Factory sealed DVD For nearly 200 million years while dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the seas teemed with some of the most awe-inspiring ocean creatures of all time. Sea Monsters, a National Geographic Giant Screen film, is an entertaining journey into prehistoric oceans. Inter-cutting between the animated story and the reenactments of fossil discoveries combine the appeal of "Indiana Jones" with the CGI that brings these prehistoric monsters to life. Perfect for the whole family. For the child who knows the difference between a diplodocus and an apatosaurus (or for the adult who remembers a youthful obsession with dinosaurs), National Geographic's Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure will be a delight. This 40-minute special explores the less-familiar world of the prehistoric oceans, filled with predatory Platecarpi, gentle Protostegas, and cold-eyed Xiphactini. The story follows a newborn Dolichorhynchops (a short-necked plesiosaur that looks a little like a dolphin crossed with the Loch Ness Monster) as she matures into adolescence and adulthood, surviving encounters with sharks and the fearsome Tylosaurus, who's sort of the T-Rex of the deep. Juxtaposed with these vivid CGI recreations are staged depictions of paleontological digs throughout the 20th century that unveiled the bones of these ancient deep-sea beasties. It's irrefutable: Dinosaurs are compulsively fun to learn about, and the prehistoric creatures of the ocean are no exception. --Bret Fetzer
Dinosaurs are everyone's favorite fossils. All kids seem to know about them in one way or another. There's "Jurassic Park" and other movies. There's Barney. All major natural history museums have exhibits. Dinosaurs are many states' "official fossil" and on and on. Well, why not? Even though they constitute only a small portion of the total Mesozoic fauna, they're generally large and spectacular and grab the imagination like no other fossil group. The Mesozoic Era ..
