Secrets of Sahara caught on camera

The BBC series Africa has been exploring Africa's Sahara desert, bringing viewers the variety of life that exists in such inhospitable areas.

In the fifth episode, sand dunes were revealed to give off a "singing" sound. The desert can have thousand-mile sandstorms and no rain for 50 years.

One of the more curious creatures eking out a living in the Sahara is the naked mole rat which David Attenborough called "a sabre-toothed sausage". Its life underground enables it to avoid the intense heat of that part of the world and the programme has caught it using filming tunnels.

By contrast, the silver ant takes on the midday sun, and is the only animal that does so thanks to its "spacesuit".

Then there are the small barn swallows that find their way over thousands of miles of sand to find an oasis.

In the instalment, called Eye To Eye, members of the crew use an 18-month timelapse shoot to show for the first time how the Saharan sands ebb and flow, while others brave the heat to film the speedy silver ant.

The series is being shown on Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC1.