Animal Atlas

- Season 4

(2007)

We visit the very fast cheetah, horse, and peregrine falcon, the very slow tortoise, and many animals in between.

Many animals represent something to us: the lion is courage; the bear is strength and fortitude; the bald eagle is freedom; the kangaroo is progressive, and a whole lot more.

There is a wide variety of tails in the animal kingdom. From the prehensile tails of the New World monkeys, to the fly swishing tails of the pig family, to the display tails of lemurs, most tails serve a purpose.

What serves as a head in the animal kingdom? We look at the round and familiar (two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth) heads of the primates, to those with long jaws or snouts like the alligator.

A look at how fish live, swim, and survive. We also look at what's special about fish, both the bony and the cartilaginous. From breathing with gills, to having scales and fins, both single and paired, to a wide variety of coloring.

A closer look at the domestic dog: its super senses, how breeding has changed its appearance, the histories of different breeds, and what working dogs do.

A look at the cat family, from domestic cat to wild cats, and an investigation into where domestic cats come from and how wild cats hunt.

A comparative look at the members of the dog and cat family: their super senses, their respective roles as carnivorous predators, which is the fastest, and which is the long distance runner.

A panoramic look at a variety of reptiles, from snakes to lizards and alligators to turtles. What makes a reptile a reptile? What characteristics do they all share? What makes them different and why?

The world of the domestic horse, from breeds to breeding, to the biggest and the smallest, to the horse's historic relationship with man.

An exploratory journey into the Animal Kingdom's greatest mysteries from what exactly is a seahorse, to why can't ostriches fly, to why tigers have stripes, to what on Earth is an elephant's trunk?

A panorama of interesting animals whose looks defy their true identity, from the naked mole rat (not a mole, not a rat), to the okapi, the only living relative of the giraffe.

A walk on the wild side with members of the pig family and those rodents whose names have negative connotations but who are really remarkable, if not admirable creatures.

A visit into the world of the arachnids, and a vivid explanation of which animals are venomous and why, like the tarantula and the rattlesnake, and which are poisonous, like the poison dart frog.

A look at the many different coverings on animals' bodies. From animals with interesting skin, such as turtles and thick-skinned pachyderms like the hippo and the elephant, to remarkable animals with fur.

A panoramic look at animals that are truly amazing,from an egg-laying mammal, to a kangaroo that lives in trees, to the only living North American marsupial, the opossum.

What animals are the most social? A prairie dog coterie and town? A group of dwarf mongooses? Plus, why do animals live together, from herds, to hives, to extended primate families?

An introduction to animals with wings from birds, to mammals, to insects. We ask what makes flight possible, and necessary, in the animal world.

A look at animals who have more than the traditional five senses, from the smell-taste sense of animals with the amazing Jacobson organ (snakes, lions, zebras), to animals with the swim bladder, which prevents underwater collisions.

A journey down the life-sustaining river where water dwellers include the humongous Nile hippopotamus, the giant anteater, the river otter, and the strange looking bush dog.

We correct some of the most whopping misconceptions about animals, from the idea that 'dolphins are fish' (not), to 'bald eagles are bald' (not), to the belief that there's only one kind of elephant (not).

We delve into the secrets of one of the most beloved insects in the world: the colorful, graceful, winged butterfly: what butterflies eat, how they live and how they fly.

A look at the great predatory birds, from the eagle to the hawk to the owl. How they hunt, how they fly, their super senses, and the adaptations that help them to pursue and capture prey.

A close look at a family of eight chimpanzees who live in a wild-like habitat at the zoo. Hear their individual stories and some amazing facts about the great apes.

Meet the flightless penguins. A look at how penguins live and survive. Plus, meet the neighboring puffin as we ask, 'why can one fly, but not the other?'

A look back at some of the zoos Animal Atlas has visited and the special animals we've met, such as Cinder, the hairless chimpanzee at the St. Louis Zoo; Scooby, the mane-less lion at Branson Zoo and Aquarium; and many others.