| [00:00.430] | No matter how remote the Hawaiian islands are,or how hostile, |
| [00:04.290] | there is one creature that has reached almost all of them |
| [00:07.320] | The mourning gecko |
| [00:08.600] | It is the ultimate castaway, |
| [00:10.510] | the marathon winner on the long journey from New Guinea |
| [00:13.800] | Incredibly, |
| [00:14.800] | the female mourning gecko has done away with the need for a mate |
| [00:18.470] | Instead, she simply produces eggs that need no fertilisation |
| [00:22.460] | So one single female washed up on an island could start a whole population |
| [00:27.700] | Along with this extraordinary ability |
| [00:30.070] | these thick-skinned and salt-resistant geckos |
| [00:32.580] | could also survive long sea passages on rafts |
| [00:36.680] | and even the force of cyclones |
| [00:39.560] | But there is more to the gecko's story than this |
| [00:42.980] | Less than 2,000 years ago, |
| [00:44.940] | something happened that was to revolutionise the spread of plantsand animals |
| [00:51.420] | Taking to their sailing boats once more, |
| [00:53.950] | descendants of the Lapita left the central Pacific |
| [00:57.580] | and set off again in search of new lands into the great unknown |
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