Name: Jungles
Released: 2017-03-10
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, David Attenborough

1) tendril

They put coils in their tendril
2) frontrunner

But the frontrunner at this stage, the first to fill the clearing,
3) treetop

And if you live in the treetop
4) capuchin

Capuchin monkeys are the bully boys in these forests
5) suitor

There's no shortage of suitor, but this female has already made her choice.
6) airwave

Up here the calls of siamang gibbons seem to dominate the airwave
7) cacophony

The cacophony of competing calls seems deafening to us
8) hothouse

This is our planet's hothouse. The jungle.
9) misnomer

It's a colugo, or flying lemur, though this is something of a misnomer
10) tamarind

Monkeys, like these tamarind, must search the canopy for all kinds of food
11) lemur

It's a colugo, or flying lemur, though this is something of a misnomer
12) aggressor

To intimidate their opponents, the aggressor scream and drum on buttress roots.
13) howler

Even for leaf eaters, like howler monkeys the ripe figs are just too good to miss.
14) chimpanzee

In their search for food chimpanzee move effortlessly
15) larva

Other food, like mosquito larva, seems to be out of reach
16) gibbon

The calls of the siamang gibbon begin as a duet
17) girth

Vines and other climbers put all their energy into rapid vertical growth, rather than girth
18) nourishment

the pitcher plant gets most of it's nourishment from insects lured to nectar glands

1) cannibalize

but exactly why they cannibalize the dead chimp, is not fully understood.
2) abseil

and then abseil down for a spot of fishing.
3) muffle

and the hot dense air muffle the sound.
4) afflict

Those afflict, that are discovered by the workers
5) secrete

At the bottom of the pitcher glands secrete enzymes
6) erupt

the fruiting body of the cordyceps erupt from the ant's head.
7) infiltrate

have infiltrate their bodies and their minds.
8) girdle

New Guinea lies in a warm tropical belt that girdle our planet around the equator.
9) leech

Nutrients that reach the soil are leech out by the rain
10) unfold

The battle won, a grizzly scene unfold.
11) roam

Forest elephants roam great distances in their search for food
12) flourish

Fungi also flourish on decay.
13) lure

the pitcher plant gets most of it's nourishment from insects lure to nectar glands
14) occupy

Forests like these occupy only three percent of the land
15) dominate

The competition for resources ensures that no one species dominate the jungle.
16) haul

Once the prey is captured, the spider haul itself back up it's silken safety line.
17) bury

that lies buried beneath the mud.
18) scare

The tamarinds love figs too, but being petite means they're easily scare off.

1) modestly

His female is modestly dressed.
2) effortlessly

In their search for food chimpanzees move effortlessly
3) upwards

It's infected brain directs this ant upwards
4) finely

It has made them the most finely balanced ecosystems in the world
5) remarkably

and remarkably, each specializes on just one species
6) onboard

Once onboard, the waxy sides of the pitcher ensure there's little chance of escape.
7) utterly

then, utterly disorientated, it grips a stem with it's mandibles.
8) seldom

But despite the apparent abundance of vegetable food, gathering it is seldom easy.
9) seemingly

each with a display seemingly more bizarre than the rest.
10) surprisingly

Surprisingly only two percent of the sunlight filters down to the forest floor.
11) incredibly

Incredibly, 80% of all insects live in jungles
12) wherever

Wherever they grow, figs are a magnet for the great diversity of animals.
13) literally

There are literally thousands of different types of cordyceps fungi
14) occasionally

As they leave their core zone, the patrol goes silent, occasionally stopping to listen.
15) largely

For the adult males it's a welcome break in an otherwise largely solitary existence
16) widely

which means that food is very widely spaced.
17) somewhere

so when other food is scarce, these fruits are always available somewhere or other.
18) closely

Signs of the enemy are detected and examined closely.

1) disorientated

then, utterly disorientated, it grips a stem with it's mandibles.
2) spindly

Their growing tips circle like lassoes, searching out anchors for their spindly stems.
3) plumed

The six plumed bird of paradise displays in his special clearing, on the forest floor.
4) choosy

Generations of choosy females have driven the evolution
5) webbed

To slow their descent, they use their huge webbed feet as parachutes.
6) deafening

The cacophony of competing calls seems deafening to us
7) waxy

Once onboard, the waxy sides of the pitcher ensure there's little chance of escape.
8) diminutive

like the diminutive emperor tamarinds.
9) fabled

but, like the fabled tortoise, their strategy is to be slow and steady.
10) silken

Once the prey is captured, the spider hauls itself back up it's silken safety line.
11) virulent

The fungus is so virulent, it can wipe out whole colonies of ants
12) ferocious

It's a ferocious attack, and she's lucky to escape with her life.
13) unbroken

In the Amazon, the largest unbroken stretch of rainforest in the world,
14) watery

Most slip to a watery grave.
15) extravagant

The more extravagant a male is, the more likely he'll be noticed.
16) oblivious

oblivious to the approaching dangers.
17) inconvenient

Two's company, three's inconvenient
18) picky

The females may be dull looking but they're very picky

Planet Earth » Season 1 » Jungles