The Life of Mammals

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David Attenborough and the BBC have a well-earned reputation for producing some of the greatest nature programs, but The Life of Mammals could well be Attenborough's magnum opus. Much of the footage shot for this series had never been seen before, and is presented with the respect and reverence for the natural world that Attenborough has made his trademark. It never ceases to surprise: the sight of a lion taking down a wildebeest on the African savannah has almost become a cliché of nature programs, yet in The Life of Mammals the cameras keep rolling and the viewer witnesses the fallen animal's herd coming to its rescue and driving off the lion. It's a moving sight and just one of many remarkable scenes.

A thorough and entertaining overview of one of evolution's greatest success stories, the series is loosely structured to follow the development of mammals, beginning with the basics in "A Winning Design," which clarifies what makes a mammal different from reptiles and birds--no, it isn't egg-laying: both the platypus and the echidna are egg-laying mammals; it's their ability to adapt. And it's this adaptability that becomes the crux of the remainder of the series. "Insect Hunters" focuses on mammals who have specifically adapted to eating insects, from the giant anteater and the armored armadillo to bats, which have evolved into complex and effective hunters. "Plant Predators" demonstrates the particular (and often peculiar) adaptations of herbivores, while "Chisellers" is about those mammals who feed primarily on roots and seeds, ranging from tree-dwelling squirrels to opportunistic mice and rats. "Meat Eaters" talks about the evolutionary arms race that exists between predators and prey, and the unique adaptations of both individual and pack hunters. Omnivores are explored in "Opportunists"--mammals like bears and raccoons, whose varied diet allows them to occupy nearly any environment. "Return to the Water" discusses those mammals such as whales, seals, and dolphins that have left behind life on dry land and adapted completely to life in the sea, existing at the top of the food chain. The last three episodes--"Life in the Trees," "Social Climbers," and "Food for Thought"--take the viewer through the development of primates, eventually culminating in that most successful mammal: man. --Robert Burrow

Description

In ten parts, the award-winning David Attenborough (2002 Emmy winner for The Blue Planet: Seas of Life; The Life of Birds) introduces us to the most diverse group of animals ever to live on Earth, from the smallest - the two-inch pygmy shrew, to the largest - the blue whale; from the slowest - the sloth, to the swiftest - the cheetah; from the least attractive - the naked mole rat, to the most irresistible - a human baby. The Life of Mammals is the story of 4,000 species that have outlived the dinosaurs and conquered the farthest places on earth. With bodies kept warm by thick coats of fur and their developing young protected and nourished within their bodies, they have managed to colonize every part of the globe, dry or wet, hot or cold. Their adaptations for finding food have also had a profound effect on the way they move, socialize, mate and breed.

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent!!!!!.......2007-09-07

Another magnificent production from the BBC! In a way, even better and more focused, than "Planet Earth". This production deserves more than 5 stars. Isn't nature a wonderful thing? This should be a must see for everyone on the planet.

EXCELLENT RESOURCE.......2007-07-23

The Life of Mammals is not just another beautiful nature DVD, it is that for sure, but also an excellent resource to teach our children about our natural world. My grandchildren are homeschooled and I purchased this set for their curriculum. Not only are they thoroughly entertained, but they have learned a great deal as well.

Great Series with few flaws.......2007-07-03

The information and visuals presented in Attenborough's series are nothing short of amazing. Very interesting tidbits and interesting camera setups such as one inside a beaver's dam and one inside a kangaroo's pouch. My only problem with this series was that at times Attenborough interferes too much with the mammals making the documentary lose it's natural feel. For example Attenborough overfeeds an animal to make it's cheeks stuff for the camera and at another time he touches a baby seal in its den. These portions distract from the otherwise beautiful and engaging look at mammals.

Masterpiece - Beautifully Filmed and Cleverly Written .......2007-06-29

David Attenborough's "The Life of Mammals" contains 500 minutes of top-notch footage on 4 discs. This series is beautifully filmed and as entertaining as any documentary in the past, although Attenborough's 1979 series "Life on Earth" was a phenomenon at the time.

"The Life of Mammals" ten episodes cover the full range of the mammal class; beginning with montremes and marsupials in the first episode and then moving on to the placentals from episode 2. Each 48 minute episode depicts (roughly) ten different species.

Episode 1: A Winning Design - monotremes and marsupials
Episode 2: Insect Hunters - moles, bats, anteaters
Episode 3: Plant Predators - various herbivores, especially antelopes
Episode 4: Chisellers - rodents and squirrels
Episode 5: Meat Eaters - big cats and dogs, pack and solitary hunters
Episode 6: Opportunists - omnivores like bears and racoons
Episode 7: Return to Water - whales, seals and dolphins
Episode 8: Life in the Trees - monkeys
Episode 9: Social Climbers - monkeys and babboons
Episode 10: Food for Thought - apes and humans

What impresses me is the style of film-making. In each episode, Attenborough doesn't just pick a number of mammals and tell you about them; he has a certain sequence based on a theme which builds from mammal to mammal. That is, he will raise a question based on one situation and then answer it with the next mammal, thus tying a thread together for that episode. An example from Episode 3 (Plant Predators) is the focus on the food sources on the plains of Africa. Here, Attenborough discusses the adaptations of the grasses which enable them to survive, but then talks about the dangers for these plants; which are not animals, but the acacia tree. He now makes us think the thorn-ridden acacia tree will take over the world - Attenborough has the viewer in the palm of his hand. He goes on to describe the adaptations a small antelope has in order to eat the bottom leaves, then the adaptations of a bigger antelope that eats the middles branches, then the girafe that eats the top branches, then the elephant who knocks the whole tree down. It's this clever ordering or sequencing that has the viewer spell-bound. He could've just shown the animal's source of food; but instead there is a level of intrigue not found in other documentaries.

I'm a high school science teacher and a Christian. Nature documentaries generally over-use the theory of evolution and I'm glad to note that this is not a focus in "The Life of Mammals" as much of Attenborough's discussion is refreshingly 'design' based. He is not proposing a Creationist viewpoint, and conversely, is not overwhelming the viewer with evolutionary ideas. Instead, Attenborough's focus is on the adaptations mammals have in order to survive in their environments.

Despite nothing original in the carnivores episode (its all been done before by others), this is a masterpiece. It is beautifully filmed and cleverly written by the Shakespeare of the genre. It holds both the young and old captive but also those not overly excited with nature documentaries. And despite what another reviewer wrote there are observations that have never been seen before let alone captured on film.

My son just loves the movies and have been watching again and again.......2007-06-27

This is a great series by Sir David. Not only my son loves to watch the 4 movies comes with this series, My wife and I enjoyed watching too.

I bought three series made by Sir David, they are all informative and enjoyable. One of the classics.

Average customer rating:

Maybe the best nature video
Outstanding natural history programming at its best
Egg-laying mammals, marsupials, insectivores, herbivores

The Life of Mammals, Vol. 1
Starring: David Attenborough
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008OM6C
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Description

Vast in scope and stunning in imagery and detail, The Life of Mammals is the epic story of 4,000 species that have outlived this dinosaurs and colonized the farthest reaches of the Earth. In this volume: A Winning Design - David Attenborough makes a worldwide journey of discovery in search of fascinating mammals to illustrate why they are so incredibly successful and diverse. Insect Hunters - The insect eating mammals were there at the very beginning of the mammals and are still thriving today. They are one of the great success stories of The Life of Mammals. Plant Predators - Some of the biggest predators to walk the Earth face a constant battle. Their prey is heavily armored, often indigestible, sometimes poisonous. These predators prey on plants.

Customer Reviews:

Maybe the best nature video.......2006-09-24

I'm not in the habit of giving five star ratings. If I enjoy a nature video I will give it three stars. This one merits five. It may be the best nature video I've ever seen. I won't go into detail about all that it contains because that will bore you. I'll just tell you that I've seen a lot of nature programs and this one is better. My guess is that David Attenborough decided what he wanted on the video, and that he is a very smart man. If you like nature shows you will really appreciate this one, the better nature video.

Outstanding natural history programming at its best.......2005-03-24

Volume One of _The Life of Mammals_, hosted by David Attenborough, contained the first three episodes of this truly excellent BBC series.

_A Winning Design_ opened with a general overview of the series, a beautiful montage of the rich variety of mammals that are present in the world and that will be covered later. Also in the general opening segment was Attenborough on location in the frozen Arctic observing an Arctic fox at work. This was the first of many such segments of Attenborough on location with the animals he discussed in the series, generally not too obtrusive as he discussed at a distance various animals, not picking them up or handling them as they often do in other series.

The bulk of _A Winning Design_ focused on the monotremes (egg-laying mammals) and the marsupials, featuring beautiful, high quality footage of a variety of animals, always filmed in their natural habitat. Several minutes were spent on the echidna as well as on the platypus, with wonderful film of it hunting for prey underwater. The viewer is also treated to footage of life inside the platypus's burrow and of its young.

After a segment on some of the fossil life of Australia (focusing on the Riversleigh fauna and using CGI), the viewer is treated to a variety of marsupials. One sees a kangaroo giving birth, koalas, wombats (shown foraging in the snow in the mountains of Australia), numbats (with astonishingly long tongues), pygmy opossums, and striped possums. Then one sees more footage of kangaroos, of red kangaroos in the desert, rock wallabies, and gray kangaroos in the grassland. The show then switched focus to South America, home to the yapok or water opossum, shown with a special camera foraging in the complete darkness of its riverside home. It is the only aquatic marsupial in the world, though most South American marsupials are arboreal (such as the woolly opossum, which was shown) and in some areas are the most abundant treetop mammal in South America.

This episode closed with some notes on what are placental mammals, what makes them different from marsupials, and notes that most of the mammals in the world are placental.

_Insect Hunters_ as one might guess dealt with those animals who consume insects. Attenborough in the opening segment noted that the first mammals to evolve, back in the time of the dinosaurs, were likely insect eaters. He spent several moments discussing the demands of such a lifestyle, noting the high metabolic requirements of such animals as the shrew, which is shown foraging, fighting over territory, and in some truly remarkable footage a female leading her young out for food, one youngster holding on to her fur at her backside with his teeth, the next one doing the same, and so forth, looking like a big furry train snaking its way through the forest floor litter.

Next one sees the water shrew, the golden mole (which swims through the sand of the Namib desert), the star-nosed mole, and the elephant shrew, a remarkable animal that darts along cleared out trails at high speed, a fastidious animal that cannot afford to trip over unwanted debris in it is little roads. Next animals shown are the hedgehog (in Attenborough's own London garden, filmed while mating), the armadillo, the pangolin (which I was surprised to learn is essentially a biped, its front clawed feet useless for walking), and the giant anteater, an animal due to its not very nutritious diet sleeps 15 hours a day to conserve energy, covered by its great bushy tail.

After a segment on the 50 million year old Messel fauna of Germany, which included fossils of a tree anteater, a pangolin, and a bat, Attenborough used that as a segue way into the rest of the program, which focused on bats. Many aspects of bat biology were discussed, including hibernation (with some excellent thermal imaging of bats at rest and stirring in a cave in Canada) and echolocation (with coverage of the continual conflict between insects and bats in the night skies, with countermeasures and counter-countermeasures). I liked the radar imagery of the massive clouds of bats rising into the night from Carlsbad Cavern, looking like storm front as they rose. The last segment was on a bat species in New Zealand, one that forages on the forest floor like its shrew-like ancestors, hunting in squabbling packs as they tackled giant flightless crickets and other prey.

_Plant Predators_ dealt with herbivores, animals that preyed upon plants. Attenborough stressed that plants are hardly defenseless, as many of them are barely edible, low in nutrition, posses sharp spines, and can be quite poisonous. Just because they don't move doesn't make them easy prey.

After a brief segment on the African elephant, the show covered the sloth, the tapir (shown with nighttime cameras eating clay alongside a river to combat the poisons from the leaves it ingested), and the pika, a mammal that basically creates hay to feed on in the long winter months. Next elephants are revisited, which along with other mammals are shown going underground in pitch darkness to eat salt-laden soil in a cave in Africa.

As one might expect much of the show focused on Africa. After showing how ruminants function, ones learns about animal migrations (both African and caribou migrations in North America), and the hierarchy of predators on acacia trees, with different animals feeding at different levels, ranging from tiny antelope feeding on the lowest branches to giraffes and elephants (the latter shown knocking down whole trees). Much attention is spent on mating rituals and the varieties, styles, and uses of horns and antlers. There was truly amazing footage of males battling it out as well as herbivores avoiding beaten eaten. The nimbleness of antelope being chased was astounding, though equally surprising was the downside of not having good forward vision (one antelope was shown that ran into a tree while being pursued).

An excellent natural history program, very worthwhile.

Egg-laying mammals, marsupials, insectivores, herbivores.......2004-06-05

This, the first volume of an excellent four-volume series on mammals, balances the expected with the unexpected, the large with the small, and the well-known with the less well-known. It contains three hour-long episodes: _A Winning Design_, which focuses on monotremes (egg-laying mammals) and marsupials (primitive live-bearers); _The Insect Hunters_, which focuses on the diverse group of insectivores; and _Plant Predators_, which focuses on the herbivores. Attenborough has obviously filmed these animals extensively, and his films benefit from being viewed multiple times.

Description

Vast in scope and stunning in imagery and detail, The Life of Mammals is the epic story of 4,000 species that have outlived this dinosaurs and colonized the farthest reaches of the Earth. In this volume: Chisellers- Special tools like chisel-sharp front teeth and underground dwelling enable this group of mammals to feast on the toughest roots and seeds. Meat Eaters - Predators and prey must evolve speed, endurance and maneuverability to outwit each other. With all hunters, the aggression of the kill means the difference between life and death. Opportunists - Omnivores will eat whatever is around at the time, making them highly adaptable. Among this group are some of the most charismatic and widespread mammals on the planet.

Customer Reviews:

Truly excellent and worthwhile natural history programming .......2005-03-26

Volume Two of _The Life of Mammals_, hosted by David Attenborough, contained episodes four through six of this truly excellent BBC series.

_Chisellers_ dealt with the rodents. The opening sequence showed tropical rain forest agouti taking advantage of a shower of nuts from sloppy capuchin monkeys in the canopy above. Attenborough demonstrated how tough the nuts were by trying to break one open with a rock and then showed the agouti dining on the meat within with ease.

Attenborough with some graphics proceeded to explain rodent dental structure, how it continued to grow and how it was so useful in opening such items as nuts. He also discussed how rodents are among the abundant animals on Earth in terms of numbers of species and of individuals.

The show spent several moments on squirrels, first a highly specialized species that feeds only on ponderosa pinecones in the American Southwest, and then several moments on the widespread gray squirrel. Attenborough noted that the latter species fed on the acorns of white oaks (which germinate almost as soon as they are planted) and red oaks (which don't germinate until the spring), acorns that require different feeding and storage strategies despite being to human eyes nearly identical.

Not all rodents feed on large food items that are worthwhile to transport one by one. Many desert seeds, such as those Attenborough showed the viewer as were found in the American Southwest, are extremely tiny and have lead to the innovation of cheek pouches. With the help of night vision cameras and a camera in its burrow, the viewer is able to see one such animal in its natural habitat, the kangaroo rat.

Next are two extended sequences showing a year in the life of two rodent family groups, marmots high in the Alps and beavers in a pond in the Teton Mountains. The latter segment was particularly interesting as it had some underwater footage, discussion of why beavers make ponds, how they do so, and footage of life inside the lodge (this particular group shared it with muskrats).

A wonderful program, _Chisellers_ also featured the African crested porcupine, ground squirrels, some excellent footage of naked mole rats, harvest mice in Great Britain, maras in Patagonia, and some rather impressive herds of capybara.

The next episode was _Meat Eaters_. The opening sequence was footage of a stoat hunting rabbits in an idyllic meadow of sheep. Impressive to see the stoat walking away with the rabbit's body, as it weighed ten times more than the stoat.

After a few moments discussing the nature of carnivore's teeth the program gave the viewer a sample of some of the world's predators. Beginning with a few minutes of footage of the serval and a little bit on the Siberian tiger, there was more extended coverage of the mainly arboreal marten, the fennec in the Sahara, and the Arctic fox. The latter was shown with both its winter coat and in its summer coat (at which time it was feeding on guillemot chicks that had failed to fly to the sea from their cliff side nests, burying away excess kills for hard times in the winter).

Next were fur seals on a rocky shore in South Africa, the focus not on them but on brown hyenas that preyed upon an unguarded pup. Attenborough took this as an opportunity to discuss the importance of scent markings among predators.

The importance of group social dynamics was discussed several times in segments on bush dogs in South America, hunting dogs in Africa (with great footage of them hunting and of their young), and wolves in North America (preying upon elk).

Hunting cats closed the program, with excellent nighttime photography of lions hunting, of cheetahs (along with their cubs) hunting by day, and leopards (both prowling through a village in India and hunting antelope in Africa, both at night). The last animal shown was the Siberian tiger.

_Opportunists_ dealt with omnivores, a successful group of animals that were adapted to eat a variety of foodstuffs, supreme generalists. With an opening sequences filmed in the Atlanta Zoo of one supreme specialist, the giant panda, Attenborough segued into a segment on those non-specialists, the raccoons, spending a good deal of time discussing their amazing hands.

Next, with the most CGI I have seen in the series yet, Attenborough showed an early and rather large generalist, a pig-like creature that lived 20 million years ago in South Dakota. The host discussed the arrangement and advantages of its teeth and related this to other still living omnivores.

Following that there was some really good footage of the rare babirusa in the tropical forests of Sulawesi, including a large group at a clay lick. Attenborough used footage of wild boar in a European forest to make points about the very strong sense of smell of some omnivores.

A mother raccoon dog trying to feed her fifteen pups rated a very good and lengthy segment, followed by a red fox in the proverbial hen house. Next was some remarkable footage of skunks and raccoons feeding on young bats that had fallen from their perch on the ceiling onto the rather noxious cave floor. Attenborough wondered how they were able to even find the bats in all the din and nauseous odor of the cave, concluding it a combination of touch and luck.

Next was a very lengthy segment on the grizzly bear in Alaska, showing it in hibernation and its varied diet through the year as it struggled to put away enough fat for the winter. Then the viewer saw the sloth bear of India (which is becoming a specialized termite eater), the highly successful urban raccoon in North America and urban red fox in the UK, and then the rat, both in the sewers and in a temple in India where they were unafraid and worshiped as reincarnated ancestors. This excellent program closed with a note about the most successful opportunist of all, man.

Rodents, carnivores, omnivores.......2004-06-05

This, the second volume of an excellent four-volume series on mammals, balances the expected with the unexpected, the large with the small, and the well-known with the less well-known. It contains three hour-long episodes: _Chisellers_, which focuses on rodents; _Meat Eaters_, which focuses on carnivorous mammals; and _The Opportunists_, which focuses on species that take advantage of a variety of different foods. Attenborough has obviously filmed these animals extensively, and his films benefit from being viewed multiple times.

_Meat Eaters_, although still worth viewing, was a bit of a disappointment. Typically, Attenborough discusses small and little-known species almost equally with the large and famous ones; _Meat Eaters_ is a rare lapse. Cats, dogs, large animals and killing may be very popular subjects, but too much of the film is devoted to large cats and large dogs killing and eating their prey. Many other types of carnivores exist, and the lives of carnivores are as complex and multi-dimensional as those of other animals. Although the film showed some small carnivores, some other scenes besides killing and eating, and a few members of the weasel and hyena families, I would have wanted to see more of those. There is also at least one glaring inaccuracy--hyenas are NOT dogs, but are related to cats and mongooses. Fortunately this is correct in the book that is companion to this series.

_The Opportunists_ is neither the best nor the worst movie in the series. It contains a motley group of animals from all different lineages, which eat diverse diets. I did not quite understand the order of the scenes, and would have wished Attenborough did not end with humans. As usual, the best scenes are the most unexpected, such as one very interesting segment in a cave.

Description

Vast in scope and stunning in imagery and detail, The Life of Mammals is the epic story of 4,000 species that have outlived this dinosaurs and colonized the farthest reaches of the Earth. In this volume: Return to the Water - With perfect streamlined bodies and great underwater speed, seals, dolphins, porpoises, and whales became the new hunters of the sea. Life in the Trees - A range of adaptations from suction feet to gripping tails to ultra-keen senses help the tree dwelling mammals to survive high above the ground.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful, excellent, highly worthwhile natural history film.......2005-03-29

Volume Three of _The Life of Mammals_, hosted by David Attenborough, contained episodes seven and eight of this truly excellent BBC series.

_Return to the Water_ covered the world of aquatic mammals. The opening sequence is with Attenborough and several Asian elephants along a beach. He said a number of mammals, including ones that might seem unlikely, are quite good swimmers. Asian elephants if they so desire can easily cross rather deep channels at sea, a point illustrated by footage of them swimming in the ocean.

Noting that the elephant's trunk may have evolved as an adaptation for aquatic locomotion, the show segued to another aquatic mammal with a flexible trunk, only much, much smaller - the shrew-like desman. One of several mammals that exploit the rich food resources of freshwater, thanks to its long, dense fur it is able to hunt insects in streams and creeks, though because it is extremely buoyant it cannot stay underwater for very long and it must return to land to eat.

Many aquatic mammals though are able to eat while in the water, such as the marine otter, the next animal depicted. Shown hunting shellfish in a kelp forest and floating on its back, smashing them open against a rock, otters thanks to their webbed feet, graceful movements, and extremely dense fur (there are more hairs in a square centimeter of otter fur than there is on an entire human head) are quite well adapted to their environment (they are even able to sleep in the kelp forest, wrapping themselves in the seaweed so they won't drift).

Still better adapted for life at sea is the sea lion. Their limbs are more paddle-like, they have developed thick blubber for warmth in cold waters, and their external ears are small. The show contained good footage of a mother and pup negotiating a kelp forest in New Zealand to go swimming in the waves beyond.

Even further adapted to life at sea are the true seals, such as those found in Antarctica. They have no visible external ear and their hind limbs are not capable of being maneuvered forward.

Attenborough made some interesting points about seal mating habits. The sea lions for instance required gentle sloping shores to come ashore to breed, shores where they won't be battered to death by waves, and shores that are relatively safe from land predators. Such places are few and far between and male seals are able to exploit this and create big harems. The Antarctic seals on the other hand are able to get on top of sea ice to give birth and raise young, which can be done just about anywhere, and are not exploitable by male seals and not susceptible to land predators.

However seals in the Arctic are vulnerable to predation. Attenborough showed the caves above the sea ice but not breaking through the snow that seals create to give birth and raise their pups - some such as the harp seal cannot swim for several weeks - places that are occasionally discovered and raided by Arctic foxes and polar bears, which were shown.

Hooded seals were shown with their bizarre mating rituals, as were harbor seals, which apparently do something Attenborough referred to as competitive choral singing, which after having seen the footage is an apt a term as any.

After spending several minutes on the Florida manatee we are shown the Ganges River dolphin, an animal that lives in very dark waters, a segue into a discussion on echolocation. From there Attenborough showed some interesting feeding behavior of dolphins along the coast of Georgia, USA, behavior that implied intelligence, communication, and teamwork. To continue that particular point he showed a huge pod of common dolphins at sea working together to corral a large school of fish to feed upon.

The episode closed with some wonderful CGI of the interior of a blue whale, footage of a blue whale at sea, beautiful photography of humpback whales (and discussion of their haunting songs and use of sound in navigation and communication), and southern right whales (which were shown mating).

_Life in the Trees_ showed the numerous different mammal groups that live an arboreal existence. Opening up with some humorous footage of meerkats - which will climb anything they can (including the host) in their sentry duties - Attenborough as the show progressed gradually showed mammals that were better and better adapted to life in the trees. First we see the hyrax, which uses something akin to rubber soled feet which provide some suction, then the coati, which uses claws and long tails for balance.

Climbing high into a rain forest tree, Attenborough showed the rich variety of foods - insects, leaves, fruit, birds, and eggs - that are to be had in the trees; even water, thanks to bromeliads (with footage of coatis and woolly monkeys drinking from them).

Next, we see the sun bear, which climbs trees in pursuit of fruit, an arboreal species of anteater, which has a prehensile tail, and the familiar gray squirrel, which are nimble, acrobatic - able to leap between branches - and lightweight (capable of going to nearly the end of even small branches). Able to leap - or glide really - even further is the flying squirrel, a nocturnal mammal that was shown moving about in some truly wonderful footage. Some arboreal mammals fly instead of glide, like the flying fox (the footage of the huge flocks and the predation on them by crocodiles when they came to drink and eagles while in flight and at rest was amazing).

Most of the remainder of the mammals shown are primates. We see wonderful, eerie footage of nocturnal slow lorises, more frenetic lesser bush babies, and a rich variety of lemurs in Madagascar. Chasing one species of lemur is the fossa, a mongoose-like predator. Finally we see some awesome footage of the gibbon, a consummate aerialist from Southeast Asia. Along the way Attenborough discussed the adaptations in fingers, wrists, tails, backbones, and vision to life in the trees.

Water dwellers, tree climbers.......2004-06-05

This, the third volume of an excellent four-volume series on mammals, balances the expected with the unexpected, the large with the small, and the well-known with the less well-known. It contains two hour-long episodes: _Return to the Water_, which focuses on aquatic mammals such as otters, seals, manatees and whales; and _Life in the Trees_, which discusses primates and other arboreal mammals. Attenborough has obviously filmed these animals extensively, and his films benefit from being viewed multiple times.

Description

Vast in scope and stunning in imagery and detail, The Life of Mammals is the epic story of 4,000 species that have outlived this dinosaurs and colonized the farthest reaches of the Earth. In this volume: Social Climbers - In the daily hubbub of monkey life, only those with a talent for social wheeler dealing get ahead, driving the shift towards larger brains. Food for Thought - Human beings appear to be unique among mammals. We live in huge cities, we walk on two legs and we have language. But how far have we really come from our mammal heritage? Are we really as different as we think from other mammals?

Customer Reviews:

Excellent final volume of a wonderful series .......2005-03-31

Volume Four of _The Life of Mammals_, hosted by David Attenborough, contained episodes nine and ten of this truly excellent BBC series and was the final volume.

_The Social Climbers_ focused on the world of monkeys. The opening sequence was set at a temple in Sri Lanka, ruins we learn later that were abandoned about a thousand years ago and are inhabited by a famous and well studied population of toque macaques. Beginning with this sequence and continuing through the rest of this episode, Attenborough made numerous points about the rich social lives, politics, social hierarchies, maneuverings, and complexities of primate society.

Next, the show took the viewer to a troop of capuchin monkeys in South America. As we watch them prey on a rich variety of foods, Attenborough discussed how they were opportunistic, curious, enterprising, and patient, all traits relating to primate brain size. Some capuchin monkeys had learned how to crack open clam shells exposed in the mud at low tide in the mangrove forest they dwelled in, something not all the monkeys in the group were able to master. The viewer is treated to other monkeys watching successful clam crackers at work, learning and imitating, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not; curiosity, experimentation, and mimicry are all primate traits according to Attenborough.

Next were several segments showing the rich variety of primate life in the world; brilliantly red-faced uakaris, long-limbed spider monkeys, tiny pygmy marmosets (we witness two groups of marmosets fighting over a tree prized for its sap, one that has apparently been visited by generations of the same marmoset troop), nocturnal owl monkeys, emperor tamarins, saddleback tamarins (both of which often fed together and kept the other species alert of threats by predatory tayra), and howler monkeys (who due to their not very nutritious diet of leaves prefer to use howling as a energy efficient means of defining their territories). A large mixed species troop of monkeys in Africa is followed, one primarily comprised of five or six species of brightly colored guenon monkeys, ones that have learned to recognize each species specific warning cry for specific predators (be it leopard, snake, or crowned eagle).

After revisiting the toque macaque troop in Sri Lanka, a segment that showed the complicated politics of primate society, the viewer will move off to the flamingo lakes of Africa, where one particular baboon troop has learned to hunt flamingoes, and then off to the grassy highlands of Ethiopia to see the perhaps even more complex politics and social pecking order of the gelada baboons, the world's only grazing species of monkey.

The final episode, _Food for Thought_, opened with some astonishing footage of orangutans using tools and a canoe in a forest in Southeast Asia. We soon learn it is a camp for orangutans that once lived in captivity. Attenborough, only feet from an orangutan happily sawing away at a board for no apparent reason other than that she wanted to, discussed the intelligence and mimicry abilities of these great apes. Afterwards the episode spend a good deal of time on orangutans in the wild, showing that while they are generally loners they are not anti-social, as the low food resources of the forests that they live in generally make large troops impossible, though there are exceptions (one very richly fruiting tree was shown with twenty different individuals).

Next one sees chimpanzees, beginning with an island colony that was formed from formerly captive chimpanzees, then onto a wild group deep in the rain forest. Chimpanzees were shown caring for their young, foraging for food, fighting with one another, and going on a hunt for fresh meat, in this case the babies of red colobus monkeys. I have to say that footage was a little sad; as the male colobus monkeys did the best they could to defend their young against the much larger and more numerous chimpanzees.

Afterwards Attenborough showed some footage of lowland gorillas and then moved to the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, site of fossil tracks from upright walking hominids. From then on the rest of the show was about mankind. The viewer will see the San or Bushmen on an eight hour run down of a large antelope in the scrub, Attenborough pointing out the various advantages of the humans that doomed the prey - sweat glands, arms that can throw weapons, intelligence, speech, excellent memory, working in groups etc.

What followed was a very broad but well illustrated whirlwind history of humanity as Attenborough, while touring various locations ranging from a Dogon festival to an African market near Timbuktu to a major Western city to a launch pad with the space shuttle looming over him, discussed the evolution of agriculture, the domestication of animals, music, culture, cities, trade, craftsmen, and irrigation. He spent several moments discussing the Mayans while touring the ruins of Tikal and quite a bit of time on the consequences - both positive and negative - of human agriculture. The last segment was on the possibility that mankind may be moving off the Earth and into space as Attenborough discussed the possibilities and challenges of colonizing Mars and beyond (this latter segment had some nice CGI). During this segment, particularly at the very end of the episode, Attenborough weaved in some cautionary environmental warnings, nothing too heavy handed and quite apt in my humble opinion.

This was a very good end to an excellent series. I would personally love to have seen Attenborough do a series on human culture and evolution. I could easily imagine he would have done quite well, perhaps filming a series based on the works of such authors as Jared Diamond, Henry Hobhouse, or Jack Weatherford.

Just as in Volume Three there were some behind the scenes segments among the special features that were interesting. Just as the previous three volumes had there was a photo gallery and a rather informative fact file of selected species. A truly wonderful and worthwhile series.

Monkeys, great apes and Attenborough's best.......2004-06-05

This, the fourth and best volume of an excellent four-volume series on mammals, contains two hour-long episodes: _The Social Climbers_, about monkeys; and _Food for Thought_, about humans and other great apes. Attenborough has obviously filmed these animals extensively, and his films benefit from being viewed multiple times.

Book Description

Bat houses now provide vital roosting habitat for bats throughout North America. In this 33-minute DVD, Merlin Tuttle introduces viewers to America's most successful bat house owners, who have attracted thousands of bats to yards, parks, and farms.

Viewers will learn the key elements of successful bat attraction, the benefits of insect pest reduction, and the joys of closely observing such fascinating creatures. This DVD is also ideally suited to helping needlessly frightened humans overcome their fears about bats.

The Children's DVD Encyclopedia! - Tell Me Why (10 Pack) Electricity & Electric Safety/Gems, Metals & Minerals/Computers, Internet/Customs & Superstitions, Sports & Games/Americana, Beginnings/Fish, Shellfish & Underwater Life, Insects/Animals & Arachnids, Prehistoric Animals & Reptiles/Flowers, Plants & Trees, Birds & Rodents/Lifeforms, Animals & Oddities, Mammals/A Healthy Body, Medicine

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The Children's DVD Encyclopedia! - Tell Me Why (10 Pack) Electricity & Electric Safety/Gems, Metals & Minerals/Computers, Internet/Customs & Superstitions, Sports & Games/Americana, Beginnings/Fish, Shellfish & Underwater Life, Insects/Animals & Arachnids, Prehistoric Animals & Reptiles/Flowers, Plants & Trees, Birds & Rodents/Lifeforms, Animals & Oddities, Mammals/A Healthy Body, Medicine

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Binding: DVD

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Lifeforms, Animals & Oddities - Mammals Flowers, Plants & Trees - Birds & Rodent Fish, Shellfish & Underwater Life - Insects A Healthy Body - Medecine Customs & Superstitions - Sports & Games mals Americana - Beginnings Space, Earth & Atmosphere - Gems, Metals & Minerals Computers - The Internet How Things Work - Electricity & Electric Safety Animals & Arachnids - Prehistoric Animals & Reptiles Running Time for Each Episode: 30 Min Total Running Time: 600 Min

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DVD