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Sir David Attenborough’s films have featured countless species never before seen on TV. We celebrate David Attenborough\u2019s<\/a> 100th\u00a0birthday by choosing our favourite firsts caught on camera in his iconic nature documentaries<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The superb lyrebird performing on cue<\/p>\n In The Life of Birds (1998), to entice some of the animals near the camera, the crew would play a recording of the same species in hopes they would answer back and investigate the source. This made for one of the more iconic moments of this documentary in episode six, Signals and Songs. In it, David Attenborough encourages a superb lyrebird to perform on cue.\u00a0<\/p>\n The superb lyrebird is one of the world\u2019s largest songbirds<\/a>, renowned for its elaborate tail and courtship displays, and its excellent mimicry skills<\/a>. According to Attenborough, this bird\u2019s voice skills are one of \u201cthe most elaborate, the most complex, and the most beautiful\u201d in the animal kingdom.<\/p>\n In the episode, the superb lyrebird is described to be able to imitate twenty bird species\u2019 calls. A male is shown mimicking a car alarm, chainsaw and camera shutters.\u00a0<\/p>\n Attack of the killer fungus cordyceps <\/p>\n The eighth episode of Planet Earth, Jungles, contains chilling footage of the parasitic fungus cordyceps<\/a> infiltrating an ant\u2019s brain. The ant<\/a>, when discovered to be infected by its mates, is quickly taken away and dumped far away from the colony. This may seem extreme, but what follows explains why.\u00a0<\/p>\n The image of a fruiting fungi body erupting from the ant\u2019s head to release spores is perhaps the most chilling from the episode \u2013 these spores could eventually wipe out the entire colony if not for the ants’ quick reaction.<\/p>\n Another species of fungus \u2013 gibellula attenboroughii<\/a> \u2013 was named after David Attenborough<\/a> when it was discovered in 2021, although he wasn\u2019t directly involved in the discovery. It was first found on an infected metellina merianae spider, on the ceiling of an abandoned gunpowder storeroom at Castle Espie in Northern Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mating habits of leopard slugs<\/p>\n Life in the Undergrowth (2005) was the first time animals like the wolf spider<\/a> and housefly \u2013 as well as more exotic ones such as the redback spider or venomous centipedes<\/a>, were photographed at a high-level detail for television, with some sequences filmed in HD.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the most memorable was the footage of leopard slugs mating<\/a> in episode one, Invasion of the Land. The mating habits of this species are considered unusual among slugs: they court, usually for hours, by circling and licking each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vampire squid\u2019s defence <\/p>\n Planet Earth (2006) features footage of the mystical vampire squid,<\/a> also sometimes referred to as the \u201cvampire squid from hell.\u201d In it, we can see the creature reacting to potential threat by employing a special defence: shining bioluminescent bacteria<\/a> from the pockets on its arms to confuse predators.\u00a0<\/p>\n Interestingly, despite its name, the vampire squid doesn\u2019t feed on blood, but on detritus<\/a>, which is organic matter made up of the decomposing remains of organisms and plant material.<\/p>\n Killer whales pack hunting seals <\/p>\n Frozen Planet (2011) focuses on life and the environment in the Arctic and the Antarctic. In it, chilling footage of killer whales<\/a> hunting seal<\/a> by teaming up to create waves and dislodge them off the pack ice, also blowing bubbles to disorientate the prey. This revealed how sophisticated and calculated the hunting techniques of killer whales are.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hydroplaning dolphins<\/p>\n In this footage from Planet Earth III (2023) we can see dolphins<\/a> swimming around in shallow waters, where their prey has taken refuge.<\/p>\n They start out their hunt by using tail slapping to cause confusion, and when that doesn\u2019t work, they try another technique<\/a> \u2013 pumping their tails to work up speed and hydroplane (skim on top of the water at high speed). Momentum carries them through the shallowest waters and on to the fish. Although a dangerous and daring technique, it pays off and the dolphin succeeds in its hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n The gorillas<\/p>\n Perhaps Attenborough’s most iconic moment – the gorilla<\/a> encounter in Life on Earth, episode 12, Life in the Trees. <\/p>\n Picture this: Attenborough is exploring the Dian Fossey sanctuary in Rwanda. At first he only intends to get close enough to the primates<\/a> to narrate a piece about their use of the opposable thumb<\/a>. He advances on all fours towards the feeding area – and suddenly finds himself face to face with an adult female. <\/p>\n In true David Attenborough fashion, he discards his scripted speech and delivers a whispered ad lib:<\/p>\n “There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know. We’re so similar.”<\/p>\n When Attenborough returned the next day, the female and two young gorillas began to play with him, making the moment even more heart-warming. In his memoirs, Attenborough describes this encounter as one of the most exciting of his life.<\/p>\n You can find out more about the behind-the-scenes of the gorilla encounter in the new intimate documentary A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough, out on Netflix now. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir David Attenborough’s films have featured countless species never before seen on TV. We celebrate David Attenborough\u2019s 100th\u00a0birthday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-647894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}