"The West African rain forest." "Here we find animals that take us straight back to our roots." "These chimpanzees immediately bring to mind our stone age ancestors." "I have been studying in chimps for quite a few years, and never get over the thrilling sense, that I am watching ends that come closer to us than any other on Earth, way they look, way the behave, way they understand the world around them" "all seem so dupely familiar." "But together with chimps, we belong to a much wider group of animals, with whom we still share a great deal in common, and from whom we can get a tantalizing clue about our very earliest origins." "That group is the primates." "Cousins" "I am in Rwanda in Central Africa, and these are the Virunga volcanoes, the home of the magnificent mountain gorillas." "They are very close." "That is apparently good gorilla manners, they are actually ground, and let them know you are coming." "Here they are." "This is just what the most fantastic moments of my life." "I can't believe I am sitting here, surrounded by a group of mountain gorillas." "And right in front of me is the Silverback." "The silverback is the focal point of the whole family group." "He is incredibly impressive." "They can weigh as much as 200 kilos." "No wonder he is so self assured." "But the young males really like to show off." "I try using some gorilla talk." "Being kicked by a gorilla, I think it is a privilege." "That is one way of showing me who is boss." "There is a level on which we clearly understand each other." "One ape to another." "This is my first ever encounter with mountain gorillas." "But when I look at them, I see an immediate connection." "Like chimps, their curiosity, their close families, their expressive eyes, are all very much like ours." "They are the largest member of our family, but we both share a common ancestor, that was no bigger than a mouse." "So how did we come to be as we are?" "Aggression, affection, adaptability, and agility all have their roots in our primate past." "In the next 3 programs, I am going on a journey across the world to meet the primates." "By exploring our extended family, we can trace our own path back in time." "But where did it started?" "Who were our earliest ancestors?" "The first primates." "When the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago, the first trees appeared on Earth." "The forests brought new opportunities and a few small animals climbed the trees and made themselves at home." "The world the primates inhabit now is very different, but in the dry forests of Madagascar, there still exists an animal that can give us a tantalizing clue about our earliest ancestors." "And it is very close by." "All primates, including ourselves, evolved from a creature very like this one." "It is the smallest primate in the world, but seemed remarkably bold for its tiny size." "It is a pygmy mouse lemur, and belongs to a group called prosimians." "The first primates." "Its large eyes faced directly forward, just like ours, so he can judge depth and distances in the branches." "We also have the same hands which can grasp and feel." "It was these two features that allowed the first primates to take to the trees." "But there are something else we have in common:" "a curiosity about the world around us." "I can't believe it is nibbling my finger." "I hardly dare move." "It feels like meeting a long lost relative." "But we don't much about this tiny creature, and to find out how our first primate ancestors actually lived, I need to look elsewhere in this forest." "This fat tail dwarf lemur can give us some clues." "The new forest provided foods and flowers, there is plenty of insects to eat in the canopy for those who can get on them." "This dwarf lemur is well equipped to take full advantage." "It has those same forward facing eyes, and grasping hands, but it still have a few peculiar habits." "Just like a door mouse, it nests in tree holes." "It even hibernates during the dry season to save energy." "They cozy up together, tucked out of sight, and used the fat stored in their tails to get them through the lee month ahead." "These humble beginnings led to more sophisticated ways of life, and the primates were set for a brighter future." "As the sun sets over mainland Africa, some of the forest residents exchange greetings with distinctive cries." "From the sound, it is easy to see how they got their name." "These are the calls of bush babies." "And with this torch, I shall be able to track them down." "I am hoping my torch will catch reflection in the dark." "Like all the early primates, bush babies are only active at night." "I can hear they are close by, but being a daytime primate, I find it hard to see anything." "There is a gleam ahead of me, the bush baby¡¯s eyes glow in the torch beam." "The reflective layer on the back of bush baby¡¯s eyes magnifies any incoming light, giving them fantastic night vision 10 times better than ours, which allows them to get around in the dark with ease." "They like to keep in touch with calls, but bush babies mostly live alone." "and males in particular, don't like others invading their space." "But there are more subtle ways of getting their message across." "By urinating on his hands and feet, he marked his patch with punched footprints." "The urine also glows under UV light, which allows us to follow their trails through the forest." "Bush babies don't see glowing footprints like this that gives us an insight into their world." "I only smell a faint, rather sweet odor, but for other bush babies, each step is a mine of information about the resident, like leaving a calling card with all his personal details." "Smell is one of the oldest and most basic senses." "But this urine has other uses, it is very sticky and gives an extra good grip." "These moholy bush babies are expert hunters." "They really demonstrate the importance of being able to judge distance accurately." "No problem with hand eye coordination there, bush babies worked at high speed." "but in other places, primates were experimenting with life in the slow lane." "In southeast Asia, lives the aptly named slow loris, and it is really very, very slow indeed." "By creeping around really quietly and unobtrusively, it manages to avoid detection by predators," "and by moving really carefully without shaking the branch, it can craftily sneak up on its prey." "But it is got another trick of its sleeve as well." "Its saliva is highly toxic, maybe because of the poisonous insect it eats, and can stun an animal the size of a cat." "It is not exactly the kind of thing you think of smearing all over a tiny baby." "but lorises themselves are immune to the poison." "Maybe they are not affected by it because they have such a slow metabolism." "She is giving her baby a very thorough going over, and soon it becomes clear why." "She has to leave it behind." "Gradually, she loosened herself from its grip." "As usual, there doesn't seem to have any particular hurry." "She then goes off, for an night's hunting." "Normally, leaving a baby alone is foolhardy, but the saliva acts as a toxic shield." "This baby is armed and dangerous." "As the trees spread across the globe, so did the early primates." "Perhaps it is surprising they never ventured out into daylight." "Or did they?" "I am in Indonesia, looking for tarsiers, who may give us some clues." "It is night fall, and they are just starting to emerge from their nest." "Here is one that is just come out." "It looks very much like other early primates, but its eyes are exceptional." "They are huge, each one alone weighs more than its brain." "It has no problem spotting a gecko." "Unlike bush babies and other night animals, they don't have special eyes that glow in the torch light." "That might tell us something about their past." "Maybe they once lived in daylight, but now they returned to the dark, and their eyes have become huge in order to see." "It is just before dawn, and the tarsier is telling each other it is bedtime." "They are coming in from all around the forest, the most sociable and noisy time of a day." "They are gathering again here at the communal mat." "These calls are like the hugs and kisses we give our own families when we come home." "It is really touching to see how affectionally they greet each other, and how important that physical contact is." "They won't go to bed until they are sure everyone is safely back at the nesting tree." "And here another clue to their history." "A social life is more typical of daytime animals, further evidence that tarsiers once ventured into the light." "But what forced them back into the dark?" "It was competition they faced from a new branch of the primates family." "The monkeys and apes who dominated the daylight." "This meant early primates everywhere were kept firmly in the dark, except from this one extraordinary place:" "the island of Madagascar." "Because monkeys and apes never arrived here, this island acted as a kind of sanctuary to a few early primates." "And this provided an opportunity for a dramatic change in lifestyle." "Some of the lemurs took a great leap forward, out of the dark and into the daylight." "These are Verreaux's Sifakas, large and conspicuous." "They look very different to their nighttime cousins." "They also live in big, sociable groups, but in common with other early primates, they still rely heavily on smell." "And this dog like snout is also useful for feeding between the spikes of the strange ?" "didiarrow trees." "The spines are really sharp." "Although they never seem to hurt themselves," "I can't help but ?" "wont when they land." "They ricochet through the trees with stunning precision." "They are strict vegetarians, which means eating a lot, but in daylight, it is easy to explore large areas for food, and by the river, the widely spaced trees provides lots of new leaf shoots." "But in this kind of forest, they need power as well as precision and can leap huge distances that is the equivalent of me getting across a gap of about 20 meters." "That was great." "Though I must say: up here, I still feel rather awkward despite all these cables and harnesses, especially when I see the ease and elegance with which the sifakas move around." "Because they travel so much, they can't be tied to their nest side, so the babies have to hop on board and go too." "It looks like a fun ride, and with over 100 different food plants to identify in the first years of life." "It is good to go along." "How better to learn than by watching and copying your mother?" "Having mates around gives them the courage to leave the trees, but when they arrive on the ground, they skip." "Their postures is so well design for leaping upright in the trees, but they can't walk on fours." "But this reap us a lot more fun." "It seems contagious, it is as if they just can't help all joining in." "Family life thrived in daylight." "Ruffed lemurs can has as much as 5 babies at a time, and they need lots of help from relatives to raise them." "This team work is vital for looking after the ?" "lerta." "The babies are rather helpless and they have to be carried everywhere." "One at a time." "Their mother takes the precaution of moving them several times a day, because they are easy targets for birds of prey and snakes." "It seems she doesn't trust anyone else with the task, and it must be exhausting work, still at least someone is looking after the others in the mean time." "Once they are all safely installed at the new site, she goes off to have a well earned meal, leaving her brood in the care of the nanny." "But babysitting means no easy job, these youngsters are eager to explore their new surroundings." "This is a dangerous game, it is a long way to the ground." "2 out of 3 don't make it through their first year, and many simply because they aren¡¯t very good at holding on." "It must be a great relief to the nanny when he makes it back to base in one piece." "After four months of this, it is not surprising some babysitters end up sleeping on the job." "The support of family life, helps Madagascar's lemurs to flourish and diversify." "Given the chance, primates can find opportunities everywhere." "This might seem like a very unlikely place to going in the search of lemurs, but then the lemur I am looking for is a very unusual lemur." "They are highly endangered and very difficult to find in this dense papyrus." "Especially, when most of my concentrations is spent to get through this narrow channels as quietly as possible." "It is a bandro, my first ever glimpse." "They are extremely rare and little is known about them." "But they are unique, no other primate lives on water." "They are found only in these reed beds around Madagascar's largest lake." "Being so small, they can move around this delicate ?" "tryuing frame of stands where they make a living." "Feeding almost entirely on this tough fibers of papyrus and reeds." "But as we know when making a living of ourselves, you have to be flexible in times of change." "Specialization can be risky and has made the bandro very vulnerable in a rapidly changing world." "And as they are so shy, and there are so few of them," "I suspect we may never have the chance to get to know them better." "In the bamboo forests of Madagascar, lives a close relation." "It is also very rare, which is probably why this great bamboo lemurs haven¡¯t been filmed before." "Their powerful jaws can break open tough trunks as thick as my arm, but it is better if you can get a hand ?" "standace." "It isn't just difficult to eat though, it is dangerous," "There is enough ?" "signigns in its food to kill a man, but these lemurs have found a way to cope." "In northern Madagascar, these barren place presents very different challenges for these crown lemurs." "This is got to be one of the hardest landscapes to get across in the world." "It is like walking on razor blades." "It is also incredibly hot and shadeless, and there is certainly nowhere comfortable to sit down and take a break." "It is not surprising that few people ventured here." "This extraordinary karst limestone landscape is called tsingy, because of the amazing sound it makes." "This natural fortress have kept hidden some of Madagascar's greatest secrets, and somehow I have to get down there to find them." "The crown lemurs moved with ease, scaling almost vertical rock faces, but I find an easier route down, a route that takes me right under the limestone massif." "More than 40 kilometers long, the anchor on the cave system is one of the largest in the world, carved out by ancient underground rivers." "This awesome cathedral like caverns have been revered by the local people for centuries, but it wasn¡¯t till the 1980's, that an expedition made a stunning discovery, which made us realize that there is a lot more to the lemur story than we imagined." "Over 2000 years ago, the rivers that flow through these caves brought with them the bones of animals, and here they were entombed." "When scientists uncover these fossil like bones, they realized these creatures were unlike anything they had seen before." "Believe it or not, this huge skull belong to a lemur." "It was called Megaladapis." "Larger than a gorilla, it was undoubted a king among lemurs." "Many of this extinct species were highly specialized feeders, with unique adaptations." "Sadly, they all disappeared at around the same time as the arrival in Madagascar of that most dangerous of primates:" "man." "But perhaps the strangest one of all is still alive today, and it only comes out at night." "Feared by local people as a creature of ill omen, the aye-aye has an very peculiar features." "Its long spindly middle finger is used like some kind of alien antenna." "It tapes the trunk and with its ear pressed forward, it listened for hallow cavities, a sign there is a meal inside." "Its powerful incisor teeth excavate the trunk," "then the long finger comes into use again." "It hooks nail, fishing out the fat worm." "But as we have seen there are dangers in becoming too specialized, for some lemurs, it is better to be a jack for all trades." "On the northwest coast of Madagascar, black lemurs has a more varied diet." "Only males are black, and this one is an eager father, even though the baby obviously wants its mom." "It seems the female has the upper hands and don't want showing it if the males are a nuisance." "He woos her with his anal gland, but she is distinctly unimpressed." "Black lemur is good at finding different kinds of food, but while doing it, they also play a key role in keeping their forests alive." "They have a sweet tooth, and love the nectar of the traveler¡¯s palm." "They gather enthusiastically, their noses bury deep." "But this is all part of a clever design." "In return for a drink, the lemurs act like bees, and carry the precious pollen to fertilize the next palm." "A millipede could make the perfect meat course, but this male has other ideas." "He is biting it, and smearing its chemical secretion all over his body." "It smells like disinfectant and some people have suggested that it act rather like an insect repellent." "In which case, it certainly looks more interesting than any brand I know." "But maybe there is more to it than that." "It is extraordinary, he just can't seem to get enough." "It seems humans aren¡¯t the only ones who like to experiment with intoxicating substances." "But perhaps you can have too much of a good thing." "Experimenting and exploring of what primates do best, and live in daylight really expanded their horizons." "There is a disadvantage, though, of being active by day." "You are conspicuous and an easy target for predators." "The risk is especially high when on the ground and out in the open." "This water hole is a vital oasis for grand lemurs at the end of the dray season, and the predators know that." "The land is parched, and the river that runs here has dried up." "The lemurs are thirsty and going to risk coming down to the pool." "It is dangerous out there, and they keep their eyes peeled at all times." "I can sense their tension." "A harrier hawk." "It is a good thing the sentries are on full alert." "When the coast is clear, the sentries can swap duties, and take their turns to drink." "But something is on the plow." "The look at see it and warned the others, and quickly take to the trees for safety." "But it is a fossa and it can climb." "It is only found here in Madagascar, and it is a lemur's most dangerous enemy." "Fortunate for the grand lemurs, they had a good head start." "By looking out for each other, they've escaped." "And the only thing the fossa got for his trouble is a drink." "In trees, the largest lemurs have taken teamwork a leap further." "When an intruder entered their patch, they gave a battle cry." "They try to intimidate it with a war of sound." "I have studied the calls of primates, but this is one of the most extraordinary sounds I have ever heard." "Their cries carry for miles, but this stranger is both confident and provocatively close." "Other members of the family add their voices to the chorus of disapproval." "At this falling, it must be like facing the home supporters of a local football team, and the stranger backs off." "The family was riot by the intrusion and moved after him." "They can cross gaps of 10 meters in a single bound." "With no tail for balance, they rely heavily on the powerful grip of these large hands and feet." "This stranger is a very cool customer, and he is taking his time." "But with a tough talking, united front, they finally get rid of him." "This kind of solidarity is especially important when you are on the ground." "Down here, some lemurs developed community life with a few more parallels to our own." "Madagascar's most famous residents of the ring tailed lemurs." "They spent more time on the ground than the others and came for the largest groups." "They also have far more organized society than other lemurs, with a strict dominance hierarchy where the females are clearly in charge." "There is always a few tensions in any big group, but making friends is just as important as sorting out differences." "With such a hectic social life, it is good to unwind by saking up a few race." "They call back and forth with cat like muse, but like all lemurs, they also use smell to communicate." "The females mark their boundaries, telling their neighbors to keep out." "The males in the group mark over the spot with their own scent, using the special spurs on their wrists, gouge deeply into the bark." "It is their way of saying that the females are spoken for." "In dry, open forests like this, they spent a lot of time on the ground." "It is a cat walk where stripes are always in fashion." "Their tails are magnificent, but they are not just decorative." "They also play an important role in communicating." "Males combed scent into their tails like off to shave to impress the females, but it also works to bate rival males in the breeding season." "This one is on the offensive." "He has gone up into the tree and he seems is beginning really worked hard wafting his tails at his opponents, but they seemed to be completely unimpressed and in fact, they may get in quite fed up with him." "It is time to sort him out." "That is very decisive, and it needs to be." "Opportunities to mate are limited, and they don't want any interruptions." "The females are receptive and only were into mate just once a year for a few hours." "After four months pregnancy, the babies are born in spring." "They are gentle mothers, and though they usually have only one baby, this one has twins." "Families are very affectionate and stick by each other in times of need." "Then these mothers show a very different side to their personality." "If there is a conflict between the groups, it is the females that lead the charge." "And these little babies go to the front line with them." "They are going on a patrol to protect their patch, and the babies had better hang on tight." "There is an air of solidarity and purpose." "I follow quietly." "Their boundaries are clearly cut, but the neighbors have been trespassing." "The battle lines are drawn." "It gets more and more ferocious, and the babies have to cling on for dear life." "If they fall, they will be surrounded by the enemy, and probably won't survive." "Very few animals gang up like this and go to war to protect their food." "But there are something we can easily identify with, one final skirmish and the boundaries are secure." "Seems to be all over now, and thanks to all the strong grip none of the babies were hurt, they all managed to escape the battle without injury." "And now that the group has protected their supply of food, they can get on with the business of eating, tucking into their favorite, the tamarind pods." "They may have a powerful grip, but they can only hold the pods like this, and have to tear them open with their teeth." "What they can't do was this, with their finger in thumb, which allow us to manipulate things with precision." "it may not seemed like much, but it was a revolutionary change and one which is to give the monkeys a huge advantage." "Without that thumb position, they could never fashion tools as we have done." "One branch of our family, the nimble fingered monkeys dominated the daylight, and kept all the early primates firmly in the dark, except, of course, here on the island of Madagascar where monkeys never arrived." "Across the rest of the world, these far more clever, and expressive monkeys were taking over." "Its flexibility with their hands and faces that allow monkeys to exploit the environment and enchant to each other at a whole new level." "And that is what led to their extraordinary success, the subject of next program." "There is a huge varieties of monkeys found all over the world." "are we visiting some of the most adaptable and reflective animals on Earth." "During my quest, I were becoming face to face with many monkeys I have never seen before." "and I will discover what they can tell us about ourselves."