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[water rushing]
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$4' [Man vocalizing]
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[Male narrator]
As human beings,
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we are instinctively drawn
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toward the grandeur of the natural world,
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to spectacular displays that inspire us
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with their magnitude and power.
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♪ J' [Choir singing
in African language]
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During moments like these,
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we are understandably filled
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with the genuine sense of awe.
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Yet nature's most stunning revelations
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aren't always defined by sheer force
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or physical scale.
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For often, in secluded corners of our planet,
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many of Earth's greatest wonders
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take center stage.
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Wonders of rare beauty and complexity,
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creativity, and design...
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wonders born on the gossamer
wings of an insect
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weighing less than an ounce.
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$4' [Choir continues]
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[Man] As you watch a butterfly,
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to describe what you're looking at,
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you can't really put it into words.
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And I said to myself,
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I want to be part of that.
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That is the coolest thing.
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That's biology.
That's also magic.
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When you hold a living butterfly in your hand
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for the first time--
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Maybe you've netted it
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or picked it off
a flower or something,
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and here's this incredibly
beautiful organism,
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intricately shaped
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with its feet and antennae
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and all these things moving at once.
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Every one of these 20,000 species
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have different color patterns,
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and every one of them
has different shaped wings.
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The diversity is just so magnificent.
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If I was the greatest artist in the world,
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there was no way I could come up
with all of these patterns.
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I mean, it would be just absolutely impossible.
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If you open the work of a lepidopterist--
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someone who studies butterflies,
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somewhere in that writing
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you're going to find
the language of astonishment.
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The fact that it goes through a caterpillar stage,
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and then becomes this mysterious Chrysalis
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out of which this flying creature emerges,
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has captured the imagination
of people since antiquity.
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[Narrator]
Throughout history,
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butterflies have touched
the human mind and soul
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on levels both scientific and philosophical.
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3500 years ago,
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Egyptian artists studied their anatomies
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and then rendered them as icons
of beauty and perfection of form.
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In Aztec and Mayan folklore,
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the insects symbolized life and death.
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And to the ancient Greeks,
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"psyche"-- the word for butterfly--
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literally meant, "the soul".
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Today, terms like "magical" and "miraculous"
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are often used to describe
their mysterious life cycles.
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For almost every butterfly,
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it is a cycle that begins
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often hidden from the eyes of the world.
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Depending upon its species,
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a female butterfly can la y hundreds
of eggs during her brief lifetime.
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Each initiates an extraordinary process
of growth and transformation.
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[Paul Nelson]
The eggs are remarkable in themselves.
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They have species-specific architectures,
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some of which are just astonishing.
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For instance, if you look at a Monarch egg,
it has a beautiful symmetrical structure.
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It looks like a little miniature dome or cathedral.
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Ranging in size from a pinhead
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to the width of a child's finger nail,
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each egg is attached to a plant
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by an adhesive fluid secreted by the butterfly.
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They are lined with a coating of wax
that helps keep them moist and viable.
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Each egg is deposited
on a specific species of plant called a "host."
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These host plants are the only source
of food a butterfly's offspring will eat,
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so accurate identification
of their leaves and branches is crucial.
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And the females are well equipped for the task.
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[Ron Boender]
The percepfion flmat they have
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of the odor of those plants is just overwhelming.
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So they can find those plants for miles.
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And then once it gets near its host plant,
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it can tell that the odor
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is getting stronger and stronger.
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Then it begins to focus on leaf shape.
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Instinctively it knows
what leaf shape its host plant has.
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And it begins to taste.
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And it tastes with its feet, with its forelegs.
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They drum the leaves,
they scratch the leaves,
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and then they use their proboscis
to taste the scratch.
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They also smell with their antennae.
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So they've got the legs,
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they've got their proboscis,
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they've got their antennae.
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They have all these mechanisms
to make sure that it's the right plant.
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If it's the wrong plant,
their caterpillars are going to die.
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Butterflies just don't make mistakes.
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I mean, it's just amazing.
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It's just one of the greatest wonders of nature
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to watch how this female can do
all of this from such great distances.
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In many species,
the eggs hatch within a week.
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Then the newly emerged caterpillar-- or larva--
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wastes no time embarking on the second stage
of its journey to adulthood.
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[Ron Bo e n d e r]
We Call them "eating machines"
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because that's their only purpose in life
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is to just eat and grow, eat and grow.
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A really hungry, busy caterpillar,
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you can actually hear it eating.
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It sort of reminds you of corn on the cob
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because it bites along,
and then it bites along some more.
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It's just munch, munch, munch.
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Slice and chew.
Slice and chew.
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To build up the raw materials
for the next stage of life.
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A caterpillar could gain in weight so fast
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that it would be eating its own weight
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in leafy material every day.
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Equipped with powerful jaws
and a digestive tract
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that extends the length of its body,
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this stomach-with-legs
can multiply its birth-weight
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more than 3,000 times
in less than two weeks.
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[Paul Nelson] To show you
how remarkable this weight gain is,
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imagine you had an eight-pound human baby,
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and he multiplied his weight
3,000 times as he was growing.
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That would be a 24,000 pound child.
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That's a big kid.
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A caterpillar's growth is punctuated
by violent surges of transition called molts.
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[Ann Gauger]
Imagine flue outer skin of a gterpillar
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as being sort of like a wetsuit.
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It's got a little but of stretch to it,
but limited.
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It's waterproof so they don't dehydrate.
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Now, as the caterpillar grows,
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it fills out that wetsuit,
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and eventually it reaches a point
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where it can't grow any more.
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Then it has to make
a new larger version on the inside.
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A molt begins when a caterpillar spins,
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and then grasps, a silk pad,
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anchors its body securely
with small barbs on its legs,
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and splits its skin near
the capsule covering its head.
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[Paul Nelson]
There are censors in the cuticle,
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in the skin of the caterpillar,
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that are strain detectors.
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They detect the amount of pressure
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or strain being put on the skin.
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And when that is too great,
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they send a signal to the brain of the caterpillar,
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which then releases a hormone that causes molting.
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A caterpillar will undergo four or five molts.
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Its rapidly growing body
is composed of two distinct cell populations:
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the larval cells
that form all of its organs
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and enable it to function
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and the imaginal cells
that ensure its future as a butterfly.
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[Paul Nelson]
In the later instars of the caterpillar,
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I one can in to see
at are called imagfimafl dfiswg
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Now, these are the precursor cell populations
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for what will become wings and legs,
or sensory structures in the adult.
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Most of these imaginal
cell clusters develop in pairs
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and are positioned
throughout the caterpillar's body
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in locations that correspond to the organs
they will eventually help form in the adult.
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[ H H Ga u g e r]
I m a g I n a I discs are p re CU rso rs
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that are there and waiting.
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They're set aside to make adult structures.
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And at a certain point in development,
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those cells are triggered to start to grow.
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As the end of the larval stage approaches,
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the caterpillar stops eating,
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finds a secluded spot,
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and spins another silk pad.
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When finished, it attaches itself
with a pair of claspers on the end of its body...
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then hangs, almost motionless.
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[Rona B e n d e r]
It will hang there for a day or so,
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usually in a "J" position.
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All kinds of chemical reactions
occur within that caterpillar.
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It changes color, and you have
no idea what's going on inside there
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until all of a sudden, it pumps the fluids
so that the skin begins to split.
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The caterpillar's final molt
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marks the beginning of the third stage
of a butterfly's development
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and the appearance of a remarkable
structure called a chrysalis.
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As the old skin is pushed away,
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the cremaster, a thin extension
on the top of the Chrysalis,
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works its way into position
to permanently grasp the silk pad.
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With a scanning electron microscope,
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the cremaster is magnified more than 500 times.
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[Ron Boender] The caterpillar has
microscopic hooks on the cremaster
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and it attaches those hooks
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to that silk pad that it puts
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on the bottom of a leaf or twig.
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And it begins to spin.
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And this caterpillar
spins and spins and spins
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because it wants to get rid
of that old skin that it has.
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During the hour that follows,
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the Chrysalis hardens
and takes its final form,
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as one of the most fascinating processes
in nature is set into motion--
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the metamorphosis
from caterpillar into butterfly.
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[Paul Nelson]
What you see in a Chrysalis
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is not a shapeless mass,
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but in fact something very much
like a mold for the adult butterfly.
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Ham Emmefl]
You see the wing pads
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where the adult wings are going to form.
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You see the head and the compound eyes appear,
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visible through the outer case of the pupal shell.
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Abdominal segments are very clearly
separated from the thoracic segments
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where the wings are going to be attached.
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All of this is astoundingly new
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compared to the caterpillar
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where everything looked sort of the same
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down the whole length of the body.
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This transition from an earth-bound,
plant-eating arthropod
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with limited vision and mobility
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into a beautiful winged insect
that feeds on nectar,
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navigates with exceptional senses,
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and can fly 50 miles in a day,
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is truly a marvel of the natural world.
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Exactly how it happens
is still very much a mystery.
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Yet innovative research
at the level of molecules and cells
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provides intriguing new clues.
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[Paul Nelson]
There is some continuity of tissues
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from caterpillar to adult butterfly,
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but most of what was there in the caterpillar
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is going to disappear
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and be turned into new structures
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that have no analog in the caterpillar.
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For instance, there's nothing like
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the compound eye of the adult butterfly
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present in the caterpillar.
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There's nothing like the proboscis
present in the caterpillar,
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or the long articulated legs in the caterpillar.
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So these are all novel structures
that are going to be built.
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[Ann G-auger] In a metamorphic insect,
w h at ou' got is two b o d y p I a n S.
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You have to first form one functional body plan,
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and then you have to switch gears
and form a new body plan.
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I am amazed by development
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when it goes from egg to caterpillar,
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because it's such and intricate process.
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But then you have to enter
into the Chrysalis stage,
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and you have to get it right again.
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So it's like the problem squared.
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The creation of a butterfly begins
with the partial destruction of the caterpillar.
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Inside the Chrysalis, larval cells
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that formed the caterpillar's limbs and organs
248
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are systematically digested and broken down.
249
00:16:24,617 --> 00:16:29,055
[Paul Nelson] You've got to get rid of
or digest the caterpillar tissues.
250
00:16:29,055 --> 00:16:31,424
They won't work for the adult.
251
00:16:31,424 --> 00:16:33,460
In fact, the cells themselves disappear,
252
00:16:33,460 --> 00:16:35,729
but then their components are recycled
253
00:16:35,729 --> 00:16:37,931
and are turned into a kind of soup
254
00:16:37,931 --> 00:16:40,533
out of which the adult structures will be built.
255
00:16:42,669 --> 00:16:45,438
Throughout this process,
the imaginal cells,
256
00:16:45,438 --> 00:16:48,074
the foundation of the adult insect's body,
257
00:16:48,074 --> 00:16:51,211
are preserved to differentiate and multiply.
258
00:16:53,380 --> 00:16:55,415
[Ann Gauger]
Now, cell death is programmed;
259
00:16:55,415 --> 00:16:57,884
It's not something that happens by accident.
260
00:16:57,884 --> 00:17:01,254
If you kill the wrong cells,
you're in deep trouble.
261
00:17:03,189 --> 00:17:05,592
[Paul Nelson]
It's very carefully engineered.
262
00:17:05,592 --> 00:17:08,595
You're going to save
some of the cell populations,
263
00:17:08,595 --> 00:17:11,598
so you got to know where you're
gonna end up before you start.
264
00:17:12,899 --> 00:17:14,934
You don't want to digest everything,
265
00:17:14,934 --> 00:17:17,203
just the things that need to be eliminated.
266
00:17:17,203 --> 00:17:20,106
Then the I magi nal discs
rapidly beg I n" t proliferate,
267
00:17:20,106 --> 00:17:24,344
and you can trace a continuous pathway
into the pattern on the wing.
268
00:17:34,687 --> 00:17:37,290
This timeless drama of death and renewal
269
00:17:37,290 --> 00:17:40,126
is performed in the seclusion of the Chrysalis
270
00:17:40,126 --> 00:17:42,495
without audience or applause.
271
00:17:44,297 --> 00:17:46,232
During the past two decades,
272
00:17:46,232 --> 00:17:50,003
scientists have worked diligently
to pull back the curtain.
273
00:17:57,744 --> 00:17:59,846
[Richard Stringer]
I've been at this about 15 years,
274
00:17:59,846 --> 00:18:02,649
and the possibility of somehow getting in there
275
00:18:02,649 --> 00:18:04,751
to photograph what's inside the chrysalis--
276
00:18:04,751 --> 00:18:07,253
that question was out there all along.
277
00:18:07,253 --> 00:18:09,022
And it occurred to me that
278
00:18:09,022 --> 00:18:10,523
magnetic resonance imaging
279
00:18:10,523 --> 00:18:13,259
might be a perfect tool to use
280
00:18:13,259 --> 00:18:15,829
to see what goes on inside a Chrysalis.
281
00:18:18,665 --> 00:18:22,569
The challenge of visually documenting
a butterfly's development
282
00:18:22,569 --> 00:18:26,072
led biologist Richard Stringer
to Duke University
283
00:18:26,072 --> 00:18:29,542
and its Center for In Vivo Microscopy.
284
00:18:30,577 --> 00:18:32,912
There, over a 10-day period,
285
00:18:32,912 --> 00:18:35,548
Monarch butterfly chrysalises were scanned
286
00:18:35,548 --> 00:18:39,219
throughout a complete cycle of metamorphosis.
287
00:18:39,219 --> 00:18:44,324
Each scan visually sliced the Chrysalis
into more than 200 sections.
288
00:18:44,324 --> 00:18:45,959
Eight hours into the first day,
289
00:18:45,959 --> 00:18:50,330
Stringer observed significant changes.
290
00:18:50,330 --> 00:18:53,333
Even though it was very early
in the development of the Chrysalis,
291
00:18:53,333 --> 00:18:56,536
you could already see things forming
292
00:18:56,536 --> 00:18:58,972
that were going to be part of the butterfly
293
00:18:58,972 --> 00:19:01,374
including the head, including the brain,
294
00:19:01,374 --> 00:19:05,278
including leg muscles, wings, antennae.
295
00:19:05,278 --> 00:19:08,114
The longer it scanned,
the more detail you get.
296
00:19:13,086 --> 00:19:16,656
Stringer's magnetic resonance data
was later used to create
297
00:19:16,656 --> 00:19:19,526
a three-dimensional dissection
of the butterfly's body
298
00:19:19,526 --> 00:19:21,895
as it took shape within the Chrysalis.
299
00:19:29,769 --> 00:19:30,904
On day one,
300
00:19:30,904 --> 00:19:33,373
the caterpillar's massive digestive tract
301
00:19:33,373 --> 00:19:35,675
is still nearly full-size.
302
00:19:38,344 --> 00:19:39,646
By the tenth day,
303
00:19:39,646 --> 00:19:42,048
hours prior to the butterfly's emergence,
304
00:19:42,048 --> 00:19:45,685
the tract has been totally reconstructed.
305
00:19:45,685 --> 00:19:48,655
It is now about 25% of its original volume,
306
00:19:48,655 --> 00:19:53,626
ideal for the adult insect
that will feed almost exclusively on nectar.
307
00:19:56,462 --> 00:19:58,298
During this transformation,
308
00:19:58,298 --> 00:20:00,300
the butterfly's reproductive organs,
309
00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:02,468
non-existent in the caterpillar,
310
00:20:02,468 --> 00:20:04,337
develop completely...
311
00:20:05,772 --> 00:20:08,241
...while its tube-like heart is remodeled
312
00:20:08,241 --> 00:20:11,711
to fit and function within
the abdomen of the butterfly.
313
00:20:19,886 --> 00:20:21,554
In the front of the Chrysalis,
314
00:20:21,554 --> 00:20:24,958
dramatic anatomical changes continue.
315
00:20:24,958 --> 00:20:26,726
The caterpillar's simple eyes,
316
00:20:26,726 --> 00:20:29,529
capable only of discerning darkness and light,
317
00:20:29,529 --> 00:20:31,531
are replaced by large,
318
00:20:31,531 --> 00:20:33,700
complex organs of vision.
319
00:20:38,972 --> 00:20:42,542
A muscular system
that will power flight and locomotion
320
00:20:42,542 --> 00:20:46,212
is built from both imaginal
and recycled larval cells.
321
00:20:50,016 --> 00:20:53,920
The butterfly's six legs,
two antennae, and feeding tube
322
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:58,024
are individually formed
while tightly compacted into a mass
323
00:20:58,024 --> 00:20:59,826
against the wall of the Chrysalis.
324
00:21:01,394 --> 00:21:02,829
And four wings,
325
00:21:02,829 --> 00:21:06,032
each with elaborate networks
of veins and scales,
326
00:21:06,032 --> 00:21:10,703
are shaped, decorated,
and refined in less than two weeks.
327
00:21:15,208 --> 00:21:17,076
[Richard Stringer]
It's like a different organism.
328
00:21:17,076 --> 00:21:19,412
And as the week goes on,
329
00:21:19,412 --> 00:21:22,815
transitions have to take place in the heart,
330
00:21:22,815 --> 00:21:26,252
transitions have to take place in the antennae,
331
00:21:26,252 --> 00:21:30,023
transitions have to take place
in the reproductive organs.
332
00:21:30,023 --> 00:21:31,758
You've got a big orchestra in there.
333
00:21:31,758 --> 00:21:34,927
You've got a great big orchestra,
and you've got a conductor,
334
00:21:34,927 --> 00:21:38,998
some conducting force
that's responsible for it all.
335
00:21:38,998 --> 00:21:43,536
I can say without any doubt that it was
the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.
336
00:22:19,906 --> 00:22:22,709
Caterpillar into butterfly.
337
00:22:22,709 --> 00:22:27,747
The transformation to an entirely
new way of living is nearly complete.
338
00:22:38,624 --> 00:22:40,593
During the first moments after emergence,
339
00:22:40,593 --> 00:22:44,497
the butterfly makes final
preparations to fly and eat,
340
00:22:44,497 --> 00:22:48,935
as it finishes construction
of its proboscis and wings.
341
00:22:52,605 --> 00:22:55,675
[Thomas Emmel]
The proboscis is a straw-like tongue,
342
00:22:55,675 --> 00:22:57,343
hollow in the middle.
343
00:22:57,343 --> 00:23:00,613
And the butterfly has muscles in its head
344
00:23:00,613 --> 00:23:02,782
which can create a suction,
345
00:23:02,782 --> 00:23:04,617
a sort of a suction pump,
346
00:23:04,617 --> 00:23:05,852
and draw nectar up.
347
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:09,355
Within the Chrysalis,
348
00:23:09,355 --> 00:23:13,059
the proboscis developed
as two separate pieces.
349
00:23:13,059 --> 00:23:15,294
Now, immediately following emergence,
350
00:23:15,294 --> 00:23:18,097
the butterfly must assemble them
into a single unit
351
00:23:18,097 --> 00:23:20,466
or die of starvation.
352
00:23:21,768 --> 00:23:23,536
[Ron Boender]
ifs two half-straws.
353
00:23:23,536 --> 00:23:25,238
There's a channel on one side,
354
00:23:25,238 --> 00:23:28,107
and has to get it into the channel,
the other side.
355
00:23:28,107 --> 00:23:32,745
Yo u 'll 3 eve: t little a p p e n d a g e s
on their head called pal pi.
356
00:23:32,745 --> 00:23:36,315
And those palpi seem to protect the proboscis
357
00:23:36,315 --> 00:23:38,718
and help that proboscis get put together.
358
00:23:42,855 --> 00:23:45,558
As the butterfly knits together the proboscis,
359
00:23:45,558 --> 00:23:49,262
its wings also take on their final structure.
360
00:23:50,630 --> 00:23:52,532
[Ron Boender]
When the butterfly comes out of the Chrysalis,
361
00:23:52,532 --> 00:23:54,267
the wings are like velvet.
362
00:23:54,267 --> 00:23:57,537
They're soft, they're pliable.
363
00:23:57,537 --> 00:23:59,939
There's veins.
The wings are filled with veins.
364
00:24:02,074 --> 00:24:04,477
[Paul Nelson]
What the butterfly does is,
365
00:24:04,477 --> 00:24:06,746
using its abdominal muscles,
366
00:24:06,746 --> 00:24:10,249
p u m p s h e 0l
367
00:24:10,249 --> 00:24:12,452
into the veins, into the wings,
368
00:24:12,452 --> 00:24:15,388
and they quickly expand
to their full size and shape.
369
00:24:20,026 --> 00:24:21,994
Each of the butterfly's four wings
370
00:24:21,994 --> 00:24:25,164
is covered with thousands of microscopic scales
371
00:24:25,164 --> 00:24:28,134
that are positioned like shingles on a rooftop.
372
00:24:29,802 --> 00:24:33,206
These scales are not only arranged
for aerodynamic efficiency
373
00:24:33,206 --> 00:24:35,441
and spectacular patterns,
374
00:24:35,441 --> 00:24:37,743
they also act as solar panels,
375
00:24:37,743 --> 00:24:41,881
collecting heat to warm the flight muscles
of the cold-blooded insect.
376
00:24:52,892 --> 00:24:57,497
A butterfly's eyes are also formed
from a vast network of component parts.
377
00:25:00,032 --> 00:25:04,103
Thousands of hexagonal
light receptors work in unison
378
00:25:04,103 --> 00:25:07,707
to produce a mosaic view
of the insect's environment...
379
00:25:11,611 --> 00:25:14,280
...while the spherical shape
of each compound eye
380
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:18,417
creates a field of view
more than 180-degrees wide.
381
00:25:19,986 --> 00:25:23,556
Ham Emmefl] They have four-coflom
vision systems, pigment systemsg
382
00:25:23,556 --> 00:25:26,759
which enable them to see
from the ultraviolet to infrared.
383
00:25:26,759 --> 00:25:29,862
Butterflies have better
color vision than humans.
384
00:25:34,834 --> 00:25:39,639
The butterfly's antennae, legs,
and feet complete its sensory system.
385
00:25:43,009 --> 00:25:46,812
The antennae, that control
balance and equilibrium in flight,
386
00:25:46,812 --> 00:25:50,550
recognize the aromas
most important to the butterfly.
387
00:25:53,586 --> 00:25:55,855
Their clubbed ends are covered with scales
388
00:25:55,855 --> 00:25:57,957
that can detect the scent of a host plant
389
00:25:57,957 --> 00:26:01,060
or prospective mate more than a mile away.
390
00:26:05,197 --> 00:26:08,234
A butterfly has three pairs of jointed legs
391
00:26:08,234 --> 00:26:09,936
with scales and fine hairs
392
00:26:09,936 --> 00:26:11,804
that sense vibrations. ..
393
00:26:11,804 --> 00:26:13,506
And possibly sound.
394
00:26:15,241 --> 00:26:18,311
While its legs and claws
are lined with nerve cells
395
00:26:18,311 --> 00:26:22,348
that react upon touch
to a leaf's distinct flavor.
396
00:26:23,849 --> 00:26:27,053
This heightened sense of taste is activated
397
00:26:27,053 --> 00:26:30,156
whenever the insect scratches
the surface of a plant.
398
00:26:42,702 --> 00:26:46,138
Some of the best biologists
and chemists in the world
399
00:26:46,138 --> 00:26:49,642
are now studying
the process of metamorphosis
400
00:26:49,642 --> 00:26:51,243
on a series of new levels,
401
00:26:51,243 --> 00:26:54,714
trying to integrate this
with the advances and techniques
402
00:26:54,714 --> 00:26:56,749
that we have for molecular biology,
403
00:26:56,749 --> 00:26:58,718
to modern imaging systems.
404
00:27:00,786 --> 00:27:02,421
[Paul Nelson]
In the case of butterflies,
405
00:27:02,421 --> 00:27:04,123
it's like a fine piece of art.
406
00:27:04,123 --> 00:27:06,859
You can appreciate it
at a sort of technical level
407
00:27:06,859 --> 00:27:11,263
in terms of what was required to get
the pigment on the canvas and so forth.
408
00:27:11,263 --> 00:27:14,367
But what's going on
is so much richer than that,
409
00:27:14,367 --> 00:27:17,136
and so much more significant than that.
410
00:27:18,704 --> 00:27:21,007
[ N n Ga u g e r]
just the b a re 0 u tl I n e s
411
00:27:21,007 --> 00:27:24,710
of a few of the processes
involved for metamorphosis.
412
00:27:24,710 --> 00:27:26,679
It's a mystery.
It's like a black box.
413
00:27:27,780 --> 00:27:31,550
Input larva, black box, output butterfly.
414
00:27:32,852 --> 00:27:34,020
What happened?
415
00:27:35,221 --> 00:27:36,288
What happened?
416
00:27:38,658 --> 00:27:41,460
And we only know
a thousandth of what's going on
417
00:27:41,460 --> 00:27:43,195
inside those insects,
418
00:27:43,195 --> 00:27:45,097
inside that pinhead brain,
419
00:27:45,097 --> 00:27:47,867
and all of the things that it can do.
420
00:27:47,867 --> 00:27:49,402
The way it can navigate,
421
00:27:49,402 --> 00:27:51,137
the way it can migrate,
422
00:27:51,137 --> 00:27:53,506
the way it can find the females.
423
00:27:53,506 --> 00:27:55,808
The way it can find the plant.
424
00:27:55,808 --> 00:27:58,411
It's one of the great wonders of the world.
425
00:28:14,627 --> 00:28:17,530
As science probes deeper into the life cycles
426
00:28:17,530 --> 00:28:19,999
of the 20,000 species of butterflies
427
00:28:19,999 --> 00:28:21,434
known to inhabit the earth,
428
00:28:21,434 --> 00:28:25,337
one story stands unique from any other.
429
00:28:26,505 --> 00:28:30,109
It is an epic saga that unfolds
across a continent,
430
00:28:30,109 --> 00:28:33,779
and a journey to the heart
of the beauty and mystery
431
00:28:33,779 --> 00:28:36,549
that epitomize metamorphosis.
432
00:28:38,718 --> 00:28:40,519
For more than 30 years,
433
00:28:40,519 --> 00:28:42,521
researchers from throughout the world,
434
00:28:42,521 --> 00:28:44,824
including biologist Thomas Emmel,
435
00:28:44,824 --> 00:28:46,859
have traveled to a secluded forest
436
00:28:46,859 --> 00:28:50,496
to study a phenomenon
unparalleled in nature...
437
00:28:50,496 --> 00:28:54,500
the Monarch butterfly's migration to Mexico.
438
00:28:57,369 --> 00:29:00,239
[Thomas E m mel]
I've g 0 n e do eve ry ye a r si n Ce 1981 ,
439
00:29:00,239 --> 00:29:02,608
and many years made a number of trips--
440
00:29:02,608 --> 00:29:05,211
two, three, four trips a year.
441
00:29:05,211 --> 00:29:09,515
Here's a butterfly species
that does something truly spectacular.
442
00:29:11,217 --> 00:29:14,887
Just imagine,
300 million Monarchs in one site
443
00:29:14,887 --> 00:29:17,990
that have flown 2500, 3000 miles
444
00:29:17,990 --> 00:29:20,926
to end up in these tiny twelve areas
445
00:29:20,926 --> 00:29:26,599
that still exist in the Trans-Volcanic range
of south central Mexico.
446
00:29:33,606 --> 00:29:36,776
The Monarch's migration begins each September,
447
00:29:36,776 --> 00:29:39,311
when most of the North American population
448
00:29:39,311 --> 00:29:41,213
east of the Rocky Mountains
449
00:29:41,213 --> 00:29:44,316
departs for central Mexico.
450
00:29:44,316 --> 00:29:47,386
Their journey can span more than 2500 miles,
451
00:29:47,386 --> 00:29:51,757
and is critical for two reasons:
452
00:29:51,757 --> 00:29:53,859
Monarchs are tropical butterflies,
453
00:29:53,859 --> 00:29:56,662
unable to endure
the freezing winter temperatures
454
00:29:56,662 --> 00:29:59,098
of the Midwest and Canada,
455
00:29:59,098 --> 00:30:02,168
and their life-cycle depends upon the milkweed.
456
00:30:12,778 --> 00:30:17,183
More than 100 species of milkweed
grow throughout the United States
457
00:30:17,183 --> 00:30:18,551
during the spring and summer.
458
00:30:20,019 --> 00:30:24,456
It is the only plant a female Monarch
will select to host her eggs.
459
00:30:29,428 --> 00:30:32,431
Milkweed leaves contain cardiac glycosides,
460
00:30:32,431 --> 00:30:36,235
toxic chemicals that can cause illness or death.
461
00:30:37,636 --> 00:30:40,606
After hatching,
the caterpillar eats the plants
462
00:30:40,606 --> 00:30:43,642
and stores their poisons
in its outer layer of skin.
463
00:30:44,743 --> 00:30:46,545
Then, during metamorphosis,
464
00:30:46,545 --> 00:30:50,082
the glycosides are transferred
from caterpillar to adult.
465
00:30:52,384 --> 00:30:54,620
And whenever the Monarch spreads its wings,
466
00:30:54,620 --> 00:30:58,123
their distinctive pattern
sends a warning to predators:
467
00:30:58,123 --> 00:31:01,694
Don't eat me. I taste terrible.
468
00:31:06,599 --> 00:31:07,833
Like the Monarch,
469
00:31:07,833 --> 00:31:11,170
milkweed cannot survive
the harsh North American winter,
470
00:31:11,170 --> 00:31:14,240
and by the end of August,
it goes to seed.
471
00:31:15,574 --> 00:31:19,511
[Tom Emmel] And at that point,
the Monarch stops all reproductive activity.
472
00:31:19,511 --> 00:31:21,814
If it's a female, no more eggs.
473
00:31:21,814 --> 00:31:24,350
If it's a male, no more sperm.
474
00:31:24,350 --> 00:31:26,418
They still feed, are active,
475
00:31:26,418 --> 00:31:29,755
but they show no interest
in sex or reproduction.
476
00:31:32,191 --> 00:31:34,827
With no milkweed for their eggs until spring,
477
00:31:34,827 --> 00:31:39,865
the Monarchs devote themselves entirely
to preparation for a transcontinental flight.
478
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,302
They spend the final weeks of summer
479
00:31:43,302 --> 00:31:45,504
feeding on nectar to build reserves
480
00:31:45,504 --> 00:31:47,506
of carbohydrates and fats,
481
00:31:47,506 --> 00:31:48,908
the fuel for their journey.
482
00:31:58,717 --> 00:32:04,757
Monarchs born in the spring or early summer
have a life-span of only two-to-four weeks.
483
00:32:04,757 --> 00:32:07,026
But the generation that emerges in August
484
00:32:07,026 --> 00:32:10,195
is genetically programmed
to live up to nine months,
485
00:32:10,195 --> 00:32:12,631
a provision crucial to survival.
486
00:32:16,035 --> 00:32:18,270
[Thomas Emmel]
The last generation of the summer,
487
00:32:18,270 --> 00:32:22,207
the one that's going to live all winter
and into the following spring
488
00:32:22,207 --> 00:32:25,577
is really an interesting problem for biologists
489
00:32:25,577 --> 00:32:28,847
because here you have two, three generations
490
00:32:28,847 --> 00:32:30,883
preceding that generation
491
00:32:30,883 --> 00:32:32,952
where the adult lives at most
492
00:32:32,952 --> 00:32:36,088
two weeks, three weeks,
four weeks, and then dies.
493
00:32:36,088 --> 00:32:37,790
And now, all of a sudden,
494
00:32:37,790 --> 00:32:39,625
a generation is produced
495
00:32:39,625 --> 00:32:41,527
that's going to live nine months,
496
00:32:41,527 --> 00:32:43,429
nine times as long.
497
00:32:44,964 --> 00:32:47,700
It's thought that there's a genetic difference
498
00:32:47,700 --> 00:32:50,803
comprised of about six genes
499
00:32:50,803 --> 00:32:53,706
that are unique in this generation
500
00:32:53,706 --> 00:32:55,941
that enable it to live that long.
501
00:33:06,218 --> 00:33:09,521
Often called, the "Methuselah generation,"
502
00:33:09,521 --> 00:33:14,159
their longevity will enable the butterflies
to fly south for eight weeks,
503
00:33:14,159 --> 00:33:15,995
endure four months of winter,
504
00:33:15,995 --> 00:33:18,897
and then start the return trip north
505
00:33:18,897 --> 00:33:22,634
to establish a new generation
of Monarchs in the spring.
506
00:33:29,274 --> 00:33:30,843
With the approach of autumn,
507
00:33:30,843 --> 00:33:35,080
the angle of the sun at mid-day
drops below 56 degrees.
508
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,351
The shortening days are the butterfly's cue
to begin their migration.
509
00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:42,688
A network of sensory organs
510
00:33:42,688 --> 00:33:46,125
will enable them to navigate
throughout the journey south.
511
00:34:01,106 --> 00:34:07,146
[Thomas Emmel] The question is
how the butterfly figures out what direction to go.
512
00:34:07,146 --> 00:34:09,014
We're looking at several things.
513
00:34:09,014 --> 00:34:11,517
The butterfly is able to detect day length
514
00:34:11,517 --> 00:34:15,220
through tiny organs on its antennae.
515
00:34:15,220 --> 00:34:18,357
It's able to detect the position of the sun
516
00:34:18,357 --> 00:34:23,228
above the horizon by visual senses,
517
00:34:23,228 --> 00:34:27,733
and also compensate with
a biological time-clock in its brain
518
00:34:27,733 --> 00:34:29,568
for the movement of that sun
519
00:34:29,568 --> 00:34:31,837
from early in the morning on the eastern horizon
520
00:34:31,837 --> 00:34:35,507
to the western horizon
at the end of the day when it sets.
521
00:34:35,507 --> 00:34:38,077
So, they're moving south,
522
00:34:38,077 --> 00:34:40,379
following the sun's directions,
523
00:34:40,379 --> 00:34:42,915
and they're adjusting their flight each day.
524
00:34:45,684 --> 00:34:48,954
From as far north as Canada, Michigan, and Maine,
525
00:34:48,954 --> 00:34:52,458
the Monarchs travel an average of 50 miles a day,
526
00:34:52,458 --> 00:34:55,461
as they glide on currents of warm thermal air.
527
00:34:59,698 --> 00:35:03,502
By mid-October,
their primary migration routes converge,
528
00:35:03,502 --> 00:35:07,506
as most of the butterflies
funnel into southern Texas
529
00:35:07,506 --> 00:35:09,241
before crossing the border.
530
00:35:10,409 --> 00:35:15,347
Some, however, take a more direct route,
across the Gulf of Mexico.
531
00:35:33,932 --> 00:35:38,937
In late October, on evenings following
the passage of a cold weather front,
532
00:35:38,937 --> 00:35:42,608
Monarchs descend upon the gas
and oil rigs throughout the gulf.
533
00:35:47,779 --> 00:35:49,648
Perhaps attracted by the lights,
534
00:35:49,648 --> 00:35:53,819
the butterflies interrupt
the longest non-stop leg of their journey.
535
00:35:56,188 --> 00:36:01,360
Here, among the pipes, ropes,
and heavy machinery, they rest for the night.
536
00:36:08,767 --> 00:36:13,138
In 1993, biologist Gary Ross
and a team of volunteers
537
00:36:13,138 --> 00:36:18,110
documented Monarchs on more than
twenty platforms during a two-week period.
538
00:36:24,449 --> 00:36:27,853
At daybreak, the butterflies warmed
their flight muscles,
539
00:36:27,853 --> 00:36:31,056
calculated their bearing
by the position of the sun,
540
00:36:31,056 --> 00:36:33,158
and then resumed their journey.
541
00:36:44,169 --> 00:36:46,905
After crossing the southern border of Texas,
542
00:36:46,905 --> 00:36:52,077
the eastern Monarch population
merges into a fly-way about 50 miles wide.
543
00:36:55,013 --> 00:36:57,583
During this leg of their migration south,
544
00:36:57,583 --> 00:37:02,254
they follow the geography
of the Sierra Madre-Oriental mountain range.
545
00:37:03,922 --> 00:37:06,692
Then, near a region called the Sierra Gorda,
546
00:37:06,692 --> 00:37:09,761
they abruptly change direction
and cut through a pass,
547
00:37:09,761 --> 00:37:13,198
heading southwest
toward the interior of Mexico.
548
00:37:16,602 --> 00:37:19,338
[Thomas Emmel]
A n d t h e re the f I n d t h e e n d of t h e d e s e rt
549
00:37:19,338 --> 00:37:21,740
and the start of a transverse mountain range
550
00:37:21,740 --> 00:37:26,144
that runs west-east,
and that's the Trans-Volcanic range.
551
00:37:27,846 --> 00:37:30,949
The Trans-Volcanic is the tallest range in Mexico.
552
00:37:32,084 --> 00:37:35,087
Its mountains contain rich deposits of heavy metals
553
00:37:35,087 --> 00:37:38,523
that may play an important role
in the Monarch's navigation.
554
00:37:40,959 --> 00:37:43,395
[Thomas E m m e I]
Gold, iron, manganese, copper--
555
00:37:43,395 --> 00:37:47,132
all of these metals created
an anomalous magnetic field.
556
00:37:47,132 --> 00:37:50,002
And this seems to be important
in bringing the Monarchs in,
557
00:37:50,002 --> 00:37:55,641
because the Monarchs have tiny particles
of the mineral magnetite in their body
558
00:37:55,641 --> 00:37:58,477
at the base of the wing,
and in the thorax and the abdomen.
559
00:37:58,477 --> 00:38:01,213
And these are believed to help them navigate
560
00:38:01,213 --> 00:38:03,315
to precisely this mountain range
561
00:38:03,315 --> 00:38:06,285
because there's a very strong magnetic anomaly
562
00:38:06,285 --> 00:38:07,886
as one approaches this range,
563
00:38:07,886 --> 00:38:10,689
due to all these heavy metals near the surface.
564
00:38:10,689 --> 00:38:16,194
So the particles of magnetite rotate
like a little bar magnet inside a cell,
565
00:38:16,194 --> 00:38:21,266
and that cues the Monarch
that it needs to head in a certain direction.
566
00:38:21,266 --> 00:38:23,502
[birds cawing]
567
00:38:30,676 --> 00:38:33,211
Until late in the 20th century,
568
00:38:33,211 --> 00:38:37,249
the only people to ever observe
the butterfly's arrival in Mexico
569
00:38:37,249 --> 00:38:39,184
were the farmers and miners
570
00:38:39,184 --> 00:38:42,054
who lived and worked
in these volcanic mountains.
571
00:38:43,221 --> 00:38:46,725
Then, on January 2, 1975,
572
00:38:46,725 --> 00:38:50,729
in a forest 70 miles west of Mexico City,
573
00:38:50,729 --> 00:38:55,267
a spectacular discovery
opened the door for the rest of the world.
574
00:38:59,271 --> 00:39:01,606
$4' [choir vocalizes]
575
00:39:16,021 --> 00:39:18,156
Millions of Monarch butterflies
576
00:39:18,156 --> 00:39:21,560
had gathered in a forest of Oyamel firs,
577
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:23,895
10,000 feet above sea level.
578
00:39:29,868 --> 00:39:33,071
Fredrick Urquhart,
a Canadian biologist
579
00:39:33,071 --> 00:39:35,607
who devoted his career to
the Search for this colony,
580
00:39:35,607 --> 00:39:39,111
described it as
"a glorious, incredible place
581
00:39:39,111 --> 00:39:42,647
"where butterflies swirl
through the air like autumn leaves,
582
00:39:42,647 --> 00:39:45,517
"shimmering against the mountain sky
583
00:39:45,517 --> 00:39:49,554
and drifting across our vision
in a blizzard of orange and black."
584
00:39:51,656 --> 00:39:56,428
Science now glimpsed the true magnitude
of the eastern Monarch's migration.
585
00:40:00,232 --> 00:40:03,068
[Thomas Emmel] One of the really
remarkable things about this migration
586
00:40:03,068 --> 00:40:06,772
is that all of these individuals
have never made the trip before.
587
00:40:06,772 --> 00:40:11,309
It was their grandparents or great-grandparents,
two, three, four generations ago.
588
00:40:11,309 --> 00:40:13,879
They have no leader
who has made the trip before.
589
00:40:13,879 --> 00:40:16,681
Umflfike hoopimg Cranes
or Samdhiflfl Cranesg
590
00:40:16,681 --> 00:40:19,451
they don't have an older experienced adult
591
00:40:19,451 --> 00:40:21,620
to take the lead
and show them where to go,
592
00:40:21,620 --> 00:40:23,054
where to stop at night.
593
00:40:23,054 --> 00:40:25,657
But in the end,
it ends up on the very same trees,
594
00:40:25,657 --> 00:40:28,427
same area, same slope of the mountain
595
00:40:28,427 --> 00:40:31,630
that its parents or grandparents left
from the previous year.
596
00:40:48,013 --> 00:40:49,948
Since 1975,
597
00:40:49,948 --> 00:40:52,617
a dozen permanent over-wintering colonies
598
00:40:52,617 --> 00:40:55,487
have been discovered in these mountains.
599
00:40:55,487 --> 00:40:58,623
Each maintains a critically balanced microclimate
600
00:40:58,623 --> 00:41:02,194
that helps sustain the Monarchs until spring.
601
00:41:08,767 --> 00:41:10,936
Average temperatures in the colonies
602
00:41:10,936 --> 00:41:14,906
range from 35 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit--
603
00:41:14,906 --> 00:41:17,609
warm enough to protect the insects from freezing
604
00:41:17,609 --> 00:41:21,279
and cool enough to minimize
their expenditure of energy.
605
00:41:23,048 --> 00:41:24,683
For more than four months,
606
00:41:24,683 --> 00:41:26,818
hundreds of millions of butterflies
607
00:41:26,818 --> 00:41:29,754
live in a state of semi-hibernation
608
00:41:29,754 --> 00:41:32,657
while slowly consuming the reserves of nutrients
609
00:41:32,657 --> 00:41:34,493
they accumulated during the summer.
610
00:41:35,827 --> 00:41:39,397
The bark and needles on the fir trees
provide stable footholds.
611
00:41:39,397 --> 00:41:43,335
And by flocking in roosts,
several layers deep,
612
00:41:43,335 --> 00:41:46,705
they can endure days or weeks
of inclement weather.
613
00:41:46,705 --> 00:41:49,407
[thunder rumbles in distance]
614
00:41:59,251 --> 00:42:01,820
34' [Woman vocalizes]
615
00:42:15,433 --> 00:42:17,602
$4' [choir vocalizes]
616
00:42:38,123 --> 00:42:39,824
With the arrival of spring,
617
00:42:39,824 --> 00:42:43,428
the insects prepare to depart
the over-wintering sites.
618
00:42:49,901 --> 00:42:51,803
After the sun warms the colony,
619
00:42:51,803 --> 00:42:55,473
the Monarchs leave their roosts
for a few hours each day.
620
00:43:01,780 --> 00:43:05,150
They travel short distances
in search of nectar and water
621
00:43:05,150 --> 00:43:08,086
that will nourish them
during their journey north.
622
00:43:13,325 --> 00:43:17,462
At lower elevations,
they feed on the new bloom of wild flowers
623
00:43:17,462 --> 00:43:20,398
and draw moisture from the damp grass
624
00:43:20,398 --> 00:43:23,101
and the rivulets that run down
from the mountains.
625
00:43:30,141 --> 00:43:34,045
The lengthening days also trigger
a change in the Monarch's biology.
626
00:43:37,248 --> 00:43:39,017
In early March,
627
00:43:39,017 --> 00:43:41,886
the butterfly's reproductive organs
become active
628
00:43:41,886 --> 00:43:45,490
as the males produce sperm
and the females, eggs.
629
00:43:52,097 --> 00:43:56,101
After mating, they leave
the colonies and head north,
630
00:43:56,101 --> 00:43:58,603
ready to establish a new generation.
631
00:44:09,414 --> 00:44:13,084
The Monarch's departure from Mexico
coincides with the appearance
632
00:44:13,084 --> 00:44:15,954
of a new crop of milkweed
in southern Texas.
633
00:44:19,457 --> 00:44:22,961
When the females find the host plants,
they lay their eggs.
634
00:44:27,966 --> 00:44:32,604
Their life-cycle now complete,
they will soon die.
635
00:44:39,978 --> 00:44:41,880
Throughout the spring and summer,
636
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,282
successive generations of Monarchs,
637
00:44:44,282 --> 00:44:46,117
each living about four weeks,
638
00:44:46,117 --> 00:44:49,120
follow the milkweed as it grows progressively
639
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:52,157
across the Midwest and into southern Canada.
640
00:44:55,293 --> 00:44:56,995
Then, in late August,
641
00:44:56,995 --> 00:44:59,164
near a dairy farm in Minnesota
642
00:44:59,164 --> 00:45:01,833
or a Iakeshore in Ontario,
643
00:45:01,833 --> 00:45:06,104
butterflies from a new
"Methuselah generation" emerge,
644
00:45:06,104 --> 00:45:09,474
ready to undertake
the great migration once again.
645
00:45:20,985 --> 00:45:24,656
[Thomas Emmel] The series of steps
that the Monarch takes during this trip,
646
00:45:24,656 --> 00:45:28,993
both coming south
and going north again in the spring,
647
00:45:28,993 --> 00:45:30,895
is truly astounding.
648
00:45:38,737 --> 00:45:44,542
Here's an insect moving by the billions
between three countries.
649
00:45:44,542 --> 00:45:49,147
To imagine a tiny brain
the size of a Monarch brain
650
00:45:49,147 --> 00:45:55,186
being able to carry all the information
that it needs to make this 2500-mile trip,
651
00:45:55,186 --> 00:46:01,159
adjusting daily for the movement of the sun
as it drops lower on the horizon,
652
00:46:01,159 --> 00:46:04,596
getting near the over-wintering site in Mexico,
653
00:46:04,596 --> 00:46:07,031
and somehow ending up
in the same mountain range
654
00:46:07,031 --> 00:46:10,535
that their grandparents came from
the previous spring.
655
00:46:10,535 --> 00:46:13,404
But that tiny brain puts all of this together.
656
00:46:16,608 --> 00:46:20,779
It is a wonderful mystery that's
going to attract scientists' attention
657
00:46:20,779 --> 00:46:23,815
for many, many decades
or centuries to come,
658
00:46:23,815 --> 00:46:27,786
and we are only beginning
to understand how miraculous this is.
659
00:46:36,394 --> 00:46:40,865
[Paul Nelson] It's impossible to look
at a caterpillar turning into a butterfly
660
00:46:40,865 --> 00:46:42,400
and not ask "how".
661
00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,537
Their metamorphosis,
their migration, their Iifecycle.
662
00:46:45,537 --> 00:46:46,971
How did this happen?
663
00:46:46,971 --> 00:46:49,607
How is it regulated?
How is it controlled?
664
00:46:49,607 --> 00:46:53,545
This astonishing remarkable transformation.
665
00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:57,882
A biologist who encounters
666
00:46:57,882 --> 00:47:00,018
a puzzle like metamorphosis
667
00:47:00,018 --> 00:47:01,786
is going to view that puzzle
668
00:47:01,786 --> 00:47:05,190
through an analytical filter, a lens.
669
00:47:05,190 --> 00:47:08,326
It's a way of trying to understand the problem.
670
00:47:08,326 --> 00:47:10,361
And for most biologists,
671
00:47:10,361 --> 00:47:13,832
that lens is going to be
an undirected evolutionary process.
672
00:47:16,868 --> 00:47:19,070
Since the late 19th century,
673
00:47:19,070 --> 00:47:22,340
most explanations for the life-cycle of a butterfly
674
00:47:22,340 --> 00:47:24,075
or any other organism
675
00:47:24,075 --> 00:47:26,277
have shared a basic premise:
676
00:47:26,277 --> 00:47:28,713
to be considered scientific,
677
00:47:28,713 --> 00:47:33,251
they must rely exclusively upon
undirected natural causes.
678
00:47:35,587 --> 00:47:40,525
This view was first published by Charles Darwin
in his theory of evolution
679
00:47:40,525 --> 00:47:43,895
through random variation and natural selection.
680
00:47:43,895 --> 00:47:49,033
And, today, it is widely accepted
as a foundation of modern biology.
681
00:47:50,335 --> 00:47:54,772
But can such a theory account
for the origin of metamorphosis?
682
00:47:56,107 --> 00:47:58,109
[Paul Nelson]
On the evolutionary view of life,
683
00:47:58,109 --> 00:48:00,678
in particular on the Darwinian view of life,
684
00:48:00,678 --> 00:48:03,181
everything that an organism does,
685
00:48:03,181 --> 00:48:05,049
every feature that it has,
686
00:48:05,049 --> 00:48:10,722
all of its details ultimately relate
to the requirements of natural selection.
687
00:48:10,722 --> 00:48:12,690
So, to build the first butterflies,
688
00:48:12,690 --> 00:48:17,195
natural selection would have had
to work entirely through genetic mutations.
689
00:48:17,195 --> 00:48:19,530
They're the raw materials of evolution.
690
00:48:29,874 --> 00:48:34,178
A mutation is an error
in the DNA of a living organism.
691
00:48:34,178 --> 00:48:37,215
An alteration of the genetic code.
692
00:48:37,215 --> 00:48:39,784
The theory of natural selection contends
693
00:48:39,784 --> 00:48:42,053
that the accumulation of mutations
694
00:48:42,053 --> 00:48:44,522
over enormous periods of time
695
00:48:44,522 --> 00:48:48,760
fuel the evolution of all complex life on earth.
696
00:48:50,194 --> 00:48:54,299
[Ann Gauger] Generally speaking,
mutations are mistakes.
697
00:48:54,299 --> 00:48:56,167
It's a change to the DNA.
698
00:48:56,167 --> 00:48:59,370
And these mutations happen in a random way.
699
00:48:59,370 --> 00:49:01,839
They're not guided or directed
700
00:49:01,839 --> 00:49:03,141
to happen in the right order,
701
00:49:03,141 --> 00:49:04,842
in the right sequence, in the right time.
702
00:49:07,078 --> 00:49:10,014
[Paul Nelson]
There's no foresight involved in this process,
703
00:49:10,014 --> 00:49:13,284
no vision of what
the organism needs in the future.
704
00:49:14,519 --> 00:49:16,621
Now, there's a real problem with that,
705
00:49:16,621 --> 00:49:21,759
especially when you consider the single
most important element of metamorphosis--
706
00:49:21,759 --> 00:49:23,661
the Chrysalis.
707
00:49:27,365 --> 00:49:32,437
A butterfly Chrysalis connects
two fundamentally different ways of living.
708
00:49:32,437 --> 00:49:35,006
It is both a bridge and a workshop
709
00:49:35,006 --> 00:49:38,843
where one type of organism
is transformed into another.
710
00:49:40,712 --> 00:49:42,814
[engine whirring]
711
00:49:49,654 --> 00:49:51,656
The magnitude of this transformation
712
00:49:51,656 --> 00:49:54,192
has been compared to a Model T Ford--
713
00:49:54,192 --> 00:49:55,727
[tires screech]
714
00:49:55,727 --> 00:49:58,696
...that suddenly encases itself within a garage.
715
00:50:02,066 --> 00:50:04,302
[metal slams, objects clatter]
716
00:50:04,302 --> 00:50:05,970
[mechanical whirring]
717
00:50:05,970 --> 00:50:08,606
Inside, most of the car breaks down
718
00:50:08,606 --> 00:50:12,310
into fragments of metal, rubber, and glass.
719
00:50:12,310 --> 00:50:14,612
[clattering]
720
00:50:16,481 --> 00:50:18,850
These pieces then reorganize themselves
721
00:50:18,850 --> 00:50:21,052
into components more complex
722
00:50:21,052 --> 00:50:24,288
than any that previously existed in the Model T.
723
00:50:26,424 --> 00:50:30,028
After several days,
the garage door bursts open
724
00:50:30,028 --> 00:50:35,099
and a radically different mode
of transportation lifts off into the sky.
725
00:50:35,099 --> 00:50:36,701
[engine powers up]
726
00:50:36,701 --> 00:50:38,536
[blades whirring]
727
00:50:45,143 --> 00:50:48,179
[Paul Nelson]
Now, an analogy like that is pure whimsy.
728
00:50:48,179 --> 00:50:50,848
But, even if it were somehow possible,
729
00:50:50,848 --> 00:50:53,818
I don't think turning a car into a helicopter,
730
00:50:53,818 --> 00:50:55,620
would be nearly as impressive
731
00:50:55,620 --> 00:50:59,524
as the actual transformation
that takes place inside a Chrysalis.
732
00:51:06,330 --> 00:51:08,766
From the moment the Chrysalis is formed,
733
00:51:08,766 --> 00:51:13,438
caterpillar tissues are destroyed
and then recycled to help build wings,
734
00:51:13,438 --> 00:51:16,040
compound eyes, reproductive organs,
735
00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:19,710
and navigational systems
of stunning beauty and efficiency.
736
00:51:22,447 --> 00:51:25,883
Yet despite the importance
of cell death in the Chrysalis,
737
00:51:25,883 --> 00:51:30,988
the origin of the process defies
the basic logic of natural selection.
738
00:51:32,623 --> 00:51:34,392
[Paul Nelson]
One of the fundamental requirements
739
00:51:34,392 --> 00:51:38,096
of natural selection is reproduction.
740
00:51:38,096 --> 00:51:42,733
You've got to be able to make copies of yourself,
in particular of your genes.
741
00:51:42,733 --> 00:51:45,369
You've got to be able pass them on.
742
00:51:45,369 --> 00:51:47,371
But a Chrysalis,
743
00:51:47,371 --> 00:51:51,242
unless it represents a bridge
to something yet to come,
744
00:51:51,242 --> 00:51:52,810
is really a casket.
745
00:51:52,810 --> 00:51:55,980
If you're a caterpillar,
you're entering your own grave.
746
00:51:55,980 --> 00:51:59,851
Turning most of your body
into a molecular soup would be suicide.
747
00:52:01,652 --> 00:52:04,689
[Ann G-auger] A caterpillar,
unless it makes it through to the adult,
748
00:52:04,689 --> 00:52:07,191
is no good because it can't reproduce.
749
00:52:07,191 --> 00:52:11,129
You're not going to have offspring,
so you're a dead-end street, evolutionarily.
750
00:52:11,129 --> 00:52:14,765
So it wouldn't be any benefit
at all to kill yourself,
751
00:52:14,765 --> 00:52:17,835
unless you've got
a hidden plan up your sleeve.
752
00:52:17,835 --> 00:52:20,905
You know, like,
"Okay, I know I can commit suicide,
753
00:52:20,905 --> 00:52:23,374
because there's a new me waiting to happen."
754
00:52:27,778 --> 00:52:31,582
[Paul Nelson]
The caterpillar is not going to enter the Chrysalis,
755
00:52:31,582 --> 00:52:33,918
without simultaneously knowing,
756
00:52:33,918 --> 00:52:36,521
"I've got a plan for getting out of this.
757
00:52:36,521 --> 00:52:39,157
"I'm heading towards the adult butterfly.
758
00:52:39,157 --> 00:52:42,793
"I'm going to reconstitute
these tissues in the adult form,
759
00:52:42,793 --> 00:52:45,963
emerge, and go on my way."
760
00:52:45,963 --> 00:52:48,966
But that's not how natural selection operates.
761
00:52:48,966 --> 00:52:50,668
It can't look into the future
762
00:52:50,668 --> 00:52:52,203
and somehow anticipate
763
00:52:52,203 --> 00:52:54,639
what an evolving organism is going to need
764
00:52:54,639 --> 00:52:56,174
in a week, or a month,
765
00:52:56,174 --> 00:52:58,609
or a thousand years from now.
766
00:52:58,609 --> 00:53:01,846
So, if the first caterpillars
were evolving into existence--
767
00:53:01,846 --> 00:53:06,684
without foresight, it's highly unlikely
natural selection would retain
768
00:53:06,684 --> 00:53:08,920
a destructive process like cell death.
769
00:53:18,996 --> 00:53:23,668
This absence of foresight is not
the only challenge to Darwinian theory.
770
00:53:23,668 --> 00:53:26,304
Biologists have long recognized
771
00:53:26,304 --> 00:53:28,906
that natural selection cannot succeed
772
00:53:28,906 --> 00:53:31,609
by taking large evolutionary leaps.
773
00:53:31,609 --> 00:53:34,979
Instead, the process can only move forward
774
00:53:34,979 --> 00:53:38,649
through a series of small,
incremental steps.
775
00:53:40,618 --> 00:53:43,387
[Paul Nelson] In evolution,
it's the smaller scale changes
776
00:53:43,387 --> 00:53:45,256
that have a better chance of being passed on
777
00:53:45,256 --> 00:53:48,025
because they're relatively limited in their scope.
778
00:53:48,025 --> 00:53:50,595
That means they're disrupting less,
779
00:53:50,595 --> 00:53:55,299
and they're more likely
to be tolerated by the organism.
780
00:53:55,299 --> 00:53:58,102
But when it comes to the origin of metamorphosis,
781
00:53:58,102 --> 00:54:01,505
the notion of gradual evolutionary change
comes to a dead end.
782
00:54:06,110 --> 00:54:07,712
By its very nature,
783
00:54:07,712 --> 00:54:11,449
metamorphosis is an
all-or-nothing proposition.
784
00:54:11,449 --> 00:54:13,517
And throughout biological history,
785
00:54:13,517 --> 00:54:16,554
its success has hinged
upon the immediate availability
786
00:54:16,554 --> 00:54:18,723
of a full set of instructions--
787
00:54:18,723 --> 00:54:20,958
including genes, proteins,
788
00:54:20,958 --> 00:54:24,562
and the developmental program
required to integrate them.
789
00:54:27,832 --> 00:54:30,701
[ n“ n G a u g e r]
It all has to be in place ahead of time.
790
00:54:30,701 --> 00:54:33,237
It needs to have the genes in place.
791
00:54:33,237 --> 00:54:36,173
The regulatory elements that are going
to turn the genes on and off--
792
00:54:36,173 --> 00:54:38,509
it has to have am the cells preprogrammed
793
00:54:38,509 --> 00:54:40,344
to do what they're going to do
when the time comes,
794
00:54:40,344 --> 00:54:43,281
so they respond to the signals
they get in the right way.
795
00:54:43,281 --> 00:54:45,650
The larval cells have
to know they're going to die.
796
00:54:45,650 --> 00:54:48,386
You gotta remember,
the caterpillar isn't thinking about things.
797
00:54:48,386 --> 00:54:53,090
It's not saying, "Okay, now it's time
to dissolve my epidermis,"
798
00:54:53,090 --> 00:54:54,859
and, "Okay, what about that gut?
799
00:54:54,859 --> 00:54:56,661
Got to get working on that gut."
800
00:54:56,661 --> 00:54:57,962
No.
801
00:54:57,962 --> 00:55:02,933
It has to happen rapidly
and in a coordinated fashion.
802
00:55:02,933 --> 00:55:06,170
Once you're committed
to the Chrysalis stage,
803
00:55:06,170 --> 00:55:08,105
there's no going back.
804
00:55:08,105 --> 00:55:10,908
You have to complete the transition.
805
00:55:22,953 --> 00:55:25,556
[Paul Nelson]
A caterpillar that's equipped to go 10%
806
00:55:25,556 --> 00:55:28,492
or 25% of the way through metamorphosis
807
00:55:28,492 --> 00:55:31,395
is no-way through metamorphosis.
808
00:55:31,395 --> 00:55:33,331
Part way into a process
809
00:55:33,331 --> 00:55:35,366
that requires getting out the other side
810
00:55:35,366 --> 00:55:37,702
as a fully-formed adult, doesn't work.
811
00:55:39,403 --> 00:55:41,972
A In“: G a u g e r]
You have to recreate ad u It legs,
812
00:55:41,972 --> 00:55:45,109
adult antennae, adult eyes.
813
00:55:45,109 --> 00:55:46,844
You have to change the shape of the brain
814
00:55:46,844 --> 00:55:49,947
and the connections between
the antennae and the eyes.
815
00:55:49,947 --> 00:55:52,183
You have to reformat the gut
816
00:55:52,183 --> 00:55:55,519
so that it switches from eating
plant material to eating nectar.
817
00:55:55,519 --> 00:55:57,621
How many mutations does it take,
818
00:55:57,621 --> 00:55:59,924
and how do you coordinate all of that?
819
00:56:00,558 --> 00:56:03,761
If you get the eyes right
but the gut wrong,
820
00:56:03,761 --> 00:56:06,397
it's a failure as a butterfly.
821
00:56:06,397 --> 00:56:10,534
If you get the wings right and the legs right
822
00:56:10,534 --> 00:56:12,670
but the muscles don't attach,
823
00:56:12,670 --> 00:56:14,538
that butterfly's going nowhere.
824
00:56:14,538 --> 00:56:15,506
It's dead.
825
00:56:17,308 --> 00:56:20,277
You begin to see the depths of the problem.
826
00:56:20,277 --> 00:56:22,947
So for evolution to have created
827
00:56:22,947 --> 00:56:25,783
this sort of pathway, gradually,
828
00:56:25,783 --> 00:56:27,651
it would take a miracle.
829
00:56:28,886 --> 00:56:30,654
[Paul Nelson]
Metamorphosis,
830
00:56:30,654 --> 00:56:34,392
if it came into existence at all
by an undirected process,
831
00:56:34,392 --> 00:56:37,862
had to have done so in one fell-swoop.
832
00:56:37,862 --> 00:56:40,297
Natural selection, by definition,
833
00:56:40,297 --> 00:56:43,200
I would say, cannot build that kind of process.
834
00:56:51,642 --> 00:56:54,145
To create a process like metamorphosis,
835
00:56:54,145 --> 00:56:57,081
you'd need a totally different type of cause.
836
00:56:57,081 --> 00:56:59,250
Something that could see a distant target,
837
00:56:59,250 --> 00:57:01,118
keep that target in focus,
838
00:57:01,118 --> 00:57:03,788
and provide all the resources necessary
839
00:57:03,788 --> 00:57:07,525
to hit the bulls-eye on the first shot--
840
00:57:07,525 --> 00:57:11,829
I think the only cause that could have
accomplished that is an intelligent agent.
841
00:57:35,119 --> 00:57:36,954
From a philosophical perspective,
842
00:57:36,954 --> 00:57:39,356
the suggestion of intelligent design
843
00:57:39,356 --> 00:57:43,294
as the explanation for the origin
and development of life
844
00:57:43,294 --> 00:57:46,730
contradicts the assumptions of many biologists.
845
00:57:46,730 --> 00:57:50,534
But when considered objectively,
evidence may be plentiful
846
00:57:50,534 --> 00:57:53,070
within the walls of a Chrysalis
847
00:57:53,070 --> 00:57:54,972
or on a Monarch's wings.
848
00:57:57,107 --> 00:58:01,212
Metamorphosis not only challenges
the Darwinian picture of life,
849
00:58:01,212 --> 00:58:04,248
in fact it points, in a positive way,
850
00:58:04,248 --> 00:58:05,850
toward the truth of intelligent design.
851
00:58:08,118 --> 00:58:12,990
If you saw a mechanical device
of the sophistication of a butterfly,
852
00:58:12,990 --> 00:58:18,662
you would not, for a moment,
hesitate to ascribe that to intelligence,
853
00:58:18,662 --> 00:58:22,700
because the butterfly is
so much more sophisticated,
854
00:58:22,700 --> 00:58:25,336
almost beyond our comprehension,
855
00:58:25,336 --> 00:58:27,738
than anything that we make.
856
00:58:29,940 --> 00:58:34,645
Planning, foresight, artistry, engineering--
857
00:58:34,645 --> 00:58:36,247
Normally in our experience,
858
00:58:36,247 --> 00:58:38,782
when we see those criteria fulfilled,
859
00:58:38,782 --> 00:58:40,885
when we see those indicators,
860
00:58:40,885 --> 00:58:44,021
we say, "That's positive evidence
of intelligent design."
861
00:58:56,300 --> 00:58:58,602
To build a butterfly, you need a cause
862
00:58:58,602 --> 00:59:01,672
that can visualize a long-range objective,
863
00:59:01,672 --> 00:59:04,241
and then direct every step of the process
864
00:59:04,241 --> 00:59:06,477
that's required to make it happen.
865
00:59:06,477 --> 00:59:09,680
Only intelligence,
universally in our experience,
866
00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:10,948
is capable of doing that.
867
00:59:17,254 --> 00:59:21,325
You also need a cause that can re-use
lower-level component parts
868
00:59:21,325 --> 00:59:24,762
to construct a different higher-level system.
869
00:59:25,796 --> 00:59:29,099
For butterflies, the same genes
and proteins that build you a caterpillar
870
00:59:29,099 --> 00:59:32,937
can be reused to give you
an adult flying insect.
871
00:59:35,272 --> 00:59:38,676
As Nobel Prize winning geneticist
B a rbara CCI I n to C k n ote d,
872
00:59:38,676 --> 00:59:42,613
"it's astounding that two
brilliantly designed organisms
873
00:59:42,613 --> 00:59:44,248
share a single genome."
874
00:59:47,384 --> 00:59:49,587
To build a butterfly, you have to be able
875
00:59:49,587 --> 00:59:52,556
to assemble a network
of elaborate sub-structures
876
00:59:52,556 --> 00:59:54,925
like wings, navigational systems,
877
00:59:54,925 --> 00:59:57,795
and a proboscis...
878
00:59:57,795 --> 01:00:02,700
and then integrate all these systems
into a very complex organism.
879
01:00:05,936 --> 01:00:08,372
And you need a cause with an artist's eye
880
01:00:08,372 --> 01:00:11,909
for color and pattern and shape...
881
01:00:11,909 --> 01:00:13,911
a sense of beauty and aesthetics
882
01:00:13,911 --> 01:00:17,047
that extends way beyond utilitarian purposes
883
01:00:17,047 --> 01:00:20,451
like camouflage or species recognition.
884
01:00:20,451 --> 01:00:22,953
There may well be in butterflies
885
01:00:22,953 --> 01:00:24,555
aspects of beauty that are there
886
01:00:24,555 --> 01:00:27,391
not for the sake of reproduction or survival,
887
01:00:27,391 --> 01:00:29,526
but for us to appreciate.
888
01:00:36,900 --> 01:00:39,136
[ N n G a U 9 e F]
A lot of people I know who study biology
889
01:00:39,136 --> 01:00:42,339
do it because they find it beautiful.
890
01:00:42,339 --> 01:00:47,111
Natural selection had no reason to produce beauty.
891
01:00:47,111 --> 01:00:49,580
Beauty is a sign of the transcendent.
892
01:00:49,580 --> 01:00:53,150
It's purely gratuitous.
893
01:00:53,150 --> 01:00:55,052
We all recognize it.
894
01:00:55,052 --> 01:00:57,621
We just have to acknowledge what it points to.
895
01:01:12,870 --> 01:01:15,239
[Paul Nelson]
As human beings, we have a unique gift
896
01:01:15,239 --> 01:01:20,277
that enables us to evaluate evidence
and then arrive at logical conclusions.
897
01:01:20,277 --> 01:01:23,247
That's what science is all about.
898
01:01:23,247 --> 01:01:26,216
When you see certain effects in nature,
899
01:01:26,216 --> 01:01:28,786
it's your responsibility as an investigator
900
01:01:28,786 --> 01:01:32,089
to find the cause that will explain the effect.
901
01:01:38,862 --> 01:01:42,566
When you process all the evidence
revealed through metamorphosis,
902
01:01:42,566 --> 01:01:45,302
and then you ask yourself--
in your own experience,
903
01:01:45,302 --> 01:01:49,506
what kind of cause
could bring about these results?
904
01:01:49,506 --> 01:01:52,009
I think the only reasonable answer
905
01:01:52,009 --> 01:01:55,045
is an intelligence that transcends the natural world.
906
01:01:59,750 --> 01:02:01,652
A designer with foresight
907
01:02:01,652 --> 01:02:06,523
and a sense of engineering and artistry...
908
01:02:06,523 --> 01:02:10,461
and the ability to light up the sky
on a summer afternoon
909
01:02:10,461 --> 01:02:13,831
with magnificent evidence that life on earth
910
01:02:13,831 --> 01:02:16,033
is the product of something greater
911
01:02:16,033 --> 01:02:18,335
than a blind, undirected process.
912
01:02:23,874 --> 01:02:26,043
$4' [Woman vocalizing]
913
01:02:38,889 --> 01:02:41,492
$4' [choir vocalizing]
79113
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