's car. Philip left Connor on his own, and Connor called Abby for help, who arrived and brought it down with an EMD while driving. Wthere or not it survived and was returned, or whether it was killed is unknown.
The Kaprosuchus also appears on the Watch YouTube Game. It would take two hits to kill the Kaprosuchus.
were generally amphibian-like in build. They were short-legged and mostly large headed, with moderately short to long tails. Many groups, and all the early forms, were large animals. Primitive members of all labyrinthodont groups were probably true water predators, and various degrees of amphibious, semi-aquatic and semi terrestrial modes of living arose independently in different groups. Some lineages remained or became secondarily fully aquatic with reduced limbs and elongated, eel-like bodies.
A large (several metres long) Labyrinthodont with a very long tail, and a juvenile, appeared in a seaside cave in episode 4.5. The adult had been causing many people and animal stock to go missing over the ten years since the anomaly had previously been open. It killed someone camping out to investigate the 'Witchfield Worm', and Matt Anderson saved a fisherman from been devoured too. Abby Maitland pursued the creature to a campsite where she lured it on top of a caravan and drove it part way to the anomaly site. Connor Temle discovered the infant in the cave, and its cries of pain caused by acid drew the adult back. It killed two people, one of whom had known about the creature and attempted to contain it, before being driven back through the anomaly by Connor and Abby.
, an extinct type of marine reptiles.
In the The Lost Island novel, a Liopleurodon sinks a trawler boat in the Atlantic south of Ireland, at Guns Island, and it later encountered by the team in the water. It seems heavily resistant to bullets, but when the team discover it, it is dying from the cold of the Atlantic winter.
In episode 5.2 a Liopleurodon comes through an anomaly in the North Sea, and attacks a naval submarine with the team aboard, disabling it. The submarine is drawn into the anomaly to the Jurassic and the Liopleurodon follows it back. A pod of them swim around the submarine, banging against it to see if it was food. When a swimming theropod was ejected from the vessel, all of the creatures went after the distraction as one of the Liopleurodons ate it.
, whose creature is a large predatory insect from the future which, as Carim described, "evolved from carnivorous beetles, such as the tiger beetle
". However, the series described it as evolving from either wasps or ants. The creature can fly and run fast over long distances, and lives in future jungles. It is known as Megopteran.
In episode 3.8 a group of them are gassed out by Danny and become the team's distraction when they are surrounded in a bus by Future Predators - a vicious fight ensures that the team escapes. As they do, a larger Megopteran appears and heads in their direction, but is not seen afterwards. They are shown to have an ovipositor
, with which they can lay eggs into a host. Three creatures re-appear in the Series 3 finale and are seen rampaging around in Christine Johnson's base. Two are killed by Becker using electrical wires and the third one is presumably dead.
There appear to be two types of Mer;
In episode 2.6 and 2.7, it is revealed Leek has managed to acquire a Mer for his collection. The creature eventually escapes the feeding chamber, and attempts to break down a door to leave the bunker, before returning to the feeding room in an attempt by Cutter, Stephen and Helen to trap the creatures there, so that they kill each other.
which roam in groups across the sand. They prefer to hide in the sand but may emerge if frightened by a predator. These millipedes are likely to be the staple food source for the giant scorpions.
In episode 2.5, Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart noticed a large group of them travelling on the sand, which they failed to realise were fleeing from the scorpions. One entered the present era briefly but was captured by Abby in a ball pool before it was returned back into the past.
s were serpentine marine reptiles and ferocious predators. Mosasaurs were not dinosaurs but evolved from semi-aquatic squamates known as the aigialosaur
s, close relatives of modern-day monitor lizards. Mosasaurs breathed air and were powerful swimmers that were well-adapted to living in the warm, shallow epicontinental seas prevalent during the Late Cretaceous Period. Mosasaurs are intensely territorial and cannibals, and the only meetings between them that do not end in violence occur when the Mosasaurs in question are of opposite sexes, and there is the possibility of mating.
The skull was more robustly built than other Mosasaurs, as the mandible
s articulated very tightly with the skull. It had a deep, barrel-shaped body, and with its fairly large eyes, poor binocular vision, and poorly developed olfactory bulbs, experts believe that Mosasaurs lived near the ocean surface, where it preyed on fish, turtles, ammonites as well as smaller Mosasaurs. Because of its robust skull and tightly articulating jaws, mosasaurs was unable to swallow prey-items whole in the manner of earlier mosasaurs, such as Tylosaurus
. Instead, with the aid of its curved, knife-like teeth, mosasaurs was able to tear its prey into more manageable pieces that could be more easily swallowed.
The Mosasaur was shown to have an armored crocodile-like body, but in reality it would have been smooth-skinned and streamlined, and covered in more lizard- or snake-like scales. Also it swallowed the lifeguard whole even though its jaw and enlarged neck muscles were evolved to tear and rip prey apart. The Mosasaur depicted also has a more tapering, snake-like body than its real life counterpart, and a pair of short horns over the head, like a theropod dinosaur.
attack a herd of Iguanodon, but it is not known if the hunt is successful. Cutter initially mistakes them for Allosaurids but their presence nonetheless gives Cutter reason to move the team from their hunting grounds.
, which is described as having a knobbed head and using the domed forehead for display rather than head-butting, according to Helen.
which are distinguished from the other families of the order Cestoidea by having a distinct head, furnished with four suctorial discs.
They feed off the nutrients in the bloodstream of its host, destroying the internal organs in the process. It then burrows into the brain of the carrier and manipulates it for the benefit of the Parasite. The Parasite causes the host to become aggressive and photophobic. The bite of the host serves to spread the Parasite's eggs, which are released into the saliva, to a new host. It is hinted that the parasites could be responsible for the Vampire myth.
The mature Parasites eventually kill the host and themselves as part of their reproductive cycle. Each individual has male and female reproductive structures in its proglottid and can reproduce independently. Any warm-blooded creature is an acceptable host, even humans.
or "Terror Birds" are large carnivorous flightless birds that were the dominant predators in South America shortly during the Cenozoic period, 62-2.5 million years ago. They were roughly 1 – tall. Titanis walleri, one of the largest species, is known from North America, marking one of the comparatively rare examples where animals that evolved in South America managed to spread north after the Isthmus of Panama land bridge formed. Their wings evolved into meat hook-like structures that likely could be outstretched like arms to perform a hacking motion to help bring down prey. Like the armour-plated ostriches they resemble, Terror Birds are also very fast runners.
They first appear in episode 3.6. They first came through the anomaly in the 1950s, and attacked and killed scientists that were studying the anomaly. When the anomaly reopened in the present day, they came through again, and one was drawn to a cabin the team were hiding it due to a distress call they had accidentally played. It chased the team in their car, and Danny Quinn fought it off with a pipe before tey crashed. Abby Maitland and Sarah Page fled while Danny used Connor Temple as bait to draw in the bird, trapping it by hooking its leg into the car's tow cable. Abby and Sarah were chased by several more and chased to a minefield along with Danny and Connor, and Danny lured on onto a mine, killing it. Another attacked and killed one of Captain Ross's soldiers and was killed as the car exploded on a mine and the shrapnel cut through the bird's neck. The rest of the flock attack the cabin, and Connor distracted them so that Danny could play the distress call recording to lure them back to the anomaly.
A single terror bird attacked in a prison in episode 4.7, coming through a "satellite anomaly" and killing a tourist. It returned through the main anomaly and was driven back by the team, however it appeared through another satellite anomaly Abby and Becker found. It was allowed to go through the main anomaly, but it returned again to distract the team as they were attempting to capture Ethan Dobrowski. Connor and Abby chased after it, and Danny arrived to help knock it through a satellite anomaly. Again the terror bird returned, this time being brought down by Matt Anderson's EMD. Abby contained it in a storage closet, but it was set free by Ethan/Patrick to menace Emily merchant, but luckily used a club to bring it down again. It was presumably returned back to its own time after that.
when marooned in the Cretaceous. Cutter carefully manages to move the team around the group of Ankylosaurs, and later they observe a herd of them associating with Iguanodon.
was described by Adrian Hodges
and Tim Haines
as a "bit souped-up for our show - bigger, more powerful, all that sort of stuff" and "a running crocodile, he's also quite bipedal". It seems to be based on the real fossil crocodilian genus Pristichampsus
, of which one species (P. rollinatii) was facultatively bipedal. Pristichampsus has a vague similarity to Amut, it is later revealed that the Ancient Egyptians thought that the creature was the god Sobek
, because of the similarities that they have, and that the anomaly was a gate way to the land of the gods. The series' creators have also confirmed it will be found in the Thames river and then destroy a kitchen
. In the new ITV Winter Spring Showreel, the Primeval trailer briefly shows the Pristichampsus rearing over cars and swimming in the river.
A Pristichampsus came through an anomaly in episode 3.1. It killed the caretaker Marianne but left her body, possibly as a warning to competitors. It attacked Sarah Page but escaped from the museum at its first opportunity through the docking door. It went on to kill a traffic warden and then swam across the Thames to a restaurant, attracted by the scent of hot food. It escaped to the top floor in a lift and attacked a cleaning woman. Cutter saved her by luring it out a window. The Pristichampsus fell, injuring its leg. It then started to return to the museum and the anomaly, its instinct to survive outweighing its instinct to hunt. Cutter, Becker and an armed escort met the creature there, but taking Sarah and Abby's advice, bowed to show there were not a threat. The Pristichampsus passed them without attacking and climbed through the anomaly just before it closed.
Throughout the episode, several other Pristichampsus almost came through the anomaly. It was revealed in the episode that Pristichampsus was the inspiration for the Egyptian goddess Amut. Cutter used this as an example that some of the anomalies and the creatures that came through them were the inspiration for myths and legends.
was a large Pterosaur
, notable for its skull crest. These may have been used as mating displays, or it might have acted as a rudder
, or perhaps both; also, it may have acted as a counterweight to the large beak. Despite its huge size, at 9 m (30 ft) Pteranodon is not the biggest of the pterosaurs; creatures such as Quetzalcoatlus
could reach 13 m (43 ft).
It could, like the modern-day albatross
, glide by navigating through thermals because the Pteranodon had a high aspect ratio
(wingspan to chord
length) similar to that of the albatross — 9:1 for Pteranodon, compared to 8:1 for an albatross, but was also fully capable of powered flight.
In episode 1.5, a Pteranodon appears from an anomaly above a golf course
, where it apparently attacks Connor and Rex. After some chasing, Connor and Rex jump down a hill as the Pteranodon swoops and flies away above them. It was assumed that this creature was responsible for the death of a golfer earlier. Later Stephen discovers that its diet contains fish and small reptiles but no human remains, proving that it did not kill the golfer and the real killer is still out there. This also proves that it was trying to catch Rex, not kill Connor.
Also, a Pteranadon appears in the opening of episode 2.2 attacking Helen Cutter after she steals one of its eggs, though this was unrelated to the events of the episode.
A Pteranadon appears again in episode 3.10 attacking Helen Cutter as she tries to go through an anomaly and causes her to drop her anomaly device.
s are (sometimes very large) flying reptiles, that lived in the Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous periods. They are not dinosaur
s.
In episode 1.3, Nick Cutter travels through an underwater anomaly and finds himself in a Cretaceous tropical sea, 75 million years ago. As he comes ashore and puts his scuba down on the beach he observed several Pterosaurs flying and feeding over the coastal waters.
In The Lost Island an unidentified Pterosaur species are described resting on rocks, and basking in the sun with their wings open like the modern-day cormorant
.
Raptors lived and hunted in packs. It was one of only five species, along with the future predators, worms, giant spiders and embolotherium where juvenile specimens have been seen. Juvenile Raptors display morphological differences such as the arms, which were proportionally longer than those of adults. There has been confusion as to the identity of the raptors. While the first news entry claim the genus was Velociraptor
, both the official ITV site and Primeval site state that the raptors were based upon Deinonychus
. It has been seen they live in Africa in the late Cretaceous, 95 million years ago, where no Deinonychus has been found. Although, at one point the Primeval site did state that the raptors were based on Utahraptor. More recently they were listed as Dromaeosaurus
.
The parents appear to invest little care in their young and are likely to forget the offspring is theirs if separated for too long, often resulting in cannibalism
, although it was not confirmed that the cannibal Raptor was a parent and may have just been a rogue, or that if raptors were like lions, then Rogue was killing the defeated male's offspring. Raptors are shown as being covered in scales with a small crest of protofeathers that can be raised up like hackles when attacking.
In episode 2.1 two adults and an infant Deinonychus came through a shopping mall anomaly; one adult was decapitated by the closing anomaly, the other was returned and the infant was canabilised by one of the adults. They appear again in The Lost Island novel, hunting and killing three people marooned with the team in the Early Cretaceous. They are described as being Dromaeosaurs, but are also said to bear a resemblance to the Raptors in the earlier shopping mall episode. In episode 2.6 and episode 2.7 at least two fully grown Deinonychus were seen in Leeks creature prison. They were killed in a fight with other creatures at the end of the episode 2.7.
Episode 3.4 shows Mick Harper and Nigel Marven
approaching a juvenile Velociraptor in an aircraft hangar, before Nigel was killed by the Giganotosaurus that followed it. Velociraptor also feature in Fire and Water.
Dromaeosaurus made an in episode 3.10, attacking Danny Quin, Conner Temple and Abby Maitland. Three are seen feasting on another raptor's carcass in a forest and they then proceed to attack the three members of the team before they were knocked out by a stun grenade. Another raptor later followed Danny through an anomaly into Pliocene Africa and charged at Helen and knocks her off a cliff, killing them both.
In episode 4.1 in the Cretaceous a male Dromaeosaurus takes Abby's blanket to decorate its bower so as to impress a mate. It was later lured by Abby with her blanket to provide a distraction for a Spinosaurus standing near an anomaly, and after a brief fight the raptor was killed.
In episode 5.3, a Deinonychus was responsible for several murders in the Victorian era. Matt and Emily encounter it and have a small battle with it. It later kills Henry Merchant before being shot by Becker.
The Deinonychus also appears on the Watch YouTube game. It takes one shot to kill it.
and the coelacanth
, Latimeria
. These are bony fish with paired rounded fins. The fin-limbs of Sarcopterygiians are so like the expected ancestral form of tetrapod limbs
that they have been universally considered the direct ancestors of land vertebrates.
Sarcopterygians have modified cosmoid scales, which are thinner than true cosmoid scales, which can only be found on extinct fish. Coelacanths also have a special electroreceptive device called a rostral organ in the front of the skull, which probably helps in prey detection.
One fossilised member of this group appears in the first episode, Cutter explaining that this specimen appears in the fossil record at a time when it should have been extinct for 70 million years, and the fact that a live one appeared in the Indian Ocean
. This suggests that there has been at least one anomaly in the distant past, and one outside of Britain. This was later confirmed in the Primeval spin-off novel Shadow of the Jaguar.
was a genus of armour-covered Permian period pareiasaur
, loosely related to the turtles. Its genus name refers to large plates of bony scute
s (osteoderm
s) set in the skin, as a defence against predators. But the most unusual thing about them were the heavy skull
s ornamented with strange knobs and ridges. It was of a very heavy build, almost rhinoceros
-like. Unlike most reptiles, held its legs underneath its body with stubby toes to support its great weight.
They have an important role in episode 1.1 and in episode 1.6 a herd if briefly seen on a hillside, in episode 2.6 they are seen locked up at the rear of Leek's animal containment facility and in episode 2.7 they play a more important role, being used by the team to kill two of Leek's men.
These fearsome-looking animals were in fact inoffensive herbivore
s, which were well adapted to the dry conditions which covered much of Pangaea
at that time. A social animal, they migrated in large groups. The leaf-shaped multi-cusped teeth resemble those of iguana
s, caseids
, and other reptilian herbivores. This dentition, together with the deep capacious body which would have housed an extensive digestive tract. When in the past, they see several more Scutosaurus roaming a desert.
Although initially described correctly as a pareiasaur
, this species is from then on called a dinosaur
throughout the episode in which it appears. Although based on the heavily armoured species called Scutosaurus kapinski that lived about 250 million years ago in Russia, the size of the Scutosaurus in the series is exaggerated. It is described as at least "five or six tons" in weight, about as big as an elephant. In fact the actual Scutosaurus was much smaller, no more than 3 m (10 ft) in length. They appear locked up at the end of episode 2.7.
-like creatures scuttling around in a tank, while explaining to Abby how the mammals inherit the Earth after the K-T Event.
s. The scorpions never come through the anomaly in their first appearance, but did in the second season finale, along with many other creatures. They are probably reimagined from the ones in Walking with Monsters by the producers to make them bigger and more frightening. They hunt by sensing surface vibrations and burrowing underground, similar to the giant worms from the film Tremors
. Their main food source appears to be the Silurian millipedes. In reality, scorpions of this size would not be able to breathe, let alone move about.
The scorpions made a reappearance in episode 2.7. One of them was released onto a crowded beach by Oliver Leek to show his power, where it promptly ate two tourists and scared everyone else away. Stephen Hart set out to deal with it on his own, and harpooned it below a bridge. The still alive creature was left to be collected at leisure. Its fate was unknown, but presumably it was killed.
They appear in a flashback in episode 3.2, when Cutter recognizes the Cleaner and thought he was killed by the scorpions. They are referred to as "Silurian Scorpions" in the episode, but they are listed as "Giant scorpion" on the Primeval official websites.
is a vicious carnivorous sabre-toothed cat that lived in the Pleistocene
in both North
and South America
. They are commonly and incorrectly called "sabre toothed tigers" where, in truth, all modern day tigers evolved from a different line.
A fully-grown Smilodon weighed approximately 200 kg (440.9 lb) and had a short tail, powerful legs, and a large head. The cats have two huge canine teeth, about 17 cm (7 in) long, that are used to kill prey by suffocation. The jaws could open to about 120 degree
s in order to use these fangs to deadly effect. They eventually died out due to climate change.
Smilodon was mentioned in episode 1.4 by Helen Cutter as "sabre-toothed killers". However, she apparently lied when she claimed they would come through at that point, and escaped through the Spaghetti Junction. They are also seen, in skeleton form, in Cutter's office. The cat made a proper appearance in the second series, rampaging through a local park. It was being looked after by a ranger named Valerie, who apparently had cared for it since it first came through, as a cub. She was later killed by it (though the casualty is not shown). The cat was apparently killed by a heart attack after being tranquillised. When Cutter hears of this he is puzzled since it was healthy, pointing towards other involvement. In fact, the sabre-tooth was really smuggled along with several other creatures. It reappears in episode 2.6 and episode 2.7.
is the largest carnivorous dinosaur, weighing 4–8 t (3.9–7.9 LT) and 18 m (59 ft) in length. It lived in Africa in the late Cretaceous
. It is bipedal has a large "sail" on its back, though the one in the show included an additional mini sail on its tail.
In episode 4.1, a Spinosaurus is stalking Connor and Abby in the Cretaceous when the pair open an Anomaly
to the present using Helen's anomaly device. Abby lures a raptor towards the territorial Spinosaurus to distract it, and the larger dinosaur wins the fight while the two slip through the anomaly. When the anomaly was accidentally unlocked it came through and rampaged through the city, and was lured into an arena to be contained. Connor attempted to open another anomaly as Abby distracted it with lights and music and Becker and his men brought it down with their new EMDs. However it got back up and tried to attack Connor and Matt who were hanging from the ceiling, and it swallows the anomaly device and disappears into the anomaly created by it inside the Spinosaurus' stomach.
Spinosaurus was seen again in Episode 5.5, though this was stock from 4.1.
is the largest and most famous member of the Stegosaurid family, growing up to 9 m (30 ft) in length and more than capable of defending itself from predators with the four spikes on the end of its tail. A row of plates along its back, its most recognizable feature, may have been used as a cooling system in hot weather or to flash colour that could be used to entice mates or threaten enemies and predators.
Series 4 webisode 1 includes CCTV footage of a Stegosaurus causing havoc in the House of Commons during the time between Series 3 and 4. However this was not a real Stegosaurus, the CG model was that of the Embolotherium, reused with close up footage.
.
ns are an extinct suborder of carnivorous eutheriodont therapsids that lived from the middle and late Permian into the Triassic. Therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of their teeth, suggest that they were successful carnivores. Like other non-mammalian synapsids, therocephalians are described as mammal-like reptiles, although in fact, Therocephalia is the group most closely related to the cynodonts, which gave rise to the mammals. The earlier therocephalians were in many respects as primitive as the gorgonopsids, but they did show certain advanced features. The discovery of maxilloturbinal ridges in some specimens suggests that at least some therocephalians may have been warm-blooded.
A species of Therocephalian appears in episode 4.4. Numerous creatures the size of a large dog come through an anomaly at a school, and kill a teacher and a female student. Matt, Becker, and Connor deal with the venomous creatures, and Becker was bitten by one of the venomous creatures to paralyse him, but later recovered.
was a pouched
carnivore, resembling a sabre-toothed cat, that lived in South America
2 million years ago. It had a long, curving chin and a large pair of sabre teeth used for killing its prey. Thylacosmilus eventually went extinct due to being outcompeted by true sabre-tooth cats such as Smilodon.
In Shadow of the Jaguar, the first known anomaly to open overseas is in a biological reserve in the Peru
vian rainforest
and allows a pack of Thylacosmilus
access to the modern world. They proceed to go on the rampage, wiping out several small villages, killing one of the sons of a senior man to Sir James Lester (Sir Charles), killing a sloth
and killing several members of the SAS. A second pride of six Thylacosmilus are followed and some are killed by the SAS. It turns out that the Thylacosmilus are under the control of a creature from the future, which is using pheromones to control the pack's instinct and use them like hunting hounds. After the team disrupt the bird's control, the Thylacosmilus flee in terror back through the anomaly, just before it closes.
are seen. They are described as having huge frills, long horns and being aggressively unpredictable. In the first instance, a mother is killed whilst defending her calf and almost killing Connor in the process, and her calf is then killed by an unseen predator, which later turns out to be a Tyrannosaurus. Later on, a large herd is found by a river, and several animals are killed after a tank fires at them. The Torosaurus then attack the tanks and succeed in killing the driver.
Two came through an anomaly in a London theatre in episode 4.3. Another one attacked Emily in the Cretaceous before Matt rescued her, and gave chase through the anomaly only to be blasted back with EMDs. One of the two in the present was immediately shot by Becker, and the other is killed by falling after a chase Matt and Emily. Given the name "Tree Creepers" by Emily Merchant, real species name, if any, not known.
A Tree Creeper is also appears in episode 5.5, when it comes through an anomaly into the ARC carpark. It curiously investigates Lester's new Jaguar, and Lester comes to defend it, bringing down the creature with a few EMD bursts. It is unknown if Lester sent the creature back through the anomaly.
are small carnivorous dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous. They had the largest brain of any dinosaur.
Several are encountered in Extinction Event, where they are described as being ruthless predators. They were first encountered feasting on the carcass of a dead Anatotitan, which had apparently been killed by shock, as a result of a meteor strike. Later, Jenny and Helen Cutter are in the Cretaceous period, and one of the mercenary soldiers assigned to help them, Tim Jenkins, was dragged away by the Troodons, who ate him alive due to his crippling caused by a Dimetrodon. The rest of the team too late to save him. Later in the present, a pack of Troodon showed up at the overturned car Jenny and Hemple were in. Jenny attempted to keep them at bay by using a large metal rod that she had found in the truck's wreck. However, one of the Troodon then knocked her down to the ground, and pinned her down, with its foot. Just as it was about to kill her, the car's ruptured fuel tank caught on fire, scaring the Troodons away.
is the most well known carnivorous dinosaur despite not being the largest.
In Extinction Event, a pair of Tyrannosaurus stalk the forests of Siberia, referred to many as Baba Yaga
after a figure in Russian folklore. The female does most of the damage, killing a Torosaurus calf and several men before it encounters the male Tyrannosaurus, which has just arrived from the Cretaceous having killed a Pachycephalosaurus. The male and female fight, and the female kills her smaller rival. Surprisingly, the female Tyrannosaurus is not stopped, and merely returns to the dank, Russian forests, having killed her competitor.
In Episode 5.5 one rampaged through the streets of London, killing a few people until shot multiple times by Matt with an EMD it is unknown if it survived. This creature was the initial cause of the public's realisation of the anomalies.
and a media team is called to investigate. A juvenile Velociraptor
runs out of it and bites Nigel on the hand. It then runs back through the anomaly just before the Giganotosaurus
comes through.
Six Velociraptors came through an anomaly into a wet and rainy Maidenhead in Fire and Water. They were all returned but several were shot in the past when they tried to kill Becker and they did succeed in killing one of his colleagues, Jamie Weavers.
, 2.7 billion years ago. In reality such a creature is impossible - for any lifeform to grow that big it would need an atmosphere more energy-rich than the fog they live in and they would not be able to breathe let alone move in it. The worms have long retractable mouthparts, large enough to engulf a man, for feeding. These creatures were based on marine ragworms. The worms need movement to see their prey, and can be fooled if a person stands still and throws an inanimate object
In the episode, the worms cannot survive outside the "fog", which is first shown when Nick and Stephen trap the mouthparts in a door separating the fog: if separated from their natural atmosphere, oxygen, highly poisonous to them, kills them. The fog is the Pre-Cambrian atmosphere, which presumably comes through the anomaly
. When they are faced with an increase of heat, they explode to spawn their young which then attempt to burrow into a living host. They can also spit a brown-coloured slime, which might be used to track or even attack their prey This life cycle is not dissimilar to the parasite.
It also reappears in a classroom during the convergence of the anomalies in Series 5.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Primeval
Primeval
Primeval or primæval may refer to:* Primeval, a British science fiction television series.* Primeval , a 2007 film* Primeval , a score of music from the BBC TV series Doctor Who...
and also any spin-off merchandise. The series includes various imaginary species which are not native to the series setting, with some being prehistoric and others being futuristic. Various creatures were designed with some artistic license
Artistic license
Artistic licence is a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of...
, for dramatic effect. A number of creatures from the Walking with...
Walking with...
The Walking with... series is a collection of shows that are produced by the BBC and are made by Impossible Pictures. The aim of the series and specials, along with its books, is to recreate extinct animals and presents them as a wildlife documentary...
series were also reimagined for dramatic effect.
In 2007 Character Options announced they would create Primeval action figures, including both a flying Rex and a large plush toy Rex, Future Predators, Hesperornis and Dodos).
Ammonite
AmmoniteAmmonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
s are a group of marine animals of the subclass Ammonoidea in the class Cephalopoda, phylum Mollusca. Ammonites' closest living relative is probably not the modern Nautilus
Nautilus
Nautilus is the common name of marine creatures of cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in two genera, the type of which is the genus Nautilus...
(which they outwardly resemble), but rather the subclass Coleoidea (octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
, squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
, and cuttlefish
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda . Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....
). Their fossil shells usually take the form of planispirals, although there were some helically spiralled and non-spiralled forms (known as "heteromorphs"). Many Ammonites lived in the open water of ancient seas, rather than at the sea bottom. Many of them are thought to have been good swimmers with flattened, discus-shaped, streamlined shells. Ammonites preyed on fish, crustaceans and other small creatures; while they themselves were preyed upon by marine reptiles.
Helen Cutter leaves Ammonites as calling card
Visiting card
A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small paper card with one's name printed on it. They first appeared in China in the 15th century, and in Europe in the 17th century...
s on Nick's desk, and on Stephen's grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
in episode 2.7.
Anatotitan
In Extinction Event, the first large dinosaurs the kidnapped team spot are AnatotitanAnatotitan
Anatotitan is a genus of flat-headed or hadrosaurine hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaur from the very end of the Cretaceous Period, in what is now North America...
, which are described as large hadrosaurs that move in large herds, stampeding whenever they are threatened by a predator such as the Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
. They were said to be a yellow-brown color with dark brown camouflage stripes down their back, similar to the Iguanodon in The Lost Island.
Ankylosaurus
In Extinction Event, Ankylosaurs are seen a couple of times, at first one plods harmlessly through the team's campsite, and prove to be resistant to gunfire, and later Jenny and the soldiers accomponying her are almost killed after an angered Ankylosaurus hits the car they are in with its tail club. A mother and baby are also seen in the Cretaceous.Anurognathus
AnurognathusAnurognathus
Anurognathus is a genus of small pterosaur that lived approximately 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period ....
was a tiny pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
that had a short head with pin-like teeth for catching insects, and although it traditionally is ascribed to the long tailed pterosaur group, its tail was comparatively short, allowing it more maneuverability for hunting in woodland.
Anurognathus lived in the Late Jurassic period, 130 million years ago and had a wingspan of 50 cm (19.7 in) and a 50 cm (19.7 in) long body (skull included), it could not have weighed more than a few grams. Despite this they prove to be creatures of devastating violence.
Anurognathus live like a flying piranha fish, with an amazingly keen sense of smell able to detect blood from hundreds of feet away. A swarm
Swarm
Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by animals of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving en masse or migrating in some direction. As a term, swarming is applied particularly to insects, but can also be applied to...
can strip flesh from bones in minutes. They also swarm in huge flocks and overcome prey through weight in numbers.
This fictional species of Anurognathus evolved from the Jurassic species Anurognathus ammoni which lived about 150 million years ago and had small needle like teeth for hunting insects. This evolved form has slicing teeth for taking lumps of flesh off large dinosaurs. This behavior may be slightly based on the theory that a similar anurognathid pterosaur, Jeholopterus
Jeholopterus
Jeholopterus was a small anurognathid pterosaur from the Daohugou Beds of northeastern China , between 168 and 152 million years ago), preserved with hair and skin remains.-Naming:...
, was a hematophagous creature, like the modern vampire bat. The creatures seen here were re-imagined from the ones in Walking with Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs is a six-part documentary television miniseries that was produced by BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the United Kingdom, in 1999. The series was subsequently aired in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2000, with Branagh's voice replaced with that...
by the producers for dramatic effect.
In episode 5.5 a flock appears at the New Dawn power station. They attack Matt and Emily and later kill two Prospero guards. They later attack and kill April. What happened to them is unknown.
Arthropleura
ArthropleuraArthropleura
Arthropleura was a 0.3–2.6 metre long relative of centipedes and millipedes, native to the Upper Carboniferous of what is now northeastern North America and Scotland...
was a 2 – long (about 6 m (19.7 ft) long in the series) relative of centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
s and millipede
Millipede
Millipedes are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
s, native to the Upper Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was the largest known land invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
of all time and grew so large because of the high percentage of oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
in the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
at that time. A burrower, they have poor eyesight but have excellent sense of smell and touch. One appears in the second episode. Although not a carnivore, they have powerful pincers and venomous bite and can easily be provoked into attacking. For dramatic effect, the Arthropleura in episode 1.2 was heavily re-imagined as it was venomous, larger than the real animal and highly aggressive.
Symptoms of the Arthropleura poisoning include uncontrolled shaking, anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is defined as "a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death". It typically results in a number of symptoms including throat swelling, an itchy rash, and low blood pressure...
and short term memory loss in recovered patients.
Once bitten the venom then begins to slowly attack the central nervous system
Central nervous system
The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that integrates the information that it receives from, and coordinates the activity of, all parts of the bodies of bilaterian animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and radially symmetric animals such as jellyfish...
, not so far removed from modern biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
as to be totally ineffective, and any enzyme inhibitor would be detrimental to an extent. However, as the Arthropleura are detritus
Detritus
Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...
eaters they make no attempt to eat their victims. Fortunately the hospital staff discovered that the venom has a modern day equivalent, thus producing an anti-venom.
An Arthropleura also reappeared in the series finale of Series 2 as one of the many creatures captured by Leek. When the security system holding it failed, it ran amok, although how it had survived thus far without the carboniferous atmosphere that it needed to live, remains a mystery.
Arthropleura also featured in the advertising campaign for the show, appearing in The London Paper on the 16 February 2007. The Arthropleura portrayed here is different from the creatures seen in the fossil record, in addition to the Arthropleura in Walking with Monsters
Walking with Monsters
Walking with Monsters is a three-part British documentary film series about life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles...
as well as in Prehistoric Park
Prehistoric Park
Prehistoric Park is a six-episode mockumentary television mini-series that premiered on ITV on 22 July 2006 and on Animal Planet on 29 October 2006. The program was produced by Impossible Pictures, who also created Walking with Dinosaurs. In 2007, ITV cancelled Prehistoric Park, but introduced the...
, re-imagined by the producers to make it scarier.
Australopithecus
AustralopithecusAustralopithecus
Australopithecus is a genus of hominids that is now extinct. From the evidence gathered by palaeontologists and archaeologists, it appears that the Australopithecus genus evolved in eastern Africa around 4 million years ago before spreading throughout the continent and eventually becoming extinct...
are believed to be the ancestors of modern-day humans.
Helen Cutter believed the only way to stop the destruction of life on earth was to stop humans from evolving, so she attempted to wipe out our ancestors. She began by poisoning the members of the "First Family
AL 333
AL 333, commonly referred to as the "First Family", is a collection of prehistoric hominid teeth and bones. Discovered in 1975 by Donald Johanson's team in Hadar, Ethiopia, the “First Family” is estimated to be about 3.2 million years old and consists of the remains of at least thirteen...
" in episode 3.10, but is killed herself before she can complete her plan. Danny Quinn later found several more living in the Rift Valley as he attempted to find his way back to the anomaly.
Badger-like mammal
In The Lost Island, the team are marooned in the CretaceousCretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
, when they run into a mammal described as being similar to a badger. It briefly snarls at the team, and then runs off. It turns out to have been later feasting on a dead Iguanodon
Iguanodon
Iguanodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived roughly halfway between the first of the swift bipedal hypsilophodontids and the ornithopods' culmination in the duck-billed dinosaurs...
calf.
Burrowing insect
This creature is from the future, and has been encountered by Matt Anderson before, allowing him knowledge of their behaviour. Adults are 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) in length. They have armoured shells, however their underbelly is softer. Their anomaly must have opened some years before and they had dug tunnels stretching all across London.In episode 5.1, one attacked a roadworker who fell into one of its tunnels, and returned when Matt, Becker and Abby arrived, attempting to attack them as they fired their EMDs, which did not affect it. It then attacked a man at a barbecue, which alerted the team who tried to use lethal weapons to bring it down, only for the creature to drag Connor into its tunnel. As the team located its nest, it succumbed to the damage done to it and died, leaving Connor to find dozens more inside the building. Connor filled the building with gas and escaped with Matt as the building was blown up in order to exterminate them.
Camouflage Beast (Gremlin)
In episode 3.2, the Camouflage Beast (it is never given a name on screen) is the major, and only, creature. It has been shown on the ITV website that this creature is based heavily on the Madagascan Aye-AyeAye-aye
The aye-aye is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker...
which is seen as a symbol of death in its homeland. The creature may speak some kind of language, as it makes a kind of hissing, whispering noise when it is alone.
It was responsible for the disappearance of two boys 14 years before the present, including Patrick Quinn, and leaving Ryan Mason the only survivor. In the present day it was being fed raw meat by a girl in order to keep it from eating neighbouring pets. When the team arrived at the now abandoned house they could not find the creature due to its camouflage ability, and later it attacked Abby when she was alone. Abby later followed it and discovered the girl feeding it. She and Ryan were in the house when it attacked again, however when the others arrived it killed a real estate agent. It attacked Danny Quinn, and it went through its anomaly when it reopened, however it came back, only to be shot several times by Danny as it fell back through, possibly dead.
In episode 4.7 Patrick Quinn, who in fact survived and went through the anomaly, stated that the Camouflage beasts kept coming for him and was forced to kill them to survive. The trauma caused him to also see humans as animals, and became convinced that killing humans is not any different from killing animals.
Coelurosauravus
A male CoelurosauravusCoelurosauravus
Coelurosauravus is a genus of basal diapsid reptile, with specialized wing-like structures allowing it to glide. These were rod like structures with skin stretched over them; this feature is unique to the genus....
, later named "Rex", entered the present in the series' premiere, and despite attempts to send it back to the Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
, was adopted by Abby and quickly became a mascot for the team. Coelurosauravus is incorrectly shown to be capable of powered flight rather than simple gliding, and shown to be far larger than its real size of 30 cm (11.8 in). Its head crest is also entirely speculative.
In episode 1.1, Rex was kept by Ben Trent after he came through the Permian anomaly, and was assumed to be the flying lizard Draco volans until Abby Maitland arrived and said he wasn't. After encountering a Scutosaurus
Scutosaurus
Scutosaurus was a genus of armor-covered pareiasaur that lived around 252-248 million years ago in Russia, in the later Permian period. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body...
and a group of others, Rex was taken to the Home Office to be examined. He escaped the lab and flew around the building, and Abby kept him from leaving. He was returned through the Permian anomaly by Nick Cutter, but came back to the present and was taken back to Abby's flat in secret. Abby had to adjust the temperature of her flat so that it was similar to his own environment, and Connor Temple discovered him, but agreed to not reveal Rex's pressence. Rex escaped from the flat in episode 1.5, and was accidentally transported to a golf course where Connor tried to catch him. Rex ran off as they were attacked by a Pteranodon, and Abby pleaded to Cutter to let her keep him. Rex was later found and returned to the flat.
In episode 2.2, Rex took an instant dislike to Connor's new girlfriend Caroline Steel, attempting to bite her. In episode 2.4 he was left in the freezer by Caroline, and was found by Abby before he completely froze. By the next day he had recovered. In episode 2.5 Caroline attempted to capture Rex by leaving food out for him, and he flew around the flat trying to avoid her but was knocked down by a tennis racket. Caroline took Rex to Oliver Leek, who kept him in his creature prison. In episode 2.7 he was released along with the other creatures, and found a shaft to the surface which was used by the team to escape. Rex was shot by a guard, and Caroline asked to redeem herself by getting Rex out.
Rex was shown to still be living with Abby and Connor in episode 3.1, and in episode 3.6 Abby's brother Jack bet Rex during a game of poker with a friend and lost. He was put on E-Bay for sale which allowed Connor to notice what Jack had done. They attempted to get Rex back, and finally did so when Connor had Captain Becker threaten the seller. Abby brought Rex over to James Lester's flat where Connor was staying in episode 3.9, and Rex played with Connor's two Diictodon
Diictodon
Diictodon was a genus of therapsid, roughly 45 cm long. It belonged to the sub-group Dicynodontia. These mammal-like synapsids lived during the Late Permian period, approximately 255 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Africa and Asia...
, Sid and Nancy.
During Abby and Connor's disappearance, Rex was relocated to the new ARC inside the menagerie, living alongside other creatures that hadn't been returned to their own eras. Abby reunited with Rex in episode 4.2 after she had returned and been placed in charge of the creatures. In episode 4.3 Rex escaped the menagerie and caused the ARC to go into lockdown when he was scanned by Phillip Burton's bio-scanner. The room was drained of oxygen, and Connor managed to cancel the lockdown in time to be able to resuscitate Rex. In episode 5.4 he was in Abby's lab when the ARC was invaded by Future Beetles and flew around the ARC. Abby searched for him to rescue him before a gamma ray was released, and later returned to the menagerie.
Columbian Mammoth
The Columbian Mammoth was one of the largest of the MammothMammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
species and also one of the largest elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s to have ever lived, measuring 4 m (13.1 ft), at the shoulder and weighing 10 t (9.8 LT) with tusks 5 m (16.4 ft) long. It was a herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
, with a diet consisting of varied plant life ranging from grasses to conifers. It has been estimated that a large male would have eaten approximately 300 kg (661.4 lb), of plant material daily.
The remains of Columbian Mammoths were discovered in the La Brea Tar Pits
La Brea Tar Pits
The La Brea Tar Pits are a cluster of tar pits around which Hancock Park was formed, in the urban heart of Los Angeles. Asphaltum or tar has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years. The tar is often covered with water...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and this mammoth also lived in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where its remains are very common. It was one of the last members of the Megafauna to become extinct, with several specimens dating only about 7,800 years ago.
The Mammoth appears in series two holding up traffic on the M25 motorway
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
. As it desperately tries to make its way to the nearby trees, it completely destroys all the nearby cars. Using female elephant urine, the team manage to lead it into a lorry trailer and trap it, taking it back to the ARC where it was kept in a large garage.
After being chased through the ARC by a Future Predator, Lester releases the Mammoth which impales the predator on its tusks. Lester then jokes that his children have been wanting him to get a pet. The Mammoth was seen in the new ARC's menagerie in episode 4.2 and episode 4.4.
In episode 5.5, the anomaly on the M25 reopened and another Mammoth (possibly more) entered it.
Crested Bird
In Extinction Event, in an area where live specimens of Cretaceous life forms have been collected, Cutter stops to look at a tiny crested bird in a wire cage that was captured by the Russian team. One of the men describes how rare this actually is, as tiny-boned creatures rarely remain intact in fossilisation.Deinosuchus
In Fire and Water, DeinosuchusDeinosuchus
Deinosuchus is an extinct genus related to the alligator that lived 73 to 80 Ma , during the late Cretaceous period. The name translates as "terrible crocodile" and is derived from the Greek deinos , "terrible", and soukhos , "crocodile"...
are described as "Giant Crocodiles" and that females were more dominant than males. Connor and Abby lure the Deinosuchus using Aerosols while Captain Becker and his men dart it with tranquillisers. They never do get them back to the past and remain in Leek's old bunker where he kept all his army of creatures.
Didelphodon
In Extinction Event, a single DidelphodonDidelphodon
Didelphodon is a genus of stagodont marsupials from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Three species are known: Didelphodon vorax, D. padanicus, and D. coyi. Although perhaps little larger than a Virginia Opossum, it was one of the largest mammals of the Mesozoic...
is captured by the Russian anomaly team, and taken to a building in their camp where live specimens are taken. It is described as a hairy badger-like marsupial and is also an insectivore, as it is described crunching on live locusts.
Diictodon
DiictodonDiictodon
Diictodon was a genus of therapsid, roughly 45 cm long. It belonged to the sub-group Dicynodontia. These mammal-like synapsids lived during the Late Permian period, approximately 255 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Africa and Asia...
are small burrowing mammal-like reptiles.
A group of over fifteen individuals appear to be traversing air vents in a hospital, chewing through the electricity that the team will need to remove them. Abby catches one which sends of a distress signal calling them all back through the anomaly but one drops from the roof (Sid) and lands inside a trolley Connor is pushing. A single Diictodon
Diictodon
Diictodon was a genus of therapsid, roughly 45 cm long. It belonged to the sub-group Dicynodontia. These mammal-like synapsids lived during the Late Permian period, approximately 255 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Africa and Asia...
tried to escape through an anomaly, which disappears. It later becomes apparent that Abby and Conner adopt two to keep Rex company. In episode 3.5 they are called Sid and Nancy and are living with Connor while Abby's brother is staying. When Connor was staying with Lester, the two caused him much grief.
Dimetrodon
In Extinction Event, DimetrodonDimetrodon
Dimetrodon was a predatory synapsid genus that flourished during the Permian period, living between 280–265 million years ago ....
are encountered by Helen, Jenny and the group of men assigned to help them. They are described as being as big as alligators, basking in groups like iguanas or sea lions and also have a crippling amount of bacteria in their mouth, similar to a Komodo dragon
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...
. The group of Dimetrodon are disturbed by the team and one man is badly bitten. He never recovers from the ensuing infection, but is later killed in the Cretaceous by a pack of Troodon.
Dodo
DodoDodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
s are flightless birds from the late Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
. The Dodo was found only on the islands of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, they stand about 1 m (3 ft) tall, weighing about 23 kg (50.7 lb). Dodos have greyish plumage, a 23 cm (9.1 in) bill with a hooked point, very small wings, stout yellow legs, and a tuft of curly feathers on its rear end. The sternum is insufficient to support flight; these ground-bound birds evolved to take advantage of an island ecosystem with no predators. They live on fallen fruit and in the Primeval Universe they exist in a symbiotic relationship with the Ambalacoque tree.
The name came from the Portuguese word doudo or doido, itself a loanword from Old English (cf. English "dolt"). The name was given because the Dodo apparently never tried to run or escape when hunted - hence, they were traditionally regarded as stupid. The species was hunted to extinction by the late 17th century, shortly after the first arrival of people on the Dodo's native Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
They were the main focus in episode 1.4. Nick Cutter quickly realizes they are just friendly and trusting, never having to deal with predators before. In reality they were as intelligent as any other bird. The Dodos are themselves harmless, but some carry deadly parasites.
Dracorex
DracorexDracorex
Dracorex is a dinosaur genus of the family Pachycephalosauridae, from the Late Cretaceous of North America.The type species is Dracorex hogwartsia, meaning "dragon king of Hogwarts". It is known from one nearly complete skull , as well as four cervical vertebrae including the atlas, third, ninth...
is a Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
dinosaur. A promotional picture for that episode shows that it has sharp teeth, which is unlikely for a probably herbivorous creature, and two, small, wing-like sails on its back in the manner of Amargasaurus
Amargasaurus
Amargasaurus is a genus of dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. It was small for a sauropod, reaching 10 meters length. It would have been a quadrupedal herbivore with a long, low skull on the end of a long neck, much like its relative...
. The picture shows a very long but not forked tongue. The dinosaur also has grasping talons on its hind legs, shown in the image lashing out at the knight.
A female appears in episode 3.7, having lived in Medieval times before being chased through an anomaly to the present by a knight who assumed it to be a dragon. The Dracorex had been injured after having a wooden stake driven into its side, and Abby and Becker cornered it in a strawberry patch where it collapsed of its own accord. Abby removed the stake with Becker and cared for it with Connor as she helped to patch it up. It was later moved to the ARC. It escaped from the new ARC's menagerie in episode 4.1 due to an error caused by Jess. It knocked Matt down in a corridor before it arrived in the hub where Jess was. Becker and soldiers arrived to contain it, but it was lead into Lester's office by Matt, who left it some water. Some time later Becker tranquilised it and it was moved back to the menagerie,
Embolotherium
The EmbolotheriumEmbolotherium
Embolotherium is an extinct genus of brontothere that lived in Mongolia during the late Eocene period. It is most easily recognized by a large bony protuberance emanating from the anterior end of the skull...
are prehistoric rhinoceros, but larger and have more brittle horns which are used for display during mating seasons. These beasts able to scare off big predators like Andrewsarchus. The males have a heart shaped horn on top of their noses which is about 70 cm (27.6 in) and the females have a some sort of stump.
A herd of Embolotherium appeared from an anomaly and caused damage in a campsite. There is one male and several females, accompanied by a baby. The male killed a quad-bike rider after he disturbed the infant. The females were gathered around a tent, trapping another man, and Connor distracted the male by having it chase him in a go-cart. The baby was also trapped inside the tent, so Abby and Sarah saved it after making their way through the herd. Later the team attempted to force them through the anomaly, only for it to close as Connor lead the bull to the females and caused them all to stampede. They charged towards the campsite, however Eve managed to open an anomaly to send them all back through.
Entelodont
In Extinction Event, a pair of EntelodonEntelodon
Entelodon , is a genus of Entelodontidae endemic to Europe, Eurasia, Asia from the early Eocene through Oligocene living 37.2—28.4 mya, existing approximately ....
come through an anomaly from the Cenozoic onto Oxford Street, killing three people and damaging cars and buses, as well as chasing Connor, Abby and Jenny at different stages in the chapter. One is brought down by Cutter's tranquilliser darts and the other is killed by Hemple, the team's artillery expert for the book.
Eotyrannus
In The Lost Island, the team face a near-constant threat on the island, due to the attacks of a large pack of EotyrannusEotyrannus
Eotyrannus was a genus of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Early Cretaceous Wessex Formation beds, included in Wealden Group, located in the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom...
, a tyrannosauroid dinosaur about 4 metres long. The creatures kill several people, then die in a storm.
Euparkeria
In Extinction Event, a small anomaly opens in a service station along a dual carriageway, and lets through several EuparkeriaEuparkeria
Euparkeria was a small African reptile of the early Triassic period between 248-245 million years ago, close to the ancestry of the archosaurs.- Palaeobiology :...
, which are described as small quadrupedal animals that run on their hind legs when frightened. Because the anomaly site is closed off for the chapter involving the Archosaurs, no members of the public are attacked, but Abby is bitten through a gauntlet by one. The Euparkeria are all rounded up and released through the anomaly before it closes.
Future Beetle
A species of carnivorous beetle from the future resembling the scarab beetleScarabaeus sacer
Scarabaeus sacer is a species of dung beetle, found in coastal dunes and marshes around the Mediterranean Basin. It collects balls of dung which it rolls to an underground chamber to feed its offspring. This behaviour inspired the Ancient Egyptians to compare it to the sun god Khepri, and they...
, that move around in enormous swarms led by a huge Queen. Their mandibles are so strong they can chew through concrete.
They appear via an anomaly opened by Connor, kill a guard and cause chaos throughout the ARC going through the vents and piping. Becker shot some of the swarm with an EMD, including the Queen, and othes were killed with pesticide. Their venom is not extremely poisonous, but one beetle bit Jess, who went into anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is defined as "a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death". It typically results in a number of symptoms including throat swelling, an itchy rash, and low blood pressure...
. Matt and Connor rigged the anomaly creator to explode in a gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
burst to kill the remaining beetles.
Future Bird
In Shadow of the Jaguar, a creature from the future, theorised to be a future evolution of predatory birds by Cutter, is found controlling a pack of Thylacosmilus with pheromones. It has a certain resemblance to the Incan god, Pacha KamaqPacha Kamaq
Pacha Kamaq was the deity worshipped in the city of Pachacamac by the Ichma....
. The team track it down to its lair in the ruins of an Incan temple in the Peruvian jungle. After they disrupt its control over the Thylacosmilus, the creature retreats through the anomaly with them seconds before it closes. Cutter later theorises to Lester the creature may have been seen later in history by the Incas and incorporated into their mythology. The creature had several unusual abilities, such as the ability to control other creatures through the use of pheromones (like a queen bee controls a beehive), and a tongue with a tip covered in many tiny teeth that can burrow into flesh.
Future Fungus
The fungus is parasitic, extremely aggressive and eats through the flesh of anything that touches it. As soon as someone touches it, it instantly begins converting them into a shell that is loosely human shaped, but has lost all human features and intelligence, relying on instinct. In other words, the fungus effectively kills the host once it has transformed. The ARC team thought that heating the creatures would kill them, but it only advanced their reproduction. In the end, freezing them was the solution. The fungus creature's life cycle is as follows:- Spores are inhaled into the host's lungs.
- The spores become moist and convert into fungus
- Once consumed the fungus shell turns into a fungus creature which spread the fungus by touch.
- The fungus creature finally roots itself into the ground and waits to spread spores to new hosts.
The fungus is probably the evolved form of the contemporary Cordyceps
Cordyceps
Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi that includes about 400 described species. All Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, mainly on insects and other arthropods ; a few are parasitic on other fungi. The best known species of the genus is Cordyceps sinensis, first recorded as yartsa gunbu in...
fungus of south-east Asia for its lifecycle bears a strong resemblance to the fungus. Cordyceps grows inside a host (usually an ant), replacing the surrounding tissue with its own, avoiding the vital organs. It then alters the host's behaviour to make it go to an area of suitable conditions. Cordyceps then grows throughout the host's body, killing it, before becoming completely rooted in the ground or stem the host found itself on. Cordyceps then sporulates, infecting more hosts, by either inhaling the spores through the windpipe or spores falling through pores in the exoskleteton or skin. The Cordyceps fungus probably evolved into the future fungus to attack bigger prey, such as the Megopteran.
The fungus was found by Sir Richard Bentley's assistant after he went through an anomaly in a flat, and accidentally transferred it to the present where Bentley was infected by it. As he slowly took over him, a sample of Connor's at the ARC affected another man, and more quickly turned him into a Fungus Creature. Connor and Sarah's belief that overheating it would kill it was thought to have worked only to learn it actually spread the spores even more, leading the flamethrower-wielding team to capture it instead. After freezing the fungus instead, they found it worked and prepared the ARC to freeze their captured creature, only for it to escape and attack Jenny before it succumbed to the cold.
Future Predator
Vicious creatures referred to as "Future Predators" are Primevals most recurring creatures, besides Rex. They are descendants of batBat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, and like bats use echolocation to hunt and locate prey, with the ears having moved to the front of the face. They are extremely agile, however it comes at a cost as they are easily stunned by powerful blows. The Future Predators are known to have caused the most deaths out of any creature in the series, both on-screen deaths, and total (if what Helen Cutter said about them wiping out humanity in the future was true). TV critic Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune described the Future Predator as "an apelike and skull-headed thing that sort of represents the ultimate dumbing down of the human race"
Their first appearance is in episode 1.6. A mating pair lived in the Permian era after going through an anomaly, and Helen realised they were from the future. When an anomaly lead to the present they went through, and proceeded to kill a lion and four innocent people, including Abby Maitland's boss. Helen, believing there was only one, warned the team about it, and they failed in their attempt to kill it initially. Connor Temple came up with an idea to track its echolocation, but was attacked in a car before he was saved by Abby and Stephen Hart. Nick Cutter lead the team to its lair, where they discovered it had given birth to five infants before they were attacked by the male. Nick managed to kill it, and he and Helen planned to use the infants to locate the future anomaly in the Permian to try prevent more from going though into that era. However the female Predator followed and attacked them, killing Tom Ryan and his men before a Gorgonopsid arrived and knocked it down. Three of the infants were killed before the mother fought back, and though it managed to inflict heavy wounds on the Gorgonopsid it was crushed and killed. Nick and Helen unknowingly left the remaining two infants in the Permian.
In episode 2.6, Oliver Leek had control of a Predator using a "neural clamp", which he had taken to the ARC and kill some of the staff discreetly before going after James Lester. Lester made several attempts to fight back, turning on Connor's I-Pod speakers on loud and using a machinegun from the armoury before being cornered in the main room. Leek had the Predator leap to deliver the final blow, only for it to become impaled on the tusk of a Columbian Mammoth that Lester had just let loose. In episode 2.7 it is revealed Leek has successfully captured a pack of Predators, and using neural clamps to maintain control over them, referring to them as his "Praetorian Guard". Nick was pursued by one through the facility until he managed to draw it in close with his blood before ripping the neural clamp from its head, killing it. Leek threatened to use the rest of his controlled Predators to tear Nick apart, however Nick freed them of their mind control devices by forcing the one he had into a fuse box, disabling the rest. They then turned on Leek and killed him before they were locked in a feeding chamber along with all of the other creatures that Leek, Helen and their soldiers had locked kept. They were among the creatures that killed Stephen as he sacrificed himself to keep the creatures locked up to have them kill one another.
In episode 3.1 Future Predators appear in their own environment in an old city. They were the inadvertent guards for a mysterious artefact. Soldiers sent by Christine Johnson to recover the artefact killed a young Predator before an adult kills all but one of the soldiers. In episode 3.4, Christine was shown to have been operating on one in an attempt to learn how to recreate its echolocation. It woke up, and Christine had it killed. In episode 3.8, a pack of Future Predators stalked the team when they arrived in the future. Captain Becker killed one while accidentally alerting several others to their pressence due to the noise from his gun. An infant leaped out of a car to attack Danny Quinn, scarring his neck before he stomped on it. More approached as the team were rescuing Jack Maitland, and Becker lead them away. The team were trapped in an abandoned bus by the Predators before several Megopterans arrived and the two species fought amongst themselves, and the still alive Becker killed another as it came towards the team. In episode 3.9, a Predator kills Christine after she was pushed through an anomaly leading to the future by Helen. In episode 3.10 one stalked Danny, Connor and Abby as they searched for Helen, but was locked away from them. It soon broke into the room along with several others, narrowly missing their quarry as they escaped into the Cretaceous through an anomaly which was closed to prevent them following.
In episode 5.6, the Future Predators are shown differently, having evolved to survive in the harsh landscape caused by Philip Burton. They are much quicker then before, have more sun-damaged skin, and with food so scarce they attack each other to claim prey for themselves. One prepared to attack Connor before a storm came up, and it fought with another before the victor was brought down by Abby. A group attacked as Connor, Abby and Matt Anderson made their way back to the anomaly, though they fought amongst themselves. A pair went through an anomaly created by Connor into the ARC, and attacked Lester and Jess Parker. They severely injured Lester, and when the team arrived Abby came up with a plan to paralyse them by using ultra-sonic noise. The first had Abby pinned before Becker killed it with his EMD, and the other froze as Abby initiated her plan, and Becker was able to use his EMD to kill it with only a few close range blows.
The "Future Predators" also appear on the Watch YouTube Game. They attack your computer screen and it takes five hits to kill them.
Future Shark
The Future Shark is the future evolution of a modern-day shark. It looks similar to some deep-sea sharks, but has a special adaptation: a very long tongue armed with spikes that can be fired from the jaw like a harpoon. Modern day sharks such as the tiger sharkTiger shark
The tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, is a species of requiem shark and the only member of the genus Galeocerdo. Commonly known as sea tigers, tiger sharks are relatively large macropredators, capable of attaining a length of over . It is found in many tropical and temperate waters, and is...
have been found with litter in their stomachs, including plastic bags, tins and car registration plates: the basketball and the shoe found in the Future Shark's stomach could be a reference to this.
In episode 2.4 this creature prepared to attack Jenny Lewis in the water before it was shot by Stephen Hart and then captured by the team who suspected it of killing a boy. After examining the creature in their ARC, Nick Cutter concluded it was probably the descendant of the shark. Since no remains of the boy were found in the creature's stomach, and sharks typically take days to digest their prey, it did not kill the missing boy.
Future Worm
A future worm attacks Jack Maitland in the underground in the future. They are similar to the worms from episode 2.2 in that they shoot a foul liquid at their prey, but they more resemble maggots in appearance. It is not clear if the worms are larvae of the Mega-Optera or if they are a completely different species. They probably are not the larvae of the Mega-Optera as its young were seen in the present not long after they came out of a dead human body and are miniature versions of the adult animal.Giant Spider
The Giant Spiders are, despite appearances, not true spiders (order Araneae), but a species of SolifugaeSolifugae
Solifugae are an order of Arachnida, known as camel spiders, wind scorpions and sun spiders or solifuges, comprising more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera...
, a distinct arachnid
Arachnid
Arachnids are a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although in some species the front pair may convert to a sensory function. The term is derived from the Greek words , meaning "spider".Almost all extant arachnids are terrestrial...
order. The name derives from Latin, and means those that flee from the sun. The adults are up to 1 m (39.4 in) wide, by 1 m long, because the lush rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
of the Carboniferous saturates the atmosphere with oxygen, allowing them to grow larger than modern arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s. They have pincers instead of fangs - like the modern day camel spider
Solifugae
Solifugae are an order of Arachnida, known as camel spiders, wind scorpions and sun spiders or solifuges, comprising more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera...
, only much bigger. They also have long pedipalps, which function as sense organs similar to insects' antennae and give the appearance of the two extra legs. Pedipalps terminate in reversible adhesive organs. They do not appear to make webs or produce venom but they nest in large groups and are very defensive of their offspring.
A nest of them appears in the second episode. Ryan and the other special forces enter the tunnel, and they are attacked by a whole group of them, killing one of the soldiers. They find out that the spiders did not kill the pest controller, because the bite looked different. Eventually it is discovered that they avoid light, and by using torches, all the Giant Spiders were driven back through the anomaly by the end of episode 1.2.
These creatures are based on fragmentary fossils which scientists thought was a 1 m wide spider but this has just recently been reclassified as a type of scorpion. The Giant Spiders also featured in the advertising campaign for the show. First on giant billboards on 1 February 2007 and again in The London Paper on 16 February 2007.
Giganotosaurus
GiganotosaurusGiganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived around 97 million years ago during the early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period. It included some of the largest known terrestrial carnivores, slightly larger than the largest Tyrannosaurus, but smaller than the...
is one of the largest species of carnivorous dinosaurs. It is shown to be able to run at high speed for a surprisingly long distance, considering its huge size and weight. It is dubbed a "G-Rex" by the characters throughout the episode because it is pictured just like a T-Rex just slightly bigger.
In episode 3.4, one appears at an airport and starts attacking a news crew investigating the anomaly. It ate Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven is a British wildlife presenter, television producer, author, and ornithologist.-Career:Marven studied botany at Bristol University until the age of 22 when he left to begin his career at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol...
, then went back through before it returned and ran out onto the runway, attacking an aeroplane. Connor Temple lured it away with a luggage carrier before it tripped over the small vehicle and pinned Connor down on the runway. Then a helicopter piloted by Danny Quinn lured it back through the anomaly. Danny came back in time to reveal that there was a large pack on the other side of the anomaly, and Connor only just manages to lock the anomaly in time.
Gorgonopsid
GorgonopsGorgonops
Gorgonops is an extinct genus of therapsid which lived about 255-250 million years ago, during the latest part of the Permian Period. It was a typical representative of the suborder Gorgonopsia, the dominant predators of their day, which in the largest forms grew to over four metres long...
ia are a group of creatures that were at one time called "mammal-like reptiles", though in most current classification systems, they are not classed as reptiles as they are more closely related to mammals. Their mammalian specializations include differentiated tooth shape, the fully developed temporal fenestra, pillar-like rear legs and even ear bones, as well as other traits associated with its mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
ian descendants. Arguments have even been made for synapsids of its time being endothermic.
What’s really special about Gorgonopsids is their patience and implacability. Once they have smelt blood they have a tendency to pursue their prey at all costs. In fact it was this keen sense of smell that originally tempted it into the cold present, lured by the smell of humans and waste from a supermarket. They then store their kills in trees like leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
s.
They also appear to be resilient and long lived as one male Gorgonopsid was still defending the territory around the anomaly for at least eight years, even after suffering horrible injuries after a fight with a Future Predator which it killed by rearing up on its hind legs and crushing it under its weight. Due to the thick armour on their back, the only way to combat them with regular fire arms is to aim for their underside.
This new species is a typical representative of the Gorgonopsia
Gorgonopsia
Gorgonopsia is a suborder of therapsid synapsids. Their name is a reference to the Gorgons of Greek mythology. Like other therapsids, gorgonopsians were at one time called "mammal-like reptiles"...
, It is distinguished from other species by a longer snout, and other details of the bones of the skull. It also has naked skin
Skin
-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
with short bristly hair rather than scales
Scale (zoology)
In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...
. This creature is based on Gorgonops longifrons found in the Karoo Basin in South Africa which was between 3 and 4 m (9.8 and 13.1 ft) long and had 8 cm (3 in) sabres.
Hesperornis
HesperornisHesperornis
Hesperornis is a genus of flightless aquatic birds that spanned the first half of the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period . One of the lesser-known discoveries of the paleontologist O. C. Marsh in the late 19th century Bone Wars, it was an important early find in the history of avian...
is an extinct genus of flightless aquatic birds that lived during the Late Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. Hesperornis were fairly large birds, reaching up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length. They had virtually no wings, swimming with powerful hind legs. Their toes were probably lobed rather than being webbed, as in today's grebe
Grebe
A grebe is a member of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter...
s; like in these, the toes could rotate well, which is necessary to decrease drag in lobed feet but not in webbed ones such as in loon
Loon
The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...
s, where the toes are simply folded together. Like many other Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
birds such as Ichthyornis
Ichthyornis
Ichthyornis is a genus of toothed seabirds from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Its fossil remains are known from the chalks of Alberta, Alabama, Kansas, New Mexico, Saskatchewan, and Texas, in strata that were laid down in the Western Interior Seaway during the Turonian-Campanian ages,...
, Hesperornis had teeth in its beak
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
which were used to hold prey (most likely fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
). In the hesperornithiform lineage they were of a different arrangement than in any other known bird (or in non-avian theropod dinosaurs), with the teeth sitting in a longitudinal groove rather than in individual sockets.
They hunted in the waters of the North American Inland Sea which then were tropical waters, much warmer than today. They probably fed mainly on fish, their teeth were helpful in dealing with slippery or hard-shelled prey. Later as Nick Cutter swims through the anomaly he finds himself in a tropical sea with a flock of Hesperornis swimming around him. He later finds a Hesperornis rookery amongst the rocky shoreline. Two Hesperornis investigate, but Helen Cutter shoos them off by throwing small stones, and says that they "tend to be more dumb than violent, only attacking when they're in a panic or disturbed."
Hesperornis is shown as being covered in scales when in real life, Hesperornis was likely covered in feathers. Also they were not able to stand upright or walk as the legs attached far at the back and sideways, with even the lower leg being tightly attached to the body. Thus, they were limited to sliding on their belly or galumphing.
Hyaenodon
HyaenodonHyaenodon
Hyaenodon is an extinct genus of Hyaenodonts, a group of carnivorous creodonts of the family Hyaenodontidae endemic to all continents except South America, Australia and Antarctica, living from 42—15.9 mya, existing for approximately .-Morphology:Some species of this genus were amongst the largest...
is an extinct genus of Hyaenodonts, a group of carnivorous creodonts of the family Hyaenodontidae. Some species of this genus were amongst the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammals of their time, others were only of the size of a marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...
. They had very massive skulls but only small brains. It had a long skull with a narrow snout - much larger in relation to the length of the skull than in canine carnivores, for instance. Its neck was shorter than its skull, while its body was long and robust and terminated in a long tail. Despite the name, these creatures are not related to hyenas.
A total of two adults and three cub Hyaenodons came through an anomaly in the wine cellar of a stately mansion, where Jenny Lewis is getting married, in episode 4.6, making a den. An adult killed a wedding planner in the cellar where the pups were. Connor stunned one male Hyaenodon and it was sent back through the anomaly. He was trapped in the cellar because of the female, and gave some wine to two cubs to knock them out and returned them to the anomaly before trying to get the third through as well, only to allow the male back through. The two adults attacked the wedding party and were fought off with medieval weapons. All the Hyaenodons were returned.
Iguanodon
The Iguanodon is first encountered in The Lost Island as a juvenile, which has fallen down a hill and broken its leg. Cutter shoots it to put it out of its misery. Later, when marooned in the past, the team witness hundreds of Iguanodon moving on a plain below, being attacked by Neovenator and associating with Polacanthus. Matt Anderson mentions handling a herd of them that had found their way into a beauty pageant during his first mission as team leader at the end of Series 4 webisode 5.Kaprosuchus
Kaprosuchus is known by only a single skull, discovered by the paleontologist Paul SerenoPaul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
in 2009. The prehistoric crocodile had oversized tusks embedded toward the front of its upper and lower jaws, inspiring Sereno's affectionate nickname, the BoarCroc. Like many crocodiles of the Cretaceous period, Kaprosuchus was not restricted to river ecosystems; judged by its long legs and impressive dentition, this four-legged reptile roamed the plains of Africa much in the style of a big cat. In fact, with its big tusks, powerful jaws and 6.1 metres (20 ft) span, Kaprosuchus may have been capable of taking down comparably sized herbivorous (or even carnivorous) dinosaurs.
A Kaprosuchus appeared in episode 4.2, having grown from a hatchling flushed into the sewer 5 years previously into an adult preying on the homeless living by the Thames. It's presence was discovered by Connor, Abby and Duncan, who alerted the ARC with Matt after he saved them from its initial attack when its home was set on fire by construction workers. Though it was brought down by an EMD and contained, it woke up and escaped, chasing Duncan into a maze of containers, killing an soldier. After forcing it out of a maze of containers, the team inadvertently killed it with EMDs since the firepower was too much for it.
Another appears in Episode 5.5, coming through a new anomaly during the anomaly convergance, and attacking Connor and Philip's car. Philip left Connor on his own, and Connor called Abby for help, who arrived and brought it down with an EMD while driving. Wthere or not it survived and was returned, or whether it was killed is unknown.
The Kaprosuchus also appears on the Watch YouTube Game. It would take two hits to kill the Kaprosuchus.
Labyrinthodont
LabyrinthodontsLabyrinthodontia
Labyrinthodontia is an older term for any member of the extinct subclass of amphibians, which constituted some of the dominant animals of Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic times . The group is ancestral to all extant landliving vertebrates, and as such constitutes an evolutionary grade rather...
were generally amphibian-like in build. They were short-legged and mostly large headed, with moderately short to long tails. Many groups, and all the early forms, were large animals. Primitive members of all labyrinthodont groups were probably true water predators, and various degrees of amphibious, semi-aquatic and semi terrestrial modes of living arose independently in different groups. Some lineages remained or became secondarily fully aquatic with reduced limbs and elongated, eel-like bodies.
A large (several metres long) Labyrinthodont with a very long tail, and a juvenile, appeared in a seaside cave in episode 4.5. The adult had been causing many people and animal stock to go missing over the ten years since the anomaly had previously been open. It killed someone camping out to investigate the 'Witchfield Worm', and Matt Anderson saved a fisherman from been devoured too. Abby Maitland pursued the creature to a campsite where she lured it on top of a caravan and drove it part way to the anomaly site. Connor Temle discovered the infant in the cave, and its cries of pain caused by acid drew the adult back. It killed two people, one of whom had known about the creature and attempted to contain it, before being driven back through the anomaly by Connor and Abby.
Liopleurodon
Lioplaurodon are a species of PliosaurPliosaur
Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of marine reptiles. Pliosauroids, also commonly known as pliosaurs, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The pliosauroids were short-necked plesiosaurs with large heads and massive toothed jaws. These swimming reptiles were not dinosaurs but distant...
, an extinct type of marine reptiles.
In the The Lost Island novel, a Liopleurodon sinks a trawler boat in the Atlantic south of Ireland, at Guns Island, and it later encountered by the team in the water. It seems heavily resistant to bullets, but when the team discover it, it is dying from the cold of the Atlantic winter.
In episode 5.2 a Liopleurodon comes through an anomaly in the North Sea, and attacks a naval submarine with the team aboard, disabling it. The submarine is drawn into the anomaly to the Jurassic and the Liopleurodon follows it back. A pod of them swim around the submarine, banging against it to see if it was food. When a swimming theropod was ejected from the vessel, all of the creatures went after the distraction as one of the Liopleurodons ate it.
Megopteran
ITV launched a competition for a viewer to design a creature, which was judged by the creators and will appear in Series 3. The winner was 16-year-old Carim Nahaboo from EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, whose creature is a large predatory insect from the future which, as Carim described, "evolved from carnivorous beetles, such as the tiger beetle
Tiger beetle
The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest species of tiger beetle can run at a speed of 9 km/h , which, relative to its body length, is about 22 times the speed of former Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson, the...
". However, the series described it as evolving from either wasps or ants. The creature can fly and run fast over long distances, and lives in future jungles. It is known as Megopteran.
In episode 3.8 a group of them are gassed out by Danny and become the team's distraction when they are surrounded in a bus by Future Predators - a vicious fight ensures that the team escapes. As they do, a larger Megopteran appears and heads in their direction, but is not seen afterwards. They are shown to have an ovipositor
Ovipositor
The ovipositor is an organ used by some animals for oviposition, i.e., the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly...
, with which they can lay eggs into a host. Three creatures re-appear in the Series 3 finale and are seen rampaging around in Christine Johnson's base. Two are killed by Becker using electrical wires and the third one is presumably dead.
Mer
The Mer first appear in episode 2.4. They are aquatic predators from the future, using the sewer network to hunt and trap prey. They successfully capture and drag Abby into their timezone, where the team later ventures to retrieve her. They have thin skulls, and can be rendered unconscious by having heavy objects, such as stones, thrown on their heads. Nick Cutter speculated that the Mer may be descendants of humans.There appear to be two types of Mer;
- The Mer Queen who is red in colour, and much larger than her subordinates. She has tusks on her lower jaw, where as the others do not. When Abby attempts to escape from the future, the Mer Queen reacts violently, to the point that she crushes any other Mer in her path.
- The remaining Mer are blueish in colour, and work at capturing food. They do not immediately kill their prey, instead dragging it back to their home, where presumably it is later consumed.
In episode 2.6 and 2.7, it is revealed Leek has managed to acquire a Mer for his collection. The creature eventually escapes the feeding chamber, and attempts to break down a door to leave the bunker, before returning to the feeding room in an attempt by Cutter, Stephen and Helen to trap the creatures there, so that they kill each other.
Millipede
The Silurian period is shown as being home to not only giant scorpions, but also millipedesEoarthropleura
Eoarthropleura was a genus of millipede-like creatures which lived between the Late Silurian and Early Devonian period. It was similar to Arthropleura....
which roam in groups across the sand. They prefer to hide in the sand but may emerge if frightened by a predator. These millipedes are likely to be the staple food source for the giant scorpions.
In episode 2.5, Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart noticed a large group of them travelling on the sand, which they failed to realise were fleeing from the scorpions. One entered the present era briefly but was captured by Abby in a ball pool before it was returned back into the past.
Mosasaur
MosasaurMosasaur
Mosasaurs are large extinct marine lizards. The first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764...
s were serpentine marine reptiles and ferocious predators. Mosasaurs were not dinosaurs but evolved from semi-aquatic squamates known as the aigialosaur
Aigialosaur
Aigialosauridae is family of Late Cretaceous semi-aquatic varanoid lizards, regarded by some paleontologists to form distinct monophyletic group and by others as an adaptive grade within the basal mosasauroids....
s, close relatives of modern-day monitor lizards. Mosasaurs breathed air and were powerful swimmers that were well-adapted to living in the warm, shallow epicontinental seas prevalent during the Late Cretaceous Period. Mosasaurs are intensely territorial and cannibals, and the only meetings between them that do not end in violence occur when the Mosasaurs in question are of opposite sexes, and there is the possibility of mating.
The skull was more robustly built than other Mosasaurs, as the mandible
Mandible
The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...
s articulated very tightly with the skull. It had a deep, barrel-shaped body, and with its fairly large eyes, poor binocular vision, and poorly developed olfactory bulbs, experts believe that Mosasaurs lived near the ocean surface, where it preyed on fish, turtles, ammonites as well as smaller Mosasaurs. Because of its robust skull and tightly articulating jaws, mosasaurs was unable to swallow prey-items whole in the manner of earlier mosasaurs, such as Tylosaurus
Tylosaurus
Tylosaurus was a mosasaur, a large, predatory marine lizard closely related to modern monitor lizards and to snakes.-Paleobiology:...
. Instead, with the aid of its curved, knife-like teeth, mosasaurs was able to tear its prey into more manageable pieces that could be more easily swallowed.
The Mosasaur was shown to have an armored crocodile-like body, but in reality it would have been smooth-skinned and streamlined, and covered in more lizard- or snake-like scales. Also it swallowed the lifeguard whole even though its jaw and enlarged neck muscles were evolved to tear and rip prey apart. The Mosasaur depicted also has a more tapering, snake-like body than its real life counterpart, and a pair of short horns over the head, like a theropod dinosaur.
Neovenator
In the Primeval spin-off novel The Lost Island, the team witness a pack of three NeovenatorNeovenator
Neovenator is a genus of allosauroid dinosaur. Since its discovery on the Isle of Wight, UK, it has become one of the best-known large carnivorous dinosaurs in Europe. Neovenator was at first considered possibly a new species of Megalosaurus. It measured approximately 7.5 meters in length,...
attack a herd of Iguanodon, but it is not known if the hunt is successful. Cutter initially mistakes them for Allosaurids but their presence nonetheless gives Cutter reason to move the team from their hunting grounds.
Pachycephalosaurus
In the past Jenny, Helen Cutter and the men supporting the British team observe a Tyrannosaurus hunting and killing a PachycephalosaurusPachycephalosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur. It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. Remains have been excavated in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It was an herbivorous or omnivorous creature which is only known from a single skull and a few...
, which is described as having a knobbed head and using the domed forehead for display rather than head-butting, according to Helen.
Parasite
This previously undiscovered species is a cestoid Parasite, up to 30 cm (12 in) long and weighing up to 70 g (2 oz) from the late Holocene. The Parasites belong to the group TaeniidaeTaeniidae
Taeniidae is a family of flatworms. It includes many tapeworms of medical and veterinary importance, as Taenia solium and Taenia saginata ....
which are distinguished from the other families of the order Cestoidea by having a distinct head, furnished with four suctorial discs.
They feed off the nutrients in the bloodstream of its host, destroying the internal organs in the process. It then burrows into the brain of the carrier and manipulates it for the benefit of the Parasite. The Parasite causes the host to become aggressive and photophobic. The bite of the host serves to spread the Parasite's eggs, which are released into the saliva, to a new host. It is hinted that the parasites could be responsible for the Vampire myth.
The mature Parasites eventually kill the host and themselves as part of their reproductive cycle. Each individual has male and female reproductive structures in its proglottid and can reproduce independently. Any warm-blooded creature is an acceptable host, even humans.
Phorusrhacid
PhorusrhacidsPhorusrhacidae
Phorusrhacids , colloquially known as "terror birds" as the larger species were apex predators during the Miocene, were a clade of large carnivorous flightless birds that were the dominant predators in South America during the Cenozoic, 62–2 million years ago. They were roughly 1–3 meters tall...
or "Terror Birds" are large carnivorous flightless birds that were the dominant predators in South America shortly during the Cenozoic period, 62-2.5 million years ago. They were roughly 1 – tall. Titanis walleri, one of the largest species, is known from North America, marking one of the comparatively rare examples where animals that evolved in South America managed to spread north after the Isthmus of Panama land bridge formed. Their wings evolved into meat hook-like structures that likely could be outstretched like arms to perform a hacking motion to help bring down prey. Like the armour-plated ostriches they resemble, Terror Birds are also very fast runners.
They first appear in episode 3.6. They first came through the anomaly in the 1950s, and attacked and killed scientists that were studying the anomaly. When the anomaly reopened in the present day, they came through again, and one was drawn to a cabin the team were hiding it due to a distress call they had accidentally played. It chased the team in their car, and Danny Quinn fought it off with a pipe before tey crashed. Abby Maitland and Sarah Page fled while Danny used Connor Temple as bait to draw in the bird, trapping it by hooking its leg into the car's tow cable. Abby and Sarah were chased by several more and chased to a minefield along with Danny and Connor, and Danny lured on onto a mine, killing it. Another attacked and killed one of Captain Ross's soldiers and was killed as the car exploded on a mine and the shrapnel cut through the bird's neck. The rest of the flock attack the cabin, and Connor distracted them so that Danny could play the distress call recording to lure them back to the anomaly.
A single terror bird attacked in a prison in episode 4.7, coming through a "satellite anomaly" and killing a tourist. It returned through the main anomaly and was driven back by the team, however it appeared through another satellite anomaly Abby and Becker found. It was allowed to go through the main anomaly, but it returned again to distract the team as they were attempting to capture Ethan Dobrowski. Connor and Abby chased after it, and Danny arrived to help knock it through a satellite anomaly. Again the terror bird returned, this time being brought down by Matt Anderson's EMD. Abby contained it in a storage closet, but it was set free by Ethan/Patrick to menace Emily merchant, but luckily used a club to bring it down again. It was presumably returned back to its own time after that.
Polacanthus
In the Primeval spin-off novel The Lost Island the team run into a sleeping herd of PolacanthusPolacanthus
Polacanthus, deriving its name from the Ancient Greek poly-/πολυ- "many" and acantha/ακανθα "thorn" or "prickle", was an early armored, spiked, plant-eating ankylosaur from the early Cretaceous period. Early depictions often gave it a very vague head as it was only known from the rear half of the...
when marooned in the Cretaceous. Cutter carefully manages to move the team around the group of Ankylosaurs, and later they observe a herd of them associating with Iguanodon.
Pristichampsus
The PristichampsusPristichampsus
Pristichampsus is an extinct genus of pristichampsid crocodylian that grew to approximately three metres in length....
was described by Adrian Hodges
Adrian Hodges
Adrian Hodges is a British television and film writer.He began his career in journalism for Screen International magazine and his screenwriting debut was the 1991 television drama Tell Me That You Love Me, followed by screenplays for The Bridge and Tom & Viv for which Miranda Richardson and...
and Tim Haines
Tim Haines
Tim Haines is a screenwriter, producer and director who is best known for his work on the BBC popular science shows Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Beasts, and Walking with Monsters...
as a "bit souped-up for our show - bigger, more powerful, all that sort of stuff" and "a running crocodile, he's also quite bipedal". It seems to be based on the real fossil crocodilian genus Pristichampsus
Pristichampsus
Pristichampsus is an extinct genus of pristichampsid crocodylian that grew to approximately three metres in length....
, of which one species (P. rollinatii) was facultatively bipedal. Pristichampsus has a vague similarity to Amut, it is later revealed that the Ancient Egyptians thought that the creature was the god Sobek
Sobek
Sobek , and in Greek, Suchos was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River...
, because of the similarities that they have, and that the anomaly was a gate way to the land of the gods. The series' creators have also confirmed it will be found in the Thames river and then destroy a kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
. In the new ITV Winter Spring Showreel, the Primeval trailer briefly shows the Pristichampsus rearing over cars and swimming in the river.
A Pristichampsus came through an anomaly in episode 3.1. It killed the caretaker Marianne but left her body, possibly as a warning to competitors. It attacked Sarah Page but escaped from the museum at its first opportunity through the docking door. It went on to kill a traffic warden and then swam across the Thames to a restaurant, attracted by the scent of hot food. It escaped to the top floor in a lift and attacked a cleaning woman. Cutter saved her by luring it out a window. The Pristichampsus fell, injuring its leg. It then started to return to the museum and the anomaly, its instinct to survive outweighing its instinct to hunt. Cutter, Becker and an armed escort met the creature there, but taking Sarah and Abby's advice, bowed to show there were not a threat. The Pristichampsus passed them without attacking and climbed through the anomaly just before it closed.
Throughout the episode, several other Pristichampsus almost came through the anomaly. It was revealed in the episode that Pristichampsus was the inspiration for the Egyptian goddess Amut. Cutter used this as an example that some of the anomalies and the creatures that came through them were the inspiration for myths and legends.
Pteranodon
PteranodonPteranodon
Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
was a large Pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
, notable for its skull crest. These may have been used as mating displays, or it might have acted as a rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
, or perhaps both; also, it may have acted as a counterweight to the large beak. Despite its huge size, at 9 m (30 ft) Pteranodon is not the biggest of the pterosaurs; creatures such as Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus
Quetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
could reach 13 m (43 ft).
It could, like the modern-day albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
, glide by navigating through thermals because the Pteranodon had a high aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
(wingspan to chord
Chord (aircraft)
In aeronautics, chord refers to the imaginary straight line joining the trailing edge and the center of curvature of the leading edge of the cross-section of an airfoil...
length) similar to that of the albatross — 9:1 for Pteranodon, compared to 8:1 for an albatross, but was also fully capable of powered flight.
In episode 1.5, a Pteranodon appears from an anomaly above a golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
, where it apparently attacks Connor and Rex. After some chasing, Connor and Rex jump down a hill as the Pteranodon swoops and flies away above them. It was assumed that this creature was responsible for the death of a golfer earlier. Later Stephen discovers that its diet contains fish and small reptiles but no human remains, proving that it did not kill the golfer and the real killer is still out there. This also proves that it was trying to catch Rex, not kill Connor.
Also, a Pteranadon appears in the opening of episode 2.2 attacking Helen Cutter after she steals one of its eggs, though this was unrelated to the events of the episode.
A Pteranadon appears again in episode 3.10 attacking Helen Cutter as she tries to go through an anomaly and causes her to drop her anomaly device.
Pterosaur
PterosaurPterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
s are (sometimes very large) flying reptiles, that lived in the Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous periods. They are not dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s.
In episode 1.3, Nick Cutter travels through an underwater anomaly and finds himself in a Cretaceous tropical sea, 75 million years ago. As he comes ashore and puts his scuba down on the beach he observed several Pterosaurs flying and feeding over the coastal waters.
In The Lost Island an unidentified Pterosaur species are described resting on rocks, and basking in the sun with their wings open like the modern-day cormorant
Cormorant
The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
.
Raptor
Raptors are bipedal carnivores with a long, stiffened tail and had an enlarged, sickle-shaped claw on each hindfoot, which is thought to have been used to kill their prey. Males were a lot stronger than the females, as the female in the show needed one indirect dose of tranquilliser to bring her down, while the male needed three direct doses of tranquilliser to bring him down, could burst through a shutter, and drag a fully-grown man.Raptors lived and hunted in packs. It was one of only five species, along with the future predators, worms, giant spiders and embolotherium where juvenile specimens have been seen. Juvenile Raptors display morphological differences such as the arms, which were proportionally longer than those of adults. There has been confusion as to the identity of the raptors. While the first news entry claim the genus was Velociraptor
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
, both the official ITV site and Primeval site state that the raptors were based upon Deinonychus
Deinonychus
Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
. It has been seen they live in Africa in the late Cretaceous, 95 million years ago, where no Deinonychus has been found. Although, at one point the Primeval site did state that the raptors were based on Utahraptor. More recently they were listed as Dromaeosaurus
Dromaeosaurus
Dromaeosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period , sometime between 76.5 and 74.8 million years ago, in the western United States and Alberta, Canada. The name means 'running lizard'....
.
The parents appear to invest little care in their young and are likely to forget the offspring is theirs if separated for too long, often resulting in cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, although it was not confirmed that the cannibal Raptor was a parent and may have just been a rogue, or that if raptors were like lions, then Rogue was killing the defeated male's offspring. Raptors are shown as being covered in scales with a small crest of protofeathers that can be raised up like hackles when attacking.
In episode 2.1 two adults and an infant Deinonychus came through a shopping mall anomaly; one adult was decapitated by the closing anomaly, the other was returned and the infant was canabilised by one of the adults. They appear again in The Lost Island novel, hunting and killing three people marooned with the team in the Early Cretaceous. They are described as being Dromaeosaurs, but are also said to bear a resemblance to the Raptors in the earlier shopping mall episode. In episode 2.6 and episode 2.7 at least two fully grown Deinonychus were seen in Leeks creature prison. They were killed in a fight with other creatures at the end of the episode 2.7.
Episode 3.4 shows Mick Harper and Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven
Nigel Marven is a British wildlife presenter, television producer, author, and ornithologist.-Career:Marven studied botany at Bristol University until the age of 22 when he left to begin his career at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol...
approaching a juvenile Velociraptor in an aircraft hangar, before Nigel was killed by the Giganotosaurus that followed it. Velociraptor also feature in Fire and Water.
Dromaeosaurus made an in episode 3.10, attacking Danny Quin, Conner Temple and Abby Maitland. Three are seen feasting on another raptor's carcass in a forest and they then proceed to attack the three members of the team before they were knocked out by a stun grenade. Another raptor later followed Danny through an anomaly into Pliocene Africa and charged at Helen and knocks her off a cliff, killing them both.
In episode 4.1 in the Cretaceous a male Dromaeosaurus takes Abby's blanket to decorate its bower so as to impress a mate. It was later lured by Abby with her blanket to provide a distraction for a Spinosaurus standing near an anomaly, and after a brief fight the raptor was killed.
In episode 5.3, a Deinonychus was responsible for several murders in the Victorian era. Matt and Emily encounter it and have a small battle with it. It later kills Henry Merchant before being shot by Becker.
The Deinonychus also appears on the Watch YouTube game. It takes one shot to kill it.
Sarcopterygian
Sarcopterygians are a group of prehistoric fish which are traditionally classed as lobe-finned fish, which in the real world include the modern day lungfishLungfish
Lungfish are freshwater fish belonging to the Subclass Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining characteristics primitive within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and structures primitive within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed...
and the coelacanth
Coelacanth
Coelacanths are members of an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of Sarcopterygii known to date....
, Latimeria
Latimeria
Latimeria is a genus comprising the living species of coelacanth.-Biological characteristics:Based on growth rings in their ear bones , scientists infer that individual coelacanths may live as long as 80 to 100 years. Coelacanths live as deep as 700 m below sea level, but are more commonly...
. These are bony fish with paired rounded fins. The fin-limbs of Sarcopterygiians are so like the expected ancestral form of tetrapod limbs
Tetrapod
Tetrapods are vertebrate animals having four limbs. Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are all tetrapods; even snakes and other limbless reptiles and amphibians are tetrapods by descent. The earliest tetrapods evolved from the lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian...
that they have been universally considered the direct ancestors of land vertebrates.
Sarcopterygians have modified cosmoid scales, which are thinner than true cosmoid scales, which can only be found on extinct fish. Coelacanths also have a special electroreceptive device called a rostral organ in the front of the skull, which probably helps in prey detection.
One fossilised member of this group appears in the first episode, Cutter explaining that this specimen appears in the fossil record at a time when it should have been extinct for 70 million years, and the fact that a live one appeared in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. This suggests that there has been at least one anomaly in the distant past, and one outside of Britain. This was later confirmed in the Primeval spin-off novel Shadow of the Jaguar.
Scutosaurus
ScutosaurusScutosaurus
Scutosaurus was a genus of armor-covered pareiasaur that lived around 252-248 million years ago in Russia, in the later Permian period. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body...
was a genus of armour-covered Permian period pareiasaur
Pareiasaur
The Pareiasaurs - Family Pareiasauridae - are a clade of medium-sized to large herbivorous anapsid reptiles that flourished during the Permian period....
, loosely related to the turtles. Its genus name refers to large plates of bony scute
Scute
A scute or scutum is a bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, the feet of some birds or the anterior portion of the mesonotum in insects.-Properties:...
s (osteoderm
Osteoderm
Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates or other structures in the dermal layers of the skin. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles, including lizards, various groups of dinosaurs , crocodilians, phytosaurs, aetosaurs, placodonts, and hupehsuchians...
s) set in the skin, as a defence against predators. But the most unusual thing about them were the heavy skull
Skull
The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...
s ornamented with strange knobs and ridges. It was of a very heavy build, almost rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
-like. Unlike most reptiles, held its legs underneath its body with stubby toes to support its great weight.
They have an important role in episode 1.1 and in episode 1.6 a herd if briefly seen on a hillside, in episode 2.6 they are seen locked up at the rear of Leek's animal containment facility and in episode 2.7 they play a more important role, being used by the team to kill two of Leek's men.
These fearsome-looking animals were in fact inoffensive herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s, which were well adapted to the dry conditions which covered much of Pangaea
Pangaea
Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration....
at that time. A social animal, they migrated in large groups. The leaf-shaped multi-cusped teeth resemble those of iguana
Iguana
Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
s, caseids
Caseidae
The Caseidae were a widespread group of very primitive herbivorous synapsids, which appeared during the later early Permian and persisted until the late middle Permian. Although ranging in size from 1 to 5½ meters in body length, caseids were surprisingly conservative in their skeletal anatomy and...
, and other reptilian herbivores. This dentition, together with the deep capacious body which would have housed an extensive digestive tract. When in the past, they see several more Scutosaurus roaming a desert.
Although initially described correctly as a pareiasaur
Pareiasaur
The Pareiasaurs - Family Pareiasauridae - are a clade of medium-sized to large herbivorous anapsid reptiles that flourished during the Permian period....
, this species is from then on called a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
throughout the episode in which it appears. Although based on the heavily armoured species called Scutosaurus kapinski that lived about 250 million years ago in Russia, the size of the Scutosaurus in the series is exaggerated. It is described as at least "five or six tons" in weight, about as big as an elephant. In fact the actual Scutosaurus was much smaller, no more than 3 m (10 ft) in length. They appear locked up at the end of episode 2.7.
Shrew-like Creature
In a small building used by the Russian anomaly team used for captured specimens, Cutter observes a pair of small shrewShrew
A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...
-like creatures scuttling around in a tank, while explaining to Abby how the mammals inherit the Earth after the K-T Event.
Silurian Scorpion
The Silurian Scorpion is a prehistoric creature from the Silurian that grows to immense sizes, and is a variety of animal similar to Brontoscorpio. They have a long whip-like tail, spikes on the foreclaws and a flattened body, similar to modern day whip scorpionUropygid
Thelyphonida is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as vinegaroons . They are often called uropygids in the scientific community after the former order Uropygi...
s. The scorpions never come through the anomaly in their first appearance, but did in the second season finale, along with many other creatures. They are probably reimagined from the ones in Walking with Monsters by the producers to make them bigger and more frightening. They hunt by sensing surface vibrations and burrowing underground, similar to the giant worms from the film Tremors
Tremors (film)
Tremors is a 1990 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Ron Underwood, based on a screenplay by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson, and starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire...
. Their main food source appears to be the Silurian millipedes. In reality, scorpions of this size would not be able to breathe, let alone move about.
The scorpions made a reappearance in episode 2.7. One of them was released onto a crowded beach by Oliver Leek to show his power, where it promptly ate two tourists and scared everyone else away. Stephen Hart set out to deal with it on his own, and harpooned it below a bridge. The still alive creature was left to be collected at leisure. Its fate was unknown, but presumably it was killed.
They appear in a flashback in episode 3.2, when Cutter recognizes the Cleaner and thought he was killed by the scorpions. They are referred to as "Silurian Scorpions" in the episode, but they are listed as "Giant scorpion" on the Primeval official websites.
Smilodon
SmilodonSmilodon
Smilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...
is a vicious carnivorous sabre-toothed cat that lived in the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
in both North
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. They are commonly and incorrectly called "sabre toothed tigers" where, in truth, all modern day tigers evolved from a different line.
A fully-grown Smilodon weighed approximately 200 kg (440.9 lb) and had a short tail, powerful legs, and a large head. The cats have two huge canine teeth, about 17 cm (7 in) long, that are used to kill prey by suffocation. The jaws could open to about 120 degree
Degree (angle)
A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...
s in order to use these fangs to deadly effect. They eventually died out due to climate change.
Smilodon was mentioned in episode 1.4 by Helen Cutter as "sabre-toothed killers". However, she apparently lied when she claimed they would come through at that point, and escaped through the Spaghetti Junction. They are also seen, in skeleton form, in Cutter's office. The cat made a proper appearance in the second series, rampaging through a local park. It was being looked after by a ranger named Valerie, who apparently had cared for it since it first came through, as a cub. She was later killed by it (though the casualty is not shown). The cat was apparently killed by a heart attack after being tranquillised. When Cutter hears of this he is puzzled since it was healthy, pointing towards other involvement. In fact, the sabre-tooth was really smuggled along with several other creatures. It reappears in episode 2.6 and episode 2.7.
Spinosaurus
The SpinosaurusSpinosaurus
Spinosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in what is now North Africa, from the lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. This genus was first known from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German...
is the largest carnivorous dinosaur, weighing 4–8 t (3.9–7.9 LT) and 18 m (59 ft) in length. It lived in Africa in the late Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. It is bipedal has a large "sail" on its back, though the one in the show included an additional mini sail on its tail.
In episode 4.1, a Spinosaurus is stalking Connor and Abby in the Cretaceous when the pair open an Anomaly
Anomaly
Anomaly may refer to:-Astronomy and celestial mechanics :* In astronomy, an anomaly is a quantity measured with respect to an apsis, usually the periapsis...
to the present using Helen's anomaly device. Abby lures a raptor towards the territorial Spinosaurus to distract it, and the larger dinosaur wins the fight while the two slip through the anomaly. When the anomaly was accidentally unlocked it came through and rampaged through the city, and was lured into an arena to be contained. Connor attempted to open another anomaly as Abby distracted it with lights and music and Becker and his men brought it down with their new EMDs. However it got back up and tried to attack Connor and Matt who were hanging from the ceiling, and it swallows the anomaly device and disappears into the anomaly created by it inside the Spinosaurus' stomach.
Spinosaurus was seen again in Episode 5.5, though this was stock from 4.1.
Stegosaurus
StegosaurusStegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
is the largest and most famous member of the Stegosaurid family, growing up to 9 m (30 ft) in length and more than capable of defending itself from predators with the four spikes on the end of its tail. A row of plates along its back, its most recognizable feature, may have been used as a cooling system in hot weather or to flash colour that could be used to entice mates or threaten enemies and predators.
Series 4 webisode 1 includes CCTV footage of a Stegosaurus causing havoc in the House of Commons during the time between Series 3 and 4. However this was not a real Stegosaurus, the CG model was that of the Embolotherium, reused with close up footage.
Swimming Theropod
A juvenile theropod was found unconscious in in the North Sea and taken on board a naval submarine. After awakening, it attacked and killed a crewman. It was stunned by Abby and Connor, and then expelled through a torpedo-like tube into the Jurassic seas where it was eaten by a LiopleurodonLiopleurodon
Liopleurodon is a genus of large, carnivorous marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L. rossicus, lived during the Late Jurassic...
.
Therocephalian
TherocephaliaTherocephalia
Therocephalians are an extinct suborder of carnivorous eutheriodont therapsids that lived from the middle and late Permian into the Triassic 265.0—245.0 Ma existing for approximately ....
ns are an extinct suborder of carnivorous eutheriodont therapsids that lived from the middle and late Permian into the Triassic. Therocephalians ("beast-heads") are named after their large skulls, which, along with the structure of their teeth, suggest that they were successful carnivores. Like other non-mammalian synapsids, therocephalians are described as mammal-like reptiles, although in fact, Therocephalia is the group most closely related to the cynodonts, which gave rise to the mammals. The earlier therocephalians were in many respects as primitive as the gorgonopsids, but they did show certain advanced features. The discovery of maxilloturbinal ridges in some specimens suggests that at least some therocephalians may have been warm-blooded.
A species of Therocephalian appears in episode 4.4. Numerous creatures the size of a large dog come through an anomaly at a school, and kill a teacher and a female student. Matt, Becker, and Connor deal with the venomous creatures, and Becker was bitten by one of the venomous creatures to paralyse him, but later recovered.
Thylacosmilus
ThylacosmilusThylacosmilus
Thylacosmilus was a genus of sabre-toothed metatherian predators that first appeared during the Miocene. Remains of the animal have been found in parts of South America, primarily Argentina...
was a pouched
Marsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
carnivore, resembling a sabre-toothed cat, that lived in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
2 million years ago. It had a long, curving chin and a large pair of sabre teeth used for killing its prey. Thylacosmilus eventually went extinct due to being outcompeted by true sabre-tooth cats such as Smilodon.
In Shadow of the Jaguar, the first known anomaly to open overseas is in a biological reserve in the Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
and allows a pack of Thylacosmilus
Thylacosmilus
Thylacosmilus was a genus of sabre-toothed metatherian predators that first appeared during the Miocene. Remains of the animal have been found in parts of South America, primarily Argentina...
access to the modern world. They proceed to go on the rampage, wiping out several small villages, killing one of the sons of a senior man to Sir James Lester (Sir Charles), killing a sloth
Sloth
Sloths are the six species of medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae , part of the order Pilosa and therefore related to armadillos and anteaters, which sport a similar set of specialized claws.They are arboreal residents of the jungles of Central and South...
and killing several members of the SAS. A second pride of six Thylacosmilus are followed and some are killed by the SAS. It turns out that the Thylacosmilus are under the control of a creature from the future, which is using pheromones to control the pack's instinct and use them like hunting hounds. After the team disrupt the bird's control, the Thylacosmilus flee in terror back through the anomaly, just before it closes.
Torosaurus
In Extinction Event, several large groups of TorosaurusTorosaurus
Torosaurus is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period , between 70 and 65 million years ago. It possessed one of the largest skulls of any known land animal. The frilled skull reached in length...
are seen. They are described as having huge frills, long horns and being aggressively unpredictable. In the first instance, a mother is killed whilst defending her calf and almost killing Connor in the process, and her calf is then killed by an unseen predator, which later turns out to be a Tyrannosaurus. Later on, a large herd is found by a river, and several animals are killed after a tank fires at them. The Torosaurus then attack the tanks and succeed in killing the driver.
Tree Creeper
Large (approx. 2 m high) Cretaceous apelike arboreal dinosaurs, can climb easily using claws and a long prehensile tail, which they also use to grab their prey. Vicious carnivores with a head resembling the Raptor and a retractable sickle claw. There is currently little evidence to support what an actual one looks like.Two came through an anomaly in a London theatre in episode 4.3. Another one attacked Emily in the Cretaceous before Matt rescued her, and gave chase through the anomaly only to be blasted back with EMDs. One of the two in the present was immediately shot by Becker, and the other is killed by falling after a chase Matt and Emily. Given the name "Tree Creepers" by Emily Merchant, real species name, if any, not known.
A Tree Creeper is also appears in episode 5.5, when it comes through an anomaly into the ARC carpark. It curiously investigates Lester's new Jaguar, and Lester comes to defend it, bringing down the creature with a few EMD bursts. It is unknown if Lester sent the creature back through the anomaly.
Troodon
TroodonTroodon
Troodon is a genus of relatively small, bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period . Discovered in 1855, it was among the first dinosaurs found in North America...
are small carnivorous dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous. They had the largest brain of any dinosaur.
Several are encountered in Extinction Event, where they are described as being ruthless predators. They were first encountered feasting on the carcass of a dead Anatotitan, which had apparently been killed by shock, as a result of a meteor strike. Later, Jenny and Helen Cutter are in the Cretaceous period, and one of the mercenary soldiers assigned to help them, Tim Jenkins, was dragged away by the Troodons, who ate him alive due to his crippling caused by a Dimetrodon. The rest of the team too late to save him. Later in the present, a pack of Troodon showed up at the overturned car Jenny and Hemple were in. Jenny attempted to keep them at bay by using a large metal rod that she had found in the truck's wreck. However, one of the Troodon then knocked her down to the ground, and pinned her down, with its foot. Just as it was about to kill her, the car's ruptured fuel tank caught on fire, scaring the Troodons away.
Tyrannosaurus
TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
is the most well known carnivorous dinosaur despite not being the largest.
In Extinction Event, a pair of Tyrannosaurus stalk the forests of Siberia, referred to many as Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
after a figure in Russian folklore. The female does most of the damage, killing a Torosaurus calf and several men before it encounters the male Tyrannosaurus, which has just arrived from the Cretaceous having killed a Pachycephalosaurus. The male and female fight, and the female kills her smaller rival. Surprisingly, the female Tyrannosaurus is not stopped, and merely returns to the dank, Russian forests, having killed her competitor.
In Episode 5.5 one rampaged through the streets of London, killing a few people until shot multiple times by Matt with an EMD it is unknown if it survived. This creature was the initial cause of the public's realisation of the anomalies.
Velociraptor
In episode 3.4, a huge anomaly opens, in an aeroplane hangar. Nigel MarvenNigel Marven
Nigel Marven is a British wildlife presenter, television producer, author, and ornithologist.-Career:Marven studied botany at Bristol University until the age of 22 when he left to begin his career at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol...
and a media team is called to investigate. A juvenile Velociraptor
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
runs out of it and bites Nigel on the hand. It then runs back through the anomaly just before the Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived around 97 million years ago during the early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period. It included some of the largest known terrestrial carnivores, slightly larger than the largest Tyrannosaurus, but smaller than the...
comes through.
Six Velociraptors came through an anomaly into a wet and rainy Maidenhead in Fire and Water. They were all returned but several were shot in the past when they tried to kill Becker and they did succeed in killing one of his colleagues, Jamie Weavers.
Worm
Although many invertebrates are commonly called worms, the Primeval worms are very large carnivorous worms from some time before the oxygen catastropheOxygen Catastrophe
The Great Oxygenation Event , also called the Oxygen Catastrophe or Oxygen Crisis or Great Oxidation, was the biologically induced appearance of free oxygen in Earth's atmosphere. This major environmental change happened around 2.4 billion years ago.Photosynthesis was producing oxygen both before...
, 2.7 billion years ago. In reality such a creature is impossible - for any lifeform to grow that big it would need an atmosphere more energy-rich than the fog they live in and they would not be able to breathe let alone move in it. The worms have long retractable mouthparts, large enough to engulf a man, for feeding. These creatures were based on marine ragworms. The worms need movement to see their prey, and can be fooled if a person stands still and throws an inanimate object
In the episode, the worms cannot survive outside the "fog", which is first shown when Nick and Stephen trap the mouthparts in a door separating the fog: if separated from their natural atmosphere, oxygen, highly poisonous to them, kills them. The fog is the Pre-Cambrian atmosphere, which presumably comes through the anomaly
Anomaly (Primeval)
Anomalies are fictional phenomena which occur in the science fiction television series Primeval and are a type of time portal. The anomaly is shown as an orb of fractured reflective or refractive triangles in the air, much like shards of broken glass. One character stated that he could see a...
. When they are faced with an increase of heat, they explode to spawn their young which then attempt to burrow into a living host. They can also spit a brown-coloured slime, which might be used to track or even attack their prey This life cycle is not dissimilar to the parasite.
It also reappears in a classroom during the convergence of the anomalies in Series 5.