bbc.co.uk navigation

Life on ancient Earth

Walk with the dinosaurs and beasts recreated in some of the BBC's best-loved series, unearth the world's ancient secrets in some long-unseen gems from the archive and uncover the dramatic story of life on Earth.

BBC Nature opens up the prehistoric realms, following evolutionary paths from long-extinct ancestors to today's living species, for example elephants and humans.

Explore the extraordinary history of planet Earth: how it would have looked and what life was like. Discover how mass extinctions wiped out vast swathes of living things, find out what caused them and wonder at how life on our planet has managed to cling on through the devastation.

  • Tyrannosaurs

    Mighty dinosaurs and top predators of the Cretaceous period.

    Tyrannosaurs

  • Spinosaurus

    At 17 metres spinosaurus was the biggest killer to walk the earth.

    Spinosaurus

  • Terminator pigs

    Mammals that spent a lot of time fighting with their own kind.

    Terminator pigs

  • Feats of engineering

    The largest sauropod dinosaurs weighed close to 100 tonnes.

    Feats of engineering

  • Predator X

    The most powerful marine reptile ever discovered.

    Predator X

  • Great grazers

    The titans of the Jurassic keep the fern-filled prairies clear.

    Great grazers

  • Cambrian period

    Explore life as it was 500 million years ago.

    Cambrian period

Explore prehistoric life

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.