| “ | Previously we rescued the mighty sauropods of the Jurassic. This time we go back to the Jurassic to rescue the apex predator of the time: Allosaurus. | „ |
| — Allen, opening narration | ||
Land of Giants II: Ballad of Big Al is the fifth episode of Series 2 and the fifteenth episode of Prehistoric Earth: A Natural History.
Synopsis[]
The team returns to the Late Jurassic to rescue the apex predator: Allosaurus fragilis, in which they will rescue the famous specimen named Big Al.
Plot[]
Having already rescued the Diplodocus from the brink of extinction along with a few other animals of the Jurassic, Allen then heads to Joanna's office and informs her that he is going back to the Late Jurassic to rescue the Allosaurus, with one of them being the specimen dubbed Big Al. The team arrives in the Late Jurassic where the state of Wyoming will one day be.
They soon arrive at an Allosaurus nest which Allen's dog Caine digs and found a clutch of eggs that were already hatching which Allen believes one of them must be Big Al. He and the group soon spot a female Allosaurus approaching the nest and retreat to a safer distance not too far away from the nest, and Allen notices that the female was Big Al's mother. Al's mother digs the Allosaurus hatchlings including Big Al out of the nest using her claws.
Big Al and the other hatchling emerges from the nest take their first steps in the Jurassic landscape. A few of the Allosaurus youngsters fight amongst themselves as apart of their start on learning how to survive in their world. Nearby, a pair of Ornitholestes are still waiting to attack the Allosaurus chicks, but doesn't venture too close due to their mother around them. Al's mother and the hatchling leaves as the smell of the youngsters would attract other large predators such as other Allosaurus. The team follows them to a river where Big Al and his siblings begins their hunting by catching dragonflies and scorpions that dwell nearby.
Later that evening, Big Al and the other hatchlings are still near the river while their mother is out hunting for food for herself. Suddenly, the hatchlings were attacked by a year old Allosaurus which kills one of the youngsters. Luckily, Al was not the victim of this brutal event, as the mother returns from her hunting. A year later, Big Al has grown to medium size and hunts alone, this time he is now hunting dinosaurs rather than insects. The team encounters a flock of Othnielia, which were feasting on vegetation that were being tumbled by a Stegosaurus making his way through the woodland looking for food.
The team rescues the Othnielia flock, getting them back to the present day and put into the ostrich enclosure. Big Al watches a female Ornitholestes attending her nest and protecting it from predators. Al backs down and continues his hunting, as the team soon found a flock of Dryosaurus grazing on vegetation. Al attacks the flock, but he failed as they were too fast and retreats back into the forest to find more food. The team rescues the Dryosaurus and brings them to the park where they were put in their enclosure with the Othnielia flock.
Later, Allen and the team comes across a large herd of Apatosaurus. They rescue a few Apatosaurus herd members and gets to the present day, so they can roam the sauropod enclosure with the other sauropods that Allen had rescued. The team spots Al which found and kills a lizard sitting on a tree branch to keep him from starving. Later, they found a family of Dryosaurus digging water in a dried up river bed. However, not too far away, Allen spots a Ceratosaurus preparing to attack the only three members of the Dryosaurus family nearby.
The theropod erupts from behind the trees and chases the Dryosaurus and her offspring through the plains. The Ceratosaurus kills one of the Dryosaurus youngsters with her jaws before feasting on her as the two remaining Dryosaurus go in between the legs of an adult Camarasaurus that was grazing on treetops. Allen rescues a pair of Ceratosaurus and takes them back to the park where they were put into their enclosure. After rescuing the Ceratosaurus pair, he and the team goes to rescue Big Al and bring him back to the park. They arrive at a small pool where scattered dinosaur bones are found along with a Stegosaurus that died from exhaustion while trying to get itself free from the mud.
The team also found an Allosaurus who was also stuck in the mud while trying to scavenge the Stegosaurus carcass near the pool. A large Allosaurus arrives and spot the carcass, but ignores the danger signals from the trapped Allosaurus. The female Allosaurus approaches the carcass to feed on the rotting flesh, but soon, she also gets trapped in the mud. Al watches the female nearby as he avoids heading to the carcass to escape from the same fate as the two Allosaurus that are trapped in the mud. The two Allosaurus eventually die and are left to be devoured by scavengers like Anurognathus, who also scavenge the Stegosaurus carcass.
Four years later, Allen and the team arrived on a dried up salt lake where they spotted a herd of Diplodocus migrating south for a nesting site. They soon found Big Al getting ready to attack the herd along with a few other Allosaurus. The pack of Allosaurus decided to attack a herd member that was sick during the migration. They suddenly attacked the sauropod herd so they would isolate the sick Diplodocus among them. The Allosaurus pack finally separated the Diplodocus from its herd members and gathers around it to feast.
After a few hours, the Diplodocus finally collapses due to heat exhaustion and the dinosaur's illness, as Big Al and the other Allosaurus feast. However the smell of the carcass soon attracts other Allosaurus dwelling across the landscape such as a large one that smelled the freshly killed Diplodocus from far away. A year later, the team comes across relatives of Diplodocus called Supersaurus, who were grazing on ferns while migrating a long distance following the rainy season like a herd of elephants. The group gathers a herd of them and brings them to the park and put into the sauropod enclosure with their relatives. After rescuing the Supersaurus herd, Allen and the team comes across a pair of Stegosaurus who were about to mate near a waterhole.
However, when Al arrives at the waterhole, the two Stegosaurus gets nervous especially with the blood on his jaws that he got hunting. Allen rescues the two Stegosaurus and gets them into their enclosure. Big Al then sniffs a pile of dung left by a female Allosaurus and tries to issue a mating call to get a female's attention. A nearby female picks up the low sounds in Al's mating call, however she is not interested and it ended with a violent fight which broke one of his arms. Sometime later, when the dry season takes effect on the landscape, Al kills a scavenging Anurognathus while trying to hunt dinosaurs, although his arm are still not functional.
Later, the team watches him stalk a flock of Dryosaurus eating vegetation. However as Big Al was chasing down the flock, he tripped and broke his toe. The team opens the portal and gets the Allosaurus along with a female Allosaurus they rescued and named her Alice back to the park so Rebecca and work Al's toe injury and his broken arm. After a few weeks, Big Al's injuries heal as he regains his former strength and healthy appetite as he and his new mate were given a large chunks of meat.
| “ | Next time, we will dive into the seas of the Jurassic to rescue an Ichthyosaur living in it. We will also rescue the giant carnivorous reptiles that patrolled them. | „ |
| — Allen, closing narration | ||
Characters[]
Animals[]
- Allosaurus
- Anurognathus
- Apatosaurus
- Brachiosaurus
- Camarasaurus
- Ceratosaurus
- Diplodocus
- Dragonfly
- Dryosaurus
- Nanosaurus
- Ornitholestes
- Scorpion
- Stegosaurus
- Supersaurus
Time[]
Late Jurassic - 150,000,000 BC
Gallery[]
