T. rex was cowardly, footage proves it.

Reimagining the Tyrannosaurus rex

The second season of Apple TV+’s Prehistoric Planet is out now, and palaeontologist Darren Naish is thrilled to share his favourite scene with viewers. This scene depicts a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Quetzalcoatlus in a face-off, with the latter emerging as the more menacing of the two. According to Naish, this behaviour is not out of the ordinary for a predator.

Naish explains that predators always take steps to minimise the chance of injury or death. He says that even though the T.rex had the reputation of being an unstoppable killing machine, there’s nothing cowardly about the animal’s reaction, as no living predator behaves recklessly.

The science behind it all

The second season of Prehistoric Planet is all about the interactions between creatures from the age of the dinosaurs. And when it comes to understanding their behaviour, Naish says it’s not all guesswork. Quite a bit of published research goes into it. Naish himself has been involved in much of it.

Fleshing out the behaviour of the Quetzalcoatlus was based on research conducted in 2008 that revealed a great deal about the structure of the animal. More recent research in 2015 helped Naish and his team understand how the Quetzalcoatlus would have interacted with other predators like the T.rex. Ultimately, Naish is confident that his results are based on sound scientific principles.

About Darren Naish

Darren Naish is a palaeontologist and author of several works, including Ancient Sea Reptiles and the Natural History Museum’s Dinosaurs guide. He is Apple TV+’s Prehistoric Planet lead consultant, and his extensive research has been published in numerous scientific journals.