Both humans and animals are hard-wired to find youngsters adorable. The practical and essential reasons why the very young have an ability to play on our heartstrings are explored in Baby Tales.
Despite overwhelming obstacles, life on Earth has evolved from the most humble of beginnings to a level of diversity that challenges human comprehension. The fittest have indeed survived -- even in places where no living creatures could be thought to exist. NATURE's six-part series presents the remarkable story of evolution and its survivors.
With footage of octopus species rarely, if ever, seen before -- including one with giant eyes and another with antennae in place of suction cups -- Nature takes viewers into the deepest realms of the ocean for a front-row view of THE OCTOPUS SHOW.
According to legend, Spanish explorers believed that a fountain of eternal youth existed somewhere in the place we know today as Florida. In a poetic way, they were right. Beneath Florida lies the world's largest known system of springs. These springs shelter strange life forms and dot the land above it with outlets of water that once was as pure as any found on this planet.
The program explores a broad range of creatures with astonishing abilities, from the redwing blackbird, whose brain dramatically changes shape to accommodate the chants and songs of mating rituals, to a fungus that transforms itself into something resembling a stalk that plays a vital role in the proliferation of roundworms.
Seasonal changes impel a wide variety of creatures, from whooper swans to monarch butterflies, to begin their epic migrations to ancient feeding, mating, and breeding grounds, sometimes covering thousands of miles and employing ingenious methods to reach their destinations.
As the world's fastest land animal, cheetahs are the odds-on favorite in almost any footrace. After all, they can accelerate to freeway speeds in just a step or two. But in the dry scrublands of southern Africa, the fast felines are falling behind in the most important contest they've ever entered: the race for survival.