Evolution: life in the Priabonian Age (late Eocene, Cenozoic)

'Walking with Beasts' is a dramatization of life in the Cenozoic, focused mainly on the evolution of mammals. "Broadcast in 2001, it told the story of life on Earth from the death of the dinosaurs to the dawn of the age of man" (BBC, 2001¹). The second episode ('Whale Killer') is centered on the Priabonian Age. (See also Wikipedia, 2011².)

Time: Priabonian Age (36 million years ago), late Eocene Epoch, in the Cenozoic Era.
Setting: Tethys Sea, at the commencement of drastic changes in ocean currents and climate due to the freezing of the polar caps.
Main species featured in the episode:

Basilosaurus, an ancestral whale, a genus nowadays extinct.
Andrewsarchus, a carnivore mammal, a genus nowadays extinct.
Apidium, a primate, a genus nowadays extinct.
Moeritherium, a vegetarian mammal, a distant relative of elephants and sea cows, yet a genus nowadays extinct.
Embolotherium, a vegetarian mammal, a distant relative of horses and rhinoceros, yet a genus nowadays extinct.
Dorudon, an ancestral whale, a genus nowadays extinct.
Shark, an ancestor of modern sharks.
Sea turtle, an ancestor of modern sea turtles.

(Video 1/3 embedded from YouTube on 23 October 2011)

(Video 2/3 embedded from YouTube on 23 October 2011)

(Video 3/3 embedded from YouTube on 23 October 2011)

Editor

Jose D PEREZGONZALEZ (2011). Massey University, Turitea Campus, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand. (JDPerezgonzalez).

Want to know more?

'Walking with beasts' TV series: Both the BBC, in the UK, and ABC, in Australia, offer more information about the making of the series.
Wikipedia - Walking with beasts: This Wikipedia page offers more information about the series and companion book.
Wikipedia - Geologic history of Earth: The following Wikipedia pages offer more information about the Priabonian Age, the Eocene Epoch, and the Cenozoic Era