''Supersense'' is a six-part nature documentary television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in 1988. The series producer was John Downer and the narrator Andrew Sachs. It used groundbreaking effects and filming techniques to show how animals perceive the world around them. The same production team went on to make the follow-up series '' Lifesense'' in 1991 and '' Supernatural: Unseen Power of Animals'' in 1999.

Episodes

* "Sixth Sense": Animals use senses of which humans are unaware. Sensitivity to the earth's electromagnetic fields, or to weather pressure, can be used to aid navigation. Some animals can predict earthquakes. Predators put these senses to lethal use: a shark homes in on the body electricity of its prey, vampire bats detect the infra-red radiation of blood, and a

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...

sees a 'heat picture' of its victim. * " Seeing Sense": A vulture can spot a carcass from a great distance, the

four-eyed fish The four-eyed fishes are a genus, ''Anableps'', of fishes in the family Anablepidae. They have eyes raised above the top of the head and divided in two different parts, so that they can see below and above the water surface at the same time. Lik ...

can see above and below water simultaneously, a

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

's multi-faceted eye sees a very different world than a human eye, while other insects can see into ultra-violet light. And

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s have an area on the retina which actually empathises with their prey. * " Sound Sense": Human ears have a limited range and are deaf to a low-register elephant conversation or the high-pitched squeaking of

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. Whales use sonar to communicate across hundreds of miles of sea, while spiders listen out for the wingbeats of prey and the

kangaroo rat Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus ''Dipodomys'', are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed thi ...

has hearing so sensitive that it can hear the rattlesnake's strike—and avoid it. Birds, meanwhile, use sounds to detect changes in the weather and as an aid to navigation. * "Super Scents":

Smell Smell may refer to; * Odor, airborne molecules perceived as a scent or aroma * Sense of smell, the scent also known scientifically as olfaction * "Smells" (''Bottom''), an episode of ''Bottom'' * The Smell, a music venue in Los Angeles, Californ ...

is invaluable in hunting, protecting a species, mating, and navigation. Petrels use it to find fish in the open sea, springboks emit an 'alarm' odour to warn the herd of a predator, salamanders inject their females with aphrodisiac, and a salmon's epic journey across the ocean to spawn and die is achieved through its sense of smell. * "Sense of

Timing Timing is the tracking or planning of the spacing of events in time. It may refer to: * Timekeeping, the process of measuring the passage of time * Synchronization, controlling the timing of a process relative to another process * Time metrolog ...

": Courting,

egg-laying Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

hibernation Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

—the cycles of the earth, moon, and sun are the rhythms which govern all life. Every animal's perception of time varies, according to its heart rate. A shrew lives 30 times faster than an elephant, so time appears to pass more slowly. Also shown is the rare 17-year eruption of the US cicada. * "Making Sense" (23 January 1989): Each animal has a unique view of the world derived from a combination of different senses. The

mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

creates mental maps for navigational skills, which can also be affected by genetic programming. Other super-senses have resulted from the need to hunt or avoid becoming a meal. The mind decides what skills it needs to survive.

Media

* A region 2 DVD (BBCDVD1989) featuring all six 30-minute episodes was released on 21 August 2006. * A hardcover book to accompany the series, ''Supersense: Perception in the Animal World'' by John Downer, was released by BBC Books in November 1988 ().

External links

*
''Supersense''
at

Film.com RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of artificial intelligence and computer vision based products. RealNetworks was a pioneer in Internet streaming software and services. They are based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The company also p ...

{{BBC Natural History Unit 1980s British documentary television series 1988 British television series debuts 1989 British television series endings BBC television documentaries Documentary films about nature

Episodes

Media

See also

External links