Animal Atlas

- Season 5

(2008)

An exploration into how animals move on land (hop, walk, crawl, climb), in the water (swim underwater or travel along the water's surface), and through the air (powered flight, gliding and soaring).

A look at how the Animal Kingdom is divided: those with a backbone, those without; those who eat meat, those who eat only vegetation, and those who eat both.

A closer look at the biggest animal in the world, the elephant, and the fastest animal in the world, the cheetah. How they live, and why they are so big and fast, respectively, along with other interesting animals who are either, or both, huge and speedy.

A very close look at some remarkable animal babies: horse foals, kangaroo joeys, baby porcupines, wolf cubs, water buffalo calves, hawk chicks, baby owls, and ape infants.

A journey into the world of animals that only eat vegetation. This list includes some of the biggest animals on the planet, such as elephants, hippos, and rhinos.

A panoramic look at birds who are defined by the bodies of water where they live, including ducks, geese, shorebirds, wading birds, puffins, and penguins.

An exploration into the amazing array of creatures that live in the damp and fertile rain forests of the world, from colorful birds, to huge snakes and spiders, to various monkeys, to strange-looking mammals and fierce predators.

A journey in to the world of predators and prey, with a close look at the varying adaptations and strategies each has for dealing with the other.

A fascinating look at how an animal's diet determines not only where and how it lives, but what it looks like. From an animal's skull shape, to the number and type of its teeth.

A visit to some of the eight kinds of the bears in the world: the giant panda, the polar bear, the black bear, the brown bear and the sun bear.

An exploration into the world of cats: from wild (lions, tigers, mountain lions, leopards, jaguars, etc.) to domestic, both large and small.

An up close and personal look at the extraordinary elephant, both the Asian elephant and the African elephant, including the misconceptions, myths and facts surrounding this mighty pachyderm.

A closer look at two very rare and very beautiful animals from the remote forests of China: the giant panda and the red panda.

A wild ride into the world of nomenclature: from how animals are categorized (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) to how they end up with scientific names.

A journey into the world of domesticated animals. We look at where they live, whether on farms, ranches, or in our urban homes. We find out which animals were the first to be domesticated.

A panoramic look at what makes a mammal a mammal (hair, mammary glands, warm-blooded), including some unusual mammals.

An exploration into how animals live outdoors. How do they survive temperature extremes? What kind of shelters do they find or make? How do some manage to survive underwater?

A closer look at animals that have "something extra," whether it's an extraordinary sense, special padding, protuberances, or teeth.

A comparative look at four lions in the animal kingdom (two cats, one aquatic mammal, and one fish): the African lion; the mountain lion; the California sea lion; and the lion fish.

An engaging exploration of the world of tortoises and turtles, the oldest living reptiles. We shine a light on the life in a shell.

A closer look at three kinds of otters: marine otters, river otters, and Asian small-clawed otters. What do they have in common, how do they differ, and how do they hunt, swim and live a semi-aquatic life?

A visit to a prairie dog town to meet its inhabitants and examine their highly social way of life. We dig up the history of the prairie dog on the North American grasslands.

A closer look at the fascinating world of the meat-eaters: the hunters, the insectivores, the carrion feeders, carnivores who can't move, and carnivores who don't have a brain.

An examination of the concept of "fun" in the animal kingdom. How do animals show their pleasure? Do some animals smile? We discuss the idea of anthropomorphism and how it colors the way humans perceive the animal world.

We take a panoramic look at animals that might be found in a public aquarium, from fish, to sharks, to dolphins, to whales, to giant arthropods and "monsters" of the deep.

A fascinating look at how zoos came into being. We look at two specific zoos: one which began as a 19th century traveling circus, the other which rose from the fields of a 19th century farm.