Episode 131
The Wing Kings
The Pteranodon family stretches their wings at Quetzalcoatlus Canyon, where Mr. Pteranodon flew when he was younger and was nicknamed the “Wing King.” The family meets Quincy Quetzalcoatlus and his Dad, a huge flying pterosaur. Together, the two “Wing Kings” wow their kids with some sensational aerial acrobatics.
Fun Fact
Quetzalcoatlus was a giant flying reptile that lived in the Late Cretaceous in North America. Quetzalcoatlus was one of the largest pterosaurs ever discovered, with a wingspan as large as a small spitfire airplane.
The Big Mud Pit
There’s big trouble at the Big Pond. Larry Lambeosaurus gets stuck in a mud pit, and then Dad tries to get Larry out, and ends up getting stuck himself. Buddy and Leroy Lambeosaurus have to think quickly to pull their dads out before some big meat-eater finds them!
Fun Fact
There is evidence from groups of fossil remains that suggests that dinosaurs might have been mired in the mud when attempting to drink from a muddy pond and were unable to free themselves.
Episode 132
Buck-Tooth Bucky
When Don finds a mystery tooth in Dad’s old tooth collection, Dad decides to take the kids on an investigation. They discover that the tooth belongs to a dinosaur called Masiakasaurus, a creature with a mouthful of protruding buck teeth!
Fun Fact
Masiakasaurus was a small, carnivorous dinosaur with an odd set of buck-teeth that lived on the island of Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous time period. Teeth sometimes vary in shape and function even within the same animal, including us!
Tiny’s Tiny Place
Tiny gets upset when she finds a miniature mammal named Cindy Cimolestes has moved into her “Tiny Place,” a hole in a tree near the family nest. Buddy ends up using his sharp eyes to help Cindy find a new home that more perfectly fits her small size.
Fun Fact
Most people do not realize that mammals lived during the age of dinosaurs. Their small size gave them a great advantage in escaping from large predatory dinosaurs. Cimolestes, which means “bug thief,” is an example of one such mammal that hid out in the trees and lived off bugs and insects.
Episode 133
An Armored Tail Tale
The Pteranodons tag along as Hank Ankylosaurus visits the Big Pond to scout a Dinoball talent named Eugene Euoplocephalus. Eugene is a smaller version of Hank, an armored dinosaur with a giant tail-club. Hank and Eugene really hit it off, and after they all play Dinoball, Hank recruits Eugene to play on his team!
Fun Fact
Euoplocephalus was a smaller version of its bigger-bodied, later-occurring relative, Ankylosaurus. The similarities between these two dinosaurs supports the theory that dinosaurs, like modern day animals, belonged to “families” and can be thought of in groups.
Pterosaur Flying Club
Tiny and Shiny practice their swoop-de-loops and other flying moves in anticipation of their play-date with fellow Pterosaurs Petey Peteinosaurus and Quincy Quetzalcoatlus. With Buddy helping with the choreography, the Pterosaur Flying Club puts on a flying show!
Fun Fact
By comparing and contrasting the size and wing span of different pterosaurs, scientists can study how different wing size and shape affected the way each creature flew. Some pterosaurs could flap their wings and others were merely gliders.
Episode 134
Great Big Stomping Dinosaur Feet!
Tiny is very worried after she loses Shiny’s favorite shiny shell, and enlists Dad and Buddy to help find a new one. As Tiny becomes more frantic, she begins stomping with frustration. Then the kids meet Daphne, a Daspletosaurus kid who shows them how to make stomping a fun dance instead of a temper tantrum.
Fun Fact
Daspletosaurus is a smaller-bodied, more ancient cousin of Tyrannosaurus that lived about 75 million years ago in the Cretaceous time period. Like T. rex, it too was the top predator of its time.
Diamond Anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon decide to surprise each other with gifts on their anniversary. Despite some close calls, the kids help each of them to keep their gifts a secret until the perfect moment when the whole family can celebrate.
Fun Fact
We learn about how caves (especially sea caves) are formed. We learn that nothing is permanent, even rock. Along the world’s coasts, wave action can cause the formation of remarkable sea caves which literally erode the rock. Dealing with the misconception about the permanence of rock is a great misconception to deal with for a pre-K audience. Also, not all caves have stalagmites and stalactites.
Episode 135
The Good Mom
“Mom’s” the word when Mrs. Pteranodon meets fellow mom Millie Maiasaura, who is a little too over-protective of her kids. The two moms compare mothering methods in a play date at the Big Pond.
Fun Fact
Maiasaura, meaning “good mother lizard,” was a large duck-billed dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. There is evidence that Maisaura lived in large nesting colonies and that the parents diligently cared for their young.
Hornucopia!
At the Big Pond, Tank introduces the Pteranodon family to his friend, Stacie Styracosaurus, a fellow Ceratopsian with a crown of elaborate horns on her head. Everyone attends Stacie’s “Hornucopia” celebration, where she reveals her new big horns and then performs a moonlit shadow show with her Styracosaurus family.
Fun Fact
Animals use lots of different features for display, or “showing off,” but within a group, these variations tend to focus on the same kinds of features. The species called Ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) include Styracosaurus, a creature with elaborate horns and frills that they employed to show-off to other dinosaurs.
Episode 136
Elmer Elasmosaurus
The Pteranodon family travels on the Dinosaur Train with the Aquacar to an underwater train station to transport Elmer Elasmosaurus back to his home in the ocean. At first Buddy is not enthusiastic about travelling underwater, but quickly becomes a convert when he sees the spectacular sights under the sea.
Fun Fact
Just as Pteranodon solve the problem of catching fish in one way, Elasmosaurus solve it in another, perhaps locating schools of fish and attacking from the darkness below with their long necks. In short, when it comes to animal diversity and evolution, there’s more than one way to catch a fish.
Dinosaur Block Party
The Pteranodon family hosts a block party to introduce their new neighbors, the Lambeosaurus family, to all the other neighborhood creatures. The different species all join together to fly, dive, fish, race and especially, to rock the block!
Fun Fact
Throughout the Mesozoic Era complete ecosystems existed. Every part of those ecosystems affect each other — herbivores eat plants that grow because of rain and seeds, and the herbivores are an essential part of the diet of carnivores. We find that even in Peranodon Terrace, the habitat is in working order.
Episode 137
Carla Cretoxyrhina
On this underwater excursion, the Pteranodon family meets up with Carla Cretoxyrhina, a young shark who turns out to be much nicer than her reputation suggests. She introduces the family to her dad, bringing them face to face with the “Big Fish in the Sea.”
Fun Fact
The Age of Dinosaurs included some truly giant animals, most of which are now gone. But at least one kind of giant animal around at that time is still with us today. Giant sharks plied the Mesozoic seas as one of the top predators, and descendants alive today look almost identical.
Train Trouble
The speedy dinosaur brothers Oren and Ollie join our kids on a train trip to Troodon Town, but unplanned engine trouble sends Oren and Ollie sprinting the Roundhouse to bring back another engine to save the day!
Fun Fact
The kids learn about making the most of a situation when something goes wrong. Through team effort and recognition of each other's strengths, they problem-solve and get the job done.
Episode 138
The Amazing Michelinoceras Brothers
The Pteranodon family travels deep underwater on the Dinosaur Train to view two backwards-bounding brothers named Max and Mitch Michelinoceras. The kids are delighted to see that Max and Mitch put on a synchronized swimming show.
Fun Fact
Carnivores come in many shapes and sizes. Some don’t even have backbones! Michelinoceras comes from a long line of squid-like nautiloids that lived before the dinosaurs and long after most of the dinosaurs went extinct. It lived in the Triassic seas, where it was a major predator.
Dads' Day Out
Buddy, Tiny, and Mr. Pteranodon join Annie Tyrannosaurus and Leroy Lambeosaurus and their dads for a Dads’ Day at the Big Pond. It’s all fun and games until it starts to rain, and they all have to take cover in a cave they’ve never noticed before.
Fun Fact
The weather is unpredictable. No matter where you are or what you are doing, if you enjoy the company of the ones you are with you will always have a good time.
Episode 139
Paulie Pliosaurus
The Pteranodon family takes the Dinosaur Train underwater to visit a marine reptile called Paulie Pliosaurus, a creature known as the “T. rex of the Ocean.” Buddy and Paulie compare features and find that they actually have a lot in common.
Fun Fact
Just as there were giant predators on land like T. rex, so too were there giant predators in Mesozoic seas. Among them was Pliosaurus, a giant fearless carnivore well suited to a marine existence.
Elmer Visits the Desert
Our Pteranodon family takes their ocean friend Elmer Elasmosaurus on the Dinosaur Train to a place he’s never been before: the desert! Once there, the kids compare the sandy terrain to Elmer’s ocean, and they meet a local lizard named Percy who tells the tale of his desert home.
Fun Fact
During the earth’s history there is evidence that supports the fact that ocean levels have risen and fallen. What once was covered in water may be dry land today and full of fossils from the past.
Episode 140
Junior Conductor Jamboree
Our kids ride the Dinosaur Train from one end of the line to the other, through all three Time Periods — from the Cretaceous, through the Jurassic, to the Triassic. All along the way, they pick up friends who join them for a Junior Conductor Jamboree!
Fun Fact
The kids learn about the three different time periods of the Mesozoic Era. They compare and contrast the flora and fauna of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods while travelling on the Dinosaur Train from one end of the Age of Dinosaurs to the other.
Troodon Train Day
The Pteranodon family rides to Troodon Town to celebrate Troodon Train Day, where the main event is a concert by King Cryolophosaurus, giving his first performance in years! When King comes down with some last-minute jitters, Buddy and Tiny help him overcome his stage fright and he sings a medley of his hits, including the Dinosaur Train theme song!
Fun Fact
The kids learn about how a train’s steam engine works.
