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Animal life in the desert

 Collection
Identifier: Film Collection no. 49

Scope and Contents

Charles M. Bogert, curator of herpetology at the AMNH, conducts a survey of American desert creatures for this broadcast. Hosted by Robert Northshield, the program highlights the struggle for survival by desert animals and current scientific research into mechanisms of heat regulation in reptiles. These cold-blooded animals are shown to adapt to environments with wide temperature fluctuations. Bogert covers the eyes of a snake and observes how the snake's heat sensors enables it to strike a moving hot air balloon. This laboratory demonstration, performed live in the studio, supports the theory that tiny pits in the skulls of certain reptile species function as detectors of heat-receptors, enabling the poor-visioned snake to strike accurately at warmblooded targets. Film clips from Walt Disney's The Living Desert are shown in this broadcast to illustrate how desert rats, reptiles, and other small animals survive in the American desert.

Dates

  • 1953

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Extent

1 Film Reel (30 minutes) : sound, black and white ; 16 mm.

1 Videocassette (U-Matic (30 minutes)) : sound, black and white ; 3/4 in.

Other Finding Aids

Finding aid: script.

General

3/4 in., U-Matic, viewing copy

General

Original format: 16mm kinescope.

General

Originally aired Nov. 22, 1953 as part of the CBS/AMNH Adventure television series.

General

http://libcat1.amnh.org/record=b1138286

General

Robert Northshield, host; Mel Ferber, director; Perry Wolff, producer; Shelby Gordon, writer; Leon Rice, editorial supervisor; Jac Venza production design; Bernard Birnbaum, supervisor of film.

Title
Animal life in the desert, 1953
Author
Iris Lee
Date
2018
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Museum Archives at the Gottesman Research Library Repository

Contact:
American Museum of Natural History
200 Central Park West
New York NY 10024 USA
(212) 769-5420