David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities

It is said that fleas can jump the equivalent to us leaping over St. Paul's Cathedral and it is famously quoted that cheetahs can run at speeds of 70 miles per hour. But are these claims really true? The discovery of the world most elastic natural protein in insects and the development of a hi-tech tracking collar have helped to reveal the facts. So can these creatures really achieve what should be physically impossible?

Orangutans are clever tool users but strangely such skills remained undiscovered for centuries. They were considered as just clever mimics until a discovery in remote Sumatran swamps revealed their true potential. Crows are clever birds that can solve problems and they too make surprisingly sophisticated tools. How have the curious minds of these two animals helped them become so inventive?

The bodies of some animals stretch and shrink in extraordinary ways. The anaconda can swallow prey twice its own body size and then go for over a year without eating. The camel's curious hump can almost double in weight giving it the energy to travel huge distances across deserts. What is the secret behind such expandable bodies?

The blue whale and the flamingo both have strange bodies determined by their diet. Blue whales grow enormous by feeding on tiny shrimp like creatures, while flamingos spend their lives eating with their heads upside down. Both are oddities in their own groups and yet both are curiously similar.

Humans are not alone in using medicine to treat injury and infection. Some animals protect themselves with natural remedies in the most extraordinary ways. Hippos produce a blood-red secretion that acts as a sunblock and helps fight infections, while capuchin monkeys rub themselves with insect-repellent leaves to protect themselves from bites.

Some animals can do the seemingly impossible. Salamanders can regenerate entire legs and tails to replace ones they've lost, while deer shed their massive antlers and re-grow them from a few remaining cells each year. How do these animals regenerate entire body parts and why is it not possible for all animals to do the same?