We also spotted a chestnut-eared toucan, a greater yellow-headed vulture and long-nosed bats hanging upside down on a stick poking out of the river.
In the water, we were lucky to see both pink river dolphins and gray dolphins, as well the yellow-spotted river turtles we released. There were also some large reptiles, like the red-tailed boa constrictor and iguanas.
Not only are there so many amazing plants and animals in the Amazon, but the connections between them all are even more fascinating. We learned about many examples of how different animals and plants work together in nature. This is called symbiosis, and one special type of symbiosis is called mutualism. In mutualism, both partners benefit from the relationship. A great example is how bees get food from flowers and help the flowers spread their pollen.
But my favorite example of mutualism in the Amazon is between the three-toed sloth, moths and algae. This is how it works: Algae grows on the fur of sloths, using the sloth’s body as a home. The algae also get nutrients from the moths that live on the sloth's fur. The moths, in turn, help the sloth by eating mites (tiny bugs) off its fur, which helps keep the sloth clean.
Now, here’s the really interesting part! Once a week, the sloth climbs down from the trees to poop. It digs a hole with its tail, poops in the hole and covers it up with leaves and dirt, just like a cat. The moths lay their eggs in the sloth’s poop. When the eggs hatch, the baby moths fly up to the treetops to find another sloth to live on.
