Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure
Encyclopedia
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure is a film by National Geographic which is set in the Earth
's prehistoric past. The film features state-of-the-art three dimensional photographic and computer generated characters/animals. The setting alternates between prehistory
and modern day times in which scientists study the fossilized remains of the creatures in the film. It is filmed in 3D and requires 3D glasses.
, who travels the Kansas Inland Sea, 82 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period with her family. She gets attacked by a shark (Cretoxyrhina) which kills her mother; Dolly survives with a tooth embedded in her flipper. Later, Dolly's brother is swallowed whole by a young Tylosaurus
, then an older Tylosaurus kills the younger one, leaving Dolly alone. Then she becomes a mother and has three young of her of own. After seasons of traveling around the Inland sea, Dolly dies peacefully of old age.
The game received poor reviews across all platforms.
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 prehistoric past. The film features state-of-the-art three dimensional photographic and computer generated characters/animals. The setting alternates between prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
and modern day times in which scientists study the fossilized remains of the creatures in the film. It is filmed in 3D and requires 3D glasses.
Plot
The protagonist of the story is Dolly, a female DolichorhynchopsDolichorhynchops
Dolichorhynchops is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing three species, D. osborni, D. herschelensis and D. tropicensis. Dolichorhynchops was an oceangoing prehistoric reptile...
, who travels the Kansas Inland Sea, 82 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period with her family. She gets attacked by a shark (Cretoxyrhina) which kills her mother; Dolly survives with a tooth embedded in her flipper. Later, Dolly's brother is swallowed whole by a young Tylosaurus
Tylosaurus
Tylosaurus was a mosasaur, a large, predatory marine lizard closely related to modern monitor lizards and to snakes.-Paleobiology:...
, then an older Tylosaurus kills the younger one, leaving Dolly alone. Then she becomes a mother and has three young of her of own. After seasons of traveling around the Inland sea, Dolly dies peacefully of old age.
Cast
- Sean MacLeod Phillips – directorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
- Liam Owen – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Jonathan P. Shaw – editionEditionIn printmaking, an edition is a number of prints struck from one plate, usually at the same time. This is the meaning covered by this article...
Creatures featured
Most of the creatures are later identified on the official website and the DVD.- AmmoniteAmmoniteAmmonite, 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...
- BaculiteBaculiteBaculites is an extinct cephalopod genus with a nearly straight shell that is included in the heteromorph ammonites...
(identified as "straight-shelled ammonites") - BananogmiusBananogmiusBananogmius is an extinct genus of bony fish that lived in what is today Kansas during the Late Cretaceous. It lived in the Western Interior Seaway, which split North America in two during the Late Cretaceous.-In popular culture:...
, an extinct genus of bony fish - CaproberyxCaproberyxCaproberyx is an extinct genus of bony fish from the Cretaceous period of Africa and Europe. It has also been found in Kansas, USA.-Sources:* Fishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson...
, an extinct genus of bony fish - Cretoxyrhina,a large shark
- DolichorhynchopsDolichorhynchopsDolichorhynchops is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing three species, D. osborni, D. herschelensis and D. tropicensis. Dolichorhynchops was an oceangoing prehistoric reptile...
(often shortened to "dollies" in the story), a genus of plesiosaurPlesiosaurPlesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous plesiosaur marine reptiles. Plesiosauroids, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods... - EnchodusEnchodusEnchodus is an extinct genus of bony fish. It flourished during the Upper Cretaceous and was small to medium in size. One of the genus' most notable attributes are the large "fangs" at the front of the upper and lower jaws and on the palatine bones, leading to its misleading nickname among fossil...
, an extinct genus of bony fish - Gillicus, a relatively small, 2-meter long ichthyodectid fish
- GorgosaurusGorgosaurusGorgosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, between about 76.5 and 75 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Canadian province of Alberta and possibly the U.S. state of Montana....
, a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur - HenodusHenodusHenodus chelyops was a placodont of the Late Triassic period during the early Carnian age. Fossils of Henodus chelyops were found in Tübingen, Germany. It was around in length....
(cameo), a placodont with an elaborate shell of the Late Triassic period - HesperornisHesperornisHesperornis 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...
, an extinct genus of flightless aquatic birds - InoceramusInoceramusInoceramus is an extinct genus of fossil marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the extant genus Pteria....
, an extinct genus of giant clam - JellyfishJellyfishJellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
(live-acted) - KronosaurusKronosaurusKronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Cronus.-Discovery and species:Kronosaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous Period ....
(cameo),an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur - LeptecodonLeptecodonLeptecodon is a genus of prehistoric mackerel-like fish which was described by Williston in 1899 and was possibly preyed on by other sea creatures. However, it was a hunter of smaller creatures itself. This fish sometimes hid in clams such as Inoceramus. The first-discovered fossil was inside a...
, a genus of prehistoric fish - NothosaurusNothosaurusNothosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from the Triassic period, approximately 240-210 million years ago, with fossils being distributed from North Africa and Europe to China...
(cameo),an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile - PlatecarpusPlatecarpusPlatecarpus is an extinct genus of aquatic lizard belonging to the mosasaur family, living around 75 million years ago during the end of the Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in Belgium and the United States as well as a possible specimen in Africa. Platecarpus probably fed on fish,...
, an extinct genus of aquatic lizard belonging to the mosasaur family - ProtosphyraenaProtosphyraenaProtosphyraena is a fossil genus of swordfish-like marine fish, that throve worldwide during the Upper Cretaceous Period . Though fossil remains of this taxon have been found in both Europe and Asia, it is perhaps best known from the Smoky Hill Member of the Niobrara Chalk Formation of Kansas...
, a fossil genus of swordfish-like marine fish - ProtostegaProtostegaProtostega gigas is an extinct species of marine turtle. It was first collected from the Smoky Hill Chalk of western Kansas in 1871, and named by E.D. Cope...
, an extinct species of marine turtle - PteranodonPteranodonPteranodon , 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...
, one of the largest pterosaur genera - SqualicoraxSqualicoraxSqualicorax is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. A fully articulated 1.9 m long fossil skeleton of Squalicorax has been found in Kansas, evidence of its presence in the Western Interior Seaway...
, a genus of extinct lamniform shark - StyxosaurusStyxosaurusStyxosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur of the family Elasmosauridae. Styxosaurus lived during the Santonian and Campanian age of the Cretaceous period.-Etymology:...
, a genus of plesiosaur of the family Elasmosauridae - TemnodontosaurusTemnodontosaurusTemnodontosaurus was an ichthyosaur from the Early Jurassic, some 198 and 185 million years ago , in Europe...
(cameo), a big ichthyosaur - TusoteuthisTusoteuthisTusoteuthis is a genus of Cretaceous cephalopod molluscs. One species, T. longa, has been identified so far, and examination of gladius remains has yielded an estimated mantle length close to or equal to that of the modern giant squid. Recent studies have seen the vampire squid as a more likely...
, a genus of Cretaceous cephalopod molluscs - TylosaurusTylosaurusTylosaurus was a mosasaur, a large, predatory marine lizard closely related to modern monitor lizards and to snakes.-Paleobiology:...
, a big mosasaur - UintacrinusUintacrinusUintacrinus is an extinct genus of crinoid from the Cretaceous of Kansas. It was unusual among crinoids because it had no stalk, and probably floated above the seafloor. It lived in the Western Interior Seaway...
(identified as "crinoidCrinoidCrinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms . Crinoidea comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live both in shallow water and in depths as great as 6,000 meters. Sea lilies refer to the crinoids which, in their adult form, are...
"), a floating colonial crinoid - XiphactinusXiphactinusXiphactinus was a large, 4.5 to 6 m long predatory bony fish that lived in the Western Interior Sea, over what is now the middle of North America, during the Late Cretaceous. When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon...
, a 4.5 to 5 m (15 to 20 feet) long predatory bony fish
Video game
The Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure is a video game from DSI Games and Zoo Digital Publishing, it was released on the Wii, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo DS on October 25, 2007. The game, developed by Destination Software, Inc. allows players to interact in a prehistoric world of sea creatures.The game received poor reviews across all platforms.