BBC - Life Disc 1: Mammals (2010)

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Mammals are found in every habitat except the deep ocean. Besides their signature physical traits of fat, fur and warm blood, they are unique among animals in the care they lavish on their young. In an astonishing sequence, an elephant grandmother shoves her inexperienced daughter aside to pull her newborn granddaughter out of the mud and save her life. Unlike reptiles, warm-blooded mammals can cope with extreme cold -- the Weddell seal is able to survive the punishing winter temperatures on the Antarctic ice. Numbering more than ten million, giant fruit bats in Zambia migrate to a mega-roost. In a television first filmed off Tonga, male humpback whales travel hundreds of miles for the chance to breed with a single female in a violent contest called the “heat run.”
Peter's DVD rating: 3.5 stars
577 LIF
QH 501.L544 2010
1:20 Weddell Seal grinds breathing hole with teeth for pup (Antarctic) 6:00 Rufous Sengi (Elephant Shrew) is very active, has a "map" of her trails (Equatorial East Africa) 9:00 Aye-aye tabs wood to hear beetle grubs and skewer with long middle finger (Madagascar)
10:50Eight million Reindeer Caribou migrate north in spring, trek 3 times around earth in lifetime; tormented by biting flies (Arctic tundra) 16:30(Great Forest of the Congo) Giant Straw-coloured Fruit Bat have wings nearly a meter across; 10 million migrate to Kasanka swamp in Zambia to feed on mangoes for 6 weeks, then return 24:00Clan of Spotted Hyena steals kill by attacking pride of Lions (Serengeti)
26:10 Polar Bear competes with other bears for carcass of Bowhead Whale 30:15 South American Coati are social 32:00 Meerkat band controlled by breeding queen; young learn to dig for insect larvae, disable stinger from scorpion; take turns on guard (Kalahari Desert)
36:10 African Elephant calf gets stuck in mud, rescued by grandma 43:10 Humpback Whale travels 5,000 km from Antarctic to Pacific to mate in "heat run": tail and fin slaps males chase female for hours and fight (Tonga)   
Leptonychotes weddellii
1:20 Weddell Seal
Elephantulus rufescens
6:00 Rufous Sengi
Daubentonia madagascariensis
9:00 Aye-aye
Rangifer tarandus
10:50 Caribou
Eidolon helvum
16:30 Straw-coloured Fruit Bat
Crocuta crocuta
24:00 Spotted Hyena
Panthera leo
24:00 Lions
Ursus maritimus
26:10 Polar Bear
Nasua nasua
30:15 South American Coati
Suricata suricatta
32:00 Meerkat
Loxodonta africana
36:10 African Elephant
Megaptera novaeangliae
43:10 Humpback Whale

Index Feb 19, 2011 CC BY 4.0 Peter Chen 2.0