| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (43 min. 28 sec.) ; 261822779 bytes |
| Summary |
Sir David Attenborough explores the amazing tree dwelling mammals and their specialised adaptations.Although life may seem precarious in tropical forests where some of the trees can be over 40 metres high, for those mammals living in this home the rewards are great. Trees provide food, security from ground living predators and a refuge from the elements.To reap these benefits, however, some very specialised adaptations are needed. Rock hyrax are not your typical tree dweller. They look more like ground hugging guinea pigs than accomplished climbers but they are well adapted to walking around the low level branches of the acacia trees on which they feed. The soles of their feet are moist and rubbery creating a slight suction, which allows the hyrax to almost stick to the branches.This adaptation however, would not be sufficient to negotiate much taller trees - for that, tree dwelling mammals have evolved other adaptations. Clearly a good grip is a basic requirement for moving around at height - sloths and slender lorises may have very different looking mechanisms for gripping (claws on one, fingers and thumbs on the other) but both can grip tightly with all four limbs.Across the globe, mammals have evolved to exploit every conceivable type of forest. In one special place - the island of Madagascar - an ancestral tree dweller diversified into an astonishing range of species. Lemurs have now filled almost every niche - the sifaka is perhaps the most spectacular, leaping as far as 15 metres between branches.PRODUCTION DETAILS: A BBC/Discovery Channel co-production presented by Sir David Attenborough and Series Producer is Mike Salisbury |
| Event |
Broadcast 2012-12-29 at 18:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Adaptation (Biology)
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Mammals -- Anatomy.
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Mammals -- Behavior.
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Mammals -- Physiology.
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Rock hyrax.
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Mammals -- Housing.
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United Kingdom.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Attenborough, David, host
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