How Salamanders Skydive From the Tallest Trees in the World | Deep Look
Summary
TLDRThe script explores the remarkable life of wandering salamanders, tiny amphibians that inhabit the canopies of California's coast redwoods, akin to 30-story buildings. These creatures spend their 20-year lifespans without touching the ground, navigating perilous fern mats and avoiding predators like Steller's jays. Scientists from the University of South Florida and UC Berkeley reveal the salamanders' unique gliding abilities, using their tails for steering and their feet for landing. The script also teases the toad's bug-catching prowess, inviting viewers to learn more in an upcoming episode.
Takeaways
- 🌳 The wandering salamander lives at the top of the tallest trees, the coast redwoods in California, which can be as tall as 30-story buildings.
- 🐸 These tiny amphibians can spend their entire 20-year lifespan without ever touching the forest floor.
- 🏡 They make their homes in lush fern mats that grow on the massive branches and burls of the trees.
- ⚠️ The fern mats, while comfortable, are not without danger, as they are patrolled by hungry neighbors like Steller's jays.
- 🪂 When threatened, the wandering salamander 'skydives' to the next safe spot in the tree, without the need for wings, skin flaps, or webbed toes.
- 🔬 Scientists at the University of South Florida and UC Berkeley studied the salamanders' gliding abilities in a wind tunnel.
- 📉 Other salamanders did not perform as well in the wind tunnel as the wandering salamanders.
- 🐉 The wandering salamander can control its pitch by swinging its long, flexible tail up and down.
- 🛤️ To turn while staying level, it swings its tail side to side, controlling its yaw, and can also perform rolls by rotating its tail in the opposite direction.
- 🚣 It can make banked turns by dipping its foot into the airstream, similar to a paddle changing the course of a canoe.
- 🪂 The parachute posture helps slow them down and prepares them for landing.
- 🦶 Upon landing, the forceful impact causes the salamander's feet to flex, trapping blood in their toes and stiffening them into grippy claws for climbing.
- 🔄 The salamander is ready to repeat its leap of faith once it reaches the tree's crown.
Q & A
What type of amphibian is described in the script?
-The script describes the wandering salamander, a species that lives at the tops of coast redwoods in California.
How tall can coast redwoods grow, as mentioned in the script?
-Coast redwoods can grow as tall as 30-floor skyscrapers, making them some of the tallest trees in the world.
What is unique about the wandering salamander's habitat?
-The wandering salamander's habitat is unique because it lives high up in the canopy of coast redwoods, often never touching the forest floor throughout its 20-year-long life.
What provides a home for the wandering salamander in the tree canopy?
-Lush fern mats that grow high up on massive branches and burls provide a perfect home for the wandering salamander.
What kind of danger do wandering salamanders face in their habitat?
-Wandering salamanders face danger from hungry neighbors like Steller’s jays that patrol the canopy.
How do wandering salamanders escape from predators?
-When threatened, wandering salamanders escape by going skydiving, or leaping to the next safe spot in the tree.
What scientific experiment was conducted to understand how wandering salamanders glide?
-Scientists at the University of South Florida and UC Berkeley put wandering salamanders in a wind tunnel to study their gliding abilities.
How do wandering salamanders control their pitch while gliding?
-Wandering salamanders control their pitch by swinging their long flexible tail up or down.
What does the wandering salamander do to turn while staying level during a glide?
-To turn while staying level, the wandering salamander swings its tail side to side, controlling its yaw.
How do wandering salamanders perform banked turns?
-Wandering salamanders perform banked turns by dipping their foot into the airstream, similar to a paddle changing the course of a canoe.
What role do the wandering salamander's feet play during landing?
-The forceful impact of landing causes the salamander's feet to flex, trapping blood in their toes, swelling and stiffening them into grippy claws for a better grip.
What is the significance of the wandering salamander's toes for climbing?
-The grippy claws formed by the salamander's toes after landing are a huge asset for its long and arduous climb back to the tree crown.
How do toads catch bugs, as hinted in the script?
-Toads catch bugs by smacking them with a supersoft tongue covered in special spit, as mentioned in the script teaser for another episode.
Outlines
🐉 Wandering Salamanders: Life at the Treetops
The script introduces the wandering salamander, a unique amphibian that inhabits the upper reaches of California's coast redwoods, which can grow as tall as 30-story buildings. These creatures can spend their entire 20-year lifespan without ever touching the forest floor, living among lush fern mats on massive branches and burls. Despite the comfort of their high-altitude home, they face threats from predators such as Steller's jays. When in danger, they perform a form of skydiving to escape, gliding to a safe spot within the tree canopy. The script also mentions a scientific study conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida and UC Berkeley, where wandering salamanders were placed in a wind tunnel to understand their gliding abilities. Unlike other salamanders, the wandering species can control their pitch, yaw, and roll in mid-air using their long, flexible tails. They slow down for landing using a parachute posture and rely on their feet, which swell into grippy claws upon impact, aiding in their climb back to the treetops.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Salamander
💡Wandering Salamander
💡Coast Redwoods
💡Fern Mats
💡Steller's Jay
💡Skydiving
💡Wind Tunnel
💡Pitch
💡Yaw
💡Roll
💡Banked Turns
💡Parachute Posture
💡Grippy Claws
Highlights
Wandering salamanders live at the tops of coast redwoods in California, which can grow as tall as 30-floor skyscrapers.
These tiny amphibians can spend their entire 20-year-long life without touching the forest floor.
Lush fern mats on massive branches and burls provide a perfect home for wandering salamanders.
Steller’s jay, a hungry neighbor, patrols the canopy and poses a threat to the salamanders.
Wandering salamanders 'skydive' to escape predators, gliding to the next safe spot in the tree.
Researchers at the University of South Florida and UC Berkeley studied the salamanders' aerial maneuvers in a wind tunnel.
Other salamanders did not perform well in the wind tunnel, highlighting the unique abilities of the wandering salamander.
Wandering salamanders control their pitch by swinging their long flexible tail up or down.
They can turn while staying level by swinging their tail side to side, controlling their yaw.
The salamanders perform rolls by rotating their tail in the opposite direction.
Salamanders make banked turns by dipping their foot into the airstream, similar to a paddle in a canoe.
A parachute posture slows them down and prepares the salamanders for landing.
The forceful impact of landing causes the salamanders' feet to flex, trapping blood and creating grippy claws.
These grippy claws are crucial for the salamanders' long climb back to the tree crown.
Wandering salamanders are ready to take the leap of faith repeatedly throughout their lives.
Toads are adept at catching bugs with their supersoft tongue covered in special spit.
An upcoming episode will explore the special properties of toads' spit that aid in bug catching.
Transcripts
This salamander is about to leap off the tallest tree in the world.
But it’s gonna be OK.
These tiny amphibians, called wandering salamanders, live at the tops of coast redwoods in California,
which can grow as tall as 30-floor skyscrapers.
The wandering salamander can spend the entirety
of its 20-year-long life never once touching the forest floor.
Lush fern mats that grow high up on massive branches and burls make a perfect home.
But as damp and cozy as these fern mats are, they’re not without peril.
Hungry neighbors like this Steller’s jay patrol the canopy. When they get too close ...
…the wandering salamander goes skydiving. They don’t usually glide all the way to the ground,
just to the next safe spot in the tree.
So, without wings, skin flaps, or webbed toes, how does the salamander steer itself in the air?
Scientists at the University of South Florida and UC Berkeley
put wandering salamanders in a wind tunnel to learn more about their tricks.
The researchers also gave other salamanders the chance to try out that wind tunnel.
They didn’t perform so well.
OK, who’s ready for skydiving academy?
The wandering salamander can control its upwards or downwards angle, or pitch,
by swinging its long flexible tail up or down.
To turn while staying level, it swings that tail side to side … controlling its yaw.
To roll one way, it rotates its tail in the opposite direction. That’s called … roll.
It can even make banked turns.
See how it dips its foot into the airstream – like a paddle changing the course of a canoe?
And this parachute posture slows them down and prepares them for landing.
Now how do they stick that landing?
The answer’s in their fabulous feet. Scientists think the forceful impact of their landing
causes the feet to flex. That traps blood in their toes, swelling and stiffening them into grippy claws.
Those toes are a huge asset as the salamander makes its long, arduous climb.
Once it reaches the crown of the tree,
it’ll be ready to take that leap of faith ...
again and again and again.
Hi, it’s Laura. Question for all you amphibian lovers: How are toads so amazing at catching bugs?
Well, they smack ’em with a supersoft tongue covered in special spit!
How special? Watch our episode to find out. See you there.
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