Freshwater giant of the Amazon. The most creepy and dangerous inhabitants of the Amazon Animals in the Amazon jungle
The Amazon River, with a length of 6,762 kilometers, is the longest, widest and fastest river in the world, and although Colombia owns only a hundred kilometers of it, it has a significant influence on the natural and climatic parameters of this region. This river is home to about three thousand species of fish, among them such unusual and amazing ones as arapaima - the largest freshwater fish, the mythical pink dolphin, predatory piranha, the fanged payara eating it, the electric eel, the stingray, the pacu - a fish of the piranha order with “human” teeth, the catfish, and finally, the small but insidious candiru fish.
The Orinoco River, originating in Venezuela on the border with Brazil, flows only along a section of Colombia's eastern border, but such large Colombian rivers as the Meta, Casanare, Vichada, Guaviare, Inirida, Guania, Vaupes, Apaporis and Caqueta are its tributaries. The Casiquiare River, which begins as a branch of the Orinoco, flows into the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon, thus forming a natural channel between the Orinoco and the Amazon. For this reason, some species of fish can migrate throughout the water space of both rivers.
Among the fish that live in the basins of both rivers, the most predatory and well-known are piranhas, payars, electric eels and stingrays.
Piranha is called the scourge of Orinoquia and the Amazon. And if all the inhabitants of the selva are afraid of it, then payara, a large predatory fish, living in some rivers of the Orinoco River basin.
Payara or Sabertooth Tetra is a species of relatively little-known fish.
It can reach a length of 117 cm and weigh 17.8 kg. Ichthyophage, eats many piranhas.
The most notable features of the payara are the two pairs of fangs that are found in its lower jaw. A couple of them are visible, but the second is in the jaw when folded and is invisible in photographs. Larger specimens have fangs that reach 10–15 centimeters (4–6 inches), earning the fish the nickname “vampire fish.”
Payaira eats almost any fish that smaller in size, including piranhas and their own kind.
Piranhas- small, on average up to 30 cm in length, fish inhabiting the rivers of South America. Young piranhas are silver-blue in color, with dark speckles, but with age they darken and acquire a black mourning color. Despite their small stature, piranhas are one of the most voracious fish. The razor-sharp teeth of a piranha, when it closes its jaws, adjoin each other like a folded lock of fingers. It can easily bite a stick or finger with its teeth.
Shepherds driving herds across rivers where piranhas live have to give up one of the animals. And while the predators are dealing with the prey, away from this place the entire herd is safely transported to the other side. Wild animals turned out to be no less smart than people. In order to drink water or cross a river where piranhas are found, they begin to attract the attention of predators with the noise or splashing of water. And when a flock of piranhas rush towards the noise, the animals move along the shore to a safe place, where they quickly drink or cross the river.
The quarrelsome nature of piranhas makes them often quarrel and attack each other.
Piranhas attack everything Living being that were within their reach: large fish, domestic and wild animals in the river, humans. The alligator is trying to get out of their way.
Piranhas react to the smell of blood. As soon as a wounded animal enters the water where piranhas live, the fish, excited by the smell of blood, attack the victim. It only takes piranhas three minutes to leave the naked skeleton of a tapir. Moreover, if the animal does not smell of blood, the piranha will not be interested in it. Therefore, they can be considered orderlies who exterminate sick and wounded animals. Piranhas also feed on carrion, cleaning the river bottom. There are about 400 species of piranha in the Amazon. Among them there are also peaceful vegetarians, and not all predators are so aggressive. Oddly enough, piranhas - caring parents and drive everyone away from their home.
Paku- this time the fish is more amazing than scary. Although it still evokes a kind of mystical horror. And this fish is amazing in that it has teeth that are, to be sure, “human.”
When such a fish was caught recently in the Chelyabinsk region (someone must have played with an exotic animal and released it into a Russian reservoir), the entire Runet started talking about the mutant fish. Although it was just the Amazonian Pacu fish, which is caught in Colombia on an almost industrial scale and supplied to large cities - Bogota, Medellin, etc. Its meat is very tasty.
This fish is a herbivore, although it is very similar to a piranha. The black pacu is the largest fish of the piranha family. Maximum dimensions- 70 cm. The body of fish of this family is high, laterally compressed.
Aravana- a predatory, rather large fish - one of the most ancient fish on earth. It lives in the northern part of South America and the Amazon basin, preferring dead branches of rivers with stagnant water. These fish often live in large schools and devour any aquatic life. On average, its length is 90-120 cm. Despite the fact that Aravans look majestic and even a little aggressive, they are actually very timid. They feed on insects and their larvae, fish that are smaller than them and can eat their own fry. Aravans mature at the age of 4-6 years. Males are brighter and slimmer than females. In addition, they have an elongated anal fin and a more powerful lower jaw with a noticeably protruding edge.
Aravana spawns seasonally, in batches. Marriage ceremonies take place near the bottom. During the dance, the male knocks out “giant” eggs from the female’s abdomen (its diameter reaches 16 millimeters), fertilizes it and takes it into his mouth for subsequent incubation. The seven-centimeter-long juvenile emerges from pharyngeal confinement into the wild after 50-60 days, retaining a pendulous yolk sac for the first ten days. However, this does not prevent them from hunting other people’s juveniles and insects.
Aravans are excellent jumpers. They are able to jump out of the water up to 2 meters.
Several legends are associated with this fish, one of which says that the meat of this fish should not be eaten by pregnant women, because it will bring misfortune to the unborn child. Otherwise, it is a commercial fish.
Another legend claims that keeping this fish in an aquarium will bring good luck in business and prosperity. For this reason, it has become fashionable to keep these giants in aquariums. The arawana was first brought to Russia only in 1979 in single copies. Nowadays it can be found quite often among aquarists who have large aquariums.
Graceful arawans have several types of colors - silver and black arowans are found in the Amazon basin. Blacks live in the Rio Negro River basin, which is a tributary of the Amazon. Asian and African Aravans have very beautiful colors.
Arapaima(Piraruku) is the largest freshwater fish on our planet and lives mainly in the waters of South America (Amazon, Orinoco). Sometimes, some specimens exceed 3 meters in length. Upon reaching 1.5 meters in size, arapaimas develop a very bright, interesting color. The front half of the body is yellow-green, and the back half is bright beet red.
By the breeding season, usually in April or May, the arapaima moves to shallow places with clean water and sandy bottom. In such places, with the help of fins, the arapaima digs a nest with a diameter of about 50 cm and a depth of about 15 cm. There are cases when the arapaima uses the same nest for several years. Like most large fish, arapaima grows very quickly.
What is very interesting is that it is a lungfish that can breathe atmospheric air, similar to labyrinth fish.
The fish is rare, listed in the International Red Book.
Amazon river dolphin, buto or inia, is the largest species of river dolphin; adults can reach 2.5 in length and weigh more than 200 kg. Dolphins are born with dark color, but they lighten with age and therefore are often called pink. By their nature, ini are playful and curious, they lend themselves well to taming, but they are difficult to train and they are quite aggressive, so these dolphins are usually not kept in aquariums. Interestingly, inias disperse the piranhas that infest these waters, so swimmers feel safe in such company, and fishermen follow them to find schools of fish.
Amazonian manatee— in total, scientists distinguish three types of manatees: Amazonian, American and African. All of them are members of the genus Sirenia.
It is believed that the first person to call manatees sirens was Christopher Columbus. “I observed three sea maidens,” he wrote quite seriously in the ship’s log, “but they were not as beautiful as they are painted.” Columbus had no doubt that the creatures he encountered in the waters of the Caribbean Sea were sea maidens, or, in other words, sirens. The great navigator actually saw manatees.
It is difficult to imagine how one could mistake these heavy, wrinkled, and even bristly muzzles of bluish-gray shades for beauties, but the myth that appeared about three thousand years ago has happily survived to this day. The legend is so ingrained in literature and sea stories that the genus of manatees and their relatives, dugongs, was named Sirenia by biologists. 
In the evolutionary series, mammals manatees (sirens) are placed between cetaceans and pinnipeds. A long time ago, the ancestors of manatees lived on land, grazed on the banks of reservoirs, where there was a lot of lush grass, and often found themselves in the water in search of food, and then moved there altogether. Manatees have retained some characteristics of land animals.
They have lungs and limbs transformed into flippers. However, on land these seven hundred kilogram giants are completely helpless. They cannot move even by crawling, as seals or sea otters do. On the other hand, manatees, unlike whales, are able to get out of the shallows into the open sea.
They breathe infrequently. They come to the surface for a new breath of air no more often than after 10-15 minutes, and even less often during sleep.
The female manatee gives birth to her cubs in the water. The male does not abandon the female after the birth of the cub. Manatees are very caring parents. The mother feeds the only cub with milk and allows it to ride on itself when it gets tired.
Lomantines are curious, trusting and not aggressive, although in case of danger they are able to stand up for themselves. They are strict vegetarians and eat huge amounts of algae in shallow waters. One animal eats at least 40-50 kilograms of algae per day. The gluttony of manatees makes them useful to humans.
Many river beds, canals and irrigation systems are heavily overgrown with algae, which leads to failures in the operation of irrigation systems and water pipelines of hydroelectric power plants. Manatees came to help in eliminating this problem, and with pleasure and great appetite they perform their duties. A grazing manatee uses its flippers like a man uses his hands. Perhaps this is precisely why the myth of the sea maidens arose...
Electric eel- the most dangerous fish among all electric fish. In terms of the number of human casualties, it is even ahead of the legendary piranha. This eel (by the way, it has nothing to do with ordinary eels) is capable of emitting a powerful electrical charge. If you take a young eel in your hands, you feel a slight tingling sensation, and this, given the fact that the babies are only a few days old and are only 2-3 cm in size. It is easy to imagine what sensations you will get if you touch a two-meter eel. A person in such close contact receives a shock of 600 V and can die from it. The electric eel sends powerful force waves up to 150 times a day. But the strangest thing is that, despite such weapons, the eel feeds mainly on small fish.
To kill a fish, the electric eel only needs to shudder and release a current. The victim dies instantly. The eel grabs it from the bottom, always from the head, and then, sinking to the bottom, digests the prey for several minutes.
Electric eels live in the rivers of South America, in large quantities found in the waters of the Amazon. In those places where the eel lives, there is often a great lack of oxygen. Therefore, the electric eel has developed a behavioral feature. Eels stay under water for about 2 hours, and then swim to the surface and breathe there for 10 minutes, whereas ordinary fish only need to surface for a few seconds.
Electric eels - large fish, similar to huge thick worms: an adult can reach a length of up to 3 meters and weigh up to 40 kilograms. The body is elongated, slightly flattened laterally. The skin is bare and not covered with scales. The fins are very developed, with their help the electric eel is able to easily move in all directions. Adult electric eels are brown in color, with the undersides of the head and throat being bright orange. The coloring of young individuals is paler.
The most interesting thing about the structure of electric eels is its electrical organs, which occupy more than 2/3 of the body length. The positive pole of this “battery” lies in the front of the eel’s body, and the negative pole lies in the back. The highest discharge voltage, according to observations in aquariums, can reach 650 V, but usually it is less, and in fish one meter long it does not exceed 350 V. This power is enough to light 5 light bulbs. The main electrical organs are used by the eel to protect itself from enemies and to paralyze prey. There is another additional electrical organ, but the field produced by it plays the role of a locator: with the help of interference arising within this field, the eel receives information about obstacles on the way or the approach of potential prey. The frequency of these location discharges is very small and practically imperceptible to humans.
The discharge itself, which is produced by electric eels, is not fatal to humans, but it is still very dangerous. If you get an electric shock while underwater, you can easily lose consciousness.
The electric eel is aggressive. Can attack without warning, even if there is no threat to him. If something living comes within the range of its force field, the eel will not hide or swim away. It is better for the person himself to swim to the side if an electric eel appears on the way. You should not swim to this fish at a distance of less than 3 meters; this is precisely the main radius of action of the meter-long eel’s field.
Stingray- another dangerous fish of the Amazon.
The sandbank, where the bottom is clearly visible, seems safe. But under a thin layer of sand rests a flat river stingray, Araya, painted to match the color of the bottom, as the Brazilians call it. An alarmed stingray beats its tail, in the middle of which two jagged poisonous stilettos stick out. Poison flows down a groove into the spikes from a special gland, so the wound inflicted by the stingray is very painful. Having been hit by stilettos, a person jumps out of the water, spurred on by unbearable pain, like a fiery whip. And he immediately falls on the sand, bleeding and losing consciousness. Wounds from poisoned stingray stilettos are said to be mostly fatal.
The Amazon Indians use the large and strong spine of the stingray as an arrowhead. River stingrays, unlike their closest relatives, sea stingrays, are typical freshwater animals inhabiting the rivers of the Amazon basin. Apart from the Amazon, they are not found in any other rivers, but only in the seas. Amazon stingrays belong to the class cartilaginous fish, to the order Stingrays, to the family of river stingrays.
Kandiru, or carnero - tiny, worm-like. Its length is 7-15 centimeters, and its thickness is only a few millimeters (in addition to that, it is also half transparent). In the blink of an eye, the candiru climbs into the natural openings on the body of a bathing person and bites into their walls from the inside. Pull her out without surgical intervention impossible.
The author of the book “In the Amazon Jungle,” Elgot Landge, who lived twelve adventurous months in the Amazon forest, says that forest dwellers Because of fear of the candiru, it became a custom to bathe only in special baths. They build a boardwalk low above the water. A window is cut in the middle - through it the bather scoops up water with a nut shell and, after carefully examining it, pours it on himself.
Tropical fish - the common Vandellia or Candiru (Latin Vandellia cirrhosa), (English Candiru) lives in the Amazon basin and terrifies the local population. This is a small catfish, although some species reach 15 cm.
Aspred catfish live only in the Amazon, preferring brackish water near the mouth. Externally, the catfish resembles a tadpole - a wide head without gill covers, a wide and flat chest and a long thin body. Aspredo are very caring parents - after fertilization, the female literally rubs the eggs into her belly. The eggs adhere to the spongy skin, and then grow into it and feed, connecting with the mother’s blood vessels. Having hatched, the fry leave the mother's belly.
American scalefish(from the order of bipulmonates) - another one interesting fish Amazon basin. It lives in small swampy and drying up reservoirs of the Amazon basin and belongs to the order of the horn-toothed family of the Lepidoptera family. Lungfish are a very ancient species of fish. The first lungfish appeared about 380 million years ago and are considered the most ancient fish on the planet. For a long time, such fish were known only from fossilized remains found by archaeologists. Only in 1835 was it discovered that the Protoptera fish, which lives in African waters, is a lungfish.
In fact, six species of this group of fish have survived to this day, and the American lakefish (from the order Dipulmonata) is one of them. 
Modern lungfishes are fish that live in fresh water. The main feature of which is that in addition to gills, like all ordinary fish, they also have real lungs (a modified swim bladder), with the help of which they can successfully breathe atmospheric air. This is where their name comes from.
The American lepidosiren or lepidosiren is the only representative of lungfish that lives in South America. The length of its body reaches 1.2 m. Lepidosirens usually live in temporary reservoirs, which are filled with water only during periods of heavy rains and floods.
River in South America. Formed by the confluence of the Marañon and Ucayali rivers. The length from the source of the Marañon River is 6992.06 km, from the source of the Apachet River - about 7000 km, from the source of Ucayali over 7000 km. The Amazon, with its longest source, claims, together with the Nile, to be the longest watercourse in the world, and is also the world's largest river in terms of basin area and full flow.
Length - 6,992 km
Basin area - 7,180,000 km²
Flows - Madeira, Marañon, Ucayali, Rio Negro, Xingu, Jurua, Solimões, Putumayo, Napo, Trombetas
Estuary - Atlantic Ocean
The Amazon River basin covers more than 7 million square kilometers and extends in the north from the headwaters of the Orinoco and Guyana to the edge of Mato Grosso in the south. This unique world called "Amazonia". There is an exceptionally diverse flora and fauna here. This habitat home to many amazing aquarium fish, and for the lives of many of them it is not so important big rivers There are so many small bodies of water - oxbow lakes, ponds and streams located in this amazing region.
According to various expert estimates, there are from 2,500 to 4,000 species of fish in the Amazon River basin. These waters can rightly be called the kingdom of catfish; according to the most conservative estimates, more than 1,500 species live there - from 3-centimeter crumbs, see the website aquariumax.ru, to multi-meter giants.
The Amazon is a real Mecca for aquarists. The vast territory of the region, the diversity of hydrochemical water parameters, stable heat led to an amazing diversity of flora and fauna.
Amazon wildlife
The Amazon is home to a huge number of fish and other river inhabitants. Particularly dangerous include the bull shark, which weighs more than 300 kilograms and reaches three meters in length, as well as piranhas. These toothy fish can gnaw off an entire horse just a few seconds before the skeleton.
But they are not the ones who rule the Amazon, because the caimans pose a danger to all living things. This is a special type of alligator.
Among the friendly inhabitants of the dangerous stormy river are dolphins and beautiful ornamental fish (guppies, angelfish, swordtails), of which there are countless numbers - more than 2,500 thousand! One of the last lungfishes on the planet, protoptera, found their refuge in the waters of the Amazon.
Here you can also see the rarest arowana. This is a meter-long fish that can jump high above the water and swallow huge beetles in flight.
There are many species of fish similar to our catfish in the Amazon.
These are piraiba, cashara, jau, pirarara.
Like all catfish, they are caught on bottom gear, using various baits or live baits for bait.
Looking like a cross between a catfish and a perch, the red-tailed pirarara with a yellow stripe along its belly reaches fifty kilograms in weight.
Zhau, very similar to our catfish, is also found weighing a hundredweight.
Piraiba, which resembles a sturgeon in outline and characteristic dorsal fin, grows up to one and a half hundred kilograms.
Dorado
A special fish for the spinning angler in the Amazon is the dorado.
Shiny with yellow scales, like a strange living gold bar, this powerful predator is a worthy reward for the fisherman.
The habits of the dorado are similar to our asp. A predator breaks into the flock peaceful fish and commits robbery.
The “cauldron” formed on the surface of the water serves as a target for throwing the spoon.
As a rule, the bite of a huge, powerful fish follows almost immediately. But the result depends on the strength of the tackle.
Very often, a thick fishing line or braid cannot withstand the pressure, and the dorado remains in its native element.
The fish, which grows up to a meter in length, is a worthy rival to any spinning angler.
Paco
Often the fisherman's prey will be a paco - a fish similar in appearance to the famous piranha, but distinguished by its teeth.
Paco's teeth are unusually similar to human teeth.
A row of wide and tightly fitted one to the other - a complete resemblance to a human jaw.
Paco grows larger than the piranha and also reaches a meter.
Dangerous fish living in the Amazon
Piranha
This voracious and bloodthirsty fish belongs to the cyprinid species of the pyrinid fish family. The size of a piranha rarely exceeds 30 cm. However, these small fish can sometimes be more dangerous than a huge caiman or a giant anaconda.
Electric eel
However, not only the sharp spines of a stingray and the teeth of a piranha lie in wait for a fisherman or traveler in the waters of the Amazon. The electric eel has a very unusual method of defense and attack. The eel’s body contains a special “battery” organ capable of generating electricity. In the back of the eel's body there is a negative part of the charge, and in the front there is a positive one. This fish also has another weak electrical organ; it sends weak discharges that help the fish navigate and identify prey or danger. Then he uses a powerful discharge to silence the victim or scare away the enemy. If an eel is 1 meter long, the electrical discharge it produces can be around 650 volts.
stingray
The danger of this fish lies in its tail equipped with a poisonous spine. This fish can often lie on the bottom under a thin layer of sand, waiting for prey. If it is disturbed by a person or a large animal, then the fish hits its tail armed with a poisonous spike and the poison from it penetrates into the wound, causing severe suffering to the victim.
Vampire fish
This fish belongs to the mackerel fish family and lives in the rivers of the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Considered due to its impressive sharp teeth, reaching a length of 15 cm, dangerous predator, capable of causing serious injury to humans or animals.
The Amazon rainforest has long been renowned for its dangerous places, where a huge number of strange and amazing creatures, meeting with whom does not bode well. However, the threat lurks not only in the forest. The waters of the Amazon River are no less scary. Just look at the monsters that live there - you'll think a million times before going there!
Black caiman
You could say this is an alligator on steroids, their muscles are much larger, and they can grow up to six meters in length. These are undoubtedly the apex predators of the Amazon River, the local kings who indiscriminately eat anyone who gets in their way.
Anaconda
One more giant monster The Amazon is the well-known anaconda, the largest snake in the world. The weight of a female anaconda can reach 250 kilograms, and this is with a 9-meter length and a diameter of 30 centimeters. These predators prefer shallow waters, so most often they can be found not in the river itself, but in its branches.
Arapaima
The huge predator arapaima is equipped with armored scales, so it fearlessly swims among piranhas, feeding on fish and birds. These creepy fish are almost three meters long and weigh 90 kilograms. The ferocity of these creatures can be judged by their teeth, which are even on the tongue!
Brazilian otter
Brazilian otters grow up to 2 meters in length and feed mainly on fish and crabs. However, the fact that they always hunt in large groups allows them to successfully obtain more serious prey: there have been cases when these harmless-looking creatures killed and ate adult anacondas and even caimans. It’s not for nothing that they were nicknamed “river wolves.”
Common vandellia or candiru
Bull sharks
Most often, bull sharks live in salty ocean waters, but they feel just as great in fresh water bodies. There were cases when these bloodthirsty predators swam so far along the Amazon that they reached the city (), located almost 4 thousand kilometers from the sea. Considering that sharp teeth and powerful jaws provide these 3-meter creatures with a bite force of 589 kilograms, you definitely wouldn’t want to meet them, but they are not averse to feasting on humans!
Electric eels
We would not advise you to approach them under any circumstances: two-meter creatures are capable of generating electrical discharges with a power of up to 600 volts. And this is 5 times the current power in an American outlet and is enough to easily knock down a horse. Repeated blows from these creatures can lead to cardiac or respiratory failure, causing people to lose consciousness and simply drown in the water.
Common piranhas
It’s hard to even imagine more terrible and ferocious creatures; this is the real quintessence of the horror of the Amazon River. We all know that the sharp teeth of these fish have more than once inspired Hollywood directors to create creepy films. However, in fairness, it is worth noting that piranhas are primarily scavengers. But, unfortunately, this does not mean that they do not attack healthy creatures. Their incredibly sharp teeth, located on the upper and lower jaws, meet very tightly, making them an ideal weapon for tearing flesh.
Mackerel hydrolic
These meter-long underwater inhabitants are also called vampire fish. On the lower jaw they have two sharp fangs that can grow up to 15 centimeters. They use these devices to literally impale the victim on them after they rush at it. The fangs of these fish are so large that nature had to take care of the safety of the hydrolics themselves. To prevent them from piercing themselves, they have special holes in their upper jaw.
Brown pacu
Fish with human teeth, the brown pacu, is a larger relative of the piranha. True, unlike the latter, these freshwater animals prefer fruits and nuts, although in general they are considered omnivores. The problem is that the "stupid" pacu are unable to distinguish nuts that fall from trees from male genitalia, which has left some male swimmers without testicles.
The Amazon River can be called one of the wonders of the planet. In terms of fame, it rivals the Nile and Ganges. Unique ecosystem of the longest water artery on earth attracts lovers tropical flora and fauna. The plants and animals of the Amazon are striking in their diversity of species. Here you can meet unique and very dangerous living creatures.
Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the largest lowland on our planet. It covers an area of more than six million square kilometers. Almost the entire area is covered with tropical rainforests (Amazon jungle). This tropical forest is the largest in the world. The center of the region is the Amazon itself - the most deep river on the ground. It's hard to imagine, but its tributaries collect water from nine countries: Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Bolivia, French Guyana and Suriname.
Flora and fauna of the Amazon
The region is incredibly important due to the fact that it is a unique ecosystem. Vegetable and animal world The Amazon is unique. It has so much variety. And many representatives of the local fauna and flora are endemic and are found only in this area.
It is worth noting that the Amazon has the greatest diversity of plants. Oddly enough, the region has been little studied to this day, and therefore many animals and plants of the Amazon are still unknown to science. Some researchers believe that the actual number of plant species in this region is three times greater than currently known. Science knows about only 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds, 125 species of mammals and countless invertebrates and insects. The river is home to more than two thousand fish and many reptiles.
Flora of the Amazon
Before 2011 wild forests The Amazons were ruthlessly deforested. And the reason for this was not only wood. People have adapted to clearing freed lands for agricultural activities. However, it is worth remembering that the river basin contains the most diverse vegetation on the entire planet. The Amazon forests play very important role on the globe. They are a huge source of oxygen. In addition, scaffolding maintains the required level groundwater, preventing the destruction of soil covers. More than 4,000 species of trees grow in the Amazon jungle - this is a quarter of all known species in the world.
The forests contain palm trees, myrtle, laurel, begonias, and mangroves. And fruits include pineapples, bananas, guavas, mangoes, oranges, and fig trees. The Amazon rainforest can be considered the world's genetic pool. Even in small areas the species diversity is amazing. For example, in ten square kilometers of forest you can find up to 1,500 varieties of flowers and 750 species of trees. With all this, as we mentioned earlier, not all tropical riches have been studied and described by scientists. One can only guess what other plants grow in the depths of the Amazon.
Valuable representatives of the plant world
Many representatives flora are of great value. For example, in the forests of the Amazon, giant nuts grow, or rather, bertholia nut trees. They are famous for their amazing taste. Each shell, weighing up to twenty kilograms, contains about twenty nuts. Such fruits can only be collected in completely calm weather, since nuts accidentally blown off by the wind can cause significant harm to the picker.
No less interesting is the one that produces a sweet drink reminiscent of milk. But cocoa is obtained from the fruits. The Amazon forests contain a huge number of trees that can take a long time to list. Among them, rubber. The latter is famous for its lightest wood. Indians float down the river on rafts made from such trees. Sometimes their size is so large that an entire village can fit on such a raft.
But of course, most of everything in the Amazon is palm trees. In total there are more than one hundred species. An interesting fact is that they are all very valuable to humans. They produce fiber, wood, nuts, juice and much more. And only the rattan palm is disliked by many, and the Indians generally call it “the devil’s rope.” The fact is that this plant is the most long tree on the ground. It looks more like a vine and sometimes reaches 300 meters in length. The thin trunk of the palm tree is studded with incredibly sharp thorns. The rattan palm creates impenetrable thickets, entwining the trunks and branches of nearby bushes and trees.
Victoria Region
The nature and animals of the Amazon are sometimes so amazing that they boggle the imagination. The most famous plant of these places can be considered a water lily with the beautiful name Victoria regia. This is a giant plant, the leaves of which reach several meters in diameter and can support up to 50 kilograms of weight.
The largest water lily in the world blooms from March to July. Its flowers exude the most delicate apricot aroma, each of them reaches forty centimeters in diameter. You can see this miracle of nature only at night, since the flower begins to bloom only in the evening. On the first day of flowering, the petals have white color, the next day it becomes light pink, and then even dark crimson and even purple.
Amazon wildlife
The Amazon rainforest is full of rare animals, some of which are on the verge of extinction: the baker, sloth, spider monkey, armadillo, freshwater dolphin, boa, crocodile. The fauna of the Amazon is so diverse that it is difficult to count all its representatives.
Near the river bank you can find a stunning creature that can weigh up to 200 kilograms. It usually moves along paths along the river, looking for algae, twigs, leaves and fruits for food.
Amazon animals such as capybaras (the largest rodents in the world) live near the ponds. Their weight reaches 50 kilograms. Externally, the animals resemble guinea pig. And along the banks of the river, the anaconda, which is rightly considered an incredibly dangerous creature, awaits its victims.
The most dangerous animals of the Amazon
Rainforests are not only incredible interesting places, but also unsafe. Not all of their inhabitants are distinguished by a meek disposition. The most dangerous animals of the Amazon terrify any person. This is not surprising, because meeting one of them can lead to the most dire consequences. It’s not for nothing that some jungle inhabitants have long become heroes of numerous horror films.
Dangerous animals of the Amazon are of impressive size and capable of causing harm not only to their fellow creatures, but also to humans. One of their list is the electric eel, which can grow up to three meters and weigh up to forty kilograms. The fish is capable of generating a discharge of up to 1300 volts. For adults, the electric shock is, of course, not fatal, but very unpleasant.
They live in the waters of the Amazon. Their length is two meters, and some individuals reach three meters. Weight itself big fish amounted to 200 kilograms. Arapaima are not believed to pose a threat to humans, but in 2009, several men were attacked and killed. Therefore, you should be wary of such inhabitants. Because they cannot be called harmless.
Still, it is worth remembering that the wild animals of the Amazon live in dangerous world, where every minute of their life is filled with the struggle for survival.
The Brazilian lives in the jungle wandering spider, which is also known as banana. It is believed to be incredibly poisonous. In addition, it is on the list of the largest spiders on the planet (13-15 centimeters). An interesting fact is that the insect does not always inject poison into its victim; this happens only in 30% of cases.
But the spotted poison dart frog is incredibly dangerous to humans. A cute little frog with colorful covers reaches no more than five centimeters. But at the same time, her skin contains so much poison that it can kill 10 people at once.
Five of the most dangerous creatures
The most dangerous animals in the Amazon are jaguars, caimans, anacondas, piranhas and mosquitoes. These representatives of the fauna are the threat of the jungle and pose a danger not only to people, but also to forest inhabitants.
Jaguars are largest representatives felines in the Western Hemisphere. Males weigh on average up to one hundred kilograms. The animals' diet includes up to 87 different creatures, from mice to deer. Of course, they attack people quite harshly. Basically, this situation can arise if the animal is forced to defend itself. But you should still understand that a wild predator is not a plush toy or a cute pussy.
They live in the waters of the Amazon. They grow up to five meters in length. At one time, their merciless extermination led to the fact that they were on the verge of extinction. But later the situation improved as a result of the adoption of strict laws. Caimans prefer to hunt at night, and attack from ambush. Animals feed mostly on fish (and even piranhas), as well as aquatic vertebrates. Larger specimens attack jaguars, anacondas, wild cattle and even humans.
Meeting an anaconda in the jungle is not the most pleasant event. Its weight reaches one hundred kilograms, and its body length can reach up to six meters. Anaconda is the longest snake in the world. Most she spends time in the water, but sometimes crawls onto land to bask in the sun rays. It feeds on reptiles and quadrupeds, attacking them on the shore.
The most famous inhabitants The Amazons are piranhas. They have incredibly sharp teeth and powerful jaws. Each fish reaches thirty centimeters and weighs about a kilogram. Piranhas are characterized by a gregarious lifestyle. Large groups they swim in search of food, devouring everything that comes in their way.
Mosquitoes pose an incredible danger to humans. They are the ones main threat Amazon forests. Feeding on blood, they spread incredibly dangerous diseases that kill livestock and people. Their bite can cause yellow fever, malaria, and filariasis. For this reason, it is mosquitoes that lead the list of the most dangerous inhabitants of the jungle.
Manatees
What else is interesting about the Amazon? The nature and wildlife of the jungle is certainly dangerous, but among its inhabitants there are very cute creatures. Such as the manatee. Unlike their counterparts, they have more modest sizes (2-3 meters) and weigh up to 500 kilograms; the animals live in the fresh waters of the Amazon.
They have virtually no subcutaneous fat, and therefore they can only live in a warm environment at a temperature of at least fifteen degrees. Manatees feed only on algae, eating up to 18 kilograms per day.
Pink dolphin
Another adorable river resident is the Baby dolphin, which is born bluish-gray but gradually turns a stunning shade of pink. Adults weigh up to 250 kilograms and grow up to two meters. Dolphins feed mainly on fish, sometimes eating piranhas.
Instead of an afterword
In ancient times, the Indians called the Amazon “Parana Tago”, which means “queen of rivers”. It’s hard to disagree with them, because this unique river with its stunningly diverse flora and fauna, in some ways dangerous and in others mysterious, is worthy of such a title.
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most interesting and at the same time unsafe places in the world, as it is inhabited by very dangerous creatures that can kill a person. So, here is a list of ten of the most unusual and amazing, but deadly animals that live in the basin of one of the longest rivers in the world - the Amazon.
The electric eel is a fish that lives in the fresh waters of the Amazon, near the muddy bottom. They can grow from 1 to 3 meters and weigh up to 40 kg. An electric eel is capable of generating voltages up to 1300 V with a current strength of up to 1 A. For a person, such an electric shock is not fatal, but very painful and can even cause a heart attack.
This rare view felines live in tropical forest, and are the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere (in the world, only lions and tigers are larger). Males (on average 90-95 kg, but there are individuals reaching 120 kg) are approximately 20% larger than females. The jaguar's diet consists of 87 different animals, from deer to mice. These predators attack people extremely rarely, mainly when they are forced to defend themselves.
A species of large crocodiles that grow up to 5 meters in length. At one time, these creatures were on the verge of extinction in the Amazon region, but strict laws against hunting have increased their numbers. Hunts at night, preferring to attack from ambush. The black caiman mainly feeds on fish (including piranhas), aquatic vertebrates, and larger individuals can attack livestock, jaguars, anacondas and humans.
The weight of an anaconda can reach approximately 100 kg and a length of 6 meters. It is one of the longest snakes in the world. Mainly leads an aquatic lifestyle, occasionally crawling ashore to bask in the sun, and sometimes crawling onto tree branches. It feeds on various quadrupeds and reptiles, lying in wait for them on the shore, and less often on fish. In nature, an adult anaconda has no enemies.
Piranhas
These fish are distinguished by sharp teeth and powerful jaws. They reach a length of up to 30 centimeters and a weight of up to 1 kg. They spend most of their time searching for prey, hunting in huge packs. They feed on everything that comes their way, primarily fish.
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