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When the Earth Had Supermountains

Season 8 Episode 15 | 9m 34s

Supermountains are so ridiculously enormous that, as far as we know, they’ve only ever formed twice, far back in deep time, and they lasted for just a small fraction of our planet’s history. And both of the times when Earth had supermountains seem to coincide with some of the most profound evolutionary shifts in the history of life.

Aired: 04/13/26
5,700 years ago, woolly mammoths crossed a remote tundra island off Alaska.
Why did vertebrates conquer both the land and the air before the depths of the sea?
Long-extinct dinosaurs may still haunt us—possibly driving us to age faster than any vertebrate.
Was the T-Rex given the wrong name?
500+ pterosaur fossils found at Solnhofen may be hiding a dark secret distorting our view of them.
Why are our teeth so sensitive? The answer originates in the armored skin of ancient fish.
For flowering plants to take over, they first helped burn the old world—and then put the fires out.
Ancient weeds mimicked crops, tricking farmers into domesticating friends—and enemies—by mistake.
Brains and brawn aren’t opposites—they’ve been linked far longer than we might think.
Understanding the Isthmus of Panama.