Witness ancient seas shape life through Earth’s earliest mass extinctions.

Go back hundreds of millions of years to the Ordovician and Devonian, when booming oceans, early reefs, strange predators, and the first steps onto land set the stage for catastrophe. As extinction reshapes the planet, this series reveals how survivors sparked the next wave of evolution, making every episode a deeper look at life’s resilience.

Episode guide

2 episodes

1The Ordovician

For nearly 4 billion years, the continents of Earth were lifeless. But during the Ordovician, there was an explosion of life beneath the sea. Many strange creatures evolved, from eel-like conodonts to voracious cephalopods, until nearly all life was wiped out in our planet’s first mass extinction.

10 min

2The Devonian

Life in the sea rebounded with a vengeance in the Devonian. Dozens of monstrous predators emerged, like the 40-foot long Dunkleosteus. Nearly everything was wiped out in Earth’s second mass extinction. But the stage was set for an explosion of life on land.

12 min

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