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Jessica Holm Investigates the Death of the Dinosaurs |
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120 million years ago the London commuter belt was a muddy swamp grazed by herds of wandering dinosaurs. Something must have preyed on them as they were big, juicy and there for the taking. Until 1983 no predator big enough to catch and kill these herbivores had been found. Then an amateur fossil hunter found a 12 inch long claw in a brickpit near Dorking. Was this the missing link to the identity of the commuter-belt killer?
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Programme 1: Wednesday 27th February 3.45-4.00pm
Jessica Holm finds herself in suburban Surrey on the trail of a mysterious monster. Scientists have looked in vain for a large predator until one day in 1983 an amateur fossil-hunter made a dramatic discovery in a working brickpit. This was the first evidence of the commuter belt killer. With the help of leading experts, Jessica Holm reconstructs the extraordinary landscape of Lower Cretaceous Surrey from clues hidden deep in the clays and sandstones of a shallow quarry.
 Listen again to Programme 1
Programme 2: Thursday 28th February 3.45-4.00pm
Jessica Holm travels to London’s Natural History Museum in search of more clues to the identity of the Commuter Belt Killer. The huge claw found in a Surrey brickpit in 1983 sent tremors of excitement through the world of dinosaur experts as they realised that its owner was like no other creature found in Britain.
Listen again to Programme 2
Programme 3: Friday 1st March 3.45-4.00pm
In the last programme of the series, Jessica Holm reveals the diet of the Commuter Belt Killer. When the giant claw of a previously unknown dinosaur was found in the lush Surrey commuter belt in 1983, it raised hopes among palaeontologists that here was the missing super-predator which had been feeding on herds of juicy plant-eating dinosaurs.
But the truth about the new monster which was named Baryonyx - or "heavy claw" - was stranger than anyone would have believed.
Listen again to Programme 3
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RELATED LINKS |
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Walking with Dinosaurs
Walking with Beasts
Natural History Museum
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