Media not available in the Digital Archive
Description
Programme 7: The Twilight Years. The process of getting old is now of great interest to scientists and even animals such as the humble fruit fly can give us clues to how the human body prepares its
...elf for death. In some animal societies age brings respect and dominance, as with elephants, in others it is a sign of weakness and is eliminated, as with lions. Long lived animals develop remarkable skills that help them survive for long periods in complex environments. The memory of birds that bury food is phenomenal, as is the memory of an echidna in Australia. A bizarre side effect of skills gathered through a long life is the ability of parrots to talk and crows to use tools. Programme 8: Changing the Rules. Humans have a profound effect on the behaviour of animals in the wild, not just through habitat loss and global warming but in more subtle ways. Fishing for horseshoe crabs off Delaware Bay has been catastrophic for red knot who use the beaches where the crabs spawn for a feeding stop over on their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. Building high rise hotels along beaches in the Mediterranean has affected the sex ratio of the offspring of turtles who dig their nests there and human encroachment into lion habitat in southern Tanzania has forced the lions to switch their prey from zebra and wildebeest to the humans themselves
Metadata describing this Open University audio programme
| First transmission date: |
2006-01-02 |
| Published: |
2005 |
| Rights Statement: |
Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: |
This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: |
00:54:49 |
| + Show more... |
| Track listing: |
track listing for this programme
|
Track 1
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Programme 7: The Twilight Years |
|
Track 2
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Programme 8: Changing the Rules |
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| Producer: |
The BBC Natural History Unit |
| Contributor: |
Aubrey Manning |
| Publisher: |
BBC Open University |
| Subject terms: |
Animal behaviour; Natural history |
| Production number: |
AUDA072B |
| Available to public: |
no |
Available online
