The miracle of life
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | The miracle of life |
| Original title | Life |
| Country of production | United Kingdom , USA , Italy , Greece , Germany |
| original language | English |
| year | 2010 |
| Production company |
BBC Discovery Channel Skai TV RTI ARTE The Open University |
| length | 43-62 minutes |
| Episodes | 10 in 1 season |
| genre | documentation |
| Director | Goran Graffman |
| production |
Olle Hellbom Olle Nordemar |
| music |
The Band for Life George Fenton Richard Fiocca |
| Initial release | October 12, 2009 on BBC |
| German-language first broadcast |
September 6, 2010 on ARTE |
| occupation | |
The miracle life (Original title: Life ) is a ten-part nature documentary film series by David Attenborough about the total diversity of life on earth. Alternative titles are Fascinating Wilderness or Triumph of Life .
content
Survival strategies
An essential part of the struggle for existence is getting food. The wildlife uses countless variations in methods to hunt or escape, such as camouflage and imitation. Social animals use cooperation as a herd, pack or swarm, although this rarely affects brood care, but mainly serves to encircle prey or confuse hunters. The choice and use of the environment, such as inaccessible dwellings and temporary hiding places, are often part of this cat and mouse game. Anatomical mutations also allow unique methods, such as the example of the flying fish .
Reptiles & Amphibians
Reptiles have survived from the age of the dinosaurs to the present day. This was only possible because their early adaptation to the most diverse conditions around the world still works admirably. Examples are lizards like the giant Komodo dragon , still a top hunter on its Indonesian island. The same applies to amphibians, including numerous specialized frogs and toads. Both groups are cold-blooded and therefore susceptible to warm climates.
Mammals
Mammals rule the planet. They are superior to most genera due to their warm bloodedness and brood care . Film recordings in the bitter Antarctic winter show a mother walrus punching a hole in the ice with her teeth so that she can catch fish for her young. A powered hot air balloon captures breathtaking images of millions of bats meeting on fruit trees in Zambia.
fishes
Countless fish fill the seas and almost every other body of water on the blue planet. Some can even live on land at times. Evolution created a variety of size, shape, and means of defense suitable for the most diverse forms of life in all types of waters, as well as providing camouflage and protection. They occupy different positions in aquatic and water-related habitats, which are shaped by eaten and / or eaten by other fish, vertebrates and crustaceans. Other relationships are parasitic or symbiotic. Some know the role reversal, whereby males take care of eggs and / or young animals, or even change sex. Many species live in huge schools for the safety of their own species.
Birds
Birds are directly descended from dinosaurs who developed feathers. Most of them can fly what few other vertebrates can. Some birds have given up flying, such as ratites or penguins , who have specialized in diving and prove the fabulous insulation performance of the feather. Feathers are also the key to success and are so diverse and important for the recognition of the species among each other, for partner advertising and as cushioning material for brood care.
insects
Insects far outnumber all higher animals. Their immense diversity reflects adaptation to a range of extreme ecological conditions, even severely toxic ones. Above all, the almost 60,000 species of flies cover the whole world. Many can fly, which helps get anywhere, but they can also be found on and in the ground, in water, on and in host plants or animals, in caves and other habitats. They often occur in large flocks, such as over a billion monarch butterflies from Canada migrate to a Mexican forest to hibernate there. They have different tasks in ecological systems. Usually as prey, often as a predator, sometimes as a pollinator and thus as an important part of the ecological structure and for species conservation in the flora and fauna.
Hunter and hunted
The struggle for existence is based or eat and be eaten determines the evolutionary development and the success of one's own way of surviving: whether as prey or hunter. Mammals are particularly successful around the world, as they lend their anatomical adaptation an intelligence that enables them to develop quick and diverse strategies for tracking down prey, but also for protecting themselves.
Creatures from the deep
Marine invertebrates, the descendants of a billion years of evolutionary history, are the most abundant creatures in the ocean. In the Sea of Cortez, for example, Humboldt cuttlefish meet in schools to hunt sardines together at night . Sea urchins , red starfish and cordworms are caught under the permanent Antarctic sea ice of the McMurdo Sound , while they hang out on a seal carcass . A moon jellyfish hunts in swarms in the open sea and "spits" on its prey with harpoon-like tentacles . In the shallows off South Australia, hundreds of thousands of spider crabs gather to molt each year . Large male squids use flashing strobe colors to gain a partner, while smaller rivals use deception: both tactics are successful. A giant Pacific octopus sacrifices its life to look after its eggs for half a year. Marine invertebrates have left an enduring legacy on land too - their shells formed the chalk and limestone deposits of Eurasia and America.
plants
Plants evolved under extreme conditions and a variety of locations and are considered the oldest "creatures" on earth. Their struggle for life, like animals (just usually much slower), involves ingesting food including parasitism and carnivores. They strive to find water to grow and reproduce. For pollination, they have mainly adapted to animals and developed strategies to attract them and "use" them to spread pollen and seeds. They spawned a varied defense such as thorns, spikes, or toxins. Specific is the need for light, the fuel of photosynthesis, which leads to a hierarchy of light levels, since insufficient growth can be fatal.
Primates
Primates are great apes, monkeys, and the more primitive apes like lemurs . Thanks to their intelligence, the higher primates have adapted through anatomical evolution. Their behavior is instinctive through learning and inventing. Above all, their social life harbors the seeds of human culture. In most cases they have developed complex social behavior. Communication and interaction play an important role. Primates live in very different environments with which they interact skillfully, from the icy north of Japan to the tropics of the Old and New Worlds.
Production and other publications
The series was produced in 2009 by the BBC together with Arte , RTI Spa and the Open University . The total production time was four years. The use of the latest camera technology enables unprecedented insights into the natural processes of life on our planet. It was first broadcast from October 12 to December 14, 2009 on BBC One . The total playing time of the series is 7 hours and 53 minutes.
The German first broadcast (without episode 1) on free TV took place from March to August 2010 on the channels ORF 2 and SF 1 . The entire series was broadcast on arte from September 6th to September 17th, 2010. Further broadcasts were to be seen in the years 2010 to 2012 on various channels of ARD , Arte and SF 1.
consequences
| episode | title | First broadcast D | Original title | First broadcast in UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Survival strategies | September 6, 2010 | Challenges of Life | October 12, 2009 |
| 2 | Reptiles & Amphibians | September 7, 2010 | Reptiles & Amphibians | October 19, 2009 |
| 3 | Mammals | September 8, 2010 | Mammals | October 26, 2009 |
| 4th | fishes | September 9, 2010 | Fish | November 2, 2009 |
| 5 | Birds | September 10, 2010 | Birds | November 9, 2009 |
| 6th | insects | September 13, 2010 | Insects | November 16, 2009 |
| 7th | Hunter and hunted | September 14, 2010 | Hunters and Hunted | November 23, 2009 |
| 8th | Creatures from the deep | September 15, 2010 | Creatures Of The Deep | November 30, 2009 |
| 9 | plants | September 16, 2010 | Plants | December 7, 2009 |
| 10 | Primates | 17th September 2010 | Primates | December 14, 2009 |
criticism
rtv.de said: “The recordings in the BBC series are without a doubt fascinating. Unfortunately, the German commentary sometimes tarnishes the pleasure. Where in the original the nature filmmaker Sir David Attenborough provides background information, known or obvious comments are made on Arte. Superfluous, because the great pictures speak for themselves. "
Web links
- The miracle of life in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Information on fernsehserien.de
- BBC page on the series
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alternative title at wunschliste.de , accessed on November 14, 2018.
- ↑ Some pictures have really never been seen in this way. at rtv.de, accessed on November 14, 2018.