DVD BBC Life On Earth Disc 1: Building Bodies (1979)

BBC Life On Earth Disc 1: Building Bodies (1979)

Larger creatures began to appear in the oceans. Some developed segmented bodies, evolved an external armour and gave rise to crabs and lobsters. Others - such as clams and scallops - protected themselves with heavy stony shells. But a few, related to the nautilus, acquired bigger brains, abandoned their shells and relied on their survival on their great intelligence. They became the octopus and squids.

Peter's DVD rating: 3.5 stars

David Attenborough continues exploring the aquatic invertebrates. He sometimes does not identify an animal while describing it. For example, he neglects to identify the shrimp-like Morocco fossil as a Trilobite, but later refers back to the Trilobite. And what is the "round worm" burrowing in the sand? Looks like an Annelid (segmented worm) rather than a Nematode, but we are not told. He also makes some questionable assertions such as implying that molluscs developed shells from flatworm ancestors. There are other annoying omissions. For example, he does not tell us that the British Columbia Rocky Mountain site is the famed Burgess Shale; this is like a Louvre tour guide failing to mention that the painting everyone is looking at is called Mona Lisa. Then, the only fossil specimen he identifies at Burgess Shale is an obscure creature called Peripatus (he should have told us it is really Aysheaia), omitting to identify the Hallucigenia and Opabinia. Overall, he makes strong arguments for the relationships among the invertebrates, especially the crustaceans, especially emphasizing the adaptability of a segmented body. The highlight of this episode is the electron microscope view of a fossil Trilobite eye.

5:10	Brachiopod shelled fossil (Morocco limestone)	5:55	Flatworm juvenile	7:30	A burrowing worm
7:50	Brachiopods with their front ends sticking out, ringed by tentacles	9:00	Brachiopod Shamisen-gai harvested for food (Japan)	10:50	Limpet
12:40	Cowry secretes shell at the top	13:05	Spider Shell has ribbon tongue on a stalk and also stalked eye	14:05	Scallop has eyes.
14:30	Giant Clam	14:55	Nudibranch has no shell but nasty-tasting slime	17:20	Glaucus hunts Jellyfish
17:00	Purple Sea Snail ? hunts Portuguese Man-of-War	19:35	Nautilus	21:35	Ammonites fossil (Lyme Regis, England)
23:25	Argonaut laying eggs in shell )New Zealand)	24:45	Squid	26:15	Crinoid Sea Lily fossils
26:45	Crinoid Feather Star	27:10	Seastar	27:40	Brittle Star
28:00	Sea Urchin	29:20	Sea Cucumber	30:05	Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
30:35	Echinoderm larva	32:35	Soft-bodied fossil (Australia)	33:00	Aysheaia fossil very similar to Peripatus Trilobite fossil and Trilobite compound eyes (Burgess Shale - Rocky Mountains, British Columbia)
40:40	Horseshoe Crabs mating on beach (Delaware Bay)	44:20	Copepod with simple eye	45:00	Shrimp molting
46:50	Japanese Spider Crab (Japan)	48:50	Shrimp (Great Barrier Reef)	50:30	Robber Crab feeds on young coconuts, can live on land.

5:10 Brachiopod shelled fossil	5:55 Flatworm	7:30 burrowing worm
7:50 Brachiopods	9:00 Shamisen-gai	10:50 Limpet
12:40 Cowry	13:05 Spider Shell	14:05 Scallop
14:30 Giant Clam	14:55 Nudibranch	17:20 Glaucus hunts Jellyfish
17:00 Purple Sea Snail ?	17:00 Portuguese Man-of-War	19:35 Nautilus
21:35 Ammonites fossil	23:25 Argonaut	24:45 Squid
26:15 Sea Lily fossils	26:45 Feather Star	27:10 Seastar
27:40 Brittle Star	28:00 Sea Urchin	29:20 Sea Cucumber
30:05 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish	30:35 Echinoderm larva	32:35 Soft-bodied fossil
33:00 Aysheaia fossil	33:00 Peripatus	33:00 Trilobite fossil
33:00 Trilobite compound eyes	40:40 Horseshoe Crabs	44:20 Copepod with simple eye
45:00 Shrimp molting	46:50 Japanese Spider Crab	50:30 Robber Crab


Index	Jan 07, 2006	Peter Chen