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Australia, a land cast adrift at the time of the dinosaurs. Isolated for millions of years, the weird and wonderful animals marooned here are like nowhere else on Earth. In its jungles a cassowary - one of the most dangerous birds in the world – stands six feet tall. Inland, kangaroos and wombats brave snowstorms and gum tree forests are filled with never-before-seen predators. In its red desert heart, reptiles drink through their skin and huge flocks of wild budgerigars swirl in search of water. On secret islands Tasmanian devils roam and offshore, thousands of sharks gather for a rare event.
4/7 • Seven Worlds, One Planet • 2019 • Nature
The Namaqua rock fig is known as the rock splitter. It's not just a testament to its ability to withstand the dry conditions, but a literal tribute to its powerful root system, which extends 200 feet into the Earth in search of water. Besides the army of wildlife who rely on it for survival, the rock splitter has a unique relationship with its own species of miniature wasp that help pollinate its tiny flowers. As temperatures soar each passing year, this ultimate survivor reaches deeper to squeeze every drop of water from the parched land.
This instalment examines the earliest land vegetation and insects. The first plants, being devoid of stems, mainly comprised mosses and liverworts. Using both sexual and asexual methods of reproduction, they proliferated. Descended from segmented sea creatures, millipedes were among the first to take advantage of such a habitat and were quickly followed by other species. Without water to carry eggs, bodily contact between the sexes was now necessary. This was problematical for some hunters, such as spiders and scorpions, who developed courtship rituals to ensure that the female didn't eat the male.
3/13 • Life on Earth • 1979 • Nature
Volcanoes may have shaped Europe, but they could also destroy it. Find out how ticking volcanic time-bombs threaten the continent's existence.
3/3 • Birth of Europe • 2011 • Nature
Having siblings can be tough, especially when you're competing for survival. We explore the challenges faced by different animals that are born with just a few siblings.
2/3 • Life: First Steps • 2018 • Nature
Part wolf, part coyote this new hybrid species is the subject of a startlingly beautiful new film called Meet the Coywolf. A documentary that will both shock and amaze you. Coywolves emerged from a thin strip of land at the southern end of Algonquin Park less than a hundred years ago. Their arrival on the scene marks a rare event, the creation of a brand new hybrid species. A formidable wild animal that has spread across North America at an unprecedented pace, returning a new top predator to territories once roamed by wolves. Zoologist Roland Kays of the New York State Museum has been tracking these new creatures and describes them as having "a coyote like skull with wolf like teeth".
S52E10 • The Nature of Things • 2013 • Nature