David Attenborough looks at why mammals are the most successful creatures on the planet. Here he visits Australia and South America to study the lives of marsupials and then moves on to mammals such as humans, who develop their young in wombs rather than pouches.
When the giant reptiles disappeared, the mammals seized the chance to conquer new territory. David meets moles that can swim through sand, a shrew that hunts underwater, and the world's strangest bat in New Zealand.
David Attenborough looks at some of the biggest predators on Earth whose plant prey is armoured, indigestible and sometimes even poisonous. The animals examined include the sloth that lives on nothing but leaves, the rubble rabbit that makes poisons work to its advantage and even elephants who go underground to mine for salt lacking in their green diet.
David Attenborough looks at rodents, who possess incisor teeth with chisel-sharp enamel on their front edges. Among the animals observed are the agouti, a terrier-sized rodent that can bite through rock-hard shells, the beaver, which can fell trees with its teeth, and the capybara, a relative of the guinea pig, which is the largest rodent in the world.
David Attenborough looks at carnivores, from arctic foxes who store up food for the winter, through pack-hunting wolves, to big cats. Using infrared, he trails a lone leopard, and seeks out the biggest cat of all, the Siberian tiger.
David Attenborough looks at omnivores, animals that eat whatever is around at the time. They need to be opportunists and have developed skills and features to adapt to their situation. Featuring raccoons with their sensitive hands and bears that gorge while the salmon are running upriver, before hibernating through winter.
David Attenborough
Host
