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Inside Nature's Giants
2009 · TV series · documentary · 60 min episodes · 4 seasons
Inside Nature's Giants is a British science documentary, first broadcast in June 2009 by Channel 4. The documentary shows experts performing dissection on some of nature's largest animals, including whales and elephants. The programme is presented by Mark Evans. The series attempts to uncover the secrets of the animals examined. Mark is assisted by evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins and Simon Watt, and comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg. The show is currently airing on PBS in the United States and repeats are currently airing on Eden and Watch in the UK. There is an iPad application that allows you to see every animal the show have worked on close up.
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Inside Nature's Giants: Racehorse dissection episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feAj2aspkIE
Far more interesting but relevant fact;
Giraffes are at the very edge of physical adaption. In the fantastic Channel-4 TV series Inside Nature's Giants (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Nature%27s_Giants) they dissect a giraffe and show how their anatomy/physiology is adapted to handle extreme blood pressure (because their heart needs to pump blood to the brain through the long neck against gravity). But that same pressure when sent down to the legs will burst their blood vessels. So how does cardiovascular adaptation work in this case?
Read these to find out;
1) How giraffes deal with sky-high blood pressure - https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210803-how-giraffes-deal-with-sky-high-blood-pressure
2) The Remarkable Cardiovascular System of Giraffes - https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-physiol-031620-094629
3) How long limbs reduce the energetic burden on the heart of the giraffe - https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/228/20/jeb251092/369564/How-long-limbs-reduce-the-energetic-burden-on-the
4) Giraffe dissection episode (must watch!) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkhztOqKYIc
PS: Inside Nature's Giants is one of the best scientific series which everybody should watch, particularly students. This is how evolution should be taught; all episodes on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=inside+nature%27s+giants
The blog post recommended the TV show "inside nature's giants", and I second it.
The bit about the recurrent laryngeal nerve of the giraffe is particulary memorable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1a1Ek-HD0
I recently watched a really good documentary series called Inside Nature's Giants[1], featuring dissections of various large animals. In the giant squid episode they have a bit about the donut-shaped brain. I found this version of it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=088bhv3pjq0#t=49m34s
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Nature's_Giants
If you like cetaceans, I strongly recommend Inside Nature's Giants s1e2 (Fin Whale) and s3special2 (Sperm Whale).
s3special (Giant Squid) is also an interestingly related topic. And so are pretty much all other episodes.)
> yet manage to survive the bends (decompression sickness).
But still get it, I remember a report of sperm whale bones being full of holes from nitrogen bubbles.