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These are the waters
of the lowest lake in the world.
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They lie over a thousand feet
below the level of the oceans.
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And these strange formations
are not ice, but salt.
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This is the Dead Sea.
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It's so hot here that most of the streams,
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which once in a while trickle down
the surrounding hills,
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dry up before they get as far as this.
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Those few that do reach this lake
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bring some of the salt with them,
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having dissolved it from the rocks
and soils over which they flowed.
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Browny springs also bubble up
from the bottom of the lake.
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And as the waters lie here,
evaporating under this intense sun,
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they become so concentrated
that the salt crystallises out.
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Once, very much the same sort of thing,
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though on an immensely greater scale,
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was happening in the basin
of the Mediterranean.
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20 million years ago, Africa was an island
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lying well to the south of Europe and Asia.
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As the millennia passed, it moved slowly
northwards and collided with Europe,
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sealing off an arm of the ocean,
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first at its eastern end
as Arabia pressed against Syria,
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then in the west, where, close to Gibraltar,
Africa touched Spain.
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The imprisoned sea now began to evaporate.
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Even the water flowing into it
from the great rivers
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like the Rhone and the Nile couldn't save it.
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Within a few centuries the vast basin,
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2,000 miles long and three miles deep,
dried out.
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And then, about five and a half
million years ago,
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at the western end,
the Atlantic 0cean broke through.
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The falls were probably about 50 times
higher than Niagara today.
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And because they stretched for many miles,
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the flow over them was around
a thousand times greater.
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Every 24 hours, some 40 cubic miles of water
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00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,591
cascaded down into the huge trench beneath.
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For a century or more, the waters poured in
and slowly the great basin filled.
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The waters rose up around the coasts.
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Mountains were turned into islands,
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and the Mediterranean we know today
was born.
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The evidence for the extraordinary fact
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that the Mediterranean was once dry
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is direct and incontrovertible.
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It comes from rock like this.
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Wherever you bore
in the bottom of the Mediterranean,
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about 600 ft below the bottom of the sea,
45
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the drills bring up cores like this, full of salt.
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00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,273
Salt which extends downwards
for a further mile or more.
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Salt, which from its chemical composition
and distribution in the Mediterranean,
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could only have been laid down
if the Mediterranean had evaporated.
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00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:26,512
And that refilling of the basin,
around five and a half million years ago,
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00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:32,357
must surely have been the most sudden
and dramatic birth for any sea on earth.
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00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,752
And when it happened,
fish and other animals from the Atlantic
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swam in through the Straits of Gibraltar
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to recolonise this newborn sea.
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Today, four different species of dolphin
regularly visit the Mediterranean
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00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,595
and they often travel together.
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00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,229
In this shoal, there are both striped
and common dolphins.
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Even sperm whales, 50 feet long,
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call in each year during their global cruises.
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00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,395
Seals took up residence here so long ago
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that they have now evolved
into a distinct and unique species,
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The Mediterranean monk seal.
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Loggerhead turtles, too, swam in,
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floating lazily through
the warm surface waters,
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browsing on jellyfish and molluscs.
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They sped right along
the 2,000 mile length of the sea
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and some became permanent residents,
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breeding on beaches in Turkey and Greece.
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And, of course, fish came too, in huge numbers.
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Some, like these tunny, are still only visitors.
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They found the small new sea
a suitable haven for spawning.
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00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,600
They still do so every year,
and then swim back to the Atlantic 0cean.
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00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,150
But with them came vast numbers
of other fish species
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that quickly adopted the sea
as their permanent home.
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Some of the mountains that had once
stood on the floor of the dry basin
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and had now become islands were volcanoes.
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The forces deep in the earth's crust that
had dragged the continents across the globe
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had also created deep rifts
and faults in the earth's rocky skin,
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through which molten lava and ash erupted,
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00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,317
building up great peaks around the vents.
80
00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,310
Today the power has left
many of these volcanoes,
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00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,437
and little more than steam
rises from their craters.
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But some are still very active indeed.
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This is Etna, in Sicily, the biggest of all.
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Its huge cone has been built up
over many millennia
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and now stands over 10,000 feet high.
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00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:43,272
The mountain rumbles and blows cinders
into the air almost continuously.
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But every century or so,
it becomes catastrophically violent
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and rivers of molten lava pour down its flanks.
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00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:04,954
Not all the islands were volcanoes.
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Some were composed of limestone
that had formed on the floor of the sea
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before the great desiccation, and had been
pushed up like rucks in a carpet
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as Africa and Europe moved together.
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This is one of them. Malta.
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Each of these islands had living on it
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its own community of animals and plants.
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00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:27,510
And in their newly found isolation,
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they began evolving in their own strange way.
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There are caves in the rocks of Malta.
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00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:38,468
At the time when the rainfall
was very much higher than it is now,
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streams trickled through the rocks
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00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,478
and eventually dissolved away
great caverns like this one.
102
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And they also carried with them the remains
of animals that lived on the island at the time.
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Many of the smaller, more delicate bones,
of course, were smashed.
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But teeth are very durable.
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And from teeth found here
we know that hippopotamus
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and elephant lived here.
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But they were not like those
that are living today.
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This, for example, is the back grinding molar
of a modern elephant.
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But compare it with that of one
of those ancient Maltese elephants.
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The mud and the rubble under here
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is full of bones of one kind or another.
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And when it was first excavated,
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it produced literally thousands of teeth,
including this one.
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The back tooth of a Maltese elephant.
It was a pygmy.
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And we know from such teeth as this
and the rest of its bones
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that it was no bigger than a small pony.
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And there aren't only teeth of elephant.
There are teeth of hippo.
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It, too, was a dwarf.
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Here on the island
there was limited vegetation to feed on,
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so enormous growth wasn't easy to achieve.
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And neither were there any lions
or other predators,
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so there was no need to grow huge
as a defence against them,
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which is probably the reason that elephants
on the mainland are so gigantic.
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Such tiny hippos and elephants evolved
on the large island of Sicily to the north,
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and on several Greek islands to the east.
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To the west, in Sardinia, there were not only
small hippo and pygmy elephant,
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but strange pigs, dwarf deer and tiny monkeys.
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Farther west still lie the Balearic Islands,
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Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza.
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They, at one time, were interconnected
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and formed a single large land mass,
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and it too had its own unique fauna.
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Majorca, the biggest
of the surviving fragments,
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has yielded fossils showing
that it once possessed
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00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,239
a giant dormouse,
a shrew almost as big as a rabbit
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and a tiny antelope,
no bigger than a spaniel,
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that had developed
long, gnawing teeth like a rat.
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It, like the tiny elephants and hippos,
is now extinct.
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But one animal,
which we have known from fossils,
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has just been discovered alive.
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It lives in remote pools and streams
high in the mountains.
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So remote, in fact,
that its main enemy, the snake,
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which was only introduced into Majorca
in historic times,
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has not, so far, reached them.
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Like here.
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It's a tiny toad,
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clearly related to the midwife toad
of mainland Europe,
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with the same habit
that gives that toad its name.
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The male carries the eggs
entangled around its legs,
150
00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,393
and regularly goes for a swim with them
to prevent them from drying out.
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But it's sufficiently different to be
classified as a separate and unique species.
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Because it evolved on an island
where it had no enemies,
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it's changed in certain ways.
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It's lost, for example, the poison glands
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which serve its mainland relative as a defence.
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And its tadpoles have also changed slightly.
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There's some in the pool behind me.
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It's not so much their shape
that is unusual but their numbers.
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The female Majorca midwife produces many
fewer eggs than the females on the mainland.
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It had no need to produce great numbers
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because there were no snakes here that would
eat a large proportion of the tadpoles.
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00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:54,037
So when snakes did arrive, the little Majorca
midwife was quickly wiped out,
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and it only survives today in places like this
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which snakes haven't reached... yet.
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00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,155
These strange creatures started
evolving on these islands
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00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,913
some five and a half million years ago.
167
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,551
At that time, the Mediterranean region
as a whole was warm, with plenty of rain,
168
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,110
and, as a consequence,
thick forests were widespread.
169
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,710
They grew not only on the islands but
all around the mainland shores of the sea.
170
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,953
And they were much the same in character
on both the north shore and the south.
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00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,958
In them grew cedars and evergreen oak,
hawthorn and yew.
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00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,077
All trees that still grow in Europe.
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On the African shore, however, where it's very
much hotter today, they've died out.
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But 6,000 feet up in the Atlas mountains
in Morocco, where I am now,
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these forests still survive.
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00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:53,759
They may look European in character but in
them lives a very African animal.
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These are monkeys. Barbary macaques.
178
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,192
They're very competent climbers,
scrambling through the branches
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00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,590
collecting the tender leaves
of the cedars and the oaks.
180
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:22,955
They're also expert foragers on the ground,
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00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:27,238
collecting fallen acorns, digging up bulbs
and juicy roots,
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00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,754
and catching millipedes and earthworms.
183
00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,110
Macaques like these once lived in the forests
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00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,237
of the European shore
as well as here in Africa.
185
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,437
And, at one time, when the climate
was rather warmer than it is now,
186
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,274
they spread far north across Europe,
even as far as Britain,
187
00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,510
as their fossilised bones prove.
188
00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,194
The monkeys that live today
on the Rock of Gibraltar
189
00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,273
may in fact be a relic
of that ancient European population.
190
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,319
But during recent centuries their
numbers have been boosted many times
191
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:10,554
with importations of animals caught
in these cedar forests in Morocco.
192
00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,835
The young are strikingly
different in colour from the adults.
193
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,629
Usually, only one is born at a time.
Twins are very rare.
194
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,349
And the baby is most carefully
looked after by its parents.
195
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,192
The males take their share
of the baby minding,
196
00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:54,638
so allowing the females to go and gather food
unencumbered by an unruly baby.
197
00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,590
In fact, all the adults clearly
love playing with babies,
198
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,877
and are so eager to do so,
that they take on passengers
199
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,190
whether the baby belongs to them or not.
200
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,035
In spring, the skies above
these North African forests
201
00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:30,429
suddenly fill with birds.
202
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,869
White storks by the hundred.
203
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,952
Buzzards, kites and eagles.
204
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:26,433
They are wheeling around in thermals,
columns of warm air
205
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,512
that rise from the land, especially bare rock,
206
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,909
as it heats up each day in the sun,
207
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,390
and which can lift them thousands
of feet into the sky
208
00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:39,234
so that they have enough height
to glide right across the sea
209
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,914
to the northern European shore.
210
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:43,877
They are on their spring migration,
211
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,873
which will take them from Africa
far into northern Europe.
212
00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:01,838
Why should these birds make
such long and arduous journeys?
213
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:03,638
The reason seems clear enough.
214
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,429
In Europe, in summer,
when the ground is no longer frozen,
215
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:09,476
there's a great deal to eat.
216
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,553
Far more than the local birds that have wintered
there can deal with by themselves.
217
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,553
So that's the place
to build a nest and rear your young.
218
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,235
But how did these birds discover that
all those hundreds of miles away
219
00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:23,788
there were such rich feeding grounds?
220
00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:28,078
Well, the answer to that seems to be
that they weren't always so far away.
221
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,750
About two and a half million years ago,
222
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:40,356
the earth cooled and fell
into the grip of an ice age.
223
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,789
Ice caps developed
over Scandinavia and northern Britain
224
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,475
and glaciers slowly
ground their way southwards.
225
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,269
Southern Europe became
a treeless wasteland. Tundra.
226
00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,433
But in spring, it was alive with
insects, frogs and small rodents,
227
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,830
and many African birds began
to make the short trip across the sea
228
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:07,751
to feed and nest there.
229
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,469
Then, some 20,000 years ago,
the ice began to retreat
230
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,836
and the spring feeding grounds
moved northwards with it.
231
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,038
So year after year, the birds
had to make longer journeys.
232
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:23,750
As the climate continued to warm,
so the Sahara Desert began to form.
233
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,559
Now, the journeys the
spring breeders had to make
234
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:28,835
became formidable indeed.
235
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,590
It seems almost unbelievable
236
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,832
that such a tiny bird as a martin,
which weighs only a few ounces,
237
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,117
should have the energy to fly across the Sahara,
238
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,795
for there is little or no food for it on the way.
239
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,599
Martins and swallows are not gliders like storks,
240
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,513
but must continually beat their wings.
241
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:57,352
They have to take regular rests,
242
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,513
and here, there is nothing
to alight on except the hot sand.
243
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:39,636
Some are so exhausted
244
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,393
that they no longer have the strength
to get into the air
245
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,630
and die where they landed.
246
00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:00,230
0ases, where a spring bubbling up
from underground
247
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,996
provides enough water for trees to grow
are invaluable staging posts.
248
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,875
Warblers and redstarts,
flycatchers and wagtails,
249
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,351
insect eaters of all kinds call in here
and stay for several days,
250
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,352
feeding and resting,
and building up their strength
251
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,638
for the long days and nights flying
that still lie ahead.
252
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,038
Waders can't eat at all
253
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,395
until they get to the shore
of the Mediterranean
254
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,790
for they feed only on
small creatures that live in mud.
255
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,189
But when they do get
to the African coast,
256
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,909
they stay for several days,
feeding almost continuously.
257
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,309
And the lagoons along the coast in spring
258
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,595
are like restaurants on a motorway,
259
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,468
providing nonstop meals
for travellers from all parts.
260
00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,916
The curlew sandpiper may have come
from the shores of the Indian 0cean,
261
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,878
and be on its way to Siberia.
262
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,270
The spoonbills were probably feeding
only a week ago
263
00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:08,590
in the mangrove swamps of West Africa.
264
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,597
0n the European shore, spring has come.
265
00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:03,354
The plants created this rapid transformation
in several different ways.
266
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,557
Poppies and crown daisies are annuals.
267
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,074
Their seeds were scattered last summer
268
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,628
and lay dormant throughout the winter.
269
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,554
Now, the warm spring rains
have bought them to sudden life.
270
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,916
They will swiftly set seed
and then they will die,
271
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,755
having condensed their entire active life
into a few short weeks.
272
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,150
0thers use a different technique.
273
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:35,750
The asphodel and many other species,
including the wild gladiolus,
274
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,311
the scarlet crowfoot
and 50... odd species of orchids,
275
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,914
have kept the surplus food they made last year
276
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,072
stored underground in bulbs and swollen roots.
277
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,199
At the first hint of spring they use
those savings to produce their flowers,
278
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,477
in some cases,
even before they sprouted leaves.
279
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,155
At the same time, neatly synchronised
by the warming weather,
280
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,151
insects are hatching.
281
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,033
Now they are busy collecting
the bribes of nectar,
282
00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:07,318
advertised by the flowers as inducements
to transport pollen.
283
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,950
This is the banquet
that the birds have come to feed on.
284
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,912
The roller may have travelled
from Eastern Africa, Kenya or Mozambique.
285
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,918
Deep inside its nest hole its young,
there may be up to five of them,
286
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,197
are demanding frequent meals
throughout the day.
287
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,116
The adults have a taste for big, crunchy insects,
288
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,714
such as beetles, crickets and large grasshoppers.
289
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,793
But this pair are feeding their nestlings
on less prickly food,
290
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:30,916
dragonflies and antlions.
291
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:38,389
The bee... eaters may also have come
from Eastern Africa.
292
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,275
True to their name,
they really do eat bees and wasps,
293
00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:51,035
beating them against a perch
to discharge the stings.
294
00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,157
But they also gladly accept
less hazardous meals
295
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,913
and they, too, are catching dragonflies.
296
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:10,511
They have dug long tunnels
in a sandy bank in which to nest.
297
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,200
Suitable sandbanks like these are not common,
298
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:20,308
so bee... eaters, perhaps from necessity,
habitually nest in colonies.
299
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,279
They dig tunnels three feet or so
into the banks with their beaks,
300
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,158
kicking the loosened sand
behind them as they go.
301
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,108
The trouble with tunnels as narrow as this one
302
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,475
is that there's no room to turn round.
303
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,949
The spoonbills have also arrived
and are finding the food they need
304
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:29,079
in the warm shallow lagoons
of the Coto Doņana in Spain.
305
00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:03,475
The storks are here too,
claiming the same nest sites
306
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,472
that they have used each season for decades.
307
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,675
The exultant rituals with which
the pair greet one another
308
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:18,796
reinforces the bond between them,
309
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,998
as does the act of adding further
bits and pieces to the nest itself.
310
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,390
There's no structural need
for these extra twigs,
311
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,869
but placing them in just the right position
312
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,918
clearly demands the most careful consideration.
313
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:47,750
The young, exposed to the hot sun,
are given not only solid food
314
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,719
but drink, even if they don't know
immediately that it's coming.
315
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,151
And then they get their fish.
316
00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:22,358
Flamingos, in spite of their somewhat
unwieldy and laborious flight,
317
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,432
are also adventurous
and determined travellers.
318
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,589
They've come north across the sea
from the southern shores of the Mediterranean,
319
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,912
in Morocco and Tunisia,
to spend the summer in southern Spain.
320
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,629
Or on the lagoons around
the mouth of the Rhone in the Camargue.
321
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,952
Here, they are at the northernmost
extent of their range
322
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:57,238
and some years they seem to be in two minds
as to whether to breed or not.
323
00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:02,599
They will only start their courtship displays if
a sizeable flock of them have made the trip.
324
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:04,875
Even if they get as far as laying their eggs,
325
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,155
they may still suddenly change their minds
326
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,151
and forget about the whole business.
327
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,196
If and when the eggs do hatch,
328
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,955
the young quickly leave the nests
and gather together in groups,
329
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,077
wading manfully through the shallows
on their short legs.
330
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,395
The parents can recognise their chicks
by their calls,
331
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,996
even in such great congregations as these,
and will feed no others,
332
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,232
supplying them with a soup of microscopic
creatures filtered from the lagoon,
333
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,630
as well as trickles of water pumped up
from their stomachs.
334
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,552
It will be two and a half months
and high summer
335
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,756
before they're big enough to feed themselves
336
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:25,630
and have enough strength to accompany
their parents on the long flight back to Africa.
337
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:42,395
The blazing summer sun
brings great danger to plants.
338
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,392
It threatens to rob them
of their precious water
339
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,233
by evaporation through the pores in their leaves.
340
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,029
And Mediterranean plants have
several different ways of dealing with that.
341
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:58,074
The asphodel, which flowers during
February and March, is now dead.
342
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:00,549
Its flowers gone, its leaves withered
343
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,349
and it survives only as a bulb
deep in the ground.
344
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:09,673
Sage also loses its winter leaves,
which are these long, brown dead leaves here,
345
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:15,995
and sprouts specially small summer leaves
which curl, which have very few pores in them,
346
00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:20,437
and which also produce a fragrant oil
which covers the leaf in a film
347
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,875
and so reduces evaporation.
348
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,520
And that oil also serves as a protection.
349
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:29,275
Because whereas we like its taste,
goats dislike it,
350
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,113
and so goats don't browse the sage.
351
00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:37,035
This plant, poterium,
in winter is a mass of green leaves.
352
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,634
But now, in the summer, it's lost those leaves
353
00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:44,032
and grown instead
these small summer leaves here.
354
00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,954
And it protects itself against goats
with this mass of spines.
355
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,917
The caper remains green by generating
enormous suction in its roots
356
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,639
which collects the last vestiges of moisture.
357
00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:00,676
It even flowers at this time
358
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,036
and prevents its blossoms from shrivelling
by producing them at night.
359
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,956
By early dawn they're fully open,
attracting bees with their powerful scent.
360
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,989
But by midday they are dead.
361
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,793
The buds of these short... lived flowers
are produced in sequence,
362
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:41,836
along the length of its shoot.
363
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,798
0ne for each night of the flowering season.
364
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,079
Summer may be a hard
and crippling time for many plants,
365
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:07,039
but for these animals,
it's the easy time of the year.
366
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:12,240
Lizards, being reptiles,
draw their body heat directly from the sun.
367
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,949
There are over 30 different species
of them on the European shore alone
368
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,316
and they actively hunt
for insects and other small creatures
369
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:21,516
throughout the hot summer months.
370
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:54,914
And there are other reptiles
on these hot, sandy northern shores.
371
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,117
Snakes. Quite a lot of different kinds,
372
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,397
and one or two that are quite impressive.
373
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:06,110
This in front of me
is one of the biggest of them...
374
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,478
and one that is, in fact, poisonous.
375
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:13,437
Though not lethally so.
376
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,159
This is a Montpelier snake.
377
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,034
It's one of the biggest of the snakes
in the western Mediterranean.
378
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:22,192
It grows to six feet,
that's a couple of metres long.
379
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,316
And although it's poisonous,
380
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,755
its poisons are in fact restricted
381
00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,434
to the fangs at the back of its mouth.
382
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,715
The teeth in the front have no poison in them.
383
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:36,715
So if it's going to inject its poison into its prey
it has to get a really good bite.
384
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,917
And it can't do that, of course,
on a human being.
385
00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,710
And, even if it did,
the poison it has is not really lethal,
386
00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,839
it would just put me in bed feeling pretty
uncomfortable for a couple of days.
387
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,151
Its prey, after all, is not human beings.
388
00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:54,879
Its prey are other small creatures
389
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,679
which it finds around these sand dunes.
390
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,749
Prominent among its targets are lizards.
391
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:53,277
It's now high summer.
392
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,555
The flowers for the most part have disappeared
393
00:38:55,640 --> 00:39:01,078
and the woods of pine and olive are filled with
the continuous, sometimes deafening calls,
394
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:06,029
of that most indefatigable
of insect singers, the cicada.
395
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,076
(Loud repeated buzzing)
396
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,831
It produces this insistent invitation to mate
397
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:18,959
by vibrating a membrane in chambers
that open on the underside of its abdomen.
398
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:22,393
In the withered grass,
399
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,870
crickets and grasshoppers
are searching for their last meals.
400
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:28,428
Many will die before the summer is out,
401
00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,432
leaving their eggs in the soil
to hatch next spring.
402
00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:54,835
The hunters in this grassroot jungle
403
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,356
are spiders, scorpions and centipedes.
404
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,398
They're comparatively long... lived creatures
405
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,758
and must get enough food now
to last them through the coming winter famine.
406
00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,276
So they are rounding up
the last survivors of the herds of grasshoppers
407
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,555
and other plant... eating insects.
408
00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:52,439
Drought is now the enemy of all.
409
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:57,719
Snails climb up the stems of bushes and seal
the entrance to their shells with mucus
410
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:01,679
so as to retain their body moisture
no matter how hot it gets.
411
00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:13,708
Many butterflies and moths have now died.
412
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:16,997
But one species manages
to live in vast numbers
413
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:19,310
right through these hot months.
414
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:32,030
In one secluded wooded valley,
on the island of Rhodes,
415
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:36,511
where the trees provide shade and
a permanent stream keeps the air humid,
416
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:40,639
a million Jersey tiger moths have assembled.
417
00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:59,912
At the edge of the stream, a freshwater crab
gathers any moths that settle within reach.
418
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:17,633
The moths also fall prey to water boatman,
419
00:42:17,720 --> 00:42:21,190
if one of them accidentally flutters
into the water.
420
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:34,156
For four months they eat nothing,
421
00:42:34,240 --> 00:42:37,038
but live entirely on the fuel reserves
422
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,634
that they built up during the winter.
423
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:43,315
And that's why I mustn't talk loudly
or make any sudden gesture
424
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,470
that would cause them to fly into the air,
425
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:49,599
and so use up a bit more of that valuable fuel
426
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:53,070
that they must have if they are to last through
until the autumn,
427
00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:54,991
when they can lay their eggs.
428
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:57,833
So here, the only thing that disturbs them
is, perhaps,
429
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,593
the sudden call of a bird or the fall of a leaf
430
00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:02,830
and maybe the need to flutter up into the air
431
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:04,956
to escape the direct rays of the sun
432
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:09,158
and find a place that's a little cooler
and a little darker.
433
00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:14,835
These conditions are almost African.
434
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:18,230
And indeed, a few African animals
have, over the millennia,
435
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:21,232
slowly spread up
around the eastern end of the sea
436
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:25,393
to colonise the islands and the northern shores
of the Mediterranean.
437
00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:32,032
This is one of them, the chameleon.
438
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:42,149
Today it's found on the island of Crete
and in southern Spain.
439
00:43:42,240 --> 00:43:45,550
And during the summer, at least,
it finds plenty to eat.
440
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,229
Even chameleons
aren't always 100% successful.
441
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:23,875
Tortoises are really animals of the tropics
442
00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:25,951
and have little resistance to cold.
443
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:29,875
So when winter comes,
they will have to take refuge below ground
444
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:33,396
and hibernate, in order not to be killed
by the frosts.
445
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:43,236
The hot dry summers
of the northern Mediterranean
446
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,629
would suit many African mammals.
447
00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:49,952
It's the cold, wet winters
that keep the majority of them away.
448
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,110
Even so, one or two species
449
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:55,954
have managed to come up north
and live permanently here.
450
00:44:56,040 --> 00:45:00,636
And this cave, in Cyprus,
is home of one of the more surprising of them.
451
00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:22,948
It's a fruit bat the size of a squirrel.
452
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:27,229
Fruit bats don't have the sophisticated
echolocation technique
453
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,276
of the smaller, insect... eating bats,
454
00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:31,874
which enable them to navigate in black caves
455
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,430
and so escape the colds of winter
by hibernating there.
456
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:38,592
But this one species, the Rousette fruit bat,
457
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:42,070
has improvised its own version
by drawing back its lips
458
00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:44,720
and squeaking out of the side of its mouth.
459
00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:49,828
It's nowhere near as accurate a system as
the high... frequency sonar of the insect... eaters,
460
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:52,718
but it is good enough
to enable the Rousette bat
461
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:56,429
to roost in caves like this
and so survive the winter.
462
00:45:56,520 --> 00:46:00,752
And be the most northerly living
of all fruit bats in the world.
463
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:05,989
Another African mammal also roams
the European night.
464
00:46:06,080 --> 00:46:08,036
The porcupine.
465
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:14,233
Like the bats it, too,
survives the chills of winter
466
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:18,518
by taking shelter underground,
in dens and burrows.
467
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,637
It's the same species
that is common over much of Africa,
468
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:26,191
though these European colonists
seldom get quite as big as the African ones.
469
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:30,239
Even so, it's a hefty animal,
as big as a large spaniel.
470
00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:42,510
In Europe, it's found only in Sicily and Italy.
471
00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,398
An odd distribution and one that makes it likely
472
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:48,153
that the animal was actually
taken across the Mediterranean
473
00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:50,993
by the Romans 2,000 years ago.
474
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:55,278
Be that as it may, porcupines
are still quite common in these countries,
475
00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:59,319
though they're not often seen since
they only come out of their dens at night.
476
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,348
This little creature, the rock hyrax,
477
00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:11,238
may be the next African mammal
to reach Europe
478
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:13,550
if the climate gets any warmer.
479
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:22,953
Its headquarters are in East Africa,
480
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:26,510
but today its reign extends up the eastern end
of the Mediterranean,
481
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:29,433
through Egypt and into Israel
and the Middle East.
482
00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:32,876
And that was one of the routes
taken around a million years ago
483
00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:37,476
by the most influential mammal
ever to come out of Africa to Europe.
484
00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:41,235
When the ice age came, this immigrant species
took refuge in caves,
485
00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:44,232
including this one in eastern Spain.
486
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:48,233
When investigators started work here,
the cave was full of soil.
487
00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:50,629
But as they dug they discovered evidence
488
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:52,836
of a change in this creature's activities
489
00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:55,832
that was to be of the greatest significance.
490
00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:58,832
For every foot of soil they removed
491
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:02,230
they went back in time some thousand years.
492
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:08,111
Until, 25 feet down
and some 28,000 years back in time,
493
00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:09,838
they reached the bottom.
494
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,388
And here, in these lowest layers,
495
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:16,109
they found worked flints, like this.
496
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:21,115
These are the handiwork
of that tool... using super... ape, man.
497
00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:23,839
As time passed,
the flint tools they produced
498
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:25,831
became more finely worked.
499
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:30,152
There was also evidence here not only
of these people's improving manual skills,
500
00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:32,993
but of their developing imaginations.
501
00:48:33,080 --> 00:48:35,150
Drawings scratched on pieces of rock,
502
00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:37,754
as elsewhere they're found on cave walls.
503
00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:42,231
A horse. And, outlined
with equal accuracy and certainty, a deer.
504
00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:50,834
From the remains they left strewn
in the cave after their meals
505
00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:54,037
we can get a detailed picture
of what animals they hunted,
506
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:57,237
and what lived with them in the lands
around the Mediterranean.
507
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:00,275
Bears were certainly numerous.
508
00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:03,636
At this time, between 30,000 and 20,000
years ago,
509
00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:06,029
the Ice Age was only just coming to an end,
510
00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:08,953
and much of southern Europe was still tundra.
511
00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:11,998
The bears, warm in their long, hairy coats,
512
00:49:12,080 --> 00:49:15,629
were then living much as they do now,
farther north in the Arctic
513
00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:19,030
on fish from the rivers, carrion, small rodents,
514
00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:22,237
but mostly succulent roots, berries and leaves.
515
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:29,511
Moose, which today still live
in considerable numbers
516
00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:33,798
in northern Germany, Scandinavia
and the Arctic, were also common.
517
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:37,270
They waded through the bogs,
munching water plants
518
00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:40,830
and taking refuge in the winter
in the pockets of coniferous forests
519
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,388
that were now beginning to spread
across southern Europe
520
00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:46,233
as the glaciers retreated northwards.
521
00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:57,036
Bison, too, were abundant.
522
00:49:57,120 --> 00:49:59,554
Herds of them wandered
across the open steppes.
523
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:01,596
And they, too, as the climate warmed
524
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:04,035
moved into the spreading forests.
525
00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:07,829
They survived in the wild
until the early years of this century.
526
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:10,753
Today, a few live in semi... captivity
527
00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:14,435
in forests on the Russian... Polish border
and in the Caucasus.
528
00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:21,832
There were also ibex.
529
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:36,836
It's a kind of wild goat that lives
and squabbles in the mountains.
530
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:42,718
The wolf, too, was abundant.
531
00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:47,032
And around this time it became
the first animal to be tamed be man.
532
00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:52,114
It seems likely that people regularly
reared orphan wolf cubs in their camps
533
00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:56,478
and, when they became fully grown,
recruited them as hunting assistants.
534
00:50:56,560 --> 00:51:00,075
The wolf helped the men to track
with its super... sensitive nose
535
00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:03,391
and used its sharp teeth
to help bring down the quarry.
536
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:06,358
In return, it took a share of the meat of the kill
537
00:51:06,440 --> 00:51:08,635
and gained the protection of mankind
538
00:51:08,720 --> 00:51:11,837
and a place in the warmth
beside the campfire at night.
539
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:20,836
As time passed
and the climate got warmer still,
540
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:23,718
forests spread right across Spain.
541
00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:26,360
This valley would then
have been unrecognisable
542
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:30,035
beneath a thick cover of oaks
and elms and hazels.
543
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:42,795
Some 10,000 years ago, there were still people
living in caves in these valleys.
544
00:51:42,880 --> 00:51:45,314
But in one way at least,
their habits had changed.
545
00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:47,914
They no longer painted on the cave walls.
546
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:51,072
Instead, some of the people,
presumably the hunters,
547
00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:54,630
came out and painted on the cliffs,
like this one.
548
00:51:54,720 --> 00:51:57,439
Here for example, there's a frieze of deer.
549
00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:06,869
Another, with its ears pricked in alarm.
550
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:11,037
Stags, head lowered in a charge.
551
00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:14,470
An ibex.
552
00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:18,232
And a great wild bull,
553
00:52:18,320 --> 00:52:21,835
probably the most dangerous animal
in the whole forest.
554
00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:25,037
And these artists also portrayed themselves.
555
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:29,594
A hunter, armed with a bow and arrow,
556
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:33,036
has killed some deer which lie prostrate
in front of him.
557
00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:38,475
Footprints lead to another animal,
558
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:41,632
wounded with a spear or an arrow in its belly.
559
00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:47,389
Two men set off on a hunt.
560
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:49,471
Another climbs a tree.
561
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:53,519
This is his head and his arms and his legs.
562
00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:58,230
And this is the tree, at the top of which
is a bee's nest full of honey,
563
00:52:58,320 --> 00:53:00,629
with angry insects flying out of it.
564
00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:08,675
But, as these paintings make clear,
565
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:11,274
the people remained primarily hunters.
566
00:53:11,360 --> 00:53:13,669
And that meant that they had
to spend most of their lives
567
00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:16,194
wandering in search of their prey.
568
00:53:16,280 --> 00:53:18,510
But at the other, eastern end
of the Mediterranean,
569
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:20,192
around the mouths of the great rivers,
570
00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:23,113
people were learning new ways of living.
571
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:25,509
Ways that ultimately were to transform
572
00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:27,556
these lands around the Mediterranean.
573
00:53:27,640 --> 00:53:29,596
Their First Eden.