Episode
Nature: The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Living Together
Overview
Scientists have long attempted to discover why animals rarely live alone. Animal society seems to be based on despotic rule by the strongest, tempered by the powerful attractive forces of sex. Portrayals of Thorlief Schjelderup-Ebbe, Solly Zuckerman, Clarence Ray Carpenter, Frank Fraser Darling, William Hamilton, and Amotz Zahavi, show the contributions of each of these men towards understanding the puzzle.
Details
- Series
- Nature
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 13
- Air date
- 1983-01-02
- Runtime
- 53 min
Episode context
The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Living Together is Episode 13 in Season 1 of Nature. It aired on 1983-01-02. The runtime is 53 min.
Previous / Next
More episodes from this season
Episode 11: The Discovery of Animal Behavior: A Question of Learning
First there is a re-creation of Ivan Pavlov's experiments which led to the discovery of the "conditioned reflex." Then we see the investigation by Otto Pfungst of "Kluge Hans" (Clever Hans) a horse whose apparent knowledge of arithmetic was actually response to subtle signals from his trainer. We also see dramatizations of Thomdike's experiments with chicks, Watson's with terns, and B. F. Skinner's famed work at Harvard in the thirties.
Episode 10: The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Search for the Mind
In 1848, Charles Darwin began the quest to understand the mysteries of the animal mind. Following Darwin's achievement - suggesting a plausible process for evolution: natural selection - Lewis Henry Morgan discovered evidence of cogitation in beavers. George Romanes experimented with fish, cats, and dogs, Douglas Spalding with newborn chicks, all finding apparent mental activity. Meanwhile Jacques Loeb attempted to prove animals "mindless."
Episode 9: The Discovery of Animal Behavior: In Praise of God
Theologians and clerics in the 17th and 18th centuries were among the first to study animal behavior. John Ray began in the 1600's to catalog "the work of the Creation," starting with plants and later including birds. Sir Francis Willoughby continued this work. Rev. Gilbert White studied bird songs, Charlie LeRoy experimented with wolves and deer, and Charles Waterton wrote about jungle animals.
Episode 8: The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Natural Mysteries
The first of the series takes us back to the 13th Century to explore medieval superstitions of ancient "naturalists." Frederick II of Hohenstaufen had a passion for falconry that resulted in his immense illustrated book De Arte Venandi Cum Artibus (On the Art of Hunting With Birds.) Series host is Dr. Donald Johanson, noted paleoanthropologist and director of the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California.
Episode 7: Forest in the Clouds
Surveying Costa Rica's Monte Verde preserve, which contains some 200 varieties of trees, including 300-ft. oaks. Animal life includes deadly scorpions; army ants; and plumed quetzals, sacred bird of the Maya civilization.
Episode 6: On the Edge of Paradise
Examines the fragile ecology of the Caribbean area in a unique and vivid look at the forces affecting this area's ecological balance, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, the continuing evolution of different wildlife and man's influence. International agreements and commissions created to protect the Caribbean area are also covered.
Episode 5: Kopje: A Rock for All Seasons
Episode 4: Amate: The Great Fig Tree
Episode 3: The Flight of the Condor: Down the Amazon
The third part of the series is a spectacular visual trip down the fabled river. From the snow-clad summit of the volcano Cotopaxi and others comes the greatest river in the world as melting ice creates a torrent that drops three miles in its first short distance. The river is fed by magnificent waterfalls and is channeled through gorges out into the tropical rain forest where there are more species of birds than anywhere.
Episode 2: The Flight of the Condor: Ocean, Desert, and Thin Air
While the cold waters of the Pacific Coast of South America are among the richest in the world, the shore is the driest desert in the world. Yet it is not at all devoid of life. Lizards snatch morsels from the waves, and seagulls fly 40 miles into the desert to nest. The condor searches for carrion and vampire bats feed on the blood of sleeping sea lions. This is a beautiful portrait of a giant land.