| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (51 min.) ; 308504997 bytes |
| Summary |
Over one hundred billion creatures fly through the air today, from nectar-drinking hummingbirds to armoured airborne beetles; from bats hunting in the dead of night to bizarre winged lizards. In Conquest of the Skies David Attenborough travels through time to unravel the astonishing 300-million-year story of how flying animals first appeared and then evolved into the huge variety of aeronauts that fill our skies today. Only now, with today's CGI, the very latest high resolution filming techniques and cutting-edge scientific analysis can he reveal the hidden mechanics behind their gravity-defying skills.Attenborough begins by exploring the aerobatic world of the very first flyers: the insects. Stunning images give us fresh insights into an astonishing story - from the first creatures that flew on four wings, to the beetles that build hard wing-cases to colonise the land, and the stunningly beautiful tropical butterflies that can migrate thousands of miles around the globe. He concludes his exploration of the flying insects by investigating the remarkable skills of the insect that scientists call the jet fighter of the insect world: the humble but surprisingly acrobatic blowfly. By adapting one of its pairs of wings into flight sensors, it can register mid-air rolls in an instant and so perform extraordinarily complex aerial manoeuvres.PRODUCTION DETAILS:Presenter and Writer: David Attenborough. Producer: Anthony Geffen. Director: David Lee. A Colossus Production in association with Atlantic Productions, and with the assistance of ABC |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2015-02-08 at 19:40:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Birds -- Behavior.
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Butterflies -- Geographical distribution.
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Butterflies -- Life cycles.
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Caterpillars.
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Dragonflies.
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Insects -- Flight.
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England -- London.
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Malaysia -- Sabah.
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Borneo.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Lee, David, director
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Attenborough, David, host
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Chapman, Jason, contributor
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Krapp, Holger, contributor
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Nesbit, Rebecca, contributor
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Stefanescu, Constanti, contributor
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