Video collections
Amphibian locomotion
Frogs challenge their hopping reputation.
This sequence uses a variety of techniques to show the diversity in size, shape and ability of the most successful group in the amphibian order: frogs and toads. Juxtaposing Sir David with a tiny Madagascan pygmy frog sets off its diminutive size and slow motion shows in great detail how frogs put their particular bodily adaptations to locomotive use.
Sizing an elephant bird
David Attenborough examines the size of Madagascar's huge, flightless elephant birds.
Living in Madagascar, elephant birds were the heaviest birds to ever live and laid the world's largest eggs.
Live fast, die young
The shortest land vertebrate life cycle compels Labord's chameleon to eat everything in front of him.
The shortest land vertebrate life cycle compels Labord's chameleon to eat everything in front of him.
Connect to conserve
The vital link between Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, a liana and a bug.
The vital link between Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, a liana and a bug.
Jigsaw puzzle
It's tricky reassembling fragments of an elephant bird egg.
Local people gather Aepyornis (elephant bird) shell fragments for David Attenborough. One boy brings him some very large fragments which David attempts to reassemble. To his delight, all the pieces of shell come from one egg. They fit together perfectly.
From Madagascar to the world
David Attenborough explains how Madagascar's unique wildlife inspired in a 1960s audience.
In 1960 David Attenborough and the BBC were the first people to make a documentary about the wildlife of Madagascar.
Sifakas revisited
After 50 years, David Attenborough's fascination with lemurs is undimmed.
After 50 years, David Attenborough's fascination with lemurs is undimmed.
Look out lizard
The humble chameleon has long been feared by Malagasy people.
The humble chameleon has long been feared by Malagasy people.
Sacred baobab
How a belief in spirits has protected the dry forest around a famous tree.
How a belief in spirits has protected the dry forest around a famous tree.
Mixed blessing
Rich timber and mineral resources threaten Madagascar's wildlife.
Rich timber and mineral resources threaten Madagascar's wildlife.
Indri encounter
A former hunter allows David Attenborough to get close to the once elusive indri.
A former hunter allows David Attenborough to get close to the once elusive indri.
Relative mystery
The Madagascan boa constrictor is far removed from its American cousins.
The Madagascan boa constrictor is far removed from its American cousins.
Replanting rainforest
Forest corridors between isolated populations promote genetic diversity.
Forest corridors between isolated populations promote genetic diversity.
No time to lose
A brief lifespan gives Labord's chameleons only one chance to mate.
A brief lifespan gives Labord's chameleons only one chance to mate.
Thriving lemurs
The most adaptable of all lemurs, ringtails have found a life of ease in the southern forests.
The most adaptable of all lemurs, ringtails have found a life of ease in the southern forests.
Honeydew feast
Mouse lemurs attend a midnight feast as the sugary secretions of flatid bugs attract a swarm of insects.
Mouse lemurs attend a midnight feast as the sugary secretions of flatid bugs attract a swarm of insects.
Dry living
With no need for water, Verreaux's sifakas are perfectly adapted to Madagascar's dry forests.
With no need for water, Verreaux's sifakas are perfectly adapted to Madagascar's dry forests.
Tonight's the night
With only one chance a year to mate, male mouse lemurs are competitive, but females are still choosy.
With only one chance a year to mate, male mouse lemurs are competitive, but females are still choosy.
Thieving lemurs
Ring-tailed lemurs steal nutritious but hard to catch cicadas from another hunter.
Ring-tailed lemurs steal nutritious but hard to catch cicadas from another hunter.
Smell of success
Male ring-tailed lemurs use scent to defend their patch and entice a mate.
Male ring-tailed lemurs use scent to defend their patch and entice a mate.
Madagascar mystery
How Verreaux's sifakas leap around their spiny habitat with such wild abandon remains a mystery.
How Verreaux's sifakas leap around their spiny habitat with such wild abandon remains a mystery.
Gecko vision
Madagascar's geckos can see colour in the dimmest moonlight making them effective night predators.
Madagascar's geckos can see colour in the dimmest moonlight making them effective night predators.
Scent sense
Ring-tailed lemurs use scent for much of their communication.
Ring-tailed lemurs use scent for much of their communication.
Homing beacon
Specialised quills give hedgehog-like striped tenrecs a unique way of finding their family.
Specialised quills give hedgehog-like striped tenrecs a unique way of finding their family.
Purring lemurs
Why ring-tailed lemurs are also known as cat lemurs.
David Attenborough with ring-tailed lemurs in the studio. They are also called cat lemurs, because they enjoy licking themselves and others, they purr and meow. They are vegetarians and eat cactus-like plants in the wild. Tame ones eat all sorts of things - boiled potato, grapes, prunes, cabbage, carrots. They mainly live on the ground. Lemurs are only found in Madagascar. In past geological time lemurs were found all over Europe and Africa. Other creatures evolved and out-competed them but not on Madagascar, which split off from Africa before this happened.
Tenrec tactics
Primitive mammals with various defence strategies.
Tenrecs are extraordinary. They are possibly the most primitive living mammals. They also have the record for the most babies, 36 in one go. Some have spines for defence. Others have no spines, and instead bite to defend themselves. The large ones also hibernate, getting very fat before they do. This makes them very tasty to the local people who hunt them with dogs. The large tenrec eats earthworms. The tenrec's nearest relative is found in Cuba and Haiti. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Marvellous Madagascar
Lying next to Africa in the Indian Ocean, this island covers a huge variety of habitats.
From mountains and volcanos to rainforest and parched desert, Madagascar has a huge variety of different habitats. It has a fauna entirely of its own with animals that live nowhere else in the world, and long before Europeans visited the island, it had a reputation of containing weird mythical beasts. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Chemical warfare
The tenrec's nose is sensitive to a soldier termite's defence mechanism.
A long-eared tenrec hunts for termites in Madagascar. The termites squirt noxious chemicals at it and eventually it has to leave the termite tunnels to get some fresh air.
Looting lemurs
Red-ruffed lemurs sleep off a fruit feast while their stock is raided by brown lemurs.
Red-ruffed lemurs sleep off a fruit feast while their stock is raided by brown lemurs.
Clinging chameleons
A chameleon has a pincer-like grip and sharp claws.
Chameleons are not difficult to catch, providing you can get near them. David Attenborough climbs high into a tree to track one down. Chameleons have a strong grip with their toes and their tails. They can hang on with hind legs and tail alone.
Perfect protection
David Attenborough finds over a hundred pill millipedes in the undergrowth
Although it looks like a giant version of the little woodlouse we find under stones in our gardens at home, it is not in fact a close relative. As a piece of functional design it's almost perfect - the millipede can roll up into a ball, with no cracks in its armour whatsoever. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Creatures of the night
A tiny mouse lemur and rare aye aye stalk the forests at night.
A tiny mouse lemur and rare aye aye stalk the forests at night.
Leaf litter living
The pygmy leaf chameleon - a perfect miniature and the smallest chameleon.
The pygmy leaf chameleon - a perfect miniature and the smallest chameleon.
Eerie echoes
Indris respond to a recording of their calls.
On hearing a recording of indri calls, the local indris respond with alarm. David Attenborough can see them and tries to get closer. The indris are high in the trees, watching him. They are big animals, about three feet tall and they're clearly fascinated by sounds they're hearing.
Indri family
Some indris are skittish, others more relaxed.
David Attenborough gets to know an indri family with four individuals. They spend most of their days grooming each other, but the youngsters get disturbed when nearby birds come for a closer look. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Seaside specialties
At low tide David Attenborough explores the nearby coral reefs
The island of Madagascar is surrounded by coral reefs, and at low tide, an intrepid David Attenborough goes exploring. Some of the species are unfamiliar, but others are very similar to the animals found closer to home, purple brittlestars and pink sea urchins, are just some of the finds David comes across in the shallows. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Lemur paradise
Without predators, lemurs exploit every environment on Madagascar.
The lemurs of Madagascar have developed in their own niche environment. Golden lemurs feed on the pith of bamboo. Bamboo contains cyanide which in small doses can be fatal, yet this lemur has the ability to eat more than 12 times the amount which would kill an animal of a similar size.
Forest voices
The indris of Madagascar use calls to keep rivals out of their patch.
The indris of Madagascar use calls to keep rivals out of their patch.
Sensitive sifakas
The 200 remaining silky sifakas avoid disturbance by retreating to Madagascar's most inaccessible valleys.
The 200 remaining silky sifakas avoid disturbance by retreating to Madagascar's most inaccessible valleys.
Hard to see
The leaf-tailed gecko is a master of disguise.
David Attenborough finds a leaf-tailed gecko, camouflaged against a tree-trunk. It is so well disguised, it is very hard to see. This little creature terrifies most Madagascans since they believe it to have a powerful evil spirit. If you touch one they say you must cut that part of your body to cleanse the evil with your blood. Its camouflage works because of flaps and growths that prevent it casting any shadows. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
A fishy tale
A coelacanth links land dwellers with their ocean heritage.
David Attenborough goes to the Madagascar Research Institute's laboratory to see its most famous fish - the coelacanth. Until 1938 it was believed to be extinct. The coelacanth, or a fish very like it, would have been the ancestor of all amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Leaping lemurs
How does a sifaka manage to negotiate thorny trees?
Dideria plants are odd looking and covered in spines, making this forest difficult to travel through. Sifakas, however, don't seem to have trouble. It is said to make gigantic leaps, and David Attenborough tries to see how it does it. Sifaka food is almost exclusively vegetable. They are very picky eaters which makes them difficult to keep in captivity. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
High life lemurs
Larger bodies and thicker coats equip a few troops of ring-tailed lemurs for a life in the desolate mountains.
Larger bodies and thicker coats equip a few troops of ring-tailed lemurs for a life in the desolate mountains.
Hidden hunter
The leaf tailed gecko has extra skin flaps and coloured irises.
The leaf tailed gecko has extra skin flaps and coloured irises.
Poachers' target
Dismantling a trap helps protect rare brown lemurs.
Brown lemurs are becoming rare. Laws have been passed to protect them but poachers have laid a trap, a noose on a low branch. David Attenborough helps dismantle the trap. The lemurs climbing about in the trees include a female with a baby. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Transformation
A comet moth leaves the cocoon and stretches its wings.
When a comet moth emerges from its cocoon it is a limp, ugly thing. As it gulps air and inflates its wings it changes shape and reveals handsome patterns. A quarter of an hour passes and the forewings are almost fully developed. In an hour the moth has competed its transformation. The male has longer pennants than the female. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Little nippers
Mouse lemurs are small but have a sharp bite.
Mouse lemurs live in holes in trees and are mainly nocturnal. They are quite like their distant relatives, the bush babies. They are the smallest primates. Although cuddly to look at, they are quite fierce and are reluctant to let go once they've bitten you. They have good hearing and store fat in their tails for hibernation. Two females may be pregnant and it is hoped that a colony can be established at London Zoo. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Shell suit
A ploughshare tortoise in Madagascar tips over his rival to win a mate.
A ploughshare tortoise in Madagascar tips over his rival to win a mate.
Pitfall for ants
The antlion creates a trap and lies in wait for its prey.
An antlion larvae buries itself at the bottom of a tiny pit and throws sand up to start a miniature avalanche. Ants tumble down and once grabbed, there is no escape. David Attenborough digs up an antlion larvae to see what it looks like. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Spineless species?
Tenrecs are prickly but symbolise cowardice.
David Attenborough finds tenrecs under a dead log. They resemble hedgehogs, but are not related. They only live in Madagascar. The locals regard them as cowardly creatures, since they roll into a ball when frightened. Back at London zoo the female gave birth to a litter, but killed several of them. The remaining babies were hand-reared. This clip was originally broadcast in 1961.
Holding court
It's a female fossa's perogative to choose between her suitors.
Adept at balancing on thin branches, a fossa is at home in the trees of Madagascar. A female on a high branch is ready to mate and attracts numerous males to the area. She will chase off all those suitors she does not approve of and allow only the chosen one to mate with her. Balancing on a high branch the mating is a noisy, precarious affair.
Milk and honey
Certain geckos extract sweet honeydew from insects.
Certain geckos extract sweet honeydew from insects.
Net etiquette
On Madagascar, fishing is shrouded in superstition.
Fish caught in Madagascar are highly prized. There are many superstitions and taboos surrounding fishing: taking an orange or lemon in your canoe, walking underneath a net, or setting out on a fishing trip straight after a meal all mean you won't catch anything. Stealing another man's net means you will get leprosy. If a stranger on the beach asks for a fish, he will be given it as a gift, as generosity will guarantee a generous catch the following day. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Crocodile ancestors
Villagers sacrifice a cow to appease the local crocodiles.
According to local legend on Madagascar, a village of miserly and mean people was cursed by a witch-doctor and drowned in a flood. The inhabitants are now believed to live on as crocodiles in the lake. Local people summon them to seek their aid and sacrifice a cow to offer them meat. Each crocodile is known individually to the villagers and has a name. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Spider pulley
Unique behaviour as a snail shell spider hoists an empty shell up high to safety.
Unique behaviour as a snail shell spider hoists an empty shell up high to safety.
Tortoise in trouble
Confined to Madagascar's southern scrublands, radiated tortoises could be extinct within 20 years.
Confined to Madagascar's southern scrublands, radiated tortoises could be extinct within 20 years.
Grandidier's mongoose
One of the world's rarest carnivores survives almost entirely on a diet of insects in Madagascar.
One of the world's rarest carnivores survives almost entirely on a diet of insects in Madagascar.
Rock climbing lemurs
Crowned lemurs navigate the razor sharp rocks separating isolated forest pockets.
Crowned lemurs navigate the razor sharp rocks separating isolated forest pockets.
Lac Alaotra lemur
In the reed beds of a single Madagascan lake lives a highly specialised lemur.
In the reed beds of a single Madagascan lake lives a highly specialised lemur.
Giraffe-necked weevils
While a female busily constructs an egg pouch, two males fight for the right to mate with her.
While a female busily constructs an egg pouch, two males fight for the right to mate with her.
Madagascar's indris
Descendants of primitive mammals washed in from Africa, indris are unique to the island.
Descendants of primitive mammals washed in from Africa, indris are unique to the island.
Lemur locomotion
Slow motion analysis of the sifaka's leaping gait shows its prowess over the nimble fossa.
Slow motion analysis of the sifaka's leaping gait shows its prowess over the nimble fossa.
Mouse lemurs
Rare footage of the world's smallest primate.
These tiny and vulnerable nocturnal primates are rightly very wary of light. The HD camera's capacity to record in low light wasn't sufficient, so the crew rigged up a dimmer switch to habituate the lemurs to increasing levels gradually, over several weeks. A sophisticated rope access system enabled the crew to film high up in the baobab trees.
Flowering baobabs
High up in the branches of the baobab a little-seen spectacle takes place.
Occurring high above ground, at night and for only a short time each year, the opening of the baobab's flowers is rarely observed. The crew used rope access and special climbers to reach the tree tops. Once there, they were able to avoid the usual grainy footage associated with night filming by using low light capable HD cameras.
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