[Paul Rudd] Planet Earth is so spectacular,
it's easy to miss the smaller things in life.
But take a closer look...
and there's a whole undiscovered world.
A world where tiny heroes...
and little monsters...
need incredible superpowers...
to help them triumph against giant odds.
It's not easy being small...
living in a land of giants.
Constantly downtrodden.
[sniffing]
Occasionally worse.
But there are places beyond the reach of large animals.
Places where being tiny gives you the edge.
Baking hot...
bone-dry...
battered by wind.
These dunes are so hostile...
only those smart enough...
and small enough...
have any hope of survival.
[sand blowing in wind]
This is some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet.
The dunes of the Namib Desert are the largest and oldest on earth,
and still shifting in the wind.
In just six months, the whole landscape changes.
But somehow...
tiny animals must find their way in this vast sea of sand.
The Namaqua chameleon.
About the size of your hand.
He doesn't seem quite so well adapted to life in the dunes
as other little creatures here.
[whip cracks]
A shovel-snouted lizard...
only a quarter the size,
can race across three meters of hot sand in a single second.
The chameleon?
Not so much.
His feet are designed to grasp branches.
Not sand.
But this unlikely nomad wanders the dunes on an important mission.
To find a mate...
somewhere out there.
Traveling over sand is a lot easier by air.
[birds whooping]
Sandgrouse are well suited to a life in the dunes.
[wind blows]
But there's nothing to drink here.
So every day, these little birds embark on an epic journey to find water.
[whooping continues]
Eighty kilometers away...
they arrive in a different world.
[coos]
One of large, hungry predators.
[cooing continues]
Like all the grouse that flock here...
this male must drink.
And so he waits.
Just enough time for a quick sip.
[sandgrouse whooping]
The male returns to his lifelong partner, nesting in rocks between the dunes.
This devoted pair take turns brooding the eggs,
so the other can head off to drink.
But life is about to get even more complicated.
Their eggs are due to hatch.
And the newborn chicks will need water, or they will perish in the sun.
By midday, keeping cool becomes a matter of life and death.
This time, the chameleon is better equipped to cope...
turning his skin white to reflect the sun's rays.
But the shovel-snouted lizard, as ever, is one step ahead...
with his cool moves.
The sand's surface can reach a scorching 70 degrees Celsius.
But one centimeter above, it's ten degrees cooler.
So by raising his big feet, he can quickly lose heat.
When it gets too hot...
that shovel snout is a lifesaver.
Just 20 centimeters below, it's a comfortable 30 degrees.
This pompilid wasp is unfazed by the heat.
And with sensitive antenna, she can detect creatures hiding in the sand.
No longer than a paper clip,
she will move over two buckets of sand to unearth her victim.
A golden wheel spider.
The wasp's sting will paralyze.
The spider's bite is lethal.
When these desert gladiators clash, the spider rarely comes out on top.
But it does have...
an amazing exit strategy.
Out of the wasp's range of vision.
And out of danger.
Almost.
Midafternoon...
the dunes are deserted.
Air temperature peaks at 50 degrees Celsius.
The heat only begins to ease towards evening.
Enough for a troop of young baboons to venture onto the fringes of the dunes.
[screeching]
Playful and curious...
[screeching continues]
...but not welcome visitors.
Desert rain frogs are nocturnal.
[screams]
-Wake them at your peril. -[screaming continues]
Only the size of a golf ball...
but full of attitude.
[baboons screech]
There's still a little time to snooze
before the creatures of the day make way for the night shift.
As darkness falls...
so does the temperature.
The desert becomes busier.
-And noisier. -[chirping]
[chirping continues]
A lullaby for the weary.
A wake-up call for nocturnal beasts.
And a dinner bell for hunters.
Barn owls comb the dunes, listening for small prey.
But a more insidious predator...
prowls below.
Swimming...
beneath the sand.
The shark of the desert.
[sniffing]
The Namib golden mole.
Totally blind and smaller than an egg.
His oversized skull acts as a satellite dish,
picking up the pitter-patter of termites.
They provide all his water and food...
as long as he catches about 60 a night.
Many other night stalkers join the feeding frenzy.
The sleepy frog transforms into a termite terminator.
But termites bite back.
And that huge head makes it hard to brush them off.
[biting]
The sand is the mole's only escape from biting termites...
and other unseen dangers.
Early morning.
The chameleon is famished and freezing.
To warm up, he darkens the side of his body facing the sun.
So by the time beetles emerge...
the chameleon is ready.
A rookie error.
This species of beetle tastes so disgusting,
no chameleon makes the same mistake twice.
A darkling beetle has an incredible journey ahead of him.
350 meters of sand is no easy climb for a dune bug the size of a bottle cap.
But well worth the effort.
On a few special mornings, the dunes are blanketed in fog.
Just what this little beetle has been waiting for.
Dimpled ridges on his back cause the mist to condense there...
and channel it towards his mouth.
He conjures water from thin air.
[wind blows]
They can drink almost half their weight in water.
Beetles coming down the hill...
are a lot juicer than those going up.
The chameleon may not be as well suited to life here as some.
But if you can't beat them...
eat them.
The sandgrouse chicks are hatching.
[chirps]
Even in the low morning sun, they need their mother's shade.
Soon it'll be so hot, they'll die without water.
Dad is their one hope.
He's found a new water hole with fewer big predators.
But for such a small bird...
even negotiating gentle giants is tricky.
[sandgrouse whooping]
Carrying water back to his chicks will be even harder.
A goshawk...
here to prey on the thirsty.
[sandgrouse whooping]
To save his chicks, the father risks his own life.
With special absorbent feathers on his belly,
a male sandgrouse can soak up enough water to fill a shot glass.
Ready to carry it back to his chicks.
A two-hour flight home, heavily laden.
Just in time.
The chicks take their first sip of water from dad's feathers.
He'll have to risk the same journey every day for two months,
until his chicks can fly.
The chameleon's mission has led him to a Nara bush.
A good place to find shade.
And with luck...
a female.
Could this be his moment?
To show her feelings, she changes color...
and dances.
[hissing]
[hissing continues]
It appears he's not quite what she had in mind.
But mates are very hard to find out here.
Perhaps he'll have to do.
[chirps]
She doesn't hang around.
Soon she'll be laying eggs.
Leaving the male fulfilled...
but totally exhausted.
Fifty-five million years of evolution
has produced the most incredible desert adaptations.
With resilience and ingenuity...
tiny animals triumph in Namibia's desolate dunes.
After months buried in the sand, a baby smaller than a golf tee.
The chameleon's legacy continues.
So many challenges ahead.
Best to take one slow step at a time.