Animal Atlas Season 6, Episode 19: “S” Is for Species

Amazing Animal Facts: The Primates

An exploration into the world of the primates: from apes, to monkeys, to prosimians. How they differ, how to tell them apart, what they have in common.

When Is a Monkey a Monkey?

A closer look at monkeys: the old world and the new world; the biggest and the smallest; the baboons, the guenons, the tamarins.

Life as an Ape

A fascinating exploration into the world of the four great apes: the gorilla, the orangutan, the chimpanzee, and the bonobo.

Amazing Animal Facts: The Birds

All that’s fascinating about birds: from feathers, to flight, to beaks and bills. The biggest, the flightless, the raptors, the nut-crackers. The parrots, the owls, and the ostrich.

Night & Day: Nocturnal & Diurnal

An exploration into the world of animals that are not only nocturnal and diurnal, but crepuscular. We look at why animals are awake at one time instead of another, and what special sensory adaptations they have for nocturnal living.

Maturity & Longevity

Amazing Animal Facts: The Reptiles

We delve into the secrets of snakes and lizards, alligators and crocodiles, and turtles and tortoises.

Ancient Animals: The Creatures that Time Forgot

A look at the animals living today who were around at the time of the dinosaurs, and even before. We look at how some animals have changed a great deal while others have hardly changed at all, and why these animals survived when the dinosaurs didn’t.

A Shiver of Sharks, a Zeal of Zebras

A wild ride into animal nomenclature.

Bones? Who Needs ‘Em?!

A closer look at bones, from animals with a backbone (vertebrates), to those with skeletons made of cartilage (sharks), to those animals who don’t need bones at all (invertebrates). We ask what constitutes an exoskeleton, a hydrostatic skeleton, and a turtle’s carapace.

What’s Wild in the Neighborhood?

An exploration into the world of wild animals that live in our human neighborhoods. What makes a habitat livable? We look at how the temperature, plant life, and climate determine where an animal lives.

The Life Arboreal

A panoramic look at animals that live in trees. We ask how they get up there in the first place (climb, fly, leap), what adaptations they have to live as tree-dwellers (claws to prehensile tails), and which animals we can expect to find in trees (birds, monkeys), including those we don’t (kangaroos).

Life As an Amphibian

An exploration into the watery life of amphibians, including colorful frogs, toads, newts, salamanders. An examination of what amphibians have in common with other cold-blooded creatures such as fish and reptiles, and what sets them apart. Finally, a trip from an amphibian’s larval stage through its adult stage, and a look at the important role water plays in the amphibian lifecycle.

Lizard Wizards

A look at what’s great and fascinating about the nearly 5,000 species of lizards alive today, from chameleons to iguanas to basilisks. First, an examination of what makes a lizard a reptile, and what these incredible creatures have in common with other reptiles, especially snakes. Next, a look at what is common to all lizards, such as being cold-blooded and scaly-skinned. Finally, a rundown of some amazing facts about specific lizards, such as the ability to lose a tail and grow a new one, and to have 180 degrees of vision.