[Music]
this wildlife documentary series caught
the attention of viewers across the
globe by showing us that our own world
is often stranger than fiction 70
million years ago this land was just as
flat and as deep as the Danakil
depression welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re counting down our picks for
the top 10 things we learned from Planet
Earth
for this list we’re looking at the most
interesting information this series had
to offer from the depths of the ocean to
isolated mountain ranges it not only
presented viewers with footage of rarely
seen animals in stunning HD it also
backed up those images with insight into
the wildest and weirdest aspects of the
animal kingdom making for an end result
that was both entertaining and
educational number 10
desert locusts are a plague of biblical
proportions there is no other species on
the planet that responds as quickly and
as dramatically to the good times as the
desert locust forget all those
post-apocalyptic movies you’ve watched
if you want to see a real-world
end-of-day scenario you need look no
further than the final segment of the
fifth episode of Planet Earth when the
zombies
scratch that locusts rise from the dirt
the young locusts are known as hoppers
for at this stage they’re flightless
they find new feeding grounds by
following the smell of sprouting grass
as you may recall locusts were one of
the 10 plagues of Egypt but you don’t
need the wrath of God to unleash them
just appropriate weather conditions
planet Earth documented this force of
nature in all its destructive glory and
the reality of this swarm is more
terrifying than most fictional forces of
mass destruction numbering in the
billions forming living clouds up to 40
miles wide and consuming everything in
their path desert locusts can inspire
awe in the worst possible ways as they
find
swarms join up with other swarms to form
gigantic plagues several billion strong
and as much as 40 miles wide number nine
monkeys in Indonesia are quite
amphibious rabbiting macaques are
mangrove specialists in Indonesia these
monkeys have adopted a unique amphibious
lifestyle monkeys are full of surprises
they can be playful they can be vicious
they can use tools and they have a high
capacity for learning basically there
are a lot like humans in that they’re
hard to generalize the troop also uses
the waters to cool off in the heat of
the day just like us some of them are
uncomfortable in water while others look
like they’re part fish you’ve likely
seen a monkey play in the water before
but the macaques of Indonesia aren’t
just awkwardly doing the doggy paddle
they are incredibly adept swimmers who
forage for food underwater can hold
their breath about as long as the
average human and are known to go
swimming just for fun they can stay down
for more than 30 seconds and appear to
do this just for fun not all macaques
are good in the water but those found in
the mangroves of Indonesia have fully
embraced their semi aquatic habitats yet
these swimming skills a crowd during
play will certainly be useful later in
life when these flooded mangrove forests
number eight
dolphins can hydroplane the fish are
tantalisingly close but they’re still
out of reach so the Dolphins try another
technique planet Earth was a remarkable
series in many ways but one of its
greatest strengths was how it focused on
animal species already known for
particular abilities or intelligence and
still managed to teach viewers something
totally new about them vigorously
pumping their tails they work up some
speed
and then they hide the blade dolphins
are incredibly intelligent capable
creatures they use tools educate their
young and have the longest memory in the
animal kingdom when a creature already
has all that going for it what else is
left for a wildlife documentary series
to explore oh maybe this super ingenious
and little-known hunting method now the
in real danger of being stranded but
fortune favors the brave
hydroplaning might be bad news when
driving a car but seeing these animals
do it on purpose with their bodies in
shallow water to catch fish is simply
delightful younger dolphins lie
alongside watching but so far only eight
individuals here have mastered this
daring technique number seven birds of
paradise have the weirdest sexy dance
ever in the great island of New Guinea
there are 42 different species of
birds-of-paradise each more bizarre than
the last we’re gonna pick up lines if
you’re serious about catching the eye of
a potential love interest just shake
what your mama gave you until they
notice
[Music]
oh you don’t have tail feathers tough
break for birds of paradise it’s all
about the moves these birds come in all
shapes sizes and color combinations when
mating season rolls around the male’s
find themselves a spot on nature’s dance
floor and start moving very impressive
but no one is watching they send out
mating calls and when a female
approaches they double down on their
efforts rather than playing it cool
getting right up in the ladies face but
what does he have to do to really
impress her the animal kingdom is full
of strange mating displays but this
might very well be the oddest
but who are we to judge our species uses
tinder it’s hard not to feel deflated
when even your best isn’t good enough
number six chimps have some
cannibalistic tendencies the chimp
militia are now at the very edge of
their territory as discussed with the
water-loving monkeys we primates are all
pretty similar we get jealous
territorial and sometimes even violent
but thanks to planet Earth
we’ve been made aware of one major
difference between ourselves and
chimpanzees the attack is on when a
territorial dispute breaks out we humans
for the most part at least don’t eat our
defeated enemy it’s a grizzly moment in
the series one that many viewers
especially fans of chimpanzees would
likely rather forget
an enemy youngster has been caught and
killed the carcass is shared between
members of the group and eaten but
there’s no denying that this particular
reveal is a fascinating one
although Jane Goodall wrote about
cannibalism among chimps as early as
1977 few documentary series about
chimpanzees have ventured into this
particular area of simian culture for
pretty obvious reasons teamwork has
brought this group of chimps great
success but they’ll soon reach the
limits of the
number five otters can intimidate
crocodiles house rivers leave the
mountains behind they gradually warm and
begin to support more life the case of
the cannibalistic chimps was certainly
one of the darker lessons planet Earth
taught its viewers but this heartwarming
segment which showed how otters can
overcome the odds even when faced with
the largest most cold-blooded of foes
helps balance the emotional scales these
rich warm waters can support large
family groups and even bigger predators
these otters are shown to be family
oriented sociable and simply adorable
all of which combined makes for an
utterly nerve-racking experience when
this large predator swims into their
midst come on it’s literally called
a mugger crocodile could it sound any
more villainous mugger crocodiles four
metres long could easily take a single
otter
while a single otter wouldn’t stand a
chance this family effort proves that
even the smallest of creatures can chase
away a predator when they work together
it’s an unexpected ending but a very
welcome one team Clay wins the day
number four cicadas spend 17 years
underground on the east coast of North
America it seems like any other summer’s
evening but tonight is special these
large insects can be found all across
the globe a total of 1,300 different
species inhabiting Australia New Zealand
South Africa North America South America
Southeast Asia and even a handful in
southern Europe the nymphs of the
periodical cicadas have been biding
their time you might not know them by
name but you’ve likely heard them
they’re the bugs behind that extremely
loud humming or buzzing sound you hear
on summer nights they are also the bugs
that leave an entire outer layer of skin
or exoskeleton clinging to trees when
they molt they invade the upper branches
where they climb out of their external
skeletons and assume their adult wind
many people are vaguely familiar with
these bugs as a result of their
prominence and that’s what makes this
particular knowledge bomb so impactful
on top of that they spend up to 17 years
living underground as nymphs before we
even see them after an absence of 17
years the forest is now overrun by
cicadas number three some places on
earth look truly extraterrestrial this
is the Danakil depression in ethiopia
lying within a colossal rent in the
Earth’s surface where giant land masses
are pulling away from one another it
would be unfair to say that planet Earth
only taught us incredible things about
animals it also presented Wow inducing
footage of natural environments from
Angel Falls to the underwater caves of
Mexico the series brought viewers up
close and personal with the seemingly
unbelievable and often unreachable
natural wonders of the globe these
flooded caves in Mexico have remained
virtually unchanged for thousands of
years a few of them looked truly out of
this world if it were used as the
setting of a sci-fi film the Danakil
depression in Ethiopia would likely be
mistaken for CGI the mountain plateaus
of Venezuela resembled James Cameron’s
Pandora while the rock formations that
adorn them look like the handiwork of
ancient alien civilizations in the deep
sea it’s an alien world of a very
different sort some resemble creatures
familiar from shallower waters others
defy classification number 2 male
penguins protect their eggs through four
months of darkness imagine our world
without
male emperor penguins are facing the
nearest that exists on planet earth
winter in Antarctica the animal kingdom
father of the Year award goes to the
emperor penguin every single year the
idea of the stay-at-home dad might have
been slow to develop with humans but
among other species males have been
stepping up in the parenting Department
for about as long as they’ve existed
the Penguins stay when all other
creatures have fled because each guards
a treasure a single egg resting on the
top of its feet and kept warm beneath
the down in bulge of its stomach male
seahorses carry their eggs instead of
the females male emus incubate the eggs
and raise their offspring as single
parents for up to two years but the
emperor penguin reign supreme
there is no food and no water for them
and they will not see the Sun again for
four months they spend a full four
months in darkness huddling together as
a team to keep warm each of them
balancing a precious egg on their feet
and they starve the whole time losing up
to 44 pounds or half their body weight
in the process the females no longer
have the energy to incubate the male
takes over before we unveil our number
one pick here are some honorable
mentions every year three million
caribou migrate across the Arctic tundra
there are only 40 Amur leopards left in
the wild and that number is still
falling they’re waiting for the dolphin
to drive the prey closer to the surface
[Music]
[Music]
number one zombie fungus exists these
bullet ants are showing some worrying
symptoms spores from a parasitic fungus
called cordyceps have infiltrated their
bodies and their minds we began with
apocalyptic scenarios courtesy of desert
locusts and now we come full circle with
zombies as presented by planet Earth
those afflicted that are discovered by
the workers are quickly taken away and
dumped far away from the colony a
testament to the influence this
documentary series has had it’s worth
noting that the creators of the
critically acclaimed survival horror
game The Last of Us credit this
particular segment from Planet Earth as
their source of inspiration like
something out of science fiction the
fruiting body of the cordyceps erupts
from the ants head this parasitic fungus
known as cordyceps should certainly
inspire fear its means of reproduction
is horrifying it takes control of an
ants body guides it to an ideal location
then sprouts from its body
considering planet Earth aired in 2006
roughly around the same time that zombie
culture first began to invade the
mainstream this creepy fact needed
little help sticking with viewers there
are literally thousands of different
types of cordyceps fungi and remarkably
each specializes on just one species do
you agree with our list
what was the most memorable thing you
learned from planet Earth the bats can
detect the snakes using echolocation for
more unforgettable top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
[Music]
Oh
[Music]
this wildlife documentary series caught
the attention of viewers across the
globe by showing us that our own world
is often stranger than fiction 70
million years ago this land was just as
flat and as deep as the Danakil
depression welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re counting down our picks for
the top 10 things we learned from Planet
Earth
for this list we’re looking at the most
interesting information this series had
to offer from the depths of the ocean to
isolated mountain ranges it not only
presented viewers with footage of rarely
seen animals in stunning HD it also
backed up those images with insight into
the wildest and weirdest aspects of the
animal kingdom making for an end result
that was both entertaining and
educational number 10
desert locusts are a plague of biblical
proportions there is no other species on
the planet that responds as quickly and
as dramatically to the good times as the
desert locust forget all those
post-apocalyptic movies you’ve watched
if you want to see a real-world
end-of-day scenario you need look no
further than the final segment of the
fifth episode of Planet Earth when the
zombies
scratch that locusts rise from the dirt
the young locusts are known as hoppers
for at this stage they’re flightless
they find new feeding grounds by
following the smell of sprouting grass
as you may recall locusts were one of
the 10 plagues of Egypt but you don’t
need the wrath of God to unleash them
just appropriate weather conditions
planet Earth documented this force of
nature in all its destructive glory and
the reality of this swarm is more
terrifying than most fictional forces of
mass destruction numbering in the
billions forming living clouds up to 40
miles wide and consuming everything in
their path desert locusts can inspire
awe in the worst possible ways as they
find
swarms join up with other swarms to form
gigantic plagues several billion strong
and as much as 40 miles wide number nine
monkeys in Indonesia are quite
amphibious rabbiting macaques are
mangrove specialists in Indonesia these
monkeys have adopted a unique amphibious
lifestyle monkeys are full of surprises
they can be playful they can be vicious
they can use tools and they have a high
capacity for learning basically there
are a lot like humans in that they’re
hard to generalize the troop also uses
the waters to cool off in the heat of
the day just like us some of them are
uncomfortable in water while others look
like they’re part fish you’ve likely
seen a monkey play in the water before
but the macaques of Indonesia aren’t
just awkwardly doing the doggy paddle
they are incredibly adept swimmers who
forage for food underwater can hold
their breath about as long as the
average human and are known to go
swimming just for fun they can stay down
for more than 30 seconds and appear to
do this just for fun not all macaques
are good in the water but those found in
the mangroves of Indonesia have fully
embraced their semi aquatic habitats yet
these swimming skills a crowd during
play will certainly be useful later in
life when these flooded mangrove forests
number eight
dolphins can hydroplane the fish are
tantalisingly close but they’re still
out of reach so the Dolphins try another
technique planet Earth was a remarkable
series in many ways but one of its
greatest strengths was how it focused on
animal species already known for
particular abilities or intelligence and
still managed to teach viewers something
totally new about them vigorously
pumping their tails they work up some
speed
and then they hide the blade dolphins
are incredibly intelligent capable
creatures they use tools educate their
young and have the longest memory in the
animal kingdom when a creature already
has all that going for it what else is
left for a wildlife documentary series
to explore oh maybe this super ingenious
and little-known hunting method now the
in real danger of being stranded but
fortune favors the brave
hydroplaning might be bad news when
driving a car but seeing these animals
do it on purpose with their bodies in
shallow water to catch fish is simply
delightful younger dolphins lie
alongside watching but so far only eight
individuals here have mastered this
daring technique number seven birds of
paradise have the weirdest sexy dance
ever in the great island of New Guinea
there are 42 different species of
birds-of-paradise each more bizarre than
the last we’re gonna pick up lines if
you’re serious about catching the eye of
a potential love interest just shake
what your mama gave you until they
notice
[Music]
oh you don’t have tail feathers tough
break for birds of paradise it’s all
about the moves these birds come in all
shapes sizes and color combinations when
mating season rolls around the male’s
find themselves a spot on nature’s dance
floor and start moving very impressive
but no one is watching they send out
mating calls and when a female
approaches they double down on their
efforts rather than playing it cool
getting right up in the ladies face but
what does he have to do to really
impress her the animal kingdom is full
of strange mating displays but this
might very well be the oddest
but who are we to judge our species uses
tinder it’s hard not to feel deflated
when even your best isn’t good enough
number six chimps have some
cannibalistic tendencies the chimp
militia are now at the very edge of
their territory as discussed with the
water-loving monkeys we primates are all
pretty similar we get jealous
territorial and sometimes even violent
but thanks to planet Earth
we’ve been made aware of one major
difference between ourselves and
chimpanzees the attack is on when a
territorial dispute breaks out we humans
for the most part at least don’t eat our
defeated enemy it’s a grizzly moment in
the series one that many viewers
especially fans of chimpanzees would
likely rather forget
an enemy youngster has been caught and
killed the carcass is shared between
members of the group and eaten but
there’s no denying that this particular
reveal is a fascinating one
although Jane Goodall wrote about
cannibalism among chimps as early as
1977 few documentary series about
chimpanzees have ventured into this
particular area of simian culture for
pretty obvious reasons teamwork has
brought this group of chimps great
success but they’ll soon reach the
limits of the
number five otters can intimidate
crocodiles house rivers leave the
mountains behind they gradually warm and
begin to support more life the case of
the cannibalistic chimps was certainly
one of the darker lessons planet Earth
taught its viewers but this heartwarming
segment which showed how otters can
overcome the odds even when faced with
the largest most cold-blooded of foes
helps balance the emotional scales these
rich warm waters can support large
family groups and even bigger predators
these otters are shown to be family
oriented sociable and simply adorable
all of which combined makes for an
utterly nerve-racking experience when
this large predator swims into their
midst come on it’s literally called
a mugger crocodile could it sound any
more villainous mugger crocodiles four
metres long could easily take a single
otter
while a single otter wouldn’t stand a
chance this family effort proves that
even the smallest of creatures can chase
away a predator when they work together
it’s an unexpected ending but a very
welcome one team Clay wins the day
number four cicadas spend 17 years
underground on the east coast of North
America it seems like any other summer’s
evening but tonight is special these
large insects can be found all across
the globe a total of 1,300 different
species inhabiting Australia New Zealand
South Africa North America South America
Southeast Asia and even a handful in
southern Europe the nymphs of the
periodical cicadas have been biding
their time you might not know them by
name but you’ve likely heard them
they’re the bugs behind that extremely
loud humming or buzzing sound you hear
on summer nights they are also the bugs
that leave an entire outer layer of skin
or exoskeleton clinging to trees when
they molt they invade the upper branches
where they climb out of their external
skeletons and assume their adult wind
many people are vaguely familiar with
these bugs as a result of their
prominence and that’s what makes this
particular knowledge bomb so impactful
on top of that they spend up to 17 years
living underground as nymphs before we
even see them after an absence of 17
years the forest is now overrun by
cicadas number three some places on
earth look truly extraterrestrial this
is the Danakil depression in ethiopia
lying within a colossal rent in the
Earth’s surface where giant land masses
are pulling away from one another it
would be unfair to say that planet Earth
only taught us incredible things about
animals it also presented Wow inducing
footage of natural environments from
Angel Falls to the underwater caves of
Mexico the series brought viewers up
close and personal with the seemingly
unbelievable and often unreachable
natural wonders of the globe these
flooded caves in Mexico have remained
virtually unchanged for thousands of
years a few of them looked truly out of
this world if it were used as the
setting of a sci-fi film the Danakil
depression in Ethiopia would likely be
mistaken for CGI the mountain plateaus
of Venezuela resembled James Cameron’s
Pandora while the rock formations that
adorn them look like the handiwork of
ancient alien civilizations in the deep
sea it’s an alien world of a very
different sort some resemble creatures
familiar from shallower waters others
defy classification number 2 male
penguins protect their eggs through four
months of darkness imagine our world
without
male emperor penguins are facing the
nearest that exists on planet earth
winter in Antarctica the animal kingdom
father of the Year award goes to the
emperor penguin every single year the
idea of the stay-at-home dad might have
been slow to develop with humans but
among other species males have been
stepping up in the parenting Department
for about as long as they’ve existed
the Penguins stay when all other
creatures have fled because each guards
a treasure a single egg resting on the
top of its feet and kept warm beneath
the down in bulge of its stomach male
seahorses carry their eggs instead of
the females male emus incubate the eggs
and raise their offspring as single
parents for up to two years but the
emperor penguin reign supreme
there is no food and no water for them
and they will not see the Sun again for
four months they spend a full four
months in darkness huddling together as
a team to keep warm each of them
balancing a precious egg on their feet
and they starve the whole time losing up
to 44 pounds or half their body weight
in the process the females no longer
have the energy to incubate the male
takes over before we unveil our number
one pick here are some honorable
mentions every year three million
caribou migrate across the Arctic tundra
there are only 40 Amur leopards left in
the wild and that number is still
falling they’re waiting for the dolphin
to drive the prey closer to the surface
[Music]
[Music]
number one zombie fungus exists these
bullet ants are showing some worrying
symptoms spores from a parasitic fungus
called cordyceps have infiltrated their
bodies and their minds we began with
apocalyptic scenarios courtesy of desert
locusts and now we come full circle with
zombies as presented by planet Earth
those afflicted that are discovered by
the workers are quickly taken away and
dumped far away from the colony a
testament to the influence this
documentary series has had it’s worth
noting that the creators of the
critically acclaimed survival horror
game The Last of Us credit this
particular segment from Planet Earth as
their source of inspiration like
something out of science fiction the
fruiting body of the cordyceps erupts
from the ants head this parasitic fungus
known as cordyceps should certainly
inspire fear its means of reproduction
is horrifying it takes control of an
ants body guides it to an ideal location
then sprouts from its body
considering planet Earth aired in 2006
roughly around the same time that zombie
culture first began to invade the
mainstream this creepy fact needed
little help sticking with viewers there
are literally thousands of different
types of cordyceps fungi and remarkably
each specializes on just one species do
you agree with our list
what was the most memorable thing you
learned from planet Earth the bats can
detect the snakes using echolocation for
more unforgettable top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
[Music]
Oh
[Music]
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