Inside Nature's Giants - Season 1 - Eps 4: The Giraffe

Name: Eps 4: The Giraffe
Released: 2009-07-20
Rating: 4.8

2009-07-20 • 60 min • ⭐ 9.5/10

Veterinary scientist Mark Evans acts as guide as a team of experts investigate the giraffe. Creationists question how this extraordinary creature could have evolved such a long neck, but for evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins the anatomy of the world's tallest animal provides some of the best arguments in favour of Darwinian natural selection. For example, one nerve takes a huge detour up and down the long neck, from the voice box to the brain, via the chest - hardly the work of an `Intelligent Designer'. And, despite its length, the neck still only has seven vertebrae - the same number as almost all mammals, from mice to humans and whales. But it's no wonder the giraffe has the highest blood pressure of any animal; with a heart not much bigger than our own it must pump blood at high pressure around a towering body. It has evolved thick skin that acts as a natural 'G-suit' and a complex circulation system to avoid passing out when raising and lowering its head. And as the dissection team piece together the remarkable evolutionary story of the giraffe, biologist Simon Watt observes them in the field as they eat, forage and fight.

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About Inside Nature's Giants

Title: Inside Nature's Giants

First Air Date: 2009-06-29

Last Air Date: 2012-04-23

Status: Ended

Rating: 9.5/10 (from 2 votes)

Language: EN

Seasons: 5

Total Episodes: 18

Network: Channel 4

Genres: Documentary

Production Companies: Unknown

Synopsis

Inside Nature's Giants is a British science documentary, first broadcast in June 2009 by Channel 4. The documentary shows experts performing dissection on some of nature's largest animals, including whales and elephants. The programme is presented by Mark Evans. The series attempts to uncover the secrets of the animals examined. Mark is assisted by evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins and Simon Watt, and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg. The show is currently airing on PBS in the United States and repeats are currently airing on Eden and Watch in the UK. There is an iPad application that allows you to see every animal the show have worked on close up.