Since the emergence of life on our planet more than 3 billion years ago, it has faced a series of devastating catastrophes. Yet somehow, a few special species managed to make it through. How? Professor Richard Fortey travels across the globe to investigate the survivors of history's three biggest mass extinctions: the end of the Ice Age, when many megafauna were wiped out; the KT boundary, when a meteor hit Earth and killed the dinosaurs; and the Great Dying, a series of cataclysmic events which saw 90% of species perish 250 million years ago. From microscopic life forms to the last giant mammals from the Age of Ice, Richard finds out what it takes to become a long term survivor. AS SEEN ON SBS.