NFB - Miracle Planet HD (2005) HD Part 4 Extinction and Rebirth

Miracle Planet is a five-part series that recounts the profound and gripping story of Earth's mysterious evolution. Narrated by Christopher Plummer, it reveals the surprising role that sheer chance has played in the development of life. Over its more than 4-billion-year history, Earth has been home to repeated violent climatic changes, which have caused mass extinctions. And yet, life has survived. In fact, these same catastrophes that devastated life on Earth also helped bring about its evolution from the simplest microbes to the complexity and diversity that is found on the planet today. Filmed around the world and based upon the most recent scientific findings, Miracle Planet combines location footage and interviews with leading scientists, along with computer animation, to depict the cataclysmic events that have shaped our planet and all of the life-forms within it. The five standard episodes depict the evolution of life on Earth in perspective with our place in the universe. The entire 5-hour series Miracle Planet aired on Discovery Channel in Canada on April 22, 2005 as an Earth Day special. It is a remake of the 1989 series produced by NHK and KCTS.

A National Film Board of Canada and NHK Japan co-production with Tele Images International, Telepool International in association with Discovery Channel Canada and The Science Channel.

Part 4 Extinction and Rebirth

There was a moment in Earth's history, about 250 million years ago, when all life nearly disappeared from the planet. Scientists now believe the cause was an eruption of the Earth's molten core that triggered global climate change. The resulting drop in oxygen levels allowed dinosaurs to rise to supremacy because of their respiratory systems. But in the Earth's continuing cycle of Extinction and Rebirth, they too would suffer a catastrophic end some 150 million years later. Episode 4 of Miracle Planet follows these gargantuan creatures through life and death and chronicles the early rise of the mammal as the dominant creature on the planet.

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