[00:01.400]North of the equator,
[00:02.620]two and a half thousand miles from the nearest landmass of North America,
[00:06.930]lies the most isolated chain of islands in the world - Hawaii
[00:12.520]The longest archipelago in the Pacific,
[00:15.210]Hawaii consists of over 100 ancient volcanic islands,
[00:19.150]stretching for 2,000 miles
[00:22.270]Yet it is so remote that less than 500 kinds of animal settled here in 30 million years
[00:29.920]But for those who did make it to this lush and fertile land,
[00:34.020]the world was their oyster
[00:36.370]Here, coconut palms have been replaced by giant tree ferns standing over seven metres tall
[00:42.280]From the 13 kinds of spider that made it here,
[00:45.150]over 100 new species evolved - like the happy-face spider
[00:49.150]From just one species of fruit fly came over 1,000 others
[00:53.560]And here, caterpillars were free to become carnivores