BBC Life On Earth Disc 1: The First Forests (1979)

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Some four hundred million years ago, tiny moss-like together with segmented creatures such as millipedes began to emerge from the waters to colonize the land. The plants, deprived of the support of water, had to develop woody stems to stand upright and reach the light. The animals had to find ways of transferring sex cells from one another without help of water - and that was a hazardous business.
Peter's DVD rating: 4.5 stars
David Attenborough traces the adaptation of life to a terrestrial environment. He continues his annoying habit of avoiding the use of important terms; how much would it hurt to state that the "branching tubes" and "pores" that a millipede uses to breathe are called trachea and spiracles? And why not just tell us that those spore-bearing structures on ferns are called sori? Some more nitpicks: scorpions do not have "claws" but pedipalps. The best scenes are the various arthropods mating: watch for the transfer of the sperm packet. The last 5 minutes focus on the different ways insects beat their wings.
5:20 Liverwort 6:45 Liverwort fertilization 8:10 Moss capsule
8:45 Millipede 10:30 Scorpion 11:25 Jumping Spider
13:45 Millipedes mating 14:40 Scorpions mating 17:25 Jumping Spiders mating
19:10 Wolf Spiders mating 21:30 Moss stem cross section 23:10 Clubmoss fossil stem cross section (Wales)
23:45 Horsetail 24:20Tree Ferns 25:15 Fern sori
27:00 Fern fertilization 28:10 Bristletail 28:30 Silverfish
29:00 Dragonfly molting 32:25 Dragonfly wing beat 35:00 Cycad pollen cone
35:35 Cycad sperm swimming 36:15 Conifer fossil (Petrified Forest, Arizona) 38:40 Conifer pollen cone
41:30 Amber 45:40 Lacewing wing beat 45:50 Caddisfly wing beat
46:00 Bee wing beat 46:35 Beetle wing beat 47:30 Chafer wing beat
48:10 Hoverfly mating in air 48:50 Cranefly wing beat , using halteres as stabilizers 49:45 Hoverfly wing beat , using halteres.
51:30 Flowering Plants      
Hepatophyta
5:20 Liverwort 		Hepatophyta
6:45 Liverwort fertilization		 Bryophyta
8:10 Moss capsule
Chilopoda
8:45 Millipede 		Scorpionida
10:30 Scorpion 		Salticidae
11:25 Jumping Spider
Chilopoda
13:45 Millipedes mating		 Scorpionida
14:40 Scorpions mating		 Salticidae
17:25 Jumping Spiders mating
Lycosidae
19:10 Wolf Spiders mating		 Bryophyta
21:30 Moss stem		 Lycophyta
23:10 Clubmoss fossil stem
Equisetum
23:45 Horsetail 		Pteridophyta
24:20 Ferns		 Pteridophyta
25:15 Fern sori
Pteridophyta
27:00 Fern fertilization		 Thysanura
28:10 Bristletail 		Lepisma saccharina
28:30 Silverfish
Anisoptera
29:00 Dragonfly molting		 Anisoptera
32:25 Dragonfly wing beat		 Cycadophyta
35:00 Cycad pollen cone
Cycadophyta
35:35 Cycad sperm swimming		 Coniferophyta
36:15 Conifer fossil		 Coniferophyta
38:40 Conifer pollen cone
AMBER
41:30 Amber 		Neuroptera
45:40 Lacewing wing beat		 Trichoptera
45:50 Caddisfly wing beat
Hymenoptera
46:00 Bee wing beat		 Coleoptera
46:35 Beetle wing beat		 Melolonthinae
47:30 Chafer wing beat
Syrphidae
48:10 Hoverfly mating in air		 Tipulidae
48:50 Cranefly wing beat		 Syrphidae
49:45 Hoverfly wing beat
ANGIOSPERM
51:30 Flowering Plants 		   

Index Jan 07, 2006 CC BY 4.0 Peter Chen 2.0