10 DEADLIEST River Monsters Of The Amazon!

hi it's Katrina from the biggest snakes on the planet two sharks that just might surprise you as you go for a swim here are ten of the deadliest river monsters of the Amazon number ten giant leech one look at the giant leech and you might think you're watching an episode of the x-files but no this creature is real and it lives in the Amazon the species was discovered in 2007 when one was removed from the nose of a young girl in Peru the attending doctor sent the specimen to a colleague at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City who was not able to figure out which family of leeches it belonged to it took two more years of field research to discover that it belonged to a larger family of leeches that liked to suck on the mucus membranes of mammals due to its large size and giant teeth it didn't take long for researchers to name it the chyron Abdellah Rex or tyrant leech king the leech only measures about three inches or 7 centimetres which may have you scratching your head about its fearsome name by leech standards the giant leech is quite large but it actually gets its name from the large teeth it uses to saw into the tissues of mammals orifices not just their eyes but other more delicate places but I can't really describe on YouTube the find was quite remarkable and changed what scientists knew about the leech family tree it also provided a link between current species and those that lived over 145 million years ago in the Late Jurassic period when the continents were still one connected landmass even though one look at the giant leech might make your skin crawl it may help in future medical treatments where the saliva of leeches proves beneficial so before you judge the giant leech for its looks remember that the discovery of the rare species could have health benefits despite its reputation and if you happen to think the discovery is pretty cool you can even find a festive ornament of the on Amazon number 9 green anaconda pound-for-pound the green anaconda is the largest snake in the world the anaconda isn't just a creature from the movies they live in rivers swamps and marshes of the tropical rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins even though they have a bad reputation for attacks on humans reports of them eating and killing scenes are extremely rare unless of course you are keeping one as a pet then it is at your own risk not that it's easy keeping them as pets females can reach around 15 feet in length and males about 10 feet National Geographic reports that green anacondas can even get up to 30 feet long and weigh up to 550 pounds with their massive size and strength they even have the ability to take down large prey such as Jaguars the thing that makes them so feared their ability to remain submerged underwater while still stalking their prey this is in part due to the placement of both their eyes and their nostrils on the tops of their heads they might be slow on land but they are very sleek in the water when they do go looking for their next meal the Anaconda type of constrictor uses its powerful teeth and jaws to clench onto its victim they then grab the prey and pull it underwater where the unfortunate victim growls the anacondas large infused ligaments on either side of their mandibles allows them to open their jaws wide enough to accommodate large things large critters such as teh pears and capybaras as well as deer turtles dogs and other aquatic reptiles are their usual choice for food it takes only six to seven months for baby anacondas to be born with most measuring from 2 to 3 feet and reaching the age of maturity at 3 to 4 years may be the reason they are so feared is their many appearances in South American myths where anacondas shown as shapeshifters or vicious human eaters whatever the case even though attacks on humans don't happen that often I wouldn't go swimming in the Amazon any time soon for more reasons than one number eight the payara just because the payara is small that doesn't mean it doesn't pack a big bite in fact the fish gets its nickname vampire fish from the dagger like fangs that protrude from their lower jaws bright silver in color the fish put those fangs to good use using them to impale their victims but their teeth are just the beginning known for their acrobatic jumps lightning-fast movements and brute strength these fearsome little fish can actually grow to over 40 pounds found in the Amazon basin mostly in Bolivia Brazil Ecuador and Peru the fish is even known to eat another well-known predator the piranha they love to hang out in clear fast-moving water and can often be spotted in churning rivers and at the bottoms of waterfalls though they're most known for those gruesome fangs they also have sharp spiky daggers throughout their mouths but those things that can measure from four to six inches are so dangerous that the fish has two small holes in their upper jaws where the teeth slide into when the fish closes its mouth just so it doesn't hurt itself luckily they tend to stick to other fish and will even chase off or fight other species in order to stake their claim to a particular hunting ground they don't seem to have any predators but because the species is so elusive there is still a lot of unanswered questions about this Bank tooth creature number 7 saw fish picture a shark with a long snout that has a flattened blade for its nose and studded teeth and you'll know exactly what a selfish looks like the largest of the shark like rays there are five species of sawfish with the large tooth sawfish even reaching some 25 feet in length some have been found that weighed between 1100 and 1300 pounds but it could be even more each species has a distinct saw with a different tooth arrangement and number of teeth but they are all equally sharp and pointy scientists use the number of teeth as one of the identifying features to tell the species apart similar to the bull shark the sawfish prefers brackish water near the mouths of rivers but move into freshwater where their young travel upriver sometimes they will get stuck in freshwater pools and lakes during floods and can live there for years making up around 1/4 of their total length the sawfish uses their weapon to hunt and defend themselves from predators they are very sensitive to electrical currents and can detect the tiniest muscle contraction given off by nearby prey which allows them to hunt in murky waters or at nighttime they use a sweeping motion to swing their snout known as a rostrum around like a club to stun nearby fish they've also been known to use their snout to pin down their prey before eating it a bottom dweller these rays live in shallow coastal waters but unfortunately there has been a steep decline over the past century sadly their most distinctive feature their large rostrum makes them vulnerable to becoming entangled in fishing nets now classified as either critically endangered or endangered all species of this magnificent yet fearsome looking sawfish are quickly becoming extinct number six the arapaima a sleek freshwater fish that is native to the Amazon River the arapaima is a broad shaped fish with a bony head and a dorsal fin that stretches along their back towards their tail one of the most fascinating things about it is that it can breathe air usually with a copper green head the arapaima is found in the rainforest rivers of the amazon basin and nearby lakes and swamps one of the world's largest freshwater fish these Giants can reach nine feet long and weigh up to 440 pounds they usually eat fish but they are also known to eat fruits seeds insects and even grab birds and mammals that they find near the surface of the water while hunting the arapaima uses a very specific feeding strategy in which they open their large mouths to creat a vacuum and pull in nearby prey using their tongues and sharp bony teeth they debilitate and shred their prey brushing them up against the teeth on the roof of their pallets able to live for up to 20 years the arapaima feed in low oxygen areas where gill breathing fish must slow down they also hunt using short bursts of speed to attack potential prey as they hit the surface of the water among the oldest freshwater fish in the world some have been known to reach up to ten feet in length ritually unchanged in the fossil record for 23 million years the arapaima is also known as the dinosaur fish weighing between 200 to 400 pounds the fish has to come up for air every 10 to 20 minutes originally one of the top predators in the river system they have armored scales that cannot be penetrated by piranhas T's another River monster they have to watch out for in remote parts of the Amazon however the arapaima remain abundant and have played an important role in indigenous life becoming a symbol of great pride to local villagers although they were not around during the time of dinosaurs they certainly look like a prehistoric beast and researchers often marvel at the massive majestic presence of these living fossils number five the PACU although the PACU is known as the vegetarian piranhas what's most scary about them is their teeth as you can see they don't have pointed fangs like the payara but their teeth look shockingly human with two sets of blunt molars that are used to crack nuts and grind up plants the PACU might give you more of a fright if it happens to bear its teeth rather than from its potential for attack having said that you won't want to peel back its lips for a look any time soon unless you want to see a set of teeth that looks surprisingly like your own still their large front teeth can crush through the shells of crustaceans and they are known for taking a bite from the bait of fishermen's hooks they range in size and have been found to weigh anywhere from 2 to 97 pounds and measure from 7 to 42 inches long about the size of a small child so what makes this fish one people want to avoid maybe the rumors that one of these species is known to go after men while swimming and bite them in their nether regions because they get confused with the different kinds of nuts get it regardless of your gender you might want to be on the lookout for the PACU while swimming they can bite humans if they mistake you for food so if you're thinking about trying to get a good look at their unmistakably human teeth you might want to keep an eye on your fingers number 4 the black caiman if you came looking for a giant predator look no further than the black caiman while Caymans and alligators are both members of the alligator 'day family Caymans live in the warm freshwater marshland and rivers of Central and South America most notably the Amazon basin a way to tell them apart is to look at the shape of their snout when Alan Ayers and team close their mouth only the teeth in the upper jaw are visible because they have an overbite like us the upper jaw consequently has quite the smooth jawline known to reach lengths of more than 16 feet and weighing in at over 1,000 pounds the black caiman is a large dark scaled reptile that is believed to be the biggest species in the entire Amazon perhaps second to the critically endangered Orinoco crocodile that has been hunted almost to extinction even though alligators are usually bigger than Caymans the black caiman is the exception their black scales which is where they get their name helps to not only camouflage that while swimming in murky water they also help them to absorb heat they have a very broad diet and will feed on fish other reptiles and the copy' Barra which can get up to 4 feet long themselves they are also a little territorial not just over their nests and eggs but also their mates so you might want to stay clear of them during mating season there are over 80 reports of attacks on humans over the past 20 years and between January 2008 and October 2013 black paintings were involved in 43 attacks on people fewer than one-fifth of those attacks were fatal still just one look at the black caiman might be enough to inspire you to stay on land number three the bull shark if you thought swimming and fresh water meant you wouldn't run into a shark think again bull sharks can actually thrive in both saltwater and freshwater thanks to their especially developed kidneys that can sense the change in salinity of the water they are swimming in they can travel far up rivers and prefer coastal waters less than 100 feet deep which makes bull sharks potentially the most dangerous sharks evolved for humans a large stout shark the females are usually larger than the male's averaging around 8 feet long and weighing 290 pounds with the male's slightly smaller at seven and a half feet and around 210 pounds they love murky brackish water found in estuaries and Bay's and are not afraid of attacking prey that are the same size are even bigger than they are such as other sharks dolphins or humans in fact they will eat just about anything picky the species has been spotted 2,500 miles up the Amazon River and some also live in Lake Nicaragua while we know how they survive in freshwater it is not clear how they developed this amazing ability wider and heavier than other sharks of similar lengths bull sharks are gray on top and white on their belly with a bite force of up to 1,300 pounds bull sharks have the strongest bite relative to their body size of any shark species their teeth are triangular and very sharp and are located in rows that rotate the first two rows capture their prey while the others rotate to fill in places as needed usually a solitary hunter the bull shark does sometimes hunt in pairs making them even more aggressive with the ability to give birth to live babies sharks litters of one to thirteen pups are common so the next time you happen to be in the area of a coastal Lagoon or river mouth you might want to be wary as these are common nursery habitats for the bull shark number 2 red-bellied piranhas a freshwater fish the piranha is well known for its sharp teeth and carnivorous nature but with so many species with a wide range of diets does every piranha deserve its bad reputation inhabiting the fresh waters of South America from the Orinoco River Basin in Venezuela up to the Parana River in Argentina approximately 30 species of piranhas can be found in South America today fossils pinpoint their ancestors to have been in the continents rivers 25 million years ago while some are believed to have only been around for about 1.8 million years known for their razor-sharp teeth and relentless bite the piranhas name translates to tooth fish a single row of interlocking teeth which measure about four millimeters can be found in adult piranhas their teeth are shaped similar to a blade which helps them eat their prey they are meat eaters with tooth enamel structure that is similar to sharks kind of like the bull shark who replace their teeth individually piranhas replace them in quarters multiple times during their life using a toothed fossil model scientists were able to tie modern piranhas to a ten million year old extinct ancestor known as the mega piranha Peron Ensis whose jaw had a bite force of as high as 1068 pounds that force which is exerted by the jaw muscles these scientists believe that the ancient fish ate something that required serious force to bite through while most piranhas eat insects fish crustaceans and plant material the red-bellied piranha has been known to take a bite out of Phillip or Ana's living or dead even though most have a reputation for eating flesh some of them eat seeds and others including their species found in the Amazonian Rapids in Brazil exists on plants alone when they do go hunting Protestant to attack the tail and eyes of their prey first seemingly as a way to immobilize their opponent before chowing down so while you might not necessarily be afraid of these little devils it might make you think twice about taking a swim in the river but if you do and you happen to hear strange barking noises under the water just know the Prada has been known to make such noises when they're caught by fishermen seemingly a way to communicate and call other piranhas you have been warned number one poison dart frog sometimes deadly things come in small packages take the poison dart frog they are the most poisonous animal alive for some people and are so lethal that native hunters use them to make poison darts hunters from a tribe in Colombia regularly hunted birds monkeys and other animals using poison darts taking the poison from the bright river frogs to construct with deadly projectiles one single golden poison frog has enough poison to kill ten grown men measuring no more than six centimetres long this tiny creature keeps its poison and glands beneath its skin known as a bat rocco toxin the poison from these frogs causes paralysis and death when it enters the bloodstream and it doesn't take much to do the trick either found in many animals and plants this type of toxin has two powerful alkaloids that can also cause severe damage to the brain and muscles if you thought you would get off easy by avoiding the adult frogs baby frogs are also just as poisonous a researcher in Ohio found that mother frogs supply the tadpoles with poison after absorbing the toxin the tadpoles become poisonous themselves by placing alkaloids in the eggs predators are scared off from eating the tadpoles but poison isn't the only weapon in the poison dart frogs arsenal using various colors in pattern weapon the dart frogs are vibrantly colored which is often a warning sign to predators in fact a study published in 2001 showed that most frogs with the brightest colors were also the most poisonous going back 40 to 45 million years ago in the forests of northern South America ancestors of the poison dart frogs were not poisonous and were also not very colorful or small after tracing the ancestry of the frogs by examining their genes a study that came out in 2003 pointed to a true toad as the predecessor to today's poison dart frogs but dart frogs were not necessarily poisonous throughout their entire evolution the poison is believed to have evolved after the origin of their lineage which began around 30 million years ago is believed the ancestors of poison dart frogs started eating toxic ants and began harboring the poisons in their bodies somehow they were able to eat the ants without the chemicals poisoning the frogs themselves they are cute though aren't they studies are being done by neuro scientists to design new drugs from the toxins and as the force they live in are becoming even more vulnerable to extinction these little creatures with their surprisingly helpful benefits continue to be at risk thanks for watching be sure to subscribe if you haven't already and let me know what animals you would like to learn about next in the comments below see you soon bye

Channel: Origins Explained

Views: 680,654

Rating: 4.723587 out of 5

Keywords: origins, explained, deadliest, river, monsters, amazon, creatures, animals, dangerous, deadly, deadliest creatures, river monsters, deadly creatures, dangerous creatures, dangerous animals, deadliest animals, most deadly animals, deadly animals of the amazon, most dangerous animals of the amazon, deadly creatures of the amazon, most dangerous creatures of the amazon, most poisonous creatures, most venomous creatures, origins explained top 10

Id: Io_F2jX-JHw

Length: 18min 17sec (1097 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 10 2020