Wild South America

From the hard struggle for existence on the icy peaks of the Andes to the sheer abundance of life in the Amazon Basin, "Lost Worlds" explores how and why such an odd collection of wildlife have come to live on the same continent.

The Amazon basin is vast. From its mouth pours a fifth of all the river water on Earth and 1000 miles upstream the river is still seven miles wide. This is the story of how wildlife has adapted to this watery world.

With armor plated armadillos, crab eating foxes, bush dogs, flocks of crested screamers and giant anteaters, the savannahs are home to some of the continent's most extraordinary sights and sounds.

The Andes' icy power dominates the lives of the hardy animals that dare to call it home, making living here one of nature's greatest challenges. From tropical cloud forests to high desert salt lakes to the massive Patagonian Ice Sheet, the Andes Mountains host an incredible variety of different and fascinating life stories.

Amazonia is the world's largest area of tropical rainforest, and here the tree canopy has fabulously bright birds and more monkey species than any other jungle: marmosets, tamarins, howlers, capuchins, sakis, uakaris, spider and owl monkeys. But it's not only full of variety and color, it's a dangerous place too.

We follow the cold, rich waters of the continent, from their genesis in the stormy southern oceans via the mighty Humboldt Current all the way to the Equator.