Inside Nature's Giants Series 1

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Episodes
elephant video pic

Episode 1 - The Elephant

How did evolution overcome the challenges of being as big as an elephant? And how did the elephant get the most versatile limb on the planet - the trunk?

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Episode 2 - The Whale

Experts dissect a 20 metre, 50 tonne fin whale that has died after being stranded off the coast of Ireland. It's a race against time as whale anatomist Joy Reidenberg flies in from New York before the animal's decomposition causes it to explode on the beach.

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Episode 3 - The Crocodile

Veterinary scientist Mark Evans joins experts in anatomy, evolution and behaviour in a bid to get under the skin of the crocodile, as biologist Simon Watt travels to Florida to test the huge strength of the massive reptile's bite: the most powerful in the animal kingdom.

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Episode 4 - The Giraffe

Creationists question how this extraordinary creature could have evolved such a long neck, but for Professor Richard Dawkins the anatomy of the world's tallest animal provides some of the best arguments in favour of Darwinian natural selection.

Episode 1 - The Elephant

Elephants feed on plants with very little nutritional value for up to 18 hours a day, so evolution has equipped them with vast intestines, as well as huge teeth and massive jaw muscles – attached to an equally gigantic skull. But this produces another problem: how to reach food on the ground.

The solution is the most versatile limb on the planet - the trunk. Capable of the most amazing range of motions - from picking up berries to ripping a tree from the ground, the trunk is a wonder of evolution. It's a Just So Story for the Darwinian age.

Credits
Producer / Director
Julian Thomas
Editor
Martin Sage
for Channel 4, NGCI, NGC-US
Distributed by Silverlining