San Antonio College Library

Life, which first inhabited the seas and then land, is an amazing story. Through investigation of ancient trailblazers such as Tiktaalik, we learn the gradual process by which lungs and legs evolved, and how the creatures of the seas eventually conquered the land. Reverse evolution, from land to sea, is also presented.

Mass extinctions have shaped and reshaped the landscape of life on earth throughout its history. In this program we chronicle the history of mass extinctions and their effect on evolution. We learn that these events not only destroy life, but also create the fertile ground from which life can take root again.

Heat--it is what makes Earth inhabitable. From the torrid tropics to the glacially cold polar regions, Earth experiences varying levels of heat on different parts of the globe. With different climates come species that have creatively used the natural temperature to their advantage. In this program, learn the factors that determine temperature, how changes in temperature affect different living things, how life on land adapted itself to vastly different...

This program presents the visual representations of modern biological classification and examines how fossil records allow scientists to create new evolutionary timelines.

A surprising look at animal vision; the eye is one of evolution's most amazing yet downplayed achievements. For many creatures, including us, it's an integral survival tool that gives us much of the detail and information we need to adapt to whatever life throws at us. But where do we stand in relation to the rest of the animal kingdom? This program joins host Michael Stevens as he travels from England to Australia, to demonstrate some of the astonishing...

In southeast Alaska where the coastal mountains meet the Pacific, lies the Alexander Archipelago, a remote island chain running for almost 500km along the Alaskan panhandle. This is part of the largest temperate rainforests on earth and a stronghold for the country's highest diversity of megafauna.

In the southwest of Africa, where Namibia meets the Atlantic Ocean lies the Namib, a desert the size of Portugal. In this remote and arid land, temperatures can approach 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit). Possibly the oldest desert on earth, it has given rise to more life than any other.

Cédric Dentant, a botanist, and Sébastien Lavergne, a researcher in evolutionary biology, study the mysteries of evolution through the study of high-altitude flora. The history and origin of flowering plants posed a conundrum to Darwin: why, according to the fossils he studied, did they seem to appear suddenly 140 million years ago? This suddenness challenged his vision of the evolution of species through slow and progressive adaptation and made...

Scientists from Europe, the United States and Canada, many of them pioneers in the field, offer convincing evidence that play is not to be taken lightly. In fact, it has the power to make animals and humans smarter, healthier and more likely to survive.

Ursula Goodenough, Biology Department, Washington University, and Terry Deacon, Anthropology Department, University of California, Berkeley, explore the complexities of the emergence of the first cells and the intricate patterning found in DNA and multicellular organisms.