DVD BBC Life On Earth Disc 4: A Life in the Trees (1979)

BBC Life On Earth Disc 4: A Life in the Trees (1979)

Some mammals took to climbing trees. To do that, they needed hands that could grasp and eyes that both looked forward to help in the judging of distance. The first to do so were creatures very like the bush-babies and lemurs of today. As time passed monkeys appeared. One group of their descendants became rather bigger and lost their tails. Their descendants included chimpanzees, gorillas - and ourselves.

Peter's DVD rating: 4.5 stars

David Attenborough traces the evolution of primates. He seems to focus on the primates' agility in the trees, though other animals such as squirrels are equally aboreal. But certainly without those forward-looking eyes and grasping hands the world would be very different today. Some of the footage, such as the Orangutan and the Chimpanzee using a stick, seem ancuent, but overall this is great nature documentary, and Attenborough waxes most eloquent when he describes the affinity of the Gorilla to humans.

1:45	Ring-tailed Lemur has forward-facing eyes and hands for grasping, and also scent-marks on the ground (Madagascar)	5:50	Sifaka jumps from tree to tree, and hops on ground	7:25	Indri uses voice to communicate
8:50	Brown Lemur also use voice	10:20	Mouse Lemur comes out at night	10:50	Aye-aye raids eggs
11:35	Loris scent-marks in the trees, and has a moist nose like a Lemur (Malaysia)	13:10	Tarsier relies on sight, not smell	13:35	Common Marmosets use genital display to defend tree, and are active during the day (South America)
16:35	Squirrel Monkey	17:20	Howler Monkeys eat fruit and leaves, sing and have grasping tail and color vision	21:50	Vervet Monkey is comfortable on the ground (Africa)
23:40	Baboon eats a wide variety of food	25:40	Barbary Macaque (Rock of Gibraltar)	26:20	Japanese Macaque has dense fur, and bathe in volcanic springs (Japanese Alps)
28:45	Japanese Macaque can develop simple culture - learn to use new food (Koshima)	32:00	Silvered Leaf Monkey young has different color than parents. eats leaves and blossoms (Far East)	33:20	Orangutan is four-handed, and swing
34:35	Gibbon has long arms and hands as hooks for swinging	36:00	Mountain Gorilla can use fingers to explore and investigate (Central Africa)	44:30	Chimpanzees have a nimble mind and wide variety of diet and groom each other
50:00	Chimpanzee can use tools

1:45 Ring-tailed Lemur	5:50 Sifaka	7:25 Indri
8:50 Brown Lemur	10:20 Mouse Lemur	10:50 Aye-aye
11:35 Loris	13:10 Tarsier	13:35 Common Marmosets
16:35 Squirrel Monkey	17:20 Howler Monkeys	21:50 Vervet Monkey
23:40 Baboon	25:40 Barbary Macaque	26:20 Japanese Macaque
28:45 Japanese Macaque	32:00 Silvered Leaf Monkey	33:20 Orangutan
34:35 Gibbon	36:00 Mountain Gorilla	44:30 Chimpanzees
50:00 Chimpanzee


Index	Jan 17, 2006	Peter Chen