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Letter From...: David Attenborough - 10/10/2009

David Attenborough - 10/10/2009

BBC World Service - Letter From..., David Attenborough - 10/10/2009

Sir David recounts how while in the Amazonian rainforest he found himself in need of help.

Sir David recounts how while following tracks in the Amazonian rainforest he became hopelessly lost and had the ignominy of needing help.

Sir David is charmed by the thought that an Aboriginal man can often identify a relative just by footprints left in the Australian desert. 

Interpreting tracks of living animals is an ability many aboriginal tribes across the world possess great skills in, such skills often lacking in Western cultures. 

He recounts how while following tracks in the Amazonian rainforest he became hopelessly lost and had the ignominy of needing help. Following tracks made by long dead animals is an entirely different skill but recent fossil remains are now increasing our understanding of our ancestors who lived 3.6 million years ago. Did they indeed stand fully erect as we do today? 

Well, as evidence unearthed in Tanzania in the late 1970’s suggests they were not as dissimilar to us as we thought.

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David Attenborough - 10/10/2009

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