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The Human Animal (TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Human Animal: A Personal View of the Human Species is a BBC
nature documentary
series written and presented by Desmond Morris
, first transmitted in the UK
from 27 July 1994. The series was produced in association with Discovery Channel
.
Morris describes it as "A study of human behavior from a zoological perspective." He travels the world, filming the diverse customs and habits of various regions while suggesting common roots. At the close of episode one, Morris said,
Erratum: Firewalking has been explained.
on 21 July 1994.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
nature documentary
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
series written and presented by Desmond Morris
Desmond Morris
Desmond John Morris, born 24 January 1928 in Purton, north Wiltshire, is a British zoologist and ethologist, as well as a popular anthropologist. He is also known as a painter, television presenter and popular author.-Life:...
, first transmitted in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from 27 July 1994. The series was produced in association with Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
.
Morris describes it as "A study of human behavior from a zoological perspective." He travels the world, filming the diverse customs and habits of various regions while suggesting common roots. At the close of episode one, Morris said,
1. "The Language of the Body"
- GestureGestureA gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
s: Greetings, Insults, Signals, Gesticulations - Facial ExpressionsFacial expressionA facial expression one or more motions or positions of the muscles in the skin. These movements convey the emotional state of the individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social information among humans, but also occur...
: Stares, Smiles, Tells
2. "The Hunting Ape"
- Diet: Fondness for sweets, Culinary variety
- Evolution: Arboreal vegetarianism, Savannah meat-eating, Cooperative hunting with weapons, Food preparation, Aquatic ape hypothesisAquatic ape hypothesisThe aquatic ape hypothesis is an alternative explanation of some characteristics of human evolution which hypothesizes that the common ancestors of modern humans spent a period of time adapting to life in a partially aquatic environment. The hypothesis is based on differences between humans and...
- Vestigal hunting behavior: Jobs, Sport Hunting, War
3. "The Human Zoo"
- Urban TribalismTribalismThe social structure of a tribe can vary greatly from case to case, but, due to the small size of tribes, it is always a relatively simple role structure, with few significant social distinctions between individuals....
: Familiarity, Theft, Uniforms, Rituals, Conflict, Social status, Territory
4. "Biology of Love"
- Courtship: Finding partners, Gender signals, Dating, Tie signsHaptic communicationHaptic communication is the means by which people and other animals communicate via touching. Touch, or the haptic sense, is extremely important for humans; as well as providing information about surfaces and textures it is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and...
, Pair bonding, Intercourse
5. "The Immortal Genes"
- Life cycle: Infant-parent interaction, Baby signals, Child behavior, Rites of passage, Cultural indoctrination, Fighting aging, Grandparenting, Afterlives
6. "Beyond Survival"
- Creativity: Body adornment, Architectural embellishments, Vehicles, Art
- Artistic progression: Innate scribbling, Realism
- Play: Childhood experimentation, Adult inventiveness, Sports, Thrill-seeking, Symbolic thinking
Erratum: Firewalking has been explained.
Video and book
The accompanying book, The Human Animal by Desmond Morris (ISBN 978-0563370215), was published by BBC BooksBBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
on 21 July 1994.
External links
- Amazon VHS
- Amazon Book
- Google Video