The Human Animal

When I grew up I loved watching nature shows on TV (and I still do). My dad is a science teacher and used to tape all the good shows. I especially remember David Attenborough coming closer to animal life than anyone I had ever seen. The Velvet Claw made a big impression as did The Living Planet.

I also remember well another show hosted by Desmond Morris, called The Human Animal. I remember how his most famous book, The naked ape was always part of the bookshelf at home and I watched the show over and over.

For some reason I started thinking about this great TV show and found it’s available online. One episode in particular is very interesting. Morris looks at feeding behavior and the evolution of it. How the fruit eating forest ape became the meat eating plains ape, the nutritional value of insects, earth eating and much, much more. He also argues that humans are not very well adapted to savannah living and that human ancestors might have gone from forest living to becoming an “aquatic ape”.

Great show and recommended viewing here.