Nathusius' Pipistrelle Bat • 2019 • episode "2/4" • Secret Migrations

58:59

What makes plants grow is a simple enough question, but the answer turns out to be one of the most complicated and fascinating stories in science and took over 300 years to unravel. Timothy Walker, director of the Oxford University Botanic Garden, reveals how the breakthroughs of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, Chelsea gardener Phillip Miller and English naturalist John Ray created the science of botany. Between them these quirky, temperamental characters unlocked the mysteries of the plant kingdom and they began to glimpse a world where bigger, better and stronger plants could be created. Nurseryman Thomas Fairchild created the world's first artificial hybrid flower - an entirely new plant that didn't exist in nature. Today, botanists continue the search for new flowers, better crops and improved medicines to treat life-threatening diseases.

1/3 • Botany: A Blooming History • 2011 • Nature

57:44

Liz meets the animal rebels who will stop at nothing to survive. From cockatoos vandalising houses in Sydney, to crabs who hold nemones hostage to protect themselves, it seems there are no lengths these animals won't go to. Liz sets out to see these animals in action, revealing the science behind their extreme behaviours. She meets the sloth whose disgusting hygiene habits may help hide it from predators, the stone martens who cause millions of pounds' worth of damage to cars to protect their territories and the chimpanzees who use bullying tactics to get to the top. As Liz discovers, when life in the wild gets tough, this outrageous behaviour could just be the key to survival.

3/3 • Animals Behaving Badly • 2018 • Nature

59:06

On a journey across Africa towards the war-torn Congo, the travellers encounter chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants, but are there any northern white rhinos still alive in the wild? The news is not good but there is some hope in the remarkable project under way to save the black rhino in Kenya.

S1E2 • Last Chance to See • 2009 • Nature

58:54

Professor Richard Fortey investigates the remains of ancient volcanic lake in Germany where stunningly well-preserved fossils of early mammals, giant insects and even perhaps our oldest known ancestor have been found. Among the amazing finds are bats as advanced and sophisticated as anything living today, more than 50-million-years-later; dog-sized 'Dawn' horses, the ancestor of the modern horse; and giant ants as large as a hummingbird.

3/3 • Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures • 2014 • Nature

48:16

A humpback whale mother and calf embark on an epic journey from tropical coral paradises to storm ravaged polar seas. Newly discovered coral reefs in Indonesia reveal head-butting pygmy seahorses, flashing 'electric' clams and bands of sea kraits, 30-strong, which hunt in packs. Elsewhere plagues of sea urchins fell forests of giant kelp. Huge bull fur seals attack king penguins, who despite their weight disadvantage, put up a spirited defence.

9/11 • Planet Earth • 2006 • Nature

44:59

Wildlife that lives on grassland, Grasslands are the great stages of the natural world where large animals play out spectacular lives in a clear view of people. From the iconic African grasslands, the series showcases lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros, cheetahs, and impalas. Australian kangaroos, wallaby and the wonderfully odd potoroo join American bison and wolves in a grand tour of iconic animals.

5/6 • World's Greatest Animal Encounters • 2020 • Nature