Original subtitles

Over 66 million years ago...

(SCREECHES)

...our world...was ruled...

... by dinosaurs...

(SNARLS)

...the largest animals

that have ever walked the Earth.

Today, dinosaur experts across the globe

are uncovering the bones they left behind...

...allowing us to imagine

how these extraordinary creatures may have lived...

...SO that we can tell their stories...

..and they...

..can walk again.

(ROARS)

Amongst the jagged mountain peaks...

...majestic valleys...

...and scattered hill towns of central Portugal...

..an astonishing discovery has been made...

...a find so remarkable,

it's drawn a team of dinosaur hunters

from across Europe.

Buried here are the remains

of a colOSSUS...

We have a lot of bones in this area. Just amazing.

..@ monumental long-necked Lusotitan.

This animal is a giant of the Jurassic.

Known as Old Grande...

...he's one of the largest dinosaurs

ever to have lived.

And using his bones,

we can begin to imagine this giant's story.

In the Late Jurassic,

our planet looks very different.

Amongst its shifting continents,

a small landmass known as the Iberian Meseta

that one day will include Portugal

lies surrounded by ocean.

An island cut off from the rest of the world.

(CHIRPING)

Dense carnivorous forest covers much of the land...

..giving way to windswept beaches on the coast.

(SQUAWKING)

(MUNCHING)

Here, if you're in luck...

..an easy lunch can be found.

For torvosaurus, the island's top predator,

it's an opportunity

worth fighting for.

(SNARLS)

(LOW GROWLING)

(THUDDING)

But even these four-tonne carnivores...

...are no match

for the enormous Lusotitan,

Old Grande.

(LOW GRUNTING)

At a staggering 40 tonnes...

.. he is the undisputed king of the island.

But as a herbivore,

he isn't on the hunt for food.

He's been drawn to the beach by the allure...

(BELLOWS GENTLY)

...of a female.

(BELLOWS GENTLY)

As an ageing male,

this may be his last chance to mate.

But female Lusotitans are only receptive

for a few weeks of the year...

...SO he doesn't have long to make an impression.

150 million years later...

...the true scale of Old Grande is emerging

from deep beneath the ground.

We definitely have a huge specimen.

All the bones of this animal seem to be

more or less complete here.

As the most complete Lusotitan ever found,

his remains allow the team,

led by Professor Francisco Ortega

and Doctors Elisabete Malafaia

and Pedro Mocho...

...to piece together

the extraordinary dimensions of this animal.

So I think we have for this animal, probably a leg

between three and three and a half metres.

They're starting with how tall he was...

...Which they can estimate

using the bones from his gigantic front limb.

So, calculating how tall it is, l would say

- around ten metres. - Ten metres.

- Yes, yes, yes. - OK. OK.

Ten metres tall is very, very tall.

- It's a big animal. - Mm-hm.

FRANCISCO: This animal is the biggest animal

in his ecosystem.

PEDRO: At least the tallest one.

Their calculations make Old Grande

one of the tallest of his species ever discovered...

...Which is certainly one way to impress a mate.

Female Lusotitans may have been most attracted

to the biggest males...

(SNORTS)

.@ Sign their offspring will be healthy and strong.

So it should be easy for Old Grande to make his mark.

But it's not all about him.

Before they will mate,

female Lusotitans must first wait for the seasonal rains...

...making sure there is enough fresh vegetation

for their young.

And this year, the rains are late.

Old Grande has no choice but to wait.

He must guard her closely

and hope there is no other suitor close by.

(LOWING)

But love rarely runs smoothly.

Three miles from where Old Grande was found,

the team has made an important discovery.

Can you look at this?

- What? - What do you think?

What is this?

We need to clean this area more but the bone is here

and continues there.

- This is bone also. - OK. Hmm.

So this section seems a rib.

A rib fragment.

The fossilised rib is a similar size to Old Grande's.

But given its distance from the main dig,

it's unlikely to be his.

FRANCISCO: It's interesting because this bone is so big.

Has to be another Lusotitan.

It is interesting that we have here,

so close, two individuals of this species.

Unearthing two Lusotitans so close together

is unheard of.

So the team is keen to learn more.

Can you put this in place, please?

They cover the sections of rib in a layer of plaster...

... SO they can be removed Safely

and examined in one piece,

which is a massive three metres long.

You know, this is a huge rib.

Two Lusotitans with such a huge size is definitely impressive.

This is very speculative, but this could be another male.

Amazing.

Like elephants and rhinos today,

Lusotitan bulls were likely solitary

and very territorial.

If these two big, strong animals live

in the same ecosystem in the same time,

there is going to be some kind of competition.

Just like Old Grande,

this rival male would have been searching for a mate,

creating the potential...

...for a dangerous confrontation.

(LOW GROWL)

Although this contender may be younger than Old Grande...

... he's not afraid to challenge him

for the attentions of the female.

(GROWLS)

(GROWLS)

Old Grande is a seasoned fighter

and the largest bull on the island.

A stern warning...

... Should be enough to make this upstart back off.

But all is fair in love...

...and war.

(BELLOWS)

The surprise attack leaves Old Grande seriously hurt...

(GRUNTING)

. his leg badly injured.

Struggling under his colossal weight...

...he is unable to right himself.

He can only watch

..a& the rival takes his place at the female's side.

For a dinosaur of his size,

a badly damaged leg could mean the end of the road.

So could a Lusotitan survive this kind of injury?

OK, I'm going down

- to find the track. - OK.

On the coast,

a Significant piece of evidence might provide the answer.

But reaching it won't be easy...

...because what was once flat ground

during the Jurassic

iS Now a near-vertical cliff face...

Hi, Francisco, we are in position.

We can see you, so you are ready to go.

...SO Francisco must descend over 100 metres.

OK, I'm ready. lam going down.

Hi, Francisco, how are you?

Hey, Pedro, um,

! am in the upper part of the track now.

1 can see several footprints

and this part of the track...

...seems to be very well preserved.

Etched into the cliff face are footprints

thought to have been made by a large Lusotitan.

And they reveal something surprising.

FRANCISCO: (ON WALKIE-TALKIE) The length that there is

between the footprints

is one metre and 97cm.

OK, I got it.

The right stride is two metres and seven centimetres.

We have a...clear difference

between the right and left stride.

So, Francisco, we have a difference

of about ten centimetres from the right and left stride.

The foot and the hands are OK,

but this animal is not walking normally.

Probably because it's limping.

The discovery of a limping Lusotitan

is important evidence.

It suggests that injuries to their enormous limbs...

...were survivable.

Even so, Old Grande is still weak...

..and won't last long

on a damaged leg.

But he does have a remarkable way...

... tO Speed up the healing process.

It's known as osteophagia.

Like modern-day giraffes,

he supplements his diet

by breaking apart and swallowing

the skeletons of dead animals...

... like the carcass of this pliosaur,

whose bones are rich in the minerals he needs...

...to repair his own body.

But he's still a long way from recovery...

..and a limp like his...

...may not have gone unnoticed.

Following the path of the Lusotitan footprints...

... something has caught Francisco's eye.

From my position,

I'm pretty sure that there is

several other footprints also on the cliff.

Do you think you can approach the position?

OK, I am going to try it.

The second set of prints is another 85 metres

down the sheer cliff face.

No, I can't do it.

FRANCISCO: (ON WALKIE-TALKIE) Very difficult to go down

and take a look more closely.

NARRATOR: Unable to reach the prints by land,

the team decides...

...to take to the air.

OK, Francisco, we send the drone up.

The footprints are just to my right.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[ think...

Oh...

See?

- It's very clear. - Yeah.

Oh, my gosh.

And it is so close to the other trackway.

The second set of prints follows the same path

as the Lusotitan.

But from their distinctive shape,

it's clear they've been made by a different species.

You have the middle finger - it's very large.

Yep. Very different from

the other prints that are rounded.

So this could be a potential predator to the Lusotitan.

It's a medium- to large-size theropod, clearly.

Theropods are a group of dinosaurs that includes T-rex.

But on this island,

the prints are likely to come from a predator...

...Old Grande would be much more familiar with.

The torvosaurus.

Ten metres long and over three metres tall,

this adult female would normally be no match

for a heathy Lusotitan.

But the pain in Old Grande's leg

has become unbearable.

And he must rest until he can recover.

It could mean days without food or water,

leaving him exhausted...

...and vulnerable.

An opportunity this big...

...1S rare.

(LOW GROWL)

But Old Grande is too strong to take on now.

So she's prepared to stay close...

...and wait.

As the days pass...

...Old Grande rests.

(LOW GRUNTING)

The torvosaurus...

.. f1Sks an approach.

(SCREECHES)

(ROARS)

A close call.

(BELLOWS)

Old Grande must recover soon,

because next time

he may not be so lucky.

(BELLOWS)

At long last...

...Old Grande's leg is finally on the mend...

...and he has unfinished business -

finding the female that left him behind.

But both she and his rival are now miles away...

..and the clock is ticking.

He must move as quickly as he can.

150 million years later...

...the team has made a discovery

that could reveal how fast

a giant like Old Grande travelled.

It's particularly interesting because it's a fragment

of the scapula that is part of the shoulder.

- We have also the humerus. - Humerus.

We have the ulna, so we have the arm.

The new find gives the team an almost-complete profile

of Old Grande'’s front limb.

So we have here more or less one metre eight for the humerus

and one metre eight for the scapula.

Putting these measurements together

with their findings from the cliff-side footprints...

His stride is two metres and seven centimetres.

... they can now calculate his speed.

We can estimate that this animal can walk

from four to five miles per hour.

This is really interesting.

It may sound slow, but like modern elephants,

it's thought Lusotitans could keep up this pace

over huge distances.

This is just what Old Grande needs to do

as he travels miles across the island,

looking for the female.

But he's almost out of time.

(THUNDER ROLLS)

A distant storm

heralds the arrival of the seasonal rains.

(LOWING)

(THUNDER CRACKS)

The female will finally be ready to mate...

... leaving Old Grande in danger of missing out to his rival.

(THUD RESOUNDS)

But he's not just relying on his pace alone.

He's using an extraordinary ability to locate the female...

...one he's thought to share with modern-day elephants.

His stomps send powerful seismic waves

through the ground.

(THUD)

(SNORTS)

(QUIET LOWING)

Many miles away,

she feels the earth move...

... through specialised nerve endings in her feet...

(LOWING)

(BELLOWS QUIETLY)

...and she answers

her suitor's call.

(THUNDER ROLLS AND RAIN FALLS)

Detecting her response

keeps Grande heading in the right direction.

(THUNDER CRACKS)

But he must reach her before he misses his chance.

At the dig site, a new section of Old Grande's bones

is emerging from the rock...

- ...this vertebra. - OK.

So perhaps, this is... this is the first one.

- Yeah. - Sure.

Probably this is the second one.

...Including fossils that belong to his giant tail.

- Like that? - Yeah.

1 would say this one would be...

That's bigger.

But laying them out from the biggest on the right...

...to the tip on the left,

Pedro has noticed something unusual.

Everything should belong to the same individual.

If we compare all these tail bones here,

this seems to be smaller.

One of the bones doesn't belong in the sequence,

and it's too small to be part of Old Grande.

So ! think we have two individuals in this quarry.

! would say we have another smaller adult.

Amazing.

It's a significant find...

...because a second adult so close to Old Grande

could mean he did find his mate.

After miles of walking...

...he's reached the area

where the female last responded to his call.

(BELLOWS QUIETLY)

(BELLOWS)

(DISTANT BELLOW)

Reunited at last.

(DISTANT BELLOW)

But the moment...

...1S short-lived.

(THUDDING)

(BELLOWS)

The rival male has stayed close...

..and he isn't going to give up without a fight.

(BELLOWS)

(THUNDER RUMBLES)

Each bull uses his colossal weight...

..as a battering ram.

But these giants are too closely matched...

...SO, Changing tactics...

..they use their teeth

to inflict intense pain.

But neither is backing down.

Taking his chance,

the rival pins Old Grande.

(BELLOWING)

Rearing up to the height of a four-storey building...

... he bears down with his enormous weight.

But this time...

...Old Grande refuses to go down.

(GROANS)

A decisive victory.

(BELLOWS)

But Old Grande still faces one last challenge...

... persuading the female...

..he really is the bull for her.

(MACHINERY WHIRS)

And it could be that Francisco has discovered the key

to what made Old Grande irresistible.

! can recognise that we have this group of bones here

that are very close and are one touching the other.

It's a series of disc-shaped vertebrae

that once formed part of his long neck.

It's not complete,

but it's particularly well preserved.

Structurally, it's very delicate.

The bones are incredibly fragile...

...SO the team covers them in a protective membrane.

We need to glue all these small cracks

because if we take out the vertebra,

we can lose the bones completely.

But these neck bones are not delicate

simply because of their age.

Each one has a hollow structure,

which may have served a vital purpose.

These animals are huge giants of the Jurassic.

They have very long necks, huge tensions and stress.

So one of the probable advantages

of having these hollow bones is that this helps the animal

to be lighter and more dynamic

in the movement of these huge necks.

Very useful.

This dynamic movement would have allowed Old Grande

to walk, fight and, crucially, display.

It's exactly what he needs to charm the female...

... because he hasn't won her over yet.

(LOWING)

Like many birds today,

it's thought he would use his long, lightweight neck

and flexible tail

in an elaborate courtship display...

...with every move he makes

carefully assessed by this most discerning of judges.

And she responds.

Staying in sync with each other's moves...

...Will be crucial to proving they're compatible.

But just as everything was going so well...

...Old Grande gets a little overexcited.

(GRUNTS)

(LOWING)

Fortunately, he has one last trick up his sleeve.

Just like modern birds such as frigates...

...Old Grande has an inflatable sac to attract attention.

It seems to have worked.

(LOWING)

And in the hills of central Portugal,

Pedro, Elisabete

and Francisco have also completed their mission...

... finishing this year's dig

with a treasure trove of fossils.

This is a very good season.

We have a lot of new things this year.

- 200...? - 256.

Some of them are really large bones.

Even as they pack up, they're already making plans

to return next year.

It's interesting to try to find more bones

of both individuals here.

There is more areas to explore.

While they may never know how Old Grande met his end...

.. his bones appear to be entwined

with a female Lusotitan.

And so, just maybe,

with her, he was able to secure his legacy.

A batch of giant eggs.

Buried safely beneath the ground...

.. this next generation of Lusotitans...

(CRACKING)

...Will soon begin their own Story.