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Beneath Indonesia's coral reef, tiny creatures have made the murky seabed their home. Here, you'll find shrimps that kill with a whip-fast punch, toxic nudibranch sea slugs, and six of the nine species of the world's walking sharks. Dive into the depths of this unlikely ocean ecosystem.
12 • Great Blue Wild • 2017 • Nature
Dolphins are one of the smartest animal species on Earth. In fact, their encephalization quotient (their brain size compared to the average for their body size) is second only to humans. But exactly how smart are they? Lori Marino details some incredible facts about dolphins.
A journey to the source of the Ganges in the Himalayas unearths deep gorges, lush forests and flower-filled valleys, and brings encounters with wildlife, elusive snow leopards and black bears, to bone-crunching vultures and the monkeys that may lie behind the legend of the yeti. Plus a look at the journeys made by Hindu pilgrims to worship at the four sacred sources of the river.
The next instalment describes the move from water to land. The fish that did so may have been forced to because of drought, or chose to in search of food. Either way, they eventually evolved into amphibians. Such creatures needed two things: limbs for mobility and lungs to breathe. The coelacanth is shown as a fish with bony fins that could have developed into legs, and the lungfish is able to absorb gaseous oxygen. However, evidence of an animal that possessed both is presented in the 450 million-year-old fossilised remains of a fish called a eusthenopteron. Three groups of amphibians are explored.
6/13 • 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
Chris and Martha discover which of our tagged bees have survived over the midsummer week - a frenetic nectar and pollen gathering period - and if they have collected enough food at this critical time to see them through the winter. With the help of Prof Adam Hart they will also explore the queen's remarkably deadly mating ritual and look at how bees can help us medically and how we can help them.
2/2 • Hive Alive • 2014 • Nature