Bigger than T. Rex

Gr 7 Up—This episode follows paleontologists who worked to uncover the mystery of the enigmatic Spinosaurus, a Cretaceous-period predator even larger than its contemporary rival, Tyrannosaurus rex. Spinosaurus had been discovered in North Africa by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915, but the fossilized bones were destroyed during the bombing of Munich in World War II, and its existence remained only in photographs and Stromer's records. After fragments of a Spinosaurus appeared in the fossil black market, an international team of American, British, and Moroccan scientists tracked down leads to find a dig site in the Sahara. The analysis of their discoveries indicates that their dinosaur could be a unique and important discovery. The picture and sound quality are excellent. Computer graphics are used appropriately to re-create the North African landscape of 90 million years ago and to visualize the animals of that period.