Synopsis
David Attenborough's now-legendary encounter with young gorillas is featured in this episode as he looks at the history of primates.
- Programme: Life On Earth
- Episode: 12: Life in the Trees
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 1979
- Biology | Ecology
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from Life On Earth
1: The Infinite Variety | Life On Earth
1: The Infinite Variety | Life On Earth
The first ever episode of the landmark natural history series Life on Earth. David Attenborough explores the wildlife and landscape t...
10: Themes and Variations | Life On Earth
10: Themes and Variations | Life On Earth
David Attenborough looks at some of the huge variety of mammals. The tree shrew has attracted great interest as it shows how mammal...
11: The Hunters and the Hunted | Life On Earth
11: The Hunters and the Hunted | Life On Earth
David Attenborough explores the eternal duel between the hunters and the hunted - one of the driving forces of evolution.
13: The Compulsive Communicators | Life On Earth
13: The Compulsive Communicators | Life On Earth
David Attenborough seeks to explain how we came to dominate life on earth, tracing the African origins of humans to nearly t...
2: Building Bodies | Life On Earth
2: Building Bodies | Life On Earth
Sir David Attenborough presents a revised version of the original wildlife series about the remarkable evolution of life on our planet. Th...
3: The First Forests | Life On Earth
3: The First Forests | Life On Earth
For most of Earth's history there was no life on land. But over 400 million years ago some tiny plants began an invasion from the water,...
4: The Swarming Hordes | Life On Earth
4: The Swarming Hordes | Life On Earth
David Attenborough looks at the role of a few of the millions of insect species, some of which have developed extremely close relation...
5: Conquest of the Waters | Life On Earth
5: Conquest of the Waters | Life On Earth
Fish occur in populations of billions and there are over 30,000 species, more than in any other group of backboned animals. The dev...
6: Invasion Of The Land | Life On Earth
6: Invasion Of The Land | Life On Earth
Some 350 million years ago, evolution reached one of its most crucial stages when fish crawled from the water onto the land and becam...
7: Victors of the Dry Land | Life On Earth
7: Victors of the Dry Land | Life On Earth
David Attenborough looks at the history of reptiles, the first back-boned creatures to solve the problems of living high and dry o...
8: Lords of the Air | Life On Earth
8: Lords of the Air | Life On Earth
The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that live around us. David Attenborough looks at the advantag...
9: The Rise Of The Mammals | Life On Earth
9: The Rise Of The Mammals | Life On Earth
Mammals have proved to be one of the most adaptable products of evolution. David Attenborough looks at their evolution from reptil...
The Beginning of Life | Life on Earth
The Beginning of Life | Life on Earth
David Attenborough explains the origins of life on earth, starting over three and a half thousand million years ago.
More resources about Living Things and Their Habitats
Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?
Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?
From colossal farms in America to the destruction of the Amazon, Liz Bonnin investigates how our hunger for meat is killing our planet.
Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change: The Facts
Greenhouse Gases | Climate Change: The Facts
A discussion of the devastating impact of burning fossil fuels.
Amazon deforestation | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?
Amazon deforestation | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?
Liz Bonnin witnesses the devastation of the Amazon rainforest from the sky.
9: The Rise Of The Mammals | Life On Earth
9: The Rise Of The Mammals | Life On Earth
Mammals have proved to be one of the most adaptable products of evolution. David Attenborough looks at their evolution from reptil...
Plants in cold environments | The Private Life of Plants
Plants in cold environments | The Private Life of Plants
David Attenborough describes how certain plant species adapt to cold weather.
Sustainable meat production | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?
Sustainable meat production | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?
Liz Bonnin discusses the importance of understanding the process behind the meat we eat (warning: this clip conta...
The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet
David Attenborough narrates a natural history of the oceans. We travel to the depths of the seas to reveal a spectacular variety of life, some never filmed b...
The carbon cycle and global warming | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
The carbon cycle and global warming | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
The carbon cycle process is being overwhelmed by the amount of carbon dioxide released into the at...
Carbon in the ocean | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Carbon in the ocean | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Dr Helen Czerski explains how carbon is incorporated into the ocean and how the increase in carbon intake is impac...
The boiling sea | Blue Planet II
The boiling sea | Blue Planet II
Lantern fish provide a rare banquet for some of the ocean’s top predators.
Cotton production and the Aral Sea crisis | Stacey Dooley
Cotton production and the Aral Sea crisis | Stacey Dooley
Stacey Dooley visits the Aral Sea Basin in Kazakhstan, which has almost entirely dried up due to cotton production.
Environmental impact on the Aral Sea | Stacey Dooley
Environmental impact on the Aral Sea | Stacey Dooley
Stacey Dooley visits the Aral Sea Basin in Kazakhstan, which has almost entirely dried up due to cotton production.
Fossil fuels behind every day food | Natural World
Fossil fuels behind every day food | Natural World
Rebecca Hosking goes through the fossil fuels involved in creating a shop bought sandwich.
Importance of marine protected areas | A Perfect Planet
Importance of marine protected areas | A Perfect Planet
Spec references J247: B6.1b, B6.1c, B6.1d J250: B6.1b, B6.1c. How an increase of carbon dioxide and overfishing impac...
Life in icy environments | The Secret Life of Ice
Life in icy environments | The Secret Life of Ice
Dr Gabrielle Walker investigates how life has evolved in icy underwater environments.
Polar bears' habitat under threat from glacial melt | Planet Earth
Polar bears' habitat under threat from glacial melt | Planet Earth
David Attenborough discusses the effects on polar bears of melting Arctic ice caused by global warming.
The smallest fox with the biggest ears! | Super Cute Animals (video)
The smallest fox with the biggest ears! | Super Cute Animals (video)
The fennec's ears help it to survive in the heat of the desert dunes.
11: The Hunters and the Hunted | Life On Earth
11: The Hunters and the Hunted | Life On Earth
David Attenborough explores the eternal duel between the hunters and the hunted - one of the driving forces of evolution.
2: The Deep | Blue Planet II
2: The Deep | Blue Planet II
The wildlife documentary series narrated by David Attenborough goes on groundbreaking journey to the deepest parts of the oceans.
2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
A look at the beautiful, bizarre worlds created by water plants. Flowers smother rivers and lakes. Plants fight and hunt. A river bubbles ...
More from Sir David Attenborough
8: Heroes | Planet Earth III
8: Heroes | Planet Earth III
Sir David Attenborough introduces conservation heroes fighting to save the world's wildlife, from exploring remote jungles to going undercover t...
The mystery of the whale shark nursery | Blue Planet II
The mystery of the whale shark nursery | Blue Planet II
Nutrients from the deep provide sustenance for a large gathering of sea life.
Ants vs Cows | Natural World
Ants vs Cows | Natural World
The super colony unites in a spectacular attack to defend their nest from curious cows.
3: Jungles | Planet Earth II
3: Jungles | Planet Earth II
Jungles provide the richest habitats on the planet - mysterious worlds of high drama where extraordinary animals attempt to survive in the most ...
Lizard Heaters | Life in Cold Blood
Lizard Heaters | Life in Cold Blood
Wall lizards take advantage of foul-smelling dead-horse arums.
How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? | Horizon
How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? | Horizon
Naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world faces a population crisis and if it is the duty of indiv...
11: Ocean Deep | Planet Earth
11: Ocean Deep | Planet Earth
Series showing our planet in its natural glory. A look at the largest of all habitats, the ocean, which encompasses 90 per cent of all the livi...
Weighty wanderers | Life in the Freezer
Weighty wanderers | Life in the Freezer
With a wingspan of over 3m, the wandering albatross has the biggest feeding range of any bird. Throughout the winter they remain in n...
Our Precious Isles | Wild Isles
Our Precious Isles | Wild Isles
David Attenborough celebrates the rich variety of habitats in our wild isles, the existence of which is critical for the survival of species ...
2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
A look at the beautiful, bizarre worlds created by water plants. Flowers smother rivers and lakes. Plants fight and hunt. A river bubbles ...
David Attenborough | The Queen's Platinum Jubilee
David Attenborough | The Queen's Platinum Jubilee
David Attenborough speaks about the environment. Also, includes footage of the drones that turn into animals.
Greta meets David Attenborough | Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World
Greta meets David Attenborough | Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World
Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough discuss their hopes for the future of the planet.
COP26 delegates and climate scientists | Climate Change: The Facts
COP26 delegates and climate scientists | Climate Change: The Facts
COP26 delegates and climate scientist Hannah Cloke discuss their hopes for the COP26 conference.
The People v Climate Change
The People v Climate Change
Meet the 108 ordinary Brits who Sir David Attenborough says we should listen to. This warm and honest documentary reveals how everyday people fee...
Leopard seal vs penguin | Seven Worlds, One Planet
Leopard seal vs penguin | Seven Worlds, One Planet
Glaciers crumbling more quickly, due to climate change, give the advantage to leopard seals hunting penguins.
Poison dart frogs battle it out | Attenborough's Life in Colour
Poison dart frogs battle it out | Attenborough's Life in Colour
A poison dart frog fights off a contender until he's sufficiently warned off.
The Weddell seal's adaptations | Life
The Weddell seal's adaptations | Life
The Weddell seal is perfectly adapted to survive in the environment it must endure.
Biodiversity loss | Extinction: The Facts
Biodiversity loss | Extinction: The Facts
An exploration of the devastating impacts of the loss of insect and plant biodiversity.
David, The Ruler | Dynasties
David, The Ruler | Dynasties
One strong and determined leader, David, rules the land, but can trust no one.
Marine predators and scavengers | The Blue Planet
Marine predators and scavengers | The Blue Planet
The scavengers of the deep ocean rely on predators at the surface to provide their nutrition.