Eons: How Earth's First, Unkillable Animals Saved the World

10 minutes 11 seconds

Now Playing As: Captioned (English) (change)

They have survived every catastrophe and every mass extinction event that nature has thrown at them. And by being the little, filter-feeding, water-cleaning creatures that they are, sponges may have saved the world. Part of the "Eons" series.

Media Details

Runtime: 10 minutes 11 seconds

Topic: Science
Subtopic: Ecology, Marine Life, Prehistoric Life
Grade/Interest Level: 10 - 12
Release Year: 2019
Producer/Distributor: PBS Digital Studios
Series: Eons

A Wooly Rhino is grazing on the slope of a mountain.

Still image from: Eons: The Hellacious Lives of the "Hell Pigs"

A group of four legged terrestrial creatures. Caption: Synapsids.

A pair of Ichthyosaurs hunting prey in the sea.

Still image from: Eons: When We Met Other Human Species

Still image from: Eons: How Volcanoes Froze the Earth (Twice)

Still image from: Eons: How Earth's First, Unkillable Animals Saved the World

A giant deer roams a grassland.

An illustration depicts the dinosaur, Coelophysis, with new born Coelophysis in between its beak.

A painting depicts scientists comparing Piltdown Man's remains to other species. Charles Dawson and Sir Arthur Smith Woodward are seen standing together.