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South America is a continent of extremes.

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It has the world's longest mountain
range... the Andes.

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In Amazonia, it has the mightiest river

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and the greatest expanse of rainforest
on the planet.

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And the driest desert on earth

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the Atacama, lies beside one of
the world's richest seas.

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South America also contains
incredible variety.

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Almost no other continent can boast
such a wealth of wildlife

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living in such a range of
different landscapes.

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Almost everywhere you go

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there's an extraordinary
diversity of life.

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But how did all these unique worlds
come about?

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To understand the natural history
of South America

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we must go back in time
back to the age of the dinosaurs.

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South America was then part of Gondwana

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a massive continent

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that also included what are now Africa
Australia, India and Antarctica.

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This was a world dominated by reptiles.

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Descendants of those ancient creatures
still live in South America today.

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And the forests of southern Chile
still have plants

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that the dinosaurs would have recognised

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tree ferns
and the bizarre monkey puzzle tree.

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Then, a new group of animals appeared
animals like this.

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The early mammals were small

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and many were marsupials
like this shrew opossum.

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It lives in the cold
damp forests of southern Chile

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where it hunts for insects
and earthworms.

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The shrew opossum shares
these ancient forests

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with this other small marsupial.

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Local people call it
the 'monito del monte'

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or 'monkey of the mountains'.

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It's so tiny you could hold it
in the palm of your hand.

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It too eats insects
but also has a taste for fruit.

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When we think of mammals with a pouch

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it's perhaps Australia with its kangaroos
that comes to mind.

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But South America also has over
eighty species of marsupial

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a legacy of the time

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when the two continents
were joined together.

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Around a hundred million years ago

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the giant continent of Gondwana
slowly split apart.

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South America became an enormous island

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cut off from the rest of the world.

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The next chapter in South America's
history was violent and prolonged.

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It changed the face
of the continent for ever.

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Starting some eighty million years ago

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the island was convulsed by a series
of massive volcanic eruptions

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that continue today.

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Forced up by movements
deep in the earth's crust

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a huge chain of mountains arose

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spanning the length of the continent
The Andes.

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Running over five thousand miles

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this is the longest mountain
chain on earth.

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At its northern end
tropical cloudforest covers the slopes

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yet its peaks are so high

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that even on the equator
they carry permanent snow and ice.

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In the central Andes

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there's a high
dry desert the altiplano.

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As you travel further south

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the mountains are lower

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but they're that much closer
to the Antarctic.

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In the far south

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the Patagonian ice sheets
are the largest

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expanse of ice
outside the polar regions.

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They cover more
than seven thousand square miles

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and their glaciers
flow all the way to the sea.

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But even here

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in the shadow of the ice
animals survive.

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In the shadow of the Patagonian icecap

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animals must survive ferocious winds
and winters of heavy snow.

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Only the hardiest animals
can live here

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like guanacos South American
relatives of the camel

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and foxes.

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Even for them

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surviving the winter is a challenge

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Patagonia may be severe

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but it's not the most extreme part
of the Andes.

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That's back in the heart of the range

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an oxygen-starved plateau more
than four thousand metres high.

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Here, in the Altiplano

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meltwater from the surrounding peaks
evaporates in huge salt lakes.

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Frozen by night and baked by day

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these caustic saltflats must be

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one of the most inhospitable places
on earth.

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This is Salar Uyuni
in the Bolivian Andes.

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Covering four
and a half thousand square miles

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it's the largest expanse of
salt on the planet.

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Incredibly, islands in this sea of
salt actually support life.

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Viscachas.

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These rabbit-sized rodents have to contend
with thin air, bitter cold,

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and an almost total lack of water.

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They get just enough moisture to survive
from their food.

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Thick fur keeps them warm

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and extra red blood cells help to
absorb sufficient oxygen.

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The thin air's a problem
for this hummingbird too.

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To conserve energy when it's feeding
it has to perch, rather than hover.

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The high altiplano may seem hostile

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but some animals actually
choose to come here.

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Flamingos come here to breed

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because these caustic waters
are full of their favourite food.

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They display to each other
with a massed courtship dance.

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The rise of the Andes created

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whole new environments
within the mountains

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but it also had
more far-reaching effects.

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This great barrier changed
the climate of South America.

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It also re-drew the map of
the entire continent

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radically altering the course of
its major rivers.

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The Iguazu Falls are one of the wonders
of the world.

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Four times as wide as Niagara

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they carry sixty thousand tons
of water a second.

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Part of Amazonia was once a huge swamp

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connected to the Pacific
and the Caribbean.

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The rise of the Andes broke those links

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forcing the major rivers to flow east.

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One massive river now drains forty percent
of South America... the Amazon.

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This is the mightiest river on earth.

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Running over four thousand miles
from the Andes to the ocean

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it carries a fifth of all the
river water on the planet.

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A thousand miles
before it reaches the sea

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its main channel is already
ten miles wide.

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Every year the mighty Amazon
bursts its banks

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flooding an area of forest
the size of England.

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At the height of the flood

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the trees can stand in water
ten metres deep.

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The floodwaters bring
with them the animals of the river

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like boto dolphins.

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Their origins are a mystery.

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Could they be a relic of Amazonia's
ancient links with the oceans?

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These river dolphins are almost blind

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no handicap in water
that's often very muddy

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because they navigate by echolocation.

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Unlike marine dolphins
they have a flexible neck

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so by sweeping their head

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from side to side
they can scan their path ahead.

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Their sonar is so precise
that they can weave their way

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through a maze of submerged branches
in search of fish.

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Whisker-like bristles on their lips
help them zero in on their target.

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The botos' origins may be mysterious

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but some of the Amazon's fish certainly
have a marine ancestry

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like stingrays.

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Their nearest living relatives
are in the Caribbean.

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The Amazon has over
three thousand kinds of fish.

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This is the pirarucu
the world's largest fresh water fish.

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And these are the most notorious...
piranhas.

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The variety of life in these waters
is extraordinary...

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and with so many fish
there are bound to be fish hunters.

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In this water world

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Caiman are the top of
the food chain...

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the aquatic equivalent of the jaguar.

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Red-bellied piranhas are
predators themselves

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but to a caiman
they're just another mouthful.

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The Amazon river and its tributaries

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drain the largest expanse of
tropical rainforest on earth.

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Stretching almost unbroken
from the Andes to the Atlantic

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the Amazon jungle
has a greater variety of life

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than any other forest on the planet.

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In just over two square miles of forest

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scientists have counted
three thousand varieties of plants

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five hundred and thirty kinds of birds

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and eleven different species of monkeys.

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There are countless reptiles
amphibians and insects.

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Six hundred and fifty species of beetle

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and eighty kinds of ant have been found
on a single tree.

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Scientists disagree about the reasons
for this diversity

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but in almost every group of animals

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the number of different species
is extraordinary.

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Because there are so many species

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most of them have to specialise.

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Pygmy marmosets are
the world's smallest monkey.

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They live on the sap of
just a few kinds of tree

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gouging the bark with special teeth
to release its flow.

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They're just one of
over thirty species of marmoset

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and tamarin in the Amazon basin

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a group of monkeys unique to the
lowland rainforests of South America.

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Like these tassel-eared marmosets
most live in family groups.

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A breeding female lives with one
or more adult males

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and several youngsters.

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Females typically
give birth to twins

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and unusually among monkeys

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it's the father
who's left holding the babies.

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Tassel-eared marmosets
are opportunists.

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As well as gum, they eat insects
fruit, birds' eggs

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small snakes and lizards...

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almost anything
they can get their hands on.

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The youngsters must develop fast

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if they're to survive in the dangerous

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and competitive world of the rainforest.

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Amazonia lies on the eastern
side of the Andes

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and here torrential tropical
rains water the prolific jungle.

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But the mountains block
the moisture-bearing winds

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so some of the western side receives
almost no rain.

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Here lies the world's driest desert...
the Atacama.

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The Atacama can go for years
with literally no rain at all.

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It's hard to imagine
how anything could survive here.

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And yet it does.

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Guanacos.

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These South American camels can
tolerate extremes of heat and cold.

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A desert might seem a better place
for a camel

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than the snows of Patagonia

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but the Atacama is a challenge
even for them.

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Daytime temperatures
can rise to forty degrees.

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Their only relief is a dry dustbath.

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But what can they live on?

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With hardly any water here
how could plants possibly grow?

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This is the key to survival in the Atacama
the Pacific Ocean.

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The desert is a narrow strip
between the mountains and the sea.

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Moist air over the water is chilled

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by a cold ocean current just offshore

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so every day

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a blanket of fog rolls
in from the Pacific.

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The fog is almost the only source
of water in the desert.

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Moisture condenses on the cactus spines
enough for lichen to grow.

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And every morning

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the lichen is covered
with the precious droplets of water.

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This water provides a life-giving drink

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for the few hardy inhabitants of
the Atacama

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like diuca finches.

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The guanacos obtain moisture
by eating the lichen

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delicately extracting it

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from between the cactus spines
with their soft, sensitive lips.

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They also eat the flowers
of a parasitic plant

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that grows on the cactus.

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Called quintral
it's sweet and full of nectar.

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Guanacos
and everything else in this desert

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are living on the edge.

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Without the moisture
from the early morning fog

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life in the Atacama
would be almost impossible.

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As you travel South

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the prevailing weather
comes from the opposite direction

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so the eastern side
of the continent is dry.

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But here lack of water
is not the most extreme problem

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it's the wind.

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This is the land of the Roaring Forties

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ferocious winds that batter
the dry grassy steppes of Patagonia.

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Anything that lives here has to contend
with almost incessant gales.

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These are maras
large rodents unique to South America.

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Adult maras live and give
birth to their young in the open

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but they rear them in
an underground burrow

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sheltered from the cold winds
and predators like foxes.

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Mara territories overlap

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so often several pairs share a burrow.

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These warrens act as a community creche.

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The parents can leave their young
to go and feed

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but there's always someone
to keep an eye on them.

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The nursery can have twenty
or thirty young.

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Sometimes hungry infants try to suckle
from the 'baby-sitter'.

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She tries to drive them off

247
00:26:33,658 --> 00:26:36,821
but they can steal a tenth
of their milk this way.

248
00:26:45,170 --> 00:26:46,660
In windswept Patagonia

249
00:26:46,805 --> 00:26:50,263
a hole in the ground counts
as prime real estate

250
00:26:50,408 --> 00:26:52,740
and it's a magnet for squatters.

251
00:26:54,846 --> 00:26:58,179
Here even the birds nest underground.

252
00:27:03,788 --> 00:27:05,949
As soon as the maras backs are turned

253
00:27:06,091 --> 00:27:08,889
burrowing owls try to
take over their home.

254
00:27:16,601 --> 00:27:18,967
Could this be the moment to move in?

255
00:27:34,919 --> 00:27:36,546
But they're soon spotted.

256
00:28:24,135 --> 00:28:26,467
This time, the squatters are evicted.

257
00:28:26,604 --> 00:28:28,469
The maras keep their burrow.

258
00:28:35,013 --> 00:28:35,911
In Patagonia

259
00:28:36,047 --> 00:28:40,279
burrowing owls aren't the only birds
that nest underground.

260
00:28:42,020 --> 00:28:43,510
With no trees to nest in

261
00:28:43,655 --> 00:28:47,716
burrowing parrots excavate holes
in a sandstone cliff.

262
00:29:01,005 --> 00:29:04,532
There can be over fifty thousand birds
in these colonies.

263
00:29:05,443 --> 00:29:07,070
This is one of the few places on earth

264
00:29:07,212 --> 00:29:09,578
where parrots nest by the seaside.

265
00:29:20,225 --> 00:29:24,252
The diversity of South American wildlife
doesn't end at the coastline.

266
00:29:25,630 --> 00:29:29,532
The seas that surround the continent
are some of the richest in the world.

267
00:29:44,983 --> 00:29:49,886
Upwellings of cold, nutrient-rich water
feed huge shoals of fish...

268
00:29:50,655 --> 00:29:54,250
food in turn for seabirds
and marine mammals.

269
00:30:23,388 --> 00:30:26,551
The sheer numbers of fish here
are astounding.

270
00:30:27,192 --> 00:30:30,992
A single shoal of anchovies can be
hundreds of thousands strong.

271
00:30:33,164 --> 00:30:39,069
These huge concentrations inevitably
attract predators... dusky dolphins.

272
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,370
The dolphins' migrations are synchronised
with the anchovies' movements.

273
00:30:54,052 --> 00:30:57,988
For the defenceless anchovies
there seems to be safety in numbers.

274
00:30:58,356 --> 00:30:59,254
When they come under attack

275
00:30:59,390 --> 00:31:00,982
they bunch more tightly together...

276
00:31:01,125 --> 00:31:05,186
to form a dizzying ball of
swirling fins and scales.

277
00:31:08,099 --> 00:31:12,365
The dolphins find it harder to target
any single fish in this dense mass

278
00:31:12,503 --> 00:31:14,562
so they try to break up the shoal...

279
00:31:14,706 --> 00:31:16,037
by swimming through it.

280
00:31:25,083 --> 00:31:26,607
Once the shoal has been split

281
00:31:26,751 --> 00:31:28,309
the dolphins confuse the fish

282
00:31:28,519 --> 00:31:31,545
and scatter them even more
by blowing bubbles...

283
00:31:31,689 --> 00:31:35,625
and by emitting high frequency sounds
that stun them.

284
00:31:44,969 --> 00:31:46,493
This drives them to the surface

285
00:31:46,638 --> 00:31:49,766
where they become easy prey
for seabirds too.

286
00:31:57,148 --> 00:31:58,308
Attracted by the disturbance

287
00:31:58,449 --> 00:32:02,909
yet more hunters join the attack...
southern sealions.

288
00:32:20,338 --> 00:32:21,828
Under assault from all sides

289
00:32:21,973 --> 00:32:24,942
the fish are now totally disoriented.

290
00:32:25,343 --> 00:32:27,834
Trapped at the centre of
this feeding frenzy

291
00:32:27,979 --> 00:32:29,139
they don't stand a chance.

292
00:32:56,374 --> 00:32:59,775
Magellanic penguins mop up
the last survivors.

293
00:33:05,550 --> 00:33:09,509
At the end, all that's left
are tiny fish scales...

294
00:33:10,121 --> 00:33:12,646
drifting down into the deep.

295
00:33:17,562 --> 00:33:22,158
For almost a hundred million years
South America was an island.

296
00:33:22,300 --> 00:33:24,700
Its animals evolved in isolation

297
00:33:24,836 --> 00:33:28,272
cut off from the rest of the world
by the surrounding sea.

298
00:33:29,340 --> 00:33:30,932
But around three million years ago

299
00:33:31,075 --> 00:33:33,339
the same kind of movements of
the earth's crust

300
00:33:33,511 --> 00:33:38,949
that built the Andes raised a land bridge
joining North and South America.

301
00:33:40,518 --> 00:33:43,817
Animals could now pass easily
between the continents.

302
00:33:44,088 --> 00:33:47,489
The impact on South America
was profound.

303
00:34:01,272 --> 00:34:06,039
Among the first mammals to arrive
were these... coatis.

304
00:34:06,477 --> 00:34:08,536
Relatives of the North American racoons

305
00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:12,445
they're active, agile
intelligent and adaptable.

306
00:34:18,289 --> 00:34:21,816
They quickly colonised this land
of new opportunities.

307
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:25,496
Today they're found as far south
as Argentina.

308
00:34:35,006 --> 00:34:39,238
These early invaders soon made
South America's forests their own.

309
00:34:43,081 --> 00:34:46,016
For the continent's original inhabitants
like the sloth

310
00:34:46,150 --> 00:34:48,482
life would never be the same again.

311
00:34:49,754 --> 00:34:53,520
These brash newcomers
were just so fast.

312
00:34:56,027 --> 00:34:59,588
Sloths are lethargic by nature
as well as by name.

313
00:34:59,764 --> 00:35:03,427
They have a low body temperature
and very slow metabolism.

314
00:35:13,077 --> 00:35:16,979
Sloths have hung on by doing
one thing supremely well

315
00:35:17,115 --> 00:35:19,447
eating and digesting leaves.

316
00:35:25,289 --> 00:35:27,689
Coatis succeed
because they're opportunists

317
00:35:27,825 --> 00:35:30,453
quick to seek out any new snack.

318
00:35:30,895 --> 00:35:33,659
They leave sloths behind
at the starting line.

319
00:35:37,301 --> 00:35:39,792
They're social animals
living in bands of up

320
00:35:39,937 --> 00:35:42,064
to twenty females and their youngsters.

321
00:35:42,507 --> 00:35:44,737
And they're omnivorous eating fruit

322
00:35:44,876 --> 00:35:48,835
insects, spiders, slugs, fish, snakes
birds and mammals...

323
00:35:48,980 --> 00:35:50,777
almost anything they can find.

324
00:35:59,757 --> 00:36:01,884
A flexible nose
and a good sense of smell

325
00:36:02,026 --> 00:36:04,756
help them sniff out the slightest chance
of a meal.

326
00:36:20,578 --> 00:36:24,912
These early colonists were soon followed
by others larger

327
00:36:25,049 --> 00:36:28,883
and more deadly
like the jaguar.

328
00:36:31,589 --> 00:36:36,925
South America had large carnivores
before cat and dog-like marsupials.

329
00:36:37,261 --> 00:36:41,095
But many had already died out
before the newcomers got here.

330
00:36:52,743 --> 00:36:55,268
Coatis may have had it easy
when they first arrived

331
00:36:55,413 --> 00:36:59,008
but once large hunters followed
life became tougher.

332
00:37:29,580 --> 00:37:32,174
On the whole, the invaders
were very successful.

333
00:37:32,316 --> 00:37:35,080
Some may have out-competed
the original inhabitants

334
00:37:35,219 --> 00:37:36,846
others may have eaten them

335
00:37:36,988 --> 00:37:39,855
but many of the new animals simply
moved into spaces

336
00:37:39,991 --> 00:37:41,515
that were already empty.

337
00:37:41,892 --> 00:37:44,918
Today, almost half of
South America's mammal families

338
00:37:45,062 --> 00:37:47,292
are North American in origin.

339
00:37:50,868 --> 00:37:53,268
Eventually the immigrants
in this new found land

340
00:37:53,404 --> 00:37:56,066
spread to all corners
of the continent.

341
00:38:07,618 --> 00:38:09,984
As the invaders adapted to
their new surroundings

342
00:38:10,121 --> 00:38:12,487
some evolved into new forms.

343
00:38:15,893 --> 00:38:21,593
A simple, dog-like ancestor gave
rise to this the maned wolf.

344
00:38:23,868 --> 00:38:25,301
Like a fox on stilts

345
00:38:25,469 --> 00:38:30,065
this long-legged predator hunts
the grassy plains of southern Brazil.

346
00:38:30,274 --> 00:38:34,472
It eats small animals and must
travel far to find enough to eat.

347
00:38:42,486 --> 00:38:46,286
The great plains are one of South America's
most ancient landscapes.

348
00:38:46,991 --> 00:38:48,515
Throughout the continent's history

349
00:38:48,659 --> 00:38:51,184
they've remained relatively unchanged.

350
00:38:51,562 --> 00:38:56,625
Today they have a strange mixture
of animals the old and the new.

351
00:39:01,906 --> 00:39:05,273
Deer are relatively recent arrivals
from North America.

352
00:39:05,443 --> 00:39:07,308
On the plains they rub shoulders
with animals

353
00:39:07,445 --> 00:39:12,041
that have been here
for tens of millions of years...

354
00:39:14,819 --> 00:39:15,843
Like the rhea

355
00:39:15,986 --> 00:39:18,716
South America's equivalent
of the ostrich.

356
00:39:32,236 --> 00:39:35,637
If the maned wolf is one of the most
recent animals on the plains

357
00:39:35,773 --> 00:39:38,105
this is one of the oldest

358
00:39:39,744 --> 00:39:41,439
The giant anteater.

359
00:39:43,247 --> 00:39:45,875
It's one of the most specialised
insect-eaters on earth

360
00:39:46,016 --> 00:39:49,918
and that bizarre snout is one of
its secret weapons.

361
00:39:54,625 --> 00:39:57,219
The snout houses a long sticky tongue

362
00:39:57,361 --> 00:40:00,091
ideal for delving into termite mounds.

363
00:40:00,498 --> 00:40:02,591
But first you've got to break in.

364
00:40:05,236 --> 00:40:07,727
Termite mounds can be almost
as hard as concrete

365
00:40:07,872 --> 00:40:11,137
so you also need a set of
very powerful claws.

366
00:40:20,284 --> 00:40:23,082
The giant anteater is one of
the few surviving members

367
00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:24,244
of a group of animals

368
00:40:24,388 --> 00:40:27,880
that has lived in South America
for over fifty million years.

369
00:40:33,030 --> 00:40:36,693
This is another one, the armadillo.

370
00:40:37,268 --> 00:40:39,896
Armadillos and
anteaters survived the invasion

371
00:40:40,037 --> 00:40:43,598
because they specialise in food
the invaders can't tackle.

372
00:40:44,041 --> 00:40:46,839
They eat mostly ants and termites.

373
00:40:48,179 --> 00:40:52,138
The maned wolf doesn't compete
with them because it prefers mice.

374
00:40:59,890 --> 00:41:01,949
But catching them isn't easy.

375
00:41:25,950 --> 00:41:29,477
All that effort
for just one tiny mouthful.

376
00:41:34,558 --> 00:41:36,287
The animals of today's South America

377
00:41:36,427 --> 00:41:40,955
are a pale shadow of what was once
here two ton armadillos

378
00:41:41,098 --> 00:41:43,862
flesh-eating birds three metres tall

379
00:41:44,001 --> 00:41:47,300
a giant ground-living sloth
the size of an elephant.

380
00:41:50,207 --> 00:41:54,075
The ground sloth disappeared less
than ten thousand years ago.

381
00:41:54,211 --> 00:41:57,044
What drove these giants to extinction?

382
00:42:00,918 --> 00:42:04,115
Long after the land bridge linked
North and South America

383
00:42:04,255 --> 00:42:07,053
there was one last great invasion

384
00:42:07,191 --> 00:42:09,284
the most far-reaching of all.

385
00:42:25,042 --> 00:42:28,102
No one knows exactly
when the first people arrived

386
00:42:28,245 --> 00:42:31,373
or even how they came
by boat along the coast

387
00:42:31,515 --> 00:42:33,745
or overland from North America.

388
00:42:43,127 --> 00:42:46,893
We do know they've been here
for at least twelve thousand years

389
00:42:47,131 --> 00:42:50,294
and they soon penetrated
every part of the continent

390
00:42:50,434 --> 00:42:54,268
from the sea coast to the high peaks
of the Andes.

391
00:43:01,111 --> 00:43:03,443
The first hunter-gatherers
may have hastened

392
00:43:03,547 --> 00:43:06,072
the extinction of creatures
like the giant sloth

393
00:43:06,283 --> 00:43:09,184
but they made little direct
impact on the landscape.

394
00:43:20,230 --> 00:43:22,460
But the development of
settled agriculture

395
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:25,592
eventually changed
the face of South America.

396
00:43:32,910 --> 00:43:34,775
Elaborate civilisations flourished

397
00:43:34,912 --> 00:43:37,642
in the most remote corners
of the mountains.

398
00:43:39,149 --> 00:43:43,381
Their last monuments can still
be seen high in the Andes

399
00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:48,184
in the ruins of the legendary Inca city
of Machu Picchu.

400
00:44:08,545 --> 00:44:10,945
People even changed the animals.

401
00:44:11,181 --> 00:44:12,978
Around seven thousand years ago

402
00:44:13,117 --> 00:44:15,745
they domesticated wild relatives
of the guanaco

403
00:44:15,886 --> 00:44:18,480
to produce Ilamas and alpacas.

404
00:44:20,491 --> 00:44:23,358
As sources of meat and wool
and beasts of burden

405
00:44:23,494 --> 00:44:26,486
these were the key to survival
in the high Andes.

406
00:44:31,769 --> 00:44:33,896
These domestic animals
are still important

407
00:44:34,038 --> 00:44:36,529
to the people of the altiplano today

408
00:44:36,674 --> 00:44:38,505
and are an integral
part of their culture.

409
00:44:45,182 --> 00:44:47,810
By selectively breeding
from their wild ancestors

410
00:44:47,951 --> 00:44:50,476
the mountain people have
developed different aspects

411
00:44:50,587 --> 00:44:52,987
of the animals to suit different needs.

412
00:44:55,292 --> 00:44:57,817
Llamas are better pack animals
and have good meat

413
00:44:57,961 --> 00:45:01,488
whereas alpacas are more valued
for their dense wool.

414
00:45:10,174 --> 00:45:12,267
Llama fairs, and even races

415
00:45:12,476 --> 00:45:14,944
are a high point
on the local calendar.

416
00:45:15,079 --> 00:45:17,479
And they're more than
just an excuse for a party.

417
00:45:25,222 --> 00:45:26,553
The animals carry weights

418
00:45:26,690 --> 00:45:28,487
so the race is a test of stamina

419
00:45:28,625 --> 00:45:31,788
especially at this high altitude.

420
00:45:54,518 --> 00:45:57,351
Traditional cultures have survived
in places like this

421
00:45:57,521 --> 00:46:00,615
because they are so isolated
from the outside world.

422
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:31,849
Wildlife too survives

423
00:46:31,989 --> 00:46:35,686
because much of the continent remains
isolated and remote.

424
00:46:39,363 --> 00:46:42,799
People may have irretrievably changed
parts of South America

425
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:44,963
but it's a vast continent

426
00:46:45,102 --> 00:46:48,037
and much of it is too extreme
for people to settle.

427
00:46:52,242 --> 00:46:56,736
So it still retains huge areas of
stunning wild landscapes.

428
00:46:57,014 --> 00:47:01,212
For sheer variety it's
without rival anywhere on earth.

429
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,145
South America's natural landscapes

430
00:47:39,289 --> 00:47:44,090
and their wildlife owe their existence
to the continent's unique history.

431
00:47:44,795 --> 00:47:47,821
They're the latest spectacular chapter
in a story

432
00:47:47,965 --> 00:47:51,924
that has been unfolding
for over a hundred million years.