BBC Life On Earth Disc 3: The Rise of the Mammals (1979)

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Small four-legged furry animals scurried around the feet of the later dinosaurs and when the great reptiles suddenly died out, the descendants of these tiny creatures filled the vacancies. These were the first mammals. Two that survive - the platypus and the echidna - have warm furry bodies but still, like reptiles, lay eggs. Other, in the southern hemisphere, nurtured their young in pouches on their bellies.
Peter's DVD rating: 4.0 stars
David Attenborough explores the rise of the mammals. He habit of not naming some organisms becomes really annoying on this one that takes about 4 minutes of film time: "the smallest marsupial of all... there are two dozen kinds of these mouse-sized marsupials... film a birth for the first time...". OK, what is this interesting animal called? Probably a Planigale? But he doesn't tell us. A mistake is the map showing the southern continents about 60 million years ago when the Southern Beech (and marsupials) evolved: the continents of Africa and South America should not be joined; they had started to separate back in the Jurassic, and were quite far apart by late Cretaceous. Indeed the Southern Beech is not found in Africa. Attenborough gives a more detailed account of the mammals in his series Life of Mammals more than 20 years later.
1:30Australia: Duckbill Platypus produces milk but has no nipples 3:55 Echidna 6:45 Dimetrodon had fins to absorb solar heat and simple teeth
9:10 Virginia Opossum has nipples in pouch 11:50South America: Bare-tailed Woolly Opossum ? 12:20 Yapok swims to catch fish
12:40 Murine Mouse Opossum ? feed at night on small invertebrates and lizards 13:10 Shrew Opossum (Rat Opossum) has no pouch (Andes) 13:35Patagonia: Southern Beech grew over great land mass of the Southern continents
18:05Australia: Planigale ? 18:40 Planigale birthing 21:45 Quoll
22:15 Marsupial Mouse 22:30 Tasmanian Devil feeds on carrion 23:40Extinct Thylacine looks like a wolf
24:20 Numbat eats ants and termites like a Pangolin 24:30 Sugar Glider glides among Eucalyptus 26:05 Koala
28:55 Wombat 27:25 Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat ? 27:50 Bandicoot
28:15 Honey Possum gathers nectar using tongue with a brush 28:35 Potoroo 29:30 Pademelon
29:50 Agile Wallaby 30:00 Tree Kangaroo (New Guinea) 30:55Naracoorte Caves, Australia: Extinct Giant Short-faced Kangaroo skull
33:20 Giant Wombat ? skull 33:40 Marsupial Lion skull 34:35 Red Kangaroo
39:00 Red Kangaroo birthing 47:00 Solenodon has placenta 47:50 Rabbit birthing
48:30 Blue Wildebeest calf 48:40 Harp Seal pup   
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
1:30 Duckbill Platypus
Tachyglossus aculeatus
3:55 Echidna
Pelycosauria
6:45 Dimetrodon
Didelphis virginiana
9:10 Virginia Opossum
Caluromys philander
11:50 Bare-tailed Woolly Opossum ?
Chironectes minimus
12:20 Yapok
Marmosa murina
12:40 Murine Mouse Opossum ?
Paucituberculata
13:10 Shrew Opossum
Nothofagus
13:35 Southern Beech
Gondwana
13:35 Southern continents
Planigale
18:05 Planigale ?
Planigale
18:40 Planigale birthing
Dasyurus
21:45 Quoll
Dasyuridae
22:15 Marsupial Mouse
Sarcophilus laniarius
22:30 Tasmanian Devil
Thylacinus cynocephalus
23:40 Thylacine
Myrmecobius fasciatus
24:20 Numbat
Petaurus breviceps
24:30 Sugar Glider
Phascolarctos cinereus
26:05 Koala
Vombatus ursinus
28:55 Wombat
Lasiorhinus latifrons
27:25 Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat ?
Peramelidae
27:50 Bandicoot
Tarsipes rostratus
28:15 Honey Possum
Potorous
28:35 Potoroo
Thylogale
29:30 Pademelon
Macropus agilis
29:50 Agile Wallaby
Dendrolagus matschiei
30:00 Tree Kangaroo
Procoptodon goliah
30:55 Giant Short-faced Kangaroo skull
Phascolonus gigas
33:20 Giant Wombat ? skull
Thylacoleo carnifex
33:40 Marsupial Lion skull
Macropus rufus
34:35 Red Kangaroo
Macropus rufus
39:00 Red Kangaroo birthing
Solenodon paradoxus
47:00 Solenodon
Lagomorpha
47:50 Rabbit birthing
Connochaetes taurinus
48:30 Blue Wildebeest calf
Phoca groenlandica
48:40 Harp Seal pup

Index Jan 14, 2006 CC BY 4.0 Peter Chen 2.0