History Characters / PrehistoricPlanet

A massive scavenging pterosaur of an unidentified from the deserts of Mongolia. Appears in "Deserts" and "Badlands" (as a cameo).

* GiantFlyer: Appears to be quite big yet has no trouble flying.

* GiantEqualsInvincible: {{Averted|Trope}} - despite its size, at no point in the series is ''Tyrannosaurus'' ever mentioned as being beyond approach. The first episode alone notes that a ''Mosasaurus'' could attack a ''T. rex'' (though this would still be risky), ''Freshwater'' shows that other ''rexes'' are still competition, an ''Edmontosaurus'' in ''Swamps'' managed to get in a few good hits before dying to a pair of ''rex'' brothers, and ''North America'' reveals that they have a rival for carrion: ''Quetzalcoatlus''.

* PapaWolf: Downplayed. The ''T. rex'' father that appears on "Coasts" takes his chicks to cross the sea to guide them to an island where they can improve their skills as hunters. However, like many animals with precocial young, he's mostly indifferent if some of the weak ones die and doesn't share the dead protostegid sea turtle with his chicks; though this is also to make them search for their own food and not depend on him. When one returns to feed on the carcass after practicing their hunting skills, [[PetTheDog he doesn't shoo them away]].

** {{Averted}} in Season 1. It doesn't fight other predators senselessly if it can avoid a fatal injury (like the Hell Creek mosasaur), doesn't roar constantly, and the paternal behavior depicted by the adult individual in "Coasts" is fairly balanced between that of a competent parent raising its young and that of a self-preserving animal needing its offspring to be self-sufficient.

* ToughLove: The male ''Tyrannosaurus'' in "Coasts" initially shoos his chicks away from the dead adult protostegid so they can learn how to catch their own prey. When one returns to feed on the adult carcass after practicing their hunting skills on the hatchling turtles, he doesn't shoo them away.

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Despite the dangers they pose to the juvenile ''Tethydraco'', they are seemingly unable to drive it off permanently, and it walks around with impunity.

* {{Expy}}: The nest-thieving ''Ornithomimus'' is no doubt based on the male Adélie penguin from ''Frozen Planet'' who constantly steals rocks from his rival's nest whenever it's unattended. One could almost hear Sir David Attenborough saying "So some ''Ornithomimus'' turn to a life of crime."

** Averted in "North America", which places ''Quetzalcoatlus northropi'' in its proper environment alongside ''Alamosaurus'' and ''T. rex''.

* StockAnimalBehavior: Averted. Like penguins, ''Ornithomimus'' males construct nests in anticipation of the arrival of females to their breeding grounds, rather than [[EvilEggEater stealing eggs]] like in older dinosaur media. Amusingly, one ''Ornithomimus'' does allude to the old stereotype by stealing materials from a rival's nest, which is what some modern bird species would do. Also, in a twist of {{irony}}, a pair of hadrosaurs, which are the most common victims of their egg-thievery in older media, are presented here as a potential threat to the ''Ornithomimus'' nest (the narrator suggests they would eat the branches the nest is made of). They also aren't shown running, at least not for long distances and time.

* GoofyFeatheredDinosaur: Played straight with the three young ''Therizinosaurus'', who are shown to be very clumsy trying to get honey from a beehive and end up getting comically stung for their troubles, despite having feathers for protection. In contrast, their adult counterpart defies this as their feathered coat is impenetrable to the bee stings, and they easily swat the hive from the tree with their mighty claws.

* MixAndMatchCritters: Imagine combining a small crocodile with a social, fossorial mammal like a ground squirrel or a wombat.

* AnachronismStew: [[Invoked]]. The two known ''Velociraptor'' species are only found in the earlier Campanian epoch, not in the Maastrichtian epoch when which every other animal in the show lived. Thus, they most likely didn't coexist with dinosaurs like ''Tarbosaurus''[[note]]Fragmentary fossils of a large ''Tarbosaurus''-like tyrannosaur are known from ''Velociraptor'''s time and place, but they have not been given an official name yet.[[/note]]. WordOfGod states that their appearance was based on indeterminate velociraptorine fossils - that may represent additional species of ''Velociraptor'' - that are found in various Maastrichtian formations.

* CallASmeerpARabbit: [[Invoked]]. As WordOfGod has confirmed, it's not actually meant to be a species of the ''Velociraptor'' genus (which was likely extinct by the time the series is set) but rather a closely-related and indeterminate velociraptorine. However, the narration calls it ''Velociraptor'' anyway due to the genus having name recognition.

* AnachronismStew: [[invoked]] The two known ''Velociraptor'' species are only found in the earlier Campanian epoch, not in the Maastrichtian epoch when which every other animal in the show lived. Thus, they most likely didn't coexist with dinosaurs like ''Tarbosaurus''[[note]]Fragmentary fossils of a large ''Tarbosaurus''-like tyrannosaur are known from ''Velociraptor'''s time and place, but they have not been given an official name yet.[[/note]]. WordOfGod states that their appearance was based on indeterminate velociraptorine fossils - that may represent additional species of ''Velociraptor'' - that are found in various Maastrichtian formations.

* CallASmeerpARabbit: [[invoked]] As WordOfGod has confirmed, it's not actually meant to be a species of the ''Velociraptor'' genus (which was likely extinct by the time the series is set) but rather a closely-related and indeterminate velociraptorine. However, the narration calls it ''Velociraptor'' anyway due to the genus having name recognition.

* NoNameGiven: [[invoked]] It is not formally named in the episode, only referred to as an ankylosaur, but WordOfGod clarifies its identity, and its species is obvious given its distinct pronged tail club and coexisting with ''Atrociraptor'' and ''Edmontosaurus''.

* InformedSpecies: [[invoked]] Although identified as ''Shamosuchus'', its larger size, more conventionally crocodile-like appearance, and the fact ''Shamosuchus'' is a Campanian genus, strongly suggest it's supposed to be ''Paralligator'', which is often synonymized with the former. Indeed, it was later confirmed by WordOfGod that they are indeed supposed to be ''Paralligator''.

* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Their behavior is modeled after North American grizzlies fishing during a salmon run. Their long snouts and piscivorous diet also bring to mind the spinosaurids, which have gone extinct by the timeframe Prehistoric Planet takes place in.

* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Their behavior is modeled after North American grizzlies fishing during a salmon run.

* AnachronismStew: The two known ''Velociraptor'' species are only found in the earlier Campanian epoch, not in the Maastrichtian epoch when which every other animal in the show lived. Thus, they most likely didn't coexist with dinosaurs like ''Tarbosaurus''[[note]]Fragmentary fossils of a large ''Tarbosaurus''-like tyrannosaur are known from ''Velociraptor'''s time and place, but they have not been given an official name yet.[[/note]]. WordOfGod states that their appearance was based on indeterminate velociraptorine fossils - that may represent additional species of ''Velociraptor'' - that are found in various Maastrichtian formations.

* CallASmeerpARabbit: As WordOfGod has confirmed, it's not actually meant to be a species of the ''Velociraptor'' genus (which was likely extinct by the time the series is set) but rather a closely-related and indeterminate velociraptorine. However, the narration calls it ''Velociraptor'' anyway due to the genus having name recognition.

* NoNameGiven: It is not formally named in the episode, only referred to as an ankylosaur, but WordOfGod clarifies its identity, and its species is obvious given its distinct pronged tail club and coexisting with ''Atrociraptor'' and ''Edmontosaurus''.

* InformedSpecies: Although identified as ''Shamosuchus'', its larger size, more conventionally crocodile-like appearance, and the fact ''Shamosuchus'' is a Campanian genus, strongly suggest it's supposed to be ''Paralligator'', which is often synonymized with the former. Indeed, it was later confirmed by WordOfGod that they are indeed supposed to be ''Paralligator''.

%% * GoodParents: The mother Nanuqsaurus in "North America"

* PapaWolf: Downplayed. The ''T. rex'' father that appears on "Coasts" takes his chicks to cross the sea to guide them to an island where they can improve their skills as hunters. However, like many animals with precocial young, he's mostly indifferent if some of the weak ones die and doesn't share the dead protostegid sea turtle with his chicks; though this is also to make them search for their own food and not depend on him. When one returns to feed on the carcass after practicing their hunting skills, he doesn't shoo them away.

* LightningBruiser: They're a massive predator with all of the strength that this would imply but they are also terrifyingly fast too. They can use their powerful tails to accelerate up to 3/4ths of their body length in a second and can hit their prey with such force that the impact alone is enough to kill them, as well as launch their colossal body clear out of the water.

[[caption-width-right:630: adult and juveniles]]

* LifeWillKillYou: A particularly old male stands out for being the only creature in the series (aside from the ''Scaphitids'') to die of old age.

!!''Sphenodiscus sp.''

* TerribleTrio: A trio of dromaeosaurs menaces the hadrosaur herd and their young at a chokepoint.

* TerribleTrio: A pack of three stalks the ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' in a long game of cat-and-mouse during a blizzard.

* TerribleTrio: The hunting party we see pursuing the ''Morrosaurus'' consists of three individuals.

* MamaBear: The mother ''Adalatherium'' spends much of her time caring for her young in her burrow.

* FantasyFaunaCounterpart: Its behavior is reminiscent of both water buffalos and giant sloths.

* GoodParents: The mother Nanuqsaurus in "North America"

A giant sauropod from North America and the only known species inhabiting the continent during the Late Cretaceous, making it the largest land animal in alive North America at the time.

* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: It's behaviour resembles a grizzly bear during a salmon run, although completely underwater and substituting fish for ammonites.

* InformedSpecies: Although identified as ''Shamosuchus'', its larger size, more conventionally crocodile-like appearance, and the fact ''Shamosuchus'' is a Campanian genus, strongly suggest it's supposed to be ''Paralligator'', which is often synonymized with the former.