Archives for January 2019 | Nature Documentaries

Home » 2019 » January

A Giant Forest Ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) Worker Foraging in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

January 30, 2019 at 12:24 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

This short observation was filmed on Nov 23rd 2016 in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore. Malaysian giant forest ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) is a central place forager. The colony structure is described as polydomous. Workers communicate efficiently and recruit effectively to optimize foraging yield. Large workers have evolved ergonomy to be self-sufficient in most tasks. Its diet is mostly honeydew and excrements but can also prey on insects. These ants have been reported to have up to 14 subterranean nests and […]

Continue reading »
The Origin of Species: Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree – Dan Lewitt / HHMI (2013)

January 30, 2019 at 12:07 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Video

Anole lizards together with cichlid fishes and Darwin’s finches are one of the star organisms in studying a rapid evolution pattern called adaptive radiation. Jonathan Losos is a veteran field biologist that has studied the traits that enable dozens of anole species to adapt to different niches in the islands of the Caribbean. Differences in limb length, body shape, and toepad size allow different species to be successful on the ground. However on vegetation surfaces such as thin branches, or […]

Continue reading »
Galapagos Finch Evolution – Dan Lewitt – HHMI (2013)

January 28, 2019 at 1:53 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Video

The Galapagos is home to many iconic species. Each are unique on their own and form a case study in evolutionary biology. Darwin’s finches and mocking birds with their striking beak morphology provided the first clues to Darwin in formulating the mechanism of evolution by natural selection. The Galapagos was the origin of the Origin of the Species. Finches in the island of Daphne Major have been studied for more than 40 years by Princeton University scientists Peter and Rosemary […]

Continue reading »
Virtual Reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism – Michael Wright & Mogi Vicentini (2009)

January 24, 2019 at 7:51 pm / Human Nature, Video

Trying to predict future is one of the characteristics of Human nature which ultimately gave us the scientific method. Antikythera Mechanism is one of the best demonstrations of human intellect attempting to understand nature systematically. The contraption is most certainly a very complex device. It is an impressively accurate “analog model” of our then earth-centric universe. The Antikythera Mechanism was built like a clock. Trains of interlocking gearwheels controlled the movements of a minimum of seven pointers perfectly tracking the […]

Continue reading »
Person of the Forest – Melissa Lesh/Tim Laman (2017)

January 18, 2019 at 10:58 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Wildlife Documentaries

As an emerging filmmaker Melissa Lesh has joined forces with veteran National Geographic writer and photographer Tim Laman, anthropologist Cheryll Knott and explorer Robert Suro in this informative documentary. The team works in lowland rainforests of Borneo to document and understand the unique cultural behaviors of orangutans in the wild. The work of researchers spans more than 20 years during which they recorded fascinating orangutan behavior including making pillows, fashioning umbrellas and displaying regional greetings. Long term observations of primates […]

Continue reading »
Backstage in the Wild: Yale Insights into Chimpanzee – David Watts (2012)

January 16, 2019 at 9:22 am / Evolution, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

This short but densely informative interview is a must-see resource about our closest primate cousins, the chimpanzees. Yale University Anthropologist Dr. David Watts educates us about social interactions and behavior of chimpanzees based on what has been learned from long-term non-Human primate observations. Observation of his and his co-workers at the University of Michigan from the Kibale National Park and Ugandan national park Ngogo formed the basis for feature films such as the Chimpanzee made by the veteran BBC filmmaker […]

Continue reading »
The Last Neanderthal – Pierangelo Pirak (2016)

January 2, 2019 at 2:32 pm / Evolution, Human Nature, Video

Neandertals form a curious part of Human heritage. Fossil and genetic evidence suggest that the two Human populations split sometime between 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. Neandertals went extinct 30,000 years ago. For decades, the general impression about the Neandertals were as brutish, primitive beings. However the more we investigate the more we learn and become intrigued about these master ice age survivors. The director Pierangelo Pirak’s documentary is a concatenation of multiple short episodes exploring issues such as what […]

Continue reading »