Name: Continuing the Line
Released: 1990-12-20

Trials of Life

S1 · E12 — Continuing the Line

S1:E12 · Continuing the Line

Episodes

12 episodes in this season

Arriving

50 min

Growing Up

50 min

Finding Food

50 min

Hunting and Escaping

50 min

Finding the Way

50 min

Home Making

50 min

Living Together

50 min

Fighting

50 min

Friends and Rivals

50 min

E10

Talking to Strangers

50 min

E11

Courting

50 min

E12

Now Playing

Continuing the Line

50 min

Trials of Life

TV Series

199050m8.4

DocumentaryFamily

Now playing

Continuing the Line

Season 1 · Episode 12 · Dec 20, 1990

The final installment illustrates how species fulfill their ultimate raison d'être and ensure that their genes are passed on to the next generation. It is a universal problem, but one which has given rise to a variety of solutions. Barnacles cannot move, but each has both male and female sex cells, allowing each neighbour to be a potential mate. On the other end of the scale, a female elephant undergoes a long pregnancy - 22 months - and so wishes to ensure that her calf is fathered by a strong and proven male. She is therefore very choosy about her partner. A female chinchilla is even more so, and rejects an unwanted suitor by squirting urine in its face. Mating is a dangerous business when weapons are involved, and a male tarantula approaches his intended with trepidation. Only when he succeeds in holding off her poison fangs is he able to progress any further. For some, the right moments to get together are few and far between: a male crab, for example, must wait until a female moults her shell before he is able to fertilise her. Male sea lions are shown fighting over a harem, and some use the battle to their advantage by making off with reluctant females. Attenborough observes that the monogamous relationships enjoyed by humans are rare within the animal kingdom, but he highlights the Royal albatross as a "beautiful" exception. The pair of birds featured met as five-year-olds, and have been together for twenty years.

6.0episode rating

More details

Trials of Life

TV Series

199050m8.4

DocumentaryFamily

Now playing

Continuing the Line

Season 1 · Episode 12 · Dec 20, 1990

6.0episode rating

More details