| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (44 min. 5 sec.) ; 267308675 bytes |
| Summary |
Welcome to the ingenious and bizarre world of Animal Weapons. This series is a dramatic encounter with some of the animal kingdom's most awesome weapons. Animals use clever and complex weapons for survival. This series reveals the many ways that animals employ their unique weapons to hunt, compete and defend themselves and their territory. It shows the comprehensive arsenal of these weapons, from the tusks of elephants to stings of insects. The weapons are complex and are used in elaborate aggressive and amorous displays as a form of communication. The journey takes us around the world, from the arid plains of central Australia, to the sweeping Serengeti grasslands and into the deepest, darkest jungles of Central and South America.Animal Weapons is a dramatic and intimate encounter with the animal kingdom's most powerful and ingenious "armaments". Humans, believe that they have devised the most effective weapons on the planet. This series shows that animals have got there first, producing weapons that surpass human imagination. Beyond their awe- inspiring power to kill, weapons for animals are essential for survival. Without them, they would not be able to nourish themselves, compete successfully for a mate, provide for their young or defend territory. In each case, their weapons are perfectly designed to give them the winning edge.Above all, Animal Weapons is a visual celebration of the Animal Kingdom's amazing weaponry and its vital role in the struggle for survival.Episode 1:ARMED TO THE TEETHMany animal weapons are small, deadly and devious, others are big, brash and brutish. Specialist hunting strategies demand particular adaptations of the body. Saltwater crocodiles have over 60 sharp conical teeth that intermesh. The strong teeth and powerful jaws of hyena and Tasmanian devils can crush bones easily and quickly. In the natural world there are the equivalent of daggers, clubs and spears - armies of animals kitted out with an arsenal of weapons to gain a meal. But such weapons are not always for killing and eating. Some, such as the tusks of elephants, are for impressive display, used not in battle against enemies out to kill but in ritualised battle to impress and possess females. Weapons, such as horns and tusks, are wielded by males of certain species, such as ibex, to intimidate sexual rivals, win access to females and ensure their genes are passed on. Even in the world of insects, horns play the same role in the mating games of rhino and stag beetles |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-07-30 at 16:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Animal weapons.
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Brown bear -- Behavior.
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Crocodiles -- Anatomy.
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Crocodiles -- Behavior.
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Hyenas -- Behavior.
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Tasmanian devil.
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Australia.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Dalton, Tina, director
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Steer, Gary, director
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