EMC: Abstract: Building Bodies [VHS]*

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Building Bodies [VHS]*

• 1978 ----- color ----- 58 min ----- vhs
• (Life On Earth [VHS] series, Part 2) Focusing on marine invertebrates whose ancestry began 600 million years ago, David Attenborough explores the world of such creatures as jellyfish, mollusks and horseshoe crabs. Combines parts 3, 4 & 5 of the 16mm film version of the 'Life On Earth' series.

  Part 3, Building Bodies*: Attenborough views a wide variety of invertebrates at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. There is a broad range examined from the simplest polyp to the mass colonies of polyps--each with its own specialized function. Coral skeletons of limestone are inspected and three main groups of ancient sea life are recognized: shells, flower-like creatures and shrimp-like creatures. Soft animal tissue does not fossilize as easily as a shell but we can speculate what the ancient creatures would have been like by examining larvae, flatworms and vacupods leading up to the more complex mollusk. *roughly 11 minutes of the 16mm film version of 'Building Bodies' is included on this video (11 minutes).

  Part 4, The Early Seas: Mollusks as descendants of the prehistoric trac worms come in numerous species, each with unique shapes, colors and characteristics. David Attenborough introduces various mollusks explaining their shell formation and efficient eating systems. Beautiful scallpops are seen leaping through the sea while starfish move stealthily about on tubular legs. Attenborough examines the diferent modes of transportation among mollusks high-lighting the unusual Nautilus of the South Pacific--a species that has remained relatively unchanged for 500 thousand years (22 minutes).

  Part 5, The Segmented Invertebrates**: From British Columbia to Australia this film discusses the adaptations of segmented invertebrates from sea to land. Soft-bodied organisms don't fossilize easily due to the absence of a solid skeletal system, however crabs and other crustaceans have an interesting evolutionary path to trace. Insects are shown to be the best adapted segmented invertebrates. **all but 5 minutes of the 16mm film version of 'The Segmented Invertebrates' is included on the video (5 minutes). (Restricted to use on University of Washington campuses only)

• Topics: (Archaeology, Biology, Genetics, Marine Biology, Zoology)

		Educational Media Collection risimiki@u.washington.edu Modified: January 11, 2007