Download "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary"

Please wait. We're preparing links for easy ad-free video watching and downloading.

Next video: Diwali - Festival of Lights | National Geographic

Diwali - Festival of Lights | National Geographic

Diwali - Festival of Lights | National Geographic

Channel: National Geographic

namib

desert

documentary

film

science

namibia

gobabeb

research

centre

wildlife

natural history

video

insects

behaviour

adaptation

biology

independent

nara

plant

welwitschia

dunes

dune ants

scorpions

africa

burrowing

nature

environmental

ecology

00:00:17

[Music]

00:00:24

[Music]

00:00:37

the Namib Desert a parched land that

00:00:41

spans a vast area the entirety of

00:00:44

Namibia's west coast

00:00:45

[Music]

00:00:50

certain sand dunes here bear a striking

00:00:52

resemblance to some of those found on

00:00:55

the surface of Mars consequently NASA

00:01:04

has officially named several Martian

00:01:06

views of the dunes within the namib

00:01:12

[Music]

00:01:19

as one of the driest places on earth

00:01:21

parts of the Namib can be seemingly

00:01:23

devoid of life

00:01:25

[Music]

00:01:27

however life does exist here

00:01:31

[Applause]

00:01:33

[Music]

00:01:35

[Applause]

00:01:39

[Music]

00:01:42

[Applause] [Music]

00:02:02

here life can be as otherworldly as the

00:02:06

landscapes themselves over the course of

00:02:14

countless millennia life has adapted to

00:02:17

thrive in this arid wilderness many of

00:02:22

the plants and animals found here are

00:02:24

endemic found nowhere else on earth one

00:02:34

such creature however is immediately

00:02:37

recognizable to all the ant ants are

00:02:48

some of the most numerous creatures on

00:02:50

all of planet Earth and the most

00:02:51

abundant of the social insects ants are

00:02:56

found on every continent except

00:02:58

Antarctica their reach even extending to

00:03:01

the Namib sands see wandering these

00:03:05

dunes the aptly named Namib Doonan

00:03:07

camponotus detritus can be found

00:03:11

[Music]

00:03:19

the ants make a comfortable living here

00:03:23

food and moisture is plentiful for those

00:03:26

who know where to find it what seemed to

00:03:29

be dried grass stems actually provides

00:03:32

ample food and shelter

00:03:34

[Music]

00:03:46

do you Nance mainly subsist on honeydew

00:03:49

excretion from a fit and scale insects

00:03:52

which are commonly found on this dry

00:03:54

vegetation pollen nectar and dead animal

00:04:01

material are also part of the dune ants

00:04:03

diet

00:04:07

one behavior that aids the ants in their

00:04:09

survival is trophallaxis the exchange of

00:04:13

regurgitated liquids between adult

00:04:16

insects this apparently revolting

00:04:23

behavior can be observed between many

00:04:25

ant species the world over not just in

00:04:28

units of manometer

00:04:30

[Music]

00:04:37

and as gruesome as it sounds

00:04:40

moisture is always welcome in the hyper

00:04:42

arid desert

00:04:43

[Music]

00:04:57

professor Christian Peters and his

00:04:59

colleagues experts on ants have traveled

00:05:02

here to search for a dune and queen for

00:05:04

their studies so we're looking at them

00:05:10

there are species of ants and studying

00:05:13

their adaptations to desert life so ants

00:05:17

can do very well in lizards because they

00:05:20

are social insects and so they have an

00:05:22

advantage of a solitary insects because

00:05:24

there are so many laboring individuals

00:05:27

that they can dig nests and having a

00:05:30

long-lasting nest is a greater obsession

00:05:33

for living in the desert because that

00:05:35

means you can actually get away from the

00:05:37

heat you can go deep go to where there

00:05:40

is moisture and you know that's where

00:05:43

you are going to look after the Queen

00:05:45

and the many eggs larvae and pupae the

00:05:50

answer to see on the surface are only a

00:05:52

very small fraction of the colony these

00:05:55

are the older individuals that are

00:05:57

looking for food looking for honeydew

00:05:59

from the scale insects on the graphs and

00:06:01

sometimes carrying back dead insects as

00:06:04

well

00:06:10

we want to bring back a colony in

00:06:12

Belgium follow in the lab so we need a

00:06:14

queen to fall to lay eggs in captivity

00:06:18

to a captive colony that can continue

00:06:20

and thrive if you're never Queen there

00:06:23

is no one that can lay eggs and the

00:06:25

colony will just collapse in a few month

00:06:27

so basically we're trying to find the

00:06:30

queen of the comparators koni koni is

00:06:32

our huge thousands of workers trying to

00:06:36

defend a home the workers by our biding

00:06:39

us and it's not easy it's a bit tiring

00:07:02

the great thing about insects living in

00:07:05

societies is that they can collaborate

00:07:08

when getting food to bring back to the

00:07:11

nest and to do this they need to

00:07:12

communicate and ants communicate using

00:07:16

chemical signals pheromones and so

00:07:19

usually when a an older worker has found

00:07:21

a food source you will come back to the

00:07:24

nest and lay a chemical trail the

00:07:25

pheromone trail on the ground and then

00:07:27

the other workers just need to follow

00:07:29

this but when you live in such an

00:07:31

environment because of the sand and

00:07:33

because of the wind that blows the sand

00:07:35

away the pheromone trail is not idea and

00:07:38

so and such as camponotus the dune and

00:07:43

they really navigate using visual means

00:07:46

and so either they memorize the

00:07:49

landmarks or else they can actually read

00:07:52

in the sky the the pattern of polarized

00:07:55

light and this is the way they can

00:07:58

forage quite a distance away from the

00:08:01

nest and come back without getting lost

00:08:07

for the namib boon and navigation by

00:08:10

polarized sunlight is usually a sure

00:08:13

means of not getting lost occasionally

00:08:18

however the ants may wander into enemy

00:08:20

territory in this particular individual

00:08:23

seems to have strayed far from her home

00:08:25

colony unfortunately for her goon ants

00:08:30

are extremely territorial and the other

00:08:32

and senses from her pheromones that she

00:08:35

is from another colony unusual

00:08:38

pheromones usually result in hasty

00:08:40

retreat or battle and in this case it's

00:08:43

the latter

00:08:44

[Music]

00:08:53

the two do not aggressively battle to

00:08:56

pin each other to the scorching sand

00:08:57

aiming to dehydrate and ultimately kill

00:09:00

[Music]

00:09:18

one of the ants tucks her gasta

00:09:21

underneath her body aiming to spray

00:09:23

formic acid

00:09:24

[Music]

00:09:32

[Music]

00:09:35

the strong grip of the attacker is

00:09:37

momentarily loosened and a rare

00:09:40

opportunity for escape presents itself

00:09:44

these brutal battles can take their toll

00:09:46

on the ends and even the victor will

00:09:49

often walk away severely battered and

00:09:51

bruised not all are so lucky as the day

00:09:59

progresses and temperatures rapidly

00:10:01

increase many of the ants return to

00:10:04

their nests a whole host of other desert

00:10:07

dwelling creatures also shelter from the

00:10:10

heat of the day by borrowing borrowing

00:10:27

is a technique in which a variety of

00:10:29

animals in the Namib such as this solar

00:10:32

fuge have adopted

00:10:33

[Music]

00:10:43

weevils such as this one found only in

00:10:46

the namib bury their larvae in the sand

00:10:51

[Music]

00:10:58

this be dicks numerous burrows to

00:11:01

camouflage the one that contains food

00:11:03

provisions or its larvae the intriguing

00:11:18

thing about the Namib for now is that

00:11:21

almost everything when they have to

00:11:24

escape whether they escape the enemy or

00:11:27

the conditions and the wind conditions

00:11:30

temperature whatever they don't like

00:11:32

they have to burrow this no there's no

00:11:34

vegetation there's no trees no cross

00:11:36

nothing like that at the microscope

00:11:38

where they can go to what you find in

00:11:42

all deserts is that your desert animals

00:11:46

thing to be burrowing animals

00:11:55

[Music]

00:12:05

certain species of an ancient creature

00:12:08

have mastered a variety of borrowing

00:12:10

techniques

00:12:13

[Music]

00:12:20

scorpions not all scorpions dig a burrow

00:12:29

and this particular highly venomous

00:12:32

species often shelters under rocks or in

00:12:35

crevices although commonly feared and

00:12:40

often vilified most species pose little

00:12:42

threat to humans this perilous fellow

00:12:47

says however is one of the most venomous

00:12:49

species of scorpion found in the Namib

00:12:52

[Music]

00:12:56

scorpions are an important resident in

00:12:59

arid ecosystems playing a key role in

00:13:01

food webs primitive species such as this

00:13:08

Europe lactis opted for shelter in the

00:13:10

peeling bark of trees found in their

00:13:12

thousands along the banks of often dry

00:13:15

ephemeral rivers

00:13:16

[Music]

00:13:21

this abundance of cracked and desiccated

00:13:24

bark is an anomaly in the desert this

00:13:29

river the qui set traverses only a small

00:13:33

section of the Namib Desert but where it

00:13:36

does occur it provides ideal shelter

00:13:41

[Music]

00:13:49

scorpions are mostly nocturnal creatures

00:13:51

and as night falls they begin to emerge

00:13:55

some from behind rocks others from

00:13:58

beneath the bark of trees other species

00:14:01

lie in wait door keeping at their

00:14:03

self-made burrows patiently waiting for

00:14:06

unsuspecting prey to wander by

00:14:16

in the darkness of night ultraviolet

00:14:18

light reveals these secretive animals

00:14:21

they're normally cryptic colors obscured

00:14:24

in the bright fluorescence

00:14:30

there are numerous theories as to why

00:14:32

this happens attracting prey is one

00:14:35

allowing the creatures to know they are

00:14:38

exposed is another the helpful hint for

00:14:41

these cannibalistic creatures none of

00:14:47

these theories have provided the answer

00:14:49

for now the scorpions glow remains a

00:14:52

secret

00:15:01

some species of scorpion use the

00:15:03

environment around them to shelter such

00:15:06

as the para booth is Filosa s-- or the

00:15:09

Europe Lexi's tree bark scorpion there

00:15:13

are certain species however which create

00:15:15

their own home

00:15:18

[Music]

00:15:22

here in the central nammed desert a gaba

00:15:25

pep a scientific research station with a

00:15:28

history that dates back to over 50 years

00:15:30

Martin Han Jabba a technician and

00:15:33

researcher has been studying the burrows

00:15:35

of these incredible creatures using UV

00:15:43

light to locate nocturnal scorpions

00:15:45

Martin places pitfall buckets at the

00:15:48

Burrow entrances to harmlessly trap the

00:15:50

scorpions before analyzing their burrows

00:15:59

what we are doing right now is we are

00:16:02

casting the scorpion barrel

00:16:11

[Music]

00:16:14

we have metal aluminum and we hit metal

00:16:19

aluminum in a crucible at over a

00:16:21

thousand degrees in that melts now the

00:16:24

liquid aluminum is the one that we pour

00:16:26

down the barrel of the scorpion and it

00:16:28

gives us a beautiful outline of the

00:16:30

barrel and that blueprint of the barrel

00:16:32

is the one that you're interested in the

00:16:41

reason why we are casting the Scorpion

00:16:43

Paris because you can get a lot of data

00:16:45

from that for example we can work how

00:16:48

the architecture of the power looks like

00:16:51

that's number one

00:16:52

but you can also get a few other

00:16:53

parameters for me for example the width

00:16:56

of the barrel the depth of the barrel

00:16:57

and from that we can work out how the

00:17:00

barrel is very important in the in the

00:17:02

environment

00:17:11

scorpions are carnivores and they do

00:17:13

when through the eating of the insects

00:17:15

they take all the insects and all the

00:17:18

other organic matter down the boughs and

00:17:20

that helps fertilize the soil in such an

00:17:22

arid Namib Desert

00:18:06

having safely removed the burrow

00:18:08

occupants using a pitfall trap the day

00:18:10

before Martin must now wait for the cast

00:18:13

to harden so this is the two of our

00:18:18

experiment so we are here to take out

00:18:21

the custard made yesterday it is cooled

00:18:23

down and it is solidified so we're just

00:18:25

waiting to see what's under there so

00:18:28

what what's interesting about this power

00:18:30

right here is there were two individual

00:18:32

squads were two individuals trapped and

00:18:34

caught from this burrow so we are really

00:18:36

anxious to see what is underground there

00:18:38

so how wasting time right now let's just

00:18:41

stick it out

00:19:01

all right so we've got our barrel quite

00:19:06

short we expected it to be a little

00:19:07

deeper than this but nonetheless still

00:19:09

interesting because if you look at this

00:19:11

barrel here you can see that there is a

00:19:14

main chamber coming up coming here from

00:19:16

the entrance and if you look closely

00:19:19

you'll see that that is the ground

00:19:20

surface that we have the Namibian coin

00:19:22

there that shows the ground surface and

00:19:24

also shows the scale but what's also

00:19:27

interesting is that you will see

00:19:29

immediately from the main and from the

00:19:32

main chain from the main chamber there

00:19:34

that is an extra chamber coming from the

00:19:36

main chamber and we don't really know

00:19:38

what is why there's this chamber here

00:19:40

but as I said earlier they were two

00:19:42

individuals found from this barrel now

00:19:44

the other thing is also if you look at

00:19:46

it right at the end of this chamber you

00:19:48

will notice that there are some insect

00:19:49

remains if you look closely now those

00:19:51

insect remains often often mean that

00:19:54

that is the end of the barrel because at

00:19:56

the end of the barrel that's all that's

00:19:57

where the Scorpion devours their prey

00:19:59

and that's where you find most of the

00:20:01

insect remains it is a short barrel but

00:20:05

it's still an interesting barrel and we

00:20:07

still want to we still want to compare

00:20:09

them and see their differences

00:20:13

[Music]

00:20:16

other species of scorpion can produce

00:20:19

alternative burrow designs this

00:20:22

impressive spiraling structure descends

00:20:24

almost a meter under the sand

00:20:33

[Music]

00:20:46

[Music]

00:20:59

the flora and fauna living in the Namib

00:21:02

have adapted to this environment over

00:21:05

the course of thousands or even millions

00:21:07

of years although rarely considered

00:21:19

charismatic insect life plays a crucial

00:21:22

role in pollination and food webs

00:21:26

[Music]

00:21:40

ecliptic colors and patterns on this

00:21:42

grasshopper allow it to blend into its

00:21:45

surroundings making it difficult for

00:21:47

predators to notice it

00:21:53

this spider also displays extraordinary

00:21:56

camouflage perfectly blending in with

00:21:59

the sand tall clumps of grass step

00:22:05

agrostis

00:22:06

are plentiful in parts of the sand sea

00:22:09

these islands of vegetation provide food

00:22:12

and shelter for numerous insects

00:22:14

reptiles birds and mammals

00:22:20

a variety of endemic tuna Briony beetle

00:22:23

species have evolved to be perfectly

00:22:25

adapted to life in the dunes this

00:22:30

diverse family of beetles feed on dead

00:22:33

dry and windblown plant material known

00:22:36

as detritus Wannemacher is plan on this

00:22:43

beetles long legs lift its body away

00:22:45

from the sandy surface which has been

00:22:47

known to reach over 70 degrees

00:22:49

centigrade a few extra millimeters of

00:22:52

height makes all the difference at

00:22:53

insects scale it is also an extremely

00:22:58

fast running beetle when running at top

00:23:01

speed its movement produces a convective

00:23:03

cooling effect

00:23:05

[Music]

00:23:14

water is essential for life this rule

00:23:18

applies to even the hardiest of desert

00:23:20

organisms here in the Namib life must

00:23:37

find creative ways in which to obtain

00:23:39

moisture for many of the animals is

00:23:44

often obtained through food however some

00:23:53

of the Namib flora and fauna have

00:23:55

adapted to exploit a rather special

00:23:57

phenomenon as the cold Benguela current

00:24:04

flows alongside the warm western coast

00:24:07

of southern Africa clouds of fog

00:24:09

regularly form

00:24:13

[Music]

00:24:58

numerous plants and animals depend on

00:25:00

this fog as a vital source of moisture

00:25:07

[Music]

00:25:21

a fog basking beetle places itself on

00:25:25

the crest of a doom its body acting as a

00:25:28

condensation unit fog droplets

00:25:30

accumulate on its body and then trickle

00:25:32

down into its mouth via narrow grooves

00:25:35

in the shell the nocturnal Palmetto

00:25:41

gecko or webbed foot gecko which

00:25:43

mysteriously fluoresce is extraordinary

00:25:45

colors when exposed to ultraviolet light

00:25:48

and lick accumulated fog moisture from

00:25:51

its eyeballs

00:26:02

the geckos webbed feet are perfectly

00:26:04

adapted for digging burrows in the sand

00:26:06

but the purpose of the geckos

00:26:08

fluorescence on the UV light is a

00:26:11

mystery

00:26:17

rainfall in deserts is notoriously

00:26:19

unpredictable parts of an onyx see

00:26:22

little to no rainfall for years at a

00:26:24

time making folk the primary and

00:26:27

essential source of water when it does

00:26:30

finally rain here it can be a dramatic

00:26:32

event

00:27:05

[Music]

00:27:27

[Music]

00:27:49

[Music]

00:28:05

despite the sudden and copious amounts

00:28:08

of rain this rare local event does not

00:28:10

flood this dry ephemeral river the cui

00:28:14

sir

00:28:15

rainfall some 200 kilometers away in the

00:28:19

mountainous interior of Namibia floods

00:28:21

the catchment area pouring massive

00:28:23

quantities of water down this tree-lined

00:28:25

riverbed transforming the dusty Channel

00:28:28

into a linear erases

00:28:29

[Music]

00:28:47

[Music]

00:29:04

[Music]

00:29:11

this infrequent flow sometimes several

00:29:14

years apart ports the sand sees further

00:29:17

northward March the cui subs dry river

00:29:22

course forms the northern border of the

00:29:24

namib San C an impassable barrier

00:29:27

between the shifting sand dunes and the

00:29:29

gravel plains despite such a large

00:29:33

quantity of water in mere days the

00:29:35

scorching Sun dries the riverbed once

00:29:37

again these are ephemeral floods for

00:29:56

charge the underground aquifer enabling

00:29:59

the growth of an abundance of plant life

00:30:09

[Applause]

00:30:19

the cracked bark of ancient trees

00:30:22

withers in the harsh environment their

00:30:25

roots extending many meters below the

00:30:27

sandy surface to extract precious

00:30:29

underground water

00:30:41

[Music]

00:30:43

some examples of true desert adapted

00:30:46

plant life can be found further away

00:30:48

from the rivers revitalizing influence

00:31:13

[Music]

00:31:20

a namib endemic known as nara is a

00:31:23

classic example of desert adapted flora

00:31:31

Nara is leafless it photosynthesizes

00:31:34

through its long and thorny stems

00:31:37

discarding large leaves is typical of

00:31:40

many desert adapted plants this allows

00:31:43

them to lower water loss by reducing

00:31:45

leaf surface area Nara is dioecious

00:31:50

meaning that there are separate male and

00:31:52

female plants it is the female plants

00:31:56

that bear fruits which for thousands of

00:31:58

years has provided a valuable food

00:32:00

source to the indigenous people of the

00:32:02

land archaeological evidence indicates

00:32:07

the earliest human use of nara seeds

00:32:09

dating back to some 8,000 years ago from

00:32:12

a rock shelter located on an homage

00:32:14

gravel plains found around 40 kilometres

00:32:20

from the closest nara plants this rocky

00:32:23

outcrop would have provided shelter from

00:32:25

the merciless heat of the plains

00:32:26

surrounding it the top nur a small rural

00:32:34

community who live along the Kweisi

00:32:36

Brava still harvest the fruits of the Nara

00:32:38

plant the highly nutritious seeds are

00:32:45

extracted from the fruit as a source of

00:32:46

food and income which is fundamental to

00:32:49

the top mass cultural identity and

00:32:51

lifestyle

00:32:57

[Music]

00:33:02

mara is not only a dependable source of

00:33:04

food for humans but also an incredibly

00:33:07

important plant species for a variety of

00:33:10

other organisms hummocks the mounds of

00:33:18

sand surrounding the plant provides

00:33:20

stable shelter Nara stems and roots

00:33:24

stabilise the surroundings and enabling

00:33:27

creatures to dig burrows the Nara plants

00:33:36

is quite interesting as a keystone

00:33:37

species in the in the Namib because it

00:33:42

collects and in creates hammocks but at

00:33:45

the same time they have other attributes

00:33:48

that makes them as important to the

00:33:50

male's flower right through the year the

00:33:53

flowers don't last very long only two or

00:33:55

three days and then they fall off so

00:33:56

they produce a lot of detritus there's a

00:33:59

lot of food around around the north

00:34:01

basically the nura hammock is a

00:34:04

generator of plant food and primary

00:34:07

production in the desert

00:34:17

at the same time this other attributes

00:34:19

which would be interesting to find out

00:34:21

how our effectivity is like that the it

00:34:25

condenses fog so you have water dripping

00:34:28

from it which provides a source of

00:34:30

moisture which in the desert is always

00:34:33

important for organisms to have

00:34:35

sufficient moisture in order to develop

00:34:37

and then because you have then the that

00:34:40

the two combination food as well as

00:34:42

water in one place that becomes very

00:34:45

attractive evergreen and continuously

00:34:52

photosynthesizing nara is a constant

00:34:55

source of food especially useful to

00:34:57

insects flies require the green

00:35:01

vegetation where larvae can develop the

00:35:06

pollen packed flowers attract nectar

00:35:08

feeders of all kinds

00:35:19

blister beetles are often found chewing

00:35:22

the stems which produces a SAP the other

00:35:24

creatures then feed upon so what your

00:35:32

avidin are mock is this whole series of

00:35:35

Nicias of different type of type of

00:35:37

niches way which can be inhabited by

00:35:40

different organisms now in this whole

00:35:42

process what you would expect is that

00:35:44

through natural selection that you would

00:35:46

start finding some specialists that is

00:35:48

that you're only finding nora and we

00:35:51

think they are they but at the stage we

00:35:54

don't know about many there's only one

00:35:59

that we quite sure of it was only

00:36:01

described some four years ago by David

00:36:04

paraffin and Nutella which is a small

00:36:06

fly we call it the knot of Lights

00:36:08

emerald green running around it and it

00:36:12

is a very small family of flies and it's

00:36:16

what we call it man a typical genus this

00:36:18

there's only one species in the genus

00:36:20

both the genus as well as a species you

00:36:23

only find in Iran

00:36:24

that's the only one that we're sure of

00:36:29

there's some other animals that you do

00:36:31

find on it that people will tell you our

00:36:34

specialist of neuron like one of them is

00:36:36

a big crown cricket a beautiful Easter

00:36:38

some people think that they're very ugly

00:36:41

they call it the narrow cricket but

00:36:43

they're not not a specialist you

00:36:45

actually find them right through the

00:36:46

dunes

00:36:49

[Music]

00:37:07

mara has been utilized by inhabitants of

00:37:10

the desert for millennia and in recent

00:37:13

years been the subject of scientific

00:37:15

investigation yet there is still much to

00:37:18

learn in current ongoing research of Bob

00:37:21

Abed hopes to unlock some of NARAS

00:37:23

mysteries so my project is to determine

00:37:31

if the Nara plant utilizes fog as a

00:37:34

source of water that's important in this

00:37:37

hyper arid environment because rain is

00:37:40

so unpredictable and so scarce that

00:37:42

plants and animals in this environment

00:37:44

need to find a different source of water

00:37:47

so I'm trying to determine how Mara can

00:37:50

use fog and you as a source of water and

00:37:53

if it really does require it as a source

00:37:56

of water existing knowledge of Nara

00:38:01

points the groundwater is the main

00:38:03

source of water and it is widely

00:38:05

believed that its tap roots could reach

00:38:08

up to 50 meters however many Nara plants

00:38:11

grow far from obvious groundwater

00:38:13

sources the question is do these

00:38:17

populations utilize moisture from fog we

00:38:20

do there's different methods for Nara to

00:38:24

utilize fog so it's also just maybe

00:38:28

droplets dripping on the ground and

00:38:30

being absorbed by the roots or some

00:38:32

plants also have the ability to absorb

00:38:34

water directly through their stems or

00:38:37

through the leaves so I've collected

00:38:39

different nora stem clippings of younger

00:38:42

stems and in older stems just to

00:38:45

determine in a lab experiment if it does

00:38:48

absorb water directly through the stem

00:39:16

[Music]

00:39:22

in the laboratory

00:39:23

fluorescein dye is mixed with fog water

00:39:26

which then fluoresces under ultraviolet

00:39:29

light with a humidifier to prevent

00:39:34

evaporation time-lapse photography

00:39:36

reveals the stems ability to directly

00:39:39

absorb moisture

00:39:40

[Music]

00:39:54

[Applause] [Music]

00:40:09

[Applause]

00:40:10

[Music]

00:40:24

you

00:40:25

[Music]

00:40:36

this discovery of fog absorption in Nara

00:40:39

contradicts previous assumptions of the

00:40:41

plant's reliance on groundwater as

00:40:46

science continues to delve deeper into

00:40:48

phenom its intricacies nature's

00:40:50

brilliance gradually becomes clearer yet

00:40:53

evermore complex and fragile as is the

00:41:07

case the world over the physical

00:41:08

adaptations of the flora and fauna are

00:41:11

often representative of the environment

00:41:13

they inhabit we have learned that many

00:41:19

arid adapted plants have lost the large

00:41:21

leaves of their temperate cousins

00:41:29

however there is a plot endemic to the

00:41:31

nammed that defies the ordinary it is so

00:41:35

unusual yet perfectly adapted for Riccio

00:41:40

marabous a true living fossil the

00:41:45

interesting thing about welwitschia is

00:41:48

that the leaves seem to break the rules

00:41:50

for what we would predict leaf sizes of

00:41:53

plants and an environment like this to

00:41:56

be so there's quite a bit of work been

00:41:59

done to predict the relationship between

00:42:02

environment and beef size and one of the

00:42:05

conclusions from that work is that if

00:42:09

you have a plant that's in a hot sunny

00:42:12

environment that plant should produce

00:42:14

leaves that are small numerous and

00:42:16

narrow and here's welwitschia it breaks

00:42:20

the rules

00:42:24

[Music]

00:42:28

these large leaves when you're dealing

00:42:32

with a healthy intact plant provides an

00:42:35

enormous patch of shade and shelter

00:42:38

underneath them and this is a phenomenon

00:42:42

that's called niche construction it's an

00:42:45

organism actually building an

00:42:47

environment in another environment so

00:42:49

you have these patches of shadiness and

00:42:52

and relatively cold temperatures under

00:42:54

the canopy of the welwitschia leaf and

00:42:58

this might not only help to welwitschia

00:43:01

for example cooler temperatures will

00:43:03

result in higher humidity that'll mean

00:43:05

less demand for water on these plans to

00:43:08

do what they need to do but it can also

00:43:11

provide a shelter for other organisms

00:43:13

that live around the village here and

00:43:15

this is a relatively unexplored area and

00:43:17

it's in part it's because niche

00:43:19

construction is a relatively new way of

00:43:21

thinking about adaptation and evolution

00:43:23

and this may be why welwitschia leaves

00:43:27

break the rules the evolution of the

00:43:31

angiosperms the flowering plants took

00:43:34

place at the beginning of the Mesozoic

00:43:36

period some 250 million years ago this

00:43:40

period was when the amphibians dominance

00:43:42

of the earth started to fade and the

00:43:44

reptiles began to emerge about a third

00:43:47

of the way through the Mesozoic the

00:43:49

dinosaurs began to emerge and it is

00:43:52

widely believed that welwitschia came

00:43:54

into existence around this time they

00:43:59

emerged first that we know from fossil

00:44:01

evidence around about 200 million years

00:44:03

ago we believe that it was about 200

00:44:06

million years ago they found the Richer

00:44:08

fossils in Brazil around about a hundred

00:44:12

and fifty hundred and sixty million year

00:44:14

old deposits they recognized the flowers

00:44:17

they recognized the cones and they

00:44:19

recognized also some of the pollen that

00:44:20

he seen that in those deposits

00:44:26

today vii chia is found only in the

00:44:29

Namib Desert

00:44:30

the Brazilian fossils however are

00:44:32

evidence of the plant primordial

00:44:34

existence first growing in a time prior

00:44:37

to the existence of the Atlantic Ocean

00:44:41

[Music]

00:44:45

South America and Africa were once

00:44:48

connected in a vast Continental area

00:44:50

known as Gondwanaland around 130 million

00:44:54

years ago the gigantic landmass

00:44:57

gradually broke up to form the Atlantic

00:44:59

Ocean

00:45:00

separating populations of plants and

00:45:02

animals here in the midea in this now

00:45:13

extinct supervolcano known as Messam

00:45:16

crater any large and thus presumably

00:45:18

ancient specimens of Ovadia can be found

00:45:27

lichens cling to this giant which stands

00:45:30

almost 6 feet tall

00:45:32

[Music]

00:45:43

notoriously difficult to date no one

00:45:46

truly knows the age of any of Archaea

00:45:48

specimens although scientists have

00:45:51

estimated that a plant this size could

00:45:54

be over 2,000 years old

00:45:58

[Music]

00:46:00

clearly the adaptations of this

00:46:03

extraordinary plant species have served

00:46:05

it well throughout the ages 18

00:46:21

kilometers in diameter

00:46:23

the giant mesm crater supervolcano was

00:46:25

believed to be last active around the

00:46:27

time of the Continental breakup unique

00:46:31

landscapes such as Messam crater speak

00:46:34

to the wonders of the Namib Desert a

00:46:36

vast and primeval wilderness

00:46:44

much of the Namib Desert still is

00:46:46

wilderness its conditions unfavorable to

00:46:49

many but not for the countless arid

00:46:53

adapted organisms inhabiting it

00:46:56

[Music]

00:47:06

the inhospitable desert a false

00:47:09

statement its inhabitants have shown us

00:47:12

that it is anything but inhospitable the

00:47:15

adaptations of the Namib flora and fauna

00:47:18

arising over millennia in this fantastic

00:47:21

and bizarre environment a true testament

00:47:24

to the diversity and resilience of life

00:47:35

[Music]

00:47:42

[Music]

00:47:53

[Music]

00:48:09

[Music]

00:48:21

[Music]

00:49:05

[Music]

00:49:48

you

Description:

Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea is an independently produced natural history documentary about the adaptations of Namib Desert flora and fauna by Oliver Halsey www.https://www.oliverhalsey.net/ | Filmed at Gobabeb Namib Research Institute https://gobabeb.org/

Preparing download options

Popular

HD video

Only sound

All

* — If the video is playing in a new tab, go to it, then right-click on the video and select "Save video as..."

** — Link intended for online playback in specialized players

Questions about downloading video

How can I download "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary" video?

http://unidownloader.com/ website is the best way to download a video or a separate audio track if you want to do without installing programs and extensions.
The UDL Helper extension is a convenient button that is seamlessly integrated into YouTube, Instagram and OK.ru sites for fast content download.
UDL Client program (for Windows) is the most powerful solution that supports more than 900 websites, social networks and video hosting sites, as well as any video quality that is available in the source.
UDL Lite is a really convenient way to access a website from your mobile device. With its help, you can easily download videos directly to your smartphone.

Which format of "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary" video should I choose?

The best quality formats are FullHD (1080p), 2K (1440p), 4K (2160p) and 8K (4320p). The higher the resolution of your screen, the higher the video quality should be. However, there are other factors to consider: download speed, amount of free space, and device performance during playback.

Why does my computer freeze when loading a "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary" video?

The browser/computer should not freeze completely! If this happens, please report it with a link to the video. Sometimes videos cannot be downloaded directly in a suitable format, so we have added the ability to convert the file to the desired format. In some cases, this process may actively use computer resources.

How can I download "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary" video to my phone?

You can download a video to your smartphone using the website or the PWA application UDL Lite. It is also possible to send a download link via QR code using the UDL Helper extension.

How can I download an audio track (music) to MP3 "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary"?

The most convenient way is to use the UDL Client program, which supports converting video to MP3 format. In some cases, MP3 can also be downloaded through the UDL Helper extension.

How can I save a frame from a video "Namib: Surviving the Sand Sea Documentary"?

This feature is available in the UDL Helper extension. Make sure that "Show the video snapshot button" is checked in the settings. A camera icon should appear in the lower right corner of the player to the left of the "Settings" icon. When you click on it, the current frame from the video will be saved to your computer in JPEG format.

What's the price of all this stuff?

It costs nothing. Our services are absolutely free for all users. There are no PRO subscriptions, no restrictions on the number or maximum length of downloaded videos.