The Great Rift Valley...3.2 Million Years Ago

Walking with Beasts

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Episode 4 : "Next of Kin"

Filming Locations: South Africa, and the Great Rift Valley
3.2 Million Years Ago

The fourth episode takes place in the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa. The climate has changed, and now great grasslands have replaced trees. The episode focuses around a tribe of small hominids known as Australopithecus, one of the first apes able to walk upright and a close ancestor to humans. The Australopithecus has evolved to walk upright so as to better maneuver the plains as well as to climb the trees.

However, it notes that although the Australopithecus looks human, it still only has the mind the size of a chimpanzee's. Some of the topics explored in the episode are the close social bonds among the tribe, how they use grooming as a means of communication, and how they work together to forage for food and to defend one another from attacks from such animals as an angry male Deinotherium and the predator Dinofelis. It touches upon how competing tribes of Australopithecus war among one another.


It also explains the hierarchy in the tribe among the males (who are much larger than the females) and tells a story of how the dominating male is eventually overcome by another male, who wins the right to feed first at carrion and to mate with the females. Another story tells of a young Australopithecus (nicknamed "Blue") who tries to fit into the tribe after he is orphaned.

Narrator:
Kenneth Branagh

Production Crew:
Director:
Nigel Paterson

Writers:
Kate Bartlett
Jasper James
Michael Olmert

Producers:
Tim Haines
Jasper James
Nigel Paterson

Film Editors:
Greg Smith
Andrew Wilks

Watch The BBC’s "Walking with Beasts" now for free online at WOWtv! Click HERE for more information.

*Only available for online viewers in Singapore
© 2001 BBC Worldwide.
Sources: Wikipedia.com, IMDb.com

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