Animal Face-Off

Animal Face-Off
Directed by	Malcolm Hall
Narrated by	Scott Dreier
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Andrew Waterworth Michael Stedman
Producer	Nick Bleszynski
Running time	60 minutes (episodes 1-11) 120 minutes (episode 12)
Original release
Network	Discovery Channel Animal Planet
Release	March 21 (2004-03-21) – September 12, 2004 (2004-09-12)

Animal Face-Off is an American television program that aired on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in 2004.

Plot

This program, produced by NHNZ, centers on hypothetical battles between two prehistoric animals that could meet in the wild, or, in some cases, have been compared to each other by scientists. CGI replicas and models were used to collect data (such as strength, bite force, etc.) about the animals. Then, in a virtual arena, a brief computer-animated fight scene reveals the results. Since the fights are created artificially, results in real life may vary. Each episode of Animal Face-Off is one hour long, with the exception of the 12th episode, which is two hours long.

Episodes

No. in series	Title	Location	Winner
1	"Purussaurus vs. Megalodon"	Australia	Megalodon
Off the coast of Australia during the Late to Middle Miocene, a female Megalodon is roaming close to shore, looking for food; a male Purussaurus swims nearby, looking for a new territory. The shark hits the crocodile with the bump-and-bite technique. Accustomed to defending himself against rivals, the crocodile bites the shark's tail, but cannot get a good grip. The shark swims off and makes a wide turn for a full-on assault; all of a sudden, the crocodile gets the first bite on her right pectoral fin. The bite tears off the shark′s fin, helped by the classic death roll. Despite her injury, the shark is still strong. Then, the shark and the crocodile collide head on; the crocodile grabs hold of the shark′s snout with his crushing bite. This time, the shark cannot fight back; the crocodile attempts another death roll. After that, they both sink. Running out of air, the crocodile breaks the death roll and heads straight to the surface. The shark takes advantage of it; with the Purussaurus's soft underbelly exposed, she comes back with a textbook attack, killing the huge crocodile with a powerful bite.
2	"Mastodon vs. Elasmotherium"	Botswana	Mastodon
In the plains of Botswana during the last ice age, a male Elasmotherium has left his mud hole and is looking for somewhere to feed; nearby, a bull mastodon in musth is roaming around, also seeking good grazing. The rhino begin grazing but suddenly feels the ground shaking, and turns to see the elephant. Due to his poor eyesight, the ill-tempered rhinoceros sees him as a potential threat and prepares to charge. The mastodon responds to the challenge with a loud trumpet, and the relatively smaller animal is not hesitant to charge, making his move, but the much smarter elephant anticipates the attack by charging too and dodging. The rhinoceros returns and tries to stab the mastodon's throat, but he is too tall, even with his four-foot horn. The elasmothere then tries an agile headbutt, but the elephant proves better with his seven-foot tusks. Sure enough, the male mastodon turns his rival around and stabs him twice with his tusks. The mastodon then headbutts the Elasmotherium and crushes him under his weight before stepping off and trumpeting in victory.
3	"Asiatic Lion vs. Bengal Tiger"	India	Asiatic Lion
A male lion is wandering in an abandoned Indian temple when he suddenly spots a male tiger feeding close by. The lion roars at his larger, striped relative to back off, but the tiger ignores the warning. The lion then charges at the tiger, but trips on him upon impact, catching the tiger off-guard. Quickly seizing the opportunity to win, the agile tiger quickly recovers and repeatedly attempts to bite the lion's throat, but the lion shakes off the attack and the combatants are back to square one. Both cats roar, claw, and wrestle with one another, but neither lands a fatal blow. The tiger tries to end the fight with a fatal neck bite, but the lion's mane deflects his aim. The tiger then charges at the lion, but the lion deflects the attack, catches the tiger off guard again and delivers the killing blow to the tiger's neck, before roaring in victory.
4	"Moeritherium vs. Physogaleus"	Zambezi River	Moeritherium
An injured male Moeritherium is seen resting in his stretch of the Zambezi River, relaxing by the water′s edge, unaware that a male Physogaleus is roaming around, looking for food. The shark catches the smell of meat, but does not know where it is coming from. The shark starts the encounter with an exploratory bump. After confirming the Moeritherium is indeed food, the shark bites the side, but the massive girth combined with the enormous weight of the hippo is too much of a mouthful for the smaller shark. Even the thin skin in the back leg proves too tough. Despite this, the shark does manage to rip off the herbivore's tail. All while, the moerithere has been roaring in pain, not knowing what hit him, but his bad temper lights a fire in his belly. Soon, the moerithere submerges and spots the deadly shark. The enraged hippo comes towards the shark, and the shark comes towards the Moeritherium, who then opens his mouth, revealing his huge sharp foot-long canine teeth, but the Physogaleus keeps coming and is finally crushed and killed when the larger adversary closes his mouth on him, ending the fight.
5	"Dire Wolf vs. Puma"	Rocky Mountains	Puma
In the rocky mountains of North America, an alpha male dire wolf is eating the carcass of a large Megaloceros; from a great distance, a male puma catches the smell of meat, and comes to investigate. The puma comes across the wolf eating. Lying down, he thinks about how to steal the meal without having the wolf call for reinforcements. Soon after, the wolf notices the other hunter and growls. The puma growls viciously in response. The wolf soon responds by charging forward and ferociously biting the puma's hind leg, but backs off when the puma pounces on him with his front legs and lethal claws. The dire wolf howls to his pack for backup. Realizing he is in grave danger, the puma tries to retreat, but the wolf bites his paw. Furious, the puma rolls onto his back, rakes the wolf with his claws and throws him off to the ground, killing the wolf at once. The puma then prepares to eat him, but he then hears the dire wolf pack approaching. Left with no choice, he leaves the kill and flees straight to the forest.
6	"Walrus vs. Polar Bear"	Arctic Circle	Walrus
A male walrus is relaxing by the water's edge. Suddenly, a hungry male polar bear comes by to attack the walrus. Startled and nervous, the walrus heads straight for the sea. The bear attempts to bite and scratch the walrus, but the pinniped's thick skin is too much, even for a large bear like itself. Although he briefly manages to latch on with his sharp teeth, the bear cannot do much serious damage. The walrus then tries to stab the bear with his four-foot tusks, but the agile predator anticipates this. The bear then tries several paw swipes to the head, but the walrus's skull is too thick to land a killing blow. As the walrus flees, the bear holds on and gets dragged into the ocean, afterwards, the walrus turns around, goring the bear with his tusks. The bear, wounded and running out of air, heads straight back to the surface. But the walrus returns with a vengeance – he soon stabs the carnivore's back, killing him. The dead bear sinks into the ocean.
7	"Lion vs. Nile Purussaurus"	Maasai Mara	Nile Purussaurus
A male lion is eating by the river's edge when a male Purussaurus emerges from the water, intent on stealing the meal. Upon seeing this, the lion roars at the crocodile to back off, but he does little than get a loud hiss from the crocodile. The lion attacks, but cannot land a deadly blow because of the crocodile's thick body armor. The lion tries to flip the crocodile to reach his unarmored belly, but a roll and tail swipe stops him from doing so. Determined to get rid of the lion, the crocodile heads back to the water, and gets out of sight. Determined to protect his kill, the lion stays close to the water's edge, looking for an opportunity to kill the crocodile. All of a sudden, it is too late. The crocodile launches a surprise attack on the lion, grabbing his neck and dragging him to the water. The crocodile soon performs a death roll, which kills the lion at once, ending the fight.
8	"Cynodictis vs. Titanoboa anaconda"	Amazon Rainforest	Titanoboa
A male Titanoboa is out stalking for prey in the Amazon River. However, a male Cynodictis is stalking nearby. The big cat-like bear dog then enters the water, right in front of the giant snake. The Titanoboa then stops briefly, apparently sensing the creature before being distracted by an Archaeopteryx calling in the distance. This lapse in attention allows the Titanoboa to get the perfect opportunity to strike, during which the snake begins to coil around his victim. The force of the reptile's strike is enough to knock the big dog off his feet and into the water. The big cat furiously claws at the Titanoboa and bites his tail. Injured, the snake attempts to retreat, but begins to get dragged ashore by the Cynodictis. However, most of the giant snake's tail is free and coils around the bone-crushing dog, and the snake is able to turn back around and strike back at the jaguar. This time, the snake completely restrains the Cynodictis, who is too tired and wounded to struggle any further, ending the fight.
9	"Mountain Gorilla vs. Leopard"	Congo Rainforest	Mountain gorilla
A mountain gorilla has left his family in the trees, looking for a place to spend the night. Around the same time, a female leopard leaves her cubs to go hunting. The leopard then sees the gorilla walking by and interprets him as a threat. The gorilla, upon seeing the leopard, sees it too as a threat to his troop. He tries to avoid the fight, beating his chest, growling and howling in the process, but the leopard does not flinch. The gorilla approaches, swinging at the leopard, who soon leaps onto a cliff side. Afterwards, the leopard jumps onto the gorilla's back, biting his shoulder. However, the gorilla throws the leopard off. She leaps onto his back again, but cannot get a grip. The gorilla throws the leopard off again; the leopard runs for her life, but the gorilla knocks her off balance before she gets free, but not before the gorilla chomps down on the leopard's shoulder, though she gets free immediately after. Both opponents stare and roar at each other. Desperate, the leopard makes a final lunge towards the gorilla, but he throws his powerful arm onto her spine, breaking it and killing the leopard, ending the fight, plus orphaning her cubs.
10	"Cave bear vs. Siberian tiger"	Siberia	Cave bear
In the Siberian woodlands in wintertime, a male Siberian tiger is feasting on his kill, and a large male cave bear is roaming around, looking for one more meal before going into hibernation. The tiger then suddenly spots the bear. Not in the mood to share, the tiger makes an angry sound at the bear to back off, but the bear ignores the warning and continues to advance. The tiger tries a body blow, but the bear absorbs the impact without losing balance. The tiger then tries to land a killing blow on the bear's neck, but the bear pushes him down. The bear then approaches the kill, but the tiger recovers and pounces on the bear from behind, cutting him with his claws, but fails to disable him. The much stronger bear turns around and, using his superior strength against the tiger's speed and agility, overpowers the tiger by pawing his face. The bear then breaks the tiger's spine and finishes him off with a neck bite.
11	"Smilosuchus vs. Black bear"	Everglades	Black bear
On a hot day in the Everglades, a male black bear has gone into a lake to drink, not knowing that a male Smilosuchus is resting underneath. The phytosaur wakes up and sees the bear, but the bear has also spotted the creature and tries to retreat. The male crocodilian then ambushes the bear and grabs his leg and does the classic death roll, but all he grabs is a mouthful of fur, fat and muscle. Hurt, but not fatally wounded, and still strong, the bear fights back by slashing the alligator's mouth. The alligator then attempts a tail smack, but the much smarter bear anticipates this; knowing he is vulnerable on land, the alligator tries to retreat, but the enraged bear lunges at him. The alligator tries to roll free of the bear's grab, but this gives the bear the advantage to flip him over, which exposes the Smilosuchus's soft underbelly, which the bear slashes fatally into and kills him; the bear leaves as the Smilosuchus's dead body rots in the riverbank.
12	"Sperm Whale vs. Colossal Squid"	Antarctic Ocean	Sperm Whale
A bull sperm whale is diving into the deep abyss, while a female colossal squid rockets through the depths. Both combatants sense each other – the squid sees the whale, while the whale's echolocation reveals the squid's location. Upon seeing the whale as a potential predator, the squid releases a burst of ink as a warning, but she is ignored by the whale, which launches a slow attack on the huge squid. Just before she reaches the mouth, the squid latches onto the whale and rakes him with her hooked suction cups, wounding him in the process. By rising close to the surface, the squid is shaken off, but not before she scratches the whale further. Although wounded, the whale amplifies his sonar and stuns the squid. The paralyzed cephalopod is helpless – and thus eaten alive.

See also

• Deadliest Warrior
• Death Battle