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The natural world is full of colours...
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...colours that attract attention...
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...colours that blend beautifully with their background...
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...and colours that create extraordinary displays.
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There are few animals more brilliantly coloured than
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these scarlet macaws.
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Animals can use colour for all kinds of different reasons,
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and some have colours that we ourselves can't even see.
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But with new cameras, some developed especially for this series,
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we can reveal a world that has long been hidden from our eyes...
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...a world of colours that only some animals can see.
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Secret communication channels for the most private of messages,
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and colours so bold and brilliant they dazzle our senses.
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Whether to win a mate...
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...or beat a rival...
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...to warn off an enemy...
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...or to hide from one...
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...we will reveal extraordinary stories about life in colour.
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The rocky hills of Southern India.
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The stage is set for a performance of one
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of the most spectacular dances in the natural world.
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PEACOCKS CALL
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Peacocks are gathering.
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This, surely, is one of the most glamorous of all sights in nature.
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150 shimmering eyespots,
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carried on tail feathers that are six feet long.
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So how did such glories evolve?
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It seems it's all down to the female.
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HE CALLS
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The brighter a male's colours and the greater the number of
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his feathery eyespots, the more attractive she will find him.
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But colours and plumes like these come at a cost.
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The immense tail makes flying difficult -
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the males are literally weighed down by their feathers.
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Yet the colours they carry are clearly very important to them.
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So why and how has colour taken on such value?
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To understand that, we have to think back to when it all began.
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700 million years ago, our planet was far less colourful.
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But the first animals, it seems,
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had eyes that were unable to distinguish colours anyway.
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Gradually, however, this changed.
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I am in Costa Rica...
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...a good place to see how valuable colour can be.
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This toucan likes fruit, and its ability to choose ripe
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fruit from unripe depends on colour because the ripe ones are black.
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And this capacity of choosing between different colours was
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a very important stage in the evolution of colour vision.
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Birds, close relatives of dinosaurs, appeared before mammals.
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The first mammals, as far as we can tell, were mostly nocturnal.
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Colours are not easily distinguishable at night,
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so why evolve the ability to detect them?
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So it seems that the first mammals themselves were not very colourful.
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And this is still largely true today.
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Most are shades of black and white...
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...or brown.
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But there are exceptions.
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And one of the most dramatic lives in the forests of Gabon
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in West Africa.
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These monkeys are mandrills - a kind of baboon.
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They live in large troops.
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Most are females and youngsters, both of which are brown.
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But the males are different.
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They, when they're young, have very plain faces with naked muzzles.
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As they grow, their faces begin to change.
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Testosterone begins to flow through their veins.
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When they're about six years old, they leave the troop
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and start to fend for themselves.
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As they become sexually mature, colour appears in their faces...
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...and what colour!
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Mandrill males are the biggest of all monkeys...
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...weighing over 30 kilos -
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enormously, frighteningly powerful.
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And their colours say so.
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SCREECHING
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HISSING
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It is not only his face which is coloured.
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So is his rump.
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Both are fearless declarations of his health and strength.
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And this male is more than happy to prove just how strong he is...
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...should any male dare to challenge him.
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Not surprisingly, mandrill eyes are particularly sensitive to colour.
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And it's the brightness of their colours which signals their status.
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SCREECHING
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There are four males in this troop,
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and they're constantly flexing their muscles
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and displaying their colours to establish who is the strongest.
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And not all disputes are settled peacefully.
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They emphasise their ferocity by gestures
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such as grinding their teeth.
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If that doesn't work, the highest-ranking male will fight...
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...and the others know it.
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It's better to let colour do the talking.
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HE COUGHS
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Mandrills see the world much as we do
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and have three kinds of colour-sensitive cells.
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But another group of animals has colour vision that's far
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superior to that of any mammal - birds.
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Their ability varies from group to group,
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but you can judge how good they are from the colours
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they use to signal to one another.
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Hummingbirds have excellent colour vision...
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...because that enables them to spot brightly-coloured flowers
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which contains the nectar on which they feed.
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So this artificial feeder is a big success -
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brightly coloured down here,
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and containing sugar solution, artificial nectar, up there.
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But hummingbirds also use their ability to see
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colour in a different way - to attract a mate.
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Most species live in South America, where
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there are flowers of some sort all year round.
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A few, however, have spread northwards
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into the deserts of the American Southwest.
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In this vastness, it's hard to get noticed...
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...especially if you are a small hummingbird looking for a mate.
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But this male Costa's hummingbird uses his colours to send
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a SGCFGt ITIGSSGQG.
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Out in the open, flashy colours can attract unwanted attention,
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so he keeps them hidden most of the time.
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A slight turn of the head, however,
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provides a tantalising glimpse of what he has to offer.
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He's spotted a female.
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She's feeding.
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Hummingbirds live fast lives and need plenty of fuel.
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So, if he is to attract her attention,
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he needs something eye-catching.
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Time to reveal his colours!
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Erecting the iridescent feathers on his neck,
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he positions himself to catch the sunlight.
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Seen at just the right angle, his colours are dazzling.
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Aerobatics like these take a lot of energy,
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so his performance can give her clues about his health and fitness.
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Every second she takes to decide burns up his energy reserves...
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...so he can only hover for so long.
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At last, his colours have persuaded her.
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Displaying your colours is easy out in the open.
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Birds which live in dark forests, however,
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have to work harder to get noticed.
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The rainforests of New Guinea.
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Here, the trees stand 100 feet tall,
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with their crowns forming a near continuous canopy.
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But here and there, there's a small gap through which
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a shaft of light illuminates a patch on the forest floor...
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...a stage for one of the most versatile
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dancers in the natural world...
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...a bird of paradise.
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There are over 30 different species.
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This one, understandably,
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is called the magnificent bird of paradise.
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A male.
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Before starting his show, he clears his stage.
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The bare brown earth will make his colours stand out better.
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He takes particular care to remove anything green.
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That colour will be the main feature of his display,
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and he doesn't want any competition.
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Satisfied at last.
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A sapling in the centre will serve as his dancing pole.
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His costume must be immaculate.
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Plumes like these need careful attention.
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Time to summon the audience.
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HE CHIRPS
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HE CHIRPS
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The first to appear are all young males.
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They won't develop their colours until they're seven years old.
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They have come to watch and to learn.
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HE CHIRPS
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At last, a female.
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She looks much like a young male to our eyes...
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...but he can clearly tell the difference.
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She willjudge him by his performance
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and the brightness of his feathers.
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She does that from directly above him.
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He puffs up his feathers and swings round to show her his colours.
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For years, naturalists only watched his performance from ground level.
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But the female does so from above.
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And from there, his brilliant green colours stand out
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vividly against the brown of the ground.
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A pair of bare, quivering quills sprouting from his tail
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add to the excitement.
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This is one of the most complex of all courtship dances, and we're
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still unaware of the details that she may regard as critical.
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The prize-giving, however, is unmistakable.
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The colour vision of birds is mostly excellent.
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But that of many insects is almost as good.
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Butterflies.
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They too have evolved an astonishing variety of colours and patterns.
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The wings are covered by tiny scales like tiles on a roof,
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and it's they that produce some of the colours.
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Some have pigments.
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Others reflect light to produce a shimmering iridescence with
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colours that change according to the angle from which they are viewed.
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But some butterflies use colours that are invisible to our eyes.
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The glorious colours of an English meadow in bloom is
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a delight to the eyes of many of us.
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But their purpose is not to appeal to us -
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it's to attract insects, such as butterflies and bees.
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Most of these plants depend on insects to pollinate them,
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and they use their bright colours in order to attract insects.
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But to understand what an insect sees,
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we have to be able to see it through their eyes and from
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their perspective, and happily we've got a camera that enables us
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to do just that.
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This camera set-up lets us look at
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that flower in two different ways.
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This camera is an ultraviolet camera
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because it has a filter there that
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only lets through ultraviolet light.
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But at the same time, this filter
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also reflects normal light,
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and that comes into this camera, and that shows what we can see.
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So I can compare the two very easily. That's what we can see...
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...and that's what the insect sees.
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Flowers have evolved these ultraviolet markings
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for the benefit of insects, such as butterflies.
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This particular one lives in the rainforests of eastern Australia.
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It's a blue moon butterfly - a male.
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You might not think that it's the most colourful you've ever seen
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but, with our ultraviolet camera, his wings take on a magical look.
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The brighter his patches,
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the more attractive he is to females.
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But ultraviolet markings like these can also
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be seen by the blue moon's main predators.
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Birds can see them just as clearly.
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So flying around with a bright signal like that on your wings
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could be dangerous.
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For a male, however, it's worth living dangerously.
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If he can mate with one or two females in his short lifetime,
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his colours will have been a success.
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But he has competition.
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He will have to defend his territory if he is to secure a mate.
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Butterfly wings are fragile, so physical combat is to be avoided.
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Disputes instead are settled with aerial displays.
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Time to show her his colours.
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In her eyes, he's simply dazzling.
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Ultraviolet colours are part of the spectrum that insects can see...
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...and we cannot.
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Recent discoveries have revealed that some animals can also
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see a characteristic of light that we cannot detect.
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Sunlight contains rays that vibrate in many different planes.
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00:26:38,701 --> 00:26:42,315
In polarised light, they vibrate in only one.
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Light may become polarised
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00:26:46,741 --> 00:26:49,716
when reflected off a shiny surface, such as water.
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Unlike us, some animals can see polarised light,
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and they can exploit it in many ways.
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00:27:03,901 --> 00:27:05,826
One creature that does so
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00:27:05,851 --> 00:27:09,996
lives on these vast mudflats in northern Australia.
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00:27:15,460 --> 00:27:19,996
These eyes - on stalks - belong to a male fiddler crab.
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00:27:23,021 --> 00:27:25,796
And they can see in a way that we cannot.
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00:27:34,101 --> 00:27:37,956
As the tide goes out, the crabs emerge from their burrows.
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00:27:46,340 --> 00:27:50,466
His giant claw is too large to be used in feeding.
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00:27:53,540 --> 00:27:57,596
Instead, he uses it to attract the attention of females...
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00:27:57,621 --> 00:27:59,746
...by waving it with vigour!
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00:28:02,901 --> 00:28:06,596
The crabs can see objects that are close to them reasonably well...
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00:28:09,621 --> 00:28:13,185
...but their long-distance eyesight is not so good.
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00:28:18,181 --> 00:28:21,515
Polarised light can help solve the problem.
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00:28:26,210 --> 00:28:29,596
Viewed with a new specialist camera, the mudflats,
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00:28:29,621 --> 00:28:32,826
which reflect polarised light, are bright...
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00:28:35,851 --> 00:28:40,565
...while the unpolarised crabs appear darker against their background.
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00:28:42,410 --> 00:28:46,635
This striking contrast also makes the large claw more obvious.
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00:28:49,691 --> 00:28:53,916
The big claw is also used by the male to defend his burrow.
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00:28:58,821 --> 00:29:01,026
Not everyone heeds the warning.
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00:29:15,771 --> 00:29:16,796
Battle over.
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00:29:20,021 --> 00:29:23,236
But there are more dangerous enemies to face -
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00:29:23,261 --> 00:29:24,565
aerial predators.
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00:29:26,131 --> 00:29:29,385
The quicker they can spot them, the better
265
00:29:29,410 --> 00:29:33,276
and, once again, polarised light helps them to do so.
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00:29:46,981 --> 00:29:51,156
With the coast clear, a male re-emerges from his burrow.
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At last, a female.
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00:30:03,901 --> 00:30:07,876
With the tide on the turn, he must work fast to win her over.
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00:30:15,021 --> 00:30:17,746
And close up, his colours come into play.
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The brightness of his blue back could be the deciding factor.
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She may not look willing,
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00:30:34,621 --> 00:30:38,466
but the pushing and shoving are all part of the mating ritual.
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One last shove and she's in...
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...just in time.
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00:31:05,101 --> 00:31:09,276
On land, colour is used in a multitude of different ways.
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00:31:10,460 --> 00:31:13,596
The same is true in the sea, but there,
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colour works in a very different way.
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00:31:26,590 --> 00:31:29,635
This is Australia's Great Barrier Reef,
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00:31:29,660 --> 00:31:33,236
and its shallow waters are full of vivid colour.
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00:31:39,491 --> 00:31:43,185
The inhabitants of the reef exploit it to the full,
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with unparalleled and dazzling effect.
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00:32:02,691 --> 00:32:06,466
The orange-red stripes of the harlequin tuskfish
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00:32:06,491 --> 00:32:07,996
make it very conspicuous.
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00:32:12,181 --> 00:32:14,466
But as light filters down through the water,
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00:32:14,491 --> 00:32:17,515
more and more of its wavelengths are absorbed...
286
00:32:19,051 --> 00:32:21,486
...and red is the first to disappear.
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00:32:23,901 --> 00:32:27,026
So, as the harlequin swims downwards,
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00:32:27,051 --> 00:32:30,876
his brilliantly coloured red body looks duller and duller.
289
00:32:42,381 --> 00:32:47,315
Different colours are absorbed at different rates in the sea,
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00:32:47,340 --> 00:32:50,106
but some can still be seen at greater depths.
291
00:32:53,981 --> 00:32:56,385
Yellow and blue travel farthest,
292
00:32:56,410 --> 00:33:00,996
so it's these that many fish down here use to signal their identity.
293
00:33:07,301 --> 00:33:10,716
Most fish near the surface have good colour vision,
294
00:33:10,741 --> 00:33:15,206
but some of the smaller species can also see ultraviolet colours.
295
00:33:19,181 --> 00:33:22,876
To us, these yellow damselfish all look very similar.
296
00:33:27,901 --> 00:33:32,876
But using our ultraviolet camera here in controlled conditions,
297
00:33:32,901 --> 00:33:36,156
we can see that many fish have different patterns
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00:33:36,181 --> 00:33:38,996
that are normally invisible to our eyes.
299
00:33:42,301 --> 00:33:44,565
And suddenly, it becomes clear that
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00:33:44,590 --> 00:33:48,565
these two individuals are in fact different species.
301
00:33:52,641 --> 00:33:56,096
This lemon damselfish has distinctive spots
302
00:33:56,121 --> 00:33:57,335
on its gill covers.
303
00:34:00,001 --> 00:34:03,296
And this, an Ambon damsel,
304
00:34:03,321 --> 00:34:08,256
has bright reflecting ultraviolet patches all across the body.
305
00:34:10,961 --> 00:34:13,335
It's a code invisible to us
306
00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,016
that allows these fish to recognise each other...
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00:34:18,641 --> 00:34:21,766
...without attracting the attention of large predators,
308
00:34:21,791 --> 00:34:24,616
which can't see in the ultraviolet range.
309
00:34:32,711 --> 00:34:35,405
And it's on the seabed that you can find
310
00:34:35,430 --> 00:34:38,046
one of the most colourful sea creatures of all...
311
00:34:44,610 --> 00:34:47,126
...the peacock mantis shrimp.
312
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,096
This strange-looking creature's ancestry
313
00:34:56,121 --> 00:34:59,046
can be traced back 400 million years...
314
00:35:01,430 --> 00:35:05,046
...and it has one of the most versatile kinds of eyes in the whole
315
00:35:05,071 --> 00:35:06,616
of the animal kingdom.
316
00:35:11,891 --> 00:35:16,896
It can rotate its two huge eyes independently of each other
317
00:35:16,921 --> 00:35:18,446
and in almost any direction.
318
00:35:21,211 --> 00:35:25,216
We have three kinds of colour receptors, but the mantis shrimp
319
00:35:25,241 --> 00:35:29,086
has 12, each with a direct link to the brain,
320
00:35:29,111 --> 00:35:32,896
so it can perceive colour faster than any other animal.
321
00:35:35,031 --> 00:35:38,726
And it can also detect the difference between polarised
322
00:35:38,751 --> 00:35:40,056
and unpolarised light.
323
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,615
But unlike fiddler crabs, part of its body,
324
00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,826
like these paddle-shaped scales, reflect polarised light...
325
00:35:53,161 --> 00:35:56,285
...and may be used to signal to potential mates.
326
00:36:03,310 --> 00:36:07,726
The tail is also highly polarised and used to plug its burrow
327
00:36:07,751 --> 00:36:11,165
and send a message to warn off potential rivals.
328
00:36:17,361 --> 00:36:20,615
And by combining all its visual abilities,
329
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:25,256
the mantis shrimp has become one of the most skilful of all predators.
330
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:42,056
It also packs a powerful punch from club-like mouth parts...
331
00:36:45,921 --> 00:36:48,336
...which it uses with great accuracy.
332
00:36:51,161 --> 00:36:55,415
These clubs deliver the fastest punch in the animal kingdom,
333
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:59,535
which we recorded slowed down and under controlled conditions.
334
00:37:12,721 --> 00:37:18,136
Whether underwater or on land, colour can be extremely useful.
335
00:37:23,081 --> 00:37:26,446
And the colours an animal develops can sometimes be
336
00:37:26,471 --> 00:37:30,216
influenced by where it lives and what it eats.
337
00:37:39,241 --> 00:37:42,256
The Atacama Desert in South America.
338
00:37:54,001 --> 00:37:57,896
There are six different species of flamingos in the world,
339
00:37:57,921 --> 00:38:01,285
and they all prefer to breed in those most
340
00:38:01,310 --> 00:38:05,576
hostile of environments - salt flats and soda lakes.
341
00:38:11,211 --> 00:38:15,345
We think of flamingos as being characteristically pink,
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00:38:15,370 --> 00:38:19,086
but their feathers when they first appear are in fact white.
343
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,006
Their colour comes from their food.
344
00:38:29,601 --> 00:38:33,896
The salty waters in which they feed are rich in algae and shrimps,
345
00:38:33,921 --> 00:38:38,086
both of which contain red pigments called carotenoids.
346
00:38:41,310 --> 00:38:44,535
These, over time, accumulate in their feathers and give them
347
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:45,646
their bright colour.
348
00:39:02,921 --> 00:39:06,086
These youngsters were born last year.
349
00:39:06,111 --> 00:39:08,936
They still have their first greyish-white plumage.
350
00:39:15,721 --> 00:39:18,615
It takes time before the pigments become visible.
351
00:39:24,751 --> 00:39:29,365
Five years will pass before they become as pink as their parents.
352
00:39:38,361 --> 00:39:41,535
But it's not only the juveniles which are white.
353
00:39:47,161 --> 00:39:50,696
This adult female raised a chick last year,
354
00:39:50,721 --> 00:39:54,256
and the effort of doing so has drained her of colour.
355
00:39:57,471 --> 00:40:01,415
She put all her surplus food and energy into producing an egg
356
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,285
and then feeding her chick.
357
00:40:05,721 --> 00:40:09,576
So she will need time to build up the body reserves needed to
358
00:40:09,601 --> 00:40:12,336
regrow pink feathers and breed.
359
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:23,936
For those that are old enough and physically fit,
360
00:40:23,961 --> 00:40:25,726
it's time to find a mate.
361
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:32,856
Only the pink birds take part in these courtship dances.
362
00:40:37,361 --> 00:40:41,285
Their colour is an indication that they're fit and strong.
363
00:41:00,801 --> 00:41:03,006
As they march through the water,
364
00:41:03,031 --> 00:41:06,086
each bird tries to stand out from the crowd...
365
00:41:07,161 --> 00:41:10,806
...and the brightest will be the first to secure a partner.
366
00:41:17,881 --> 00:41:22,336
The white female can play no part in this year's display.
367
00:41:29,361 --> 00:41:31,726
She will need to eat as much as she can
368
00:41:31,751 --> 00:41:33,856
if she is to restore her colour.
369
00:41:37,361 --> 00:41:41,776
Maybe next year she will be able to rejoin the dance.
370
00:41:53,851 --> 00:41:57,696
Flamingos depend on their pink colour to attract a partner
371
00:41:57,721 --> 00:41:58,726
and breed.
372
00:42:01,801 --> 00:42:05,896
But there is one tiny animal in the Central American rainforests
373
00:42:05,921 --> 00:42:08,086
that uses colour not only
374
00:42:08,111 --> 00:42:10,336
to attract, but to repel.
375
00:42:20,881 --> 00:42:24,056
This little frog uses colour as a warning.
376
00:42:25,211 --> 00:42:27,446
Its skin is full of glands
377
00:42:27,471 --> 00:42:30,285
which produce a deadly poison,
378
00:42:30,310 --> 00:42:31,415
so its colour is
379
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:32,976
a VGFY CIGBF ITIGSSBQG -
380
00:42:33,001 --> 00:42:35,256
eat me and you'll regret it!
381
00:42:39,001 --> 00:42:43,555
You need a vivid message like this if you are a small,
382
00:42:43,580 --> 00:42:48,956
soft-skinned, bite-sized mouthful living in a dark, dense forest.
383
00:43:02,051 --> 00:43:04,996
The rainforest can be a scary place.
384
00:43:09,741 --> 00:43:12,356
There are hungry animals everywhere.
385
00:43:27,410 --> 00:43:30,916
For many, it's best to keep a low profile.
386
00:43:35,491 --> 00:43:37,666
But this little frog doesn't.
387
00:43:39,540 --> 00:43:42,796
It's a strawberry poison-dart frog,
388
00:43:42,821 --> 00:43:45,466
and it's not much bigger than your fingernail...
389
00:43:46,491 --> 00:43:49,515
...and yet he is one of the deadliest creatures here.
390
00:43:52,540 --> 00:43:55,106
His bright skin secretes a toxin.
391
00:43:57,491 --> 00:44:01,515
In the mouth of a predator, it can cause respiratory failure,
392
00:44:01,540 --> 00:44:03,666
convulsions and death.
393
00:44:07,491 --> 00:44:12,076
Predators recognise his colour as a sign of danger and avoid him.
394
00:44:18,941 --> 00:44:23,156
Such frogs also live on a group of islands just off Panama
395
00:44:23,181 --> 00:44:25,305
called Bocas del Toro.
396
00:44:27,660 --> 00:44:29,106
Living in isolation,
397
00:44:29,131 --> 00:44:33,196
frogs on each island evolved their own distinctive colours.
398
00:44:36,381 --> 00:44:39,076
There is a different one on each island.
399
00:44:42,691 --> 00:44:45,236
And yet they're all the same species.
400
00:44:51,410 --> 00:44:55,515
They're different because the diet on some islands makes some
401
00:44:55,540 --> 00:44:57,916
more poisonous than others.
402
00:44:57,941 --> 00:45:02,156
And the more poison a frog has, the more brightly coloured it is.
403
00:45:11,261 --> 00:45:15,515
On Solarte Island, a red male is busy calling.
404
00:45:15,540 --> 00:45:23,515
HE CROAKS
405
00:45:25,021 --> 00:45:28,876
This is his patch, and he's looking for a female.
406
00:45:32,410 --> 00:45:33,946
He should be popular.
407
00:45:33,971 --> 00:45:38,196
Females prefer bright, shiny skin, which is a sign of fitness.
408
00:45:43,051 --> 00:45:47,276
His colour is also an indication to other males of his strength.
409
00:45:56,621 --> 00:45:58,076
He spots an intruder.
410
00:45:59,181 --> 00:46:02,716
He's about the same size, but he's a paler colour.
411
00:46:12,580 --> 00:46:15,555
And he doesn't challenge the brighter frog.
412
00:46:22,051 --> 00:46:24,515
But this one is a different matter.
413
00:46:27,580 --> 00:46:29,106
He is a contender.
414
00:46:40,540 --> 00:46:43,276
Nothing for it but to fight it out.
415
00:47:25,301 --> 00:47:28,716
That did it - he won't be back for a while.
416
00:47:37,051 --> 00:47:38,946
And the reward...
417
00:47:38,971 --> 00:47:39,996
...a new mate.
418
00:47:46,691 --> 00:47:51,305
For these tiny frogs, colour is central to all aspects of their
419
00:47:51,330 --> 00:47:57,196
lives - for protection, to dominate rivals and to find a partner.
420
00:47:58,741 --> 00:48:01,746
For them, life is colour.
421
00:48:11,941 --> 00:48:15,276
When I started working in television in the 1950s,
422
00:48:15,301 --> 00:48:19,356
all broadcasts were in black and white, and conveying animal
423
00:48:19,381 --> 00:48:23,996
colour took a leap of the imagination on the viewer's part.
424
00:48:24,021 --> 00:48:27,276
Well, those are only some of the birds of paradise we brought back,
425
00:48:27,301 --> 00:48:29,666
and there's one more I'd like to show you -
426
00:48:29,691 --> 00:48:32,236
the king bird of paradise.
427
00:48:32,261 --> 00:48:35,635
Its feathers are brilliant red, except for its white underparts.
428
00:48:38,330 --> 00:48:42,196
When colour TV arrived almost 20 years later, we were suddenly
429
00:48:42,221 --> 00:48:45,916
able to show some of the wonderful colours of the natural world.
430
00:48:52,381 --> 00:48:56,385
Since then, electronic cameras have made extraordinary technical
431
00:48:56,410 --> 00:49:01,305
advances into high definition and even ultra-high definition.
432
00:49:03,021 --> 00:49:06,466
But we've always known that there's another world of colour -
433
00:49:06,491 --> 00:49:09,385
one that only some animals can see.
434
00:49:13,901 --> 00:49:17,635
In these programmes, new camera technology has provided
435
00:49:17,660 --> 00:49:21,076
a window into these hitherto invisible worlds...
436
00:49:24,851 --> 00:49:28,356
...and one of these is that revealed by polarised light.
437
00:49:31,101 --> 00:49:34,635
It plays a crucial role in the lives of many animals,
438
00:49:34,660 --> 00:49:38,716
including these small fiddler crabs in Darwin, Australia.
439
00:49:44,101 --> 00:49:47,876
We worked with a team of scientists to develop a unique
440
00:49:47,901 --> 00:49:52,596
and pioneering camera system to reveal this hidden world.
441
00:49:52,621 --> 00:49:53,996
100% here.
442
00:49:55,301 --> 00:49:58,635
The camera detects areas of polarisation,
443
00:49:58,660 --> 00:50:02,276
such as the light that passes through polarising sunglasses.
444
00:50:02,301 --> 00:50:04,796
Put it to 100% here.
445
00:50:04,821 --> 00:50:08,515
It then combines vertical and horizontal polarisation
446
00:50:08,540 --> 00:50:12,746
to show the contrast between polarised and unpolarised light.
447
00:50:14,901 --> 00:50:19,196
With this new camera, the team hope to find out how fiddler crabs
448
00:50:19,221 --> 00:50:22,156
use polarised light to signal to each other.
449
00:50:24,460 --> 00:50:27,666
But this camera had been developed in sterile, controlled
450
00:50:27,691 --> 00:50:31,716
conditions, and these fiddler crabs live in one of the least sterile
451
00:50:31,741 --> 00:50:35,716
environments on Earth - Australia's tropical mudflats.
452
00:50:38,491 --> 00:50:42,305
Quite a challenge for the cameraman, Mark Lamble.
453
00:50:42,330 --> 00:50:46,435
That mudflat - it's just a really extreme environment to work.
454
00:50:46,460 --> 00:50:51,666
Blazing sun overhead, really high humidity and almost no airflow.
455
00:50:55,181 --> 00:50:56,716
The camera needed to be
456
00:50:56,741 --> 00:51:00,876
half-buried in mud to get a fiddler crab's eye view.
457
00:51:02,580 --> 00:51:05,596
Whether the camera would work here, no-one could be sure.
458
00:51:07,131 --> 00:51:08,826
I'm slightly worried.
459
00:51:08,851 --> 00:51:11,635
Hopefully, we are not going to miss that special moment
460
00:51:11,660 --> 00:51:15,185
as the camera is not going to work, but I think we'll be OK.
461
00:51:15,210 --> 00:51:16,796
Good luck.
Thank you.
462
00:51:19,901 --> 00:51:23,356
Once in position, Mark settled down for an uncomfortable wait.
463
00:51:27,381 --> 00:51:30,716
If the crabs detect the slightest movement,
464
00:51:30,741 --> 00:51:32,946
they disappear into their burrows...
465
00:51:35,460 --> 00:51:36,466
...again...
466
00:51:38,261 --> 00:51:39,276
...and again.
467
00:51:41,971 --> 00:51:45,515
I have to be really still or they will not come out at all.
468
00:51:46,621 --> 00:51:48,515
I'd love to be able to have an umbrella over me,
469
00:51:48,540 --> 00:51:50,555
so anything higher than me
470
00:51:50,580 --> 00:51:55,635
is just not tolerated by the fiddler crabs, they just won't come up.
471
00:51:55,660 --> 00:52:00,276
But amazingly, the camera survived the heat, the humidity
472
00:52:00,301 --> 00:52:04,635
and the caustic brine, and eventually Mark was able to capture,
473
00:52:04,660 --> 00:52:08,946
for the first time, a fiddler crab's world in polarised light.
474
00:52:12,410 --> 00:52:16,555
Light reflected from the crabs' bodies is unpolarised,
475
00:52:16,580 --> 00:52:17,596
so they look dark.
476
00:52:19,051 --> 00:52:21,796
This makes them stand out against the mudflats,
477
00:52:21,821 --> 00:52:24,435
from which the reflected light is polarised.
478
00:52:26,741 --> 00:52:30,106
They can see things that we can only imagine.
479
00:52:30,131 --> 00:52:33,515
When you look up and you see a bird fly over, it's a white bird against
480
00:52:33,540 --> 00:52:37,836
a white sky whereas, when they look up, it's just this total silhouette
481
00:52:37,861 --> 00:52:42,555
with the polarisation, and they can see birds coming from miles away,
482
00:52:42,580 --> 00:52:46,026
and often I'm filming and they'll all bolt down their holes,
483
00:52:46,051 --> 00:52:47,746
and I'll wonder why they've done it,
484
00:52:47,771 --> 00:52:49,356
and it's just because they've spotted
485
00:52:49,381 --> 00:52:52,026
a bird way earlier than I would have been able to see it.
486
00:52:54,971 --> 00:52:58,635
So polarised light helps the crabs pick out distant potential
487
00:52:58,660 --> 00:53:03,026
mates, rivals and predators more quickly against their bright,
488
00:53:03,051 --> 00:53:06,716
polarised background. And for Victor,
489
00:53:06,741 --> 00:53:09,996
it was the first time he had seen the camera he had developed in
490
00:53:10,021 --> 00:53:15,486
the lab revealing the world in the way these tiny creatures see it.
491
00:53:15,511 --> 00:53:18,996
It's amazing footage you've captured, Mark. It's really amazing.
492
00:53:20,580 --> 00:53:23,586
You really put the system to its limits today.
493
00:53:27,410 --> 00:53:31,156
But there was one even bigger challenge for the camera -
494
00:53:31,181 --> 00:53:33,635
one that lay farther out to sea.
495
00:53:36,851 --> 00:53:40,515
Underwater, only crustaceans, cephalopods
496
00:53:40,540 --> 00:53:45,435
and a few fish are known to be able to see and react to polarised light.
497
00:53:46,691 --> 00:53:49,796
But there is one animal here that exploits this ability
498
00:53:49,821 --> 00:53:55,515
in a really complex way - the peacock mantis shrimp.
499
00:53:55,540 --> 00:53:59,435
It's not only able to detect polarisation, but has patches
500
00:53:59,460 --> 00:54:03,836
on its body that reflect light in a polarised form,
501
00:54:03,861 --> 00:54:07,321
and it uses them to signal to others of their own kind
502
00:54:07,346 --> 00:54:09,811
in ways that we cannot normally see.
503
00:54:12,086 --> 00:54:15,341
Professorjustin Marshall of Queensland University has
504
00:54:15,366 --> 00:54:19,500
adapted the polarising camera to work underwater.
505
00:54:19,525 --> 00:54:20,731
So here we go, Rory.
506
00:54:20,756 --> 00:54:25,261
This is the camera that's going to show us polarisation.
507
00:54:25,286 --> 00:54:28,290
Rory McGuinness, the team's underwater cameraman,
508
00:54:28,315 --> 00:54:31,141
arrives to see the latest version of the camera.
509
00:54:32,806 --> 00:54:35,011
So you've obviously done a lot of work to get
510
00:54:35,036 --> 00:54:36,861
this into an underwater housing?
511
00:54:36,886 --> 00:54:38,011
Yep, that's right.
512
00:54:38,036 --> 00:54:41,821
So you can see in here there's a computer that runs the camera.
513
00:54:41,846 --> 00:54:44,451
There's quite a lot of engineering going on in there.
514
00:54:50,395 --> 00:54:55,341
Taking the camera for its first test underwater was a tense moment.
515
00:54:55,366 --> 00:54:58,731
Computers and salt water don't usually mix well.
516
00:55:07,366 --> 00:55:09,290
Having found a suitable spot,
517
00:55:09,315 --> 00:55:12,420
it was time for the camera's first critical test.
518
00:55:17,395 --> 00:55:19,420
A leak could be disastrous...
519
00:55:23,806 --> 00:55:25,571
...but all is well.
520
00:55:25,596 --> 00:55:27,861
Now they need a mantis shrimp.
521
00:55:27,886 --> 00:55:31,011
Looks like a promising area, Justin.
522
00:55:31,036 --> 00:55:32,731
It looks perfect, Rory.
523
00:55:32,756 --> 00:55:37,141
So we're looking for a hole with coral around it.
524
00:55:40,006 --> 00:55:44,370
Hey, look! ls that a mantis shrimp hole?
525
00:55:44,395 --> 00:55:46,901
The hole's resident soon appeared.
526
00:55:46,926 --> 00:55:49,500
It was time for the camera to show what it could do.
527
00:55:51,395 --> 00:55:55,471
As the shrimp turns, the polarised camera shows that its tail
528
00:55:55,496 --> 00:55:59,651
has a shimmering fringe - invisible in normal light.
529
00:55:59,676 --> 00:56:02,981
Look at that.
That's extraordinary!
530
00:56:03,006 --> 00:56:04,901
Life in polarised light.
531
00:56:06,315 --> 00:56:08,061
And this is the first time...
532
00:56:10,596 --> 00:56:14,571
...we've been able to do this with this very special camera.
533
00:56:16,645 --> 00:56:20,370
The light on the ocean floor is unpolarised.
534
00:56:20,395 --> 00:56:23,420
So, in complete reverse to the fiddler crabs,
535
00:56:23,445 --> 00:56:26,620
the mantis shrimps use polarisation to stand out
536
00:56:26,645 --> 00:56:29,091
against the unpolarised background.
537
00:56:33,496 --> 00:56:38,821
Special pigments polarise the light reflected from parts of their body,
538
00:56:38,846 --> 00:56:43,341
allowing them to signal to deter intruders and attract mates.
539
00:56:48,846 --> 00:56:53,540
This camera has revealed to us a first glimpse into a world of light
540
00:56:53,565 --> 00:56:57,091
that we're only beginning to be aware of, let alone understand.
541
00:57:06,036 --> 00:57:09,620
In the next episode, the story of Life In Colour
542
00:57:09,645 --> 00:57:12,981
continues where the stakes are even higher
543
00:57:13,006 --> 00:57:15,451
and colour is the key to survival.
544
00:57:17,395 --> 00:57:22,061
We discover how animals use colour to hide from predators
545
00:57:22,086 --> 00:57:23,981
and from their prey.
45916
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