How Salamanders Skydive From the Tallest Trees in the World | Deep Look

Deep Look

27 Aug 202403:48

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

00:00

🐉 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

A salamander is a type of amphibian characterized by its slender body and long tail. In the context of the video, the wandering salamander is the main subject, living high in the canopies of coast redwoods, demonstrating unique behaviors and adaptations to its arboreal habitat.

💡Wandering Salamander

The wandering salamander is a specific type of salamander mentioned in the script, known for its arboreal lifestyle. It spends its entire life in the treetops of California's coast redwoods, never touching the forest floor, highlighting its unique adaptation to such an environment.

💡Coast Redwoods

Coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, growing in California and reaching heights comparable to 30-story buildings. They provide the habitat for wandering salamanders, with their lush fern mats offering a perfect home for these amphibians high above the ground.

💡Fern Mats

Fern mats are dense growths of ferns that can be found high up on the branches and burls of trees, such as the coast redwoods. In the video, these mats are described as the ideal habitat for wandering salamanders, providing both shelter and a sense of security.

💡Steller's Jay

The Steller's jay is a bird species mentioned in the script as a potential predator to the wandering salamander. It patrols the canopy, creating a sense of danger for the salamanders, which in turn leads to their unique defensive behavior of 'skydiving' to escape.

💡Skydiving

In the context of the video, 'skydiving' refers to the behavior of the wandering salamander when it leaps or falls from the tree canopy to escape predators. It doesn't glide to the ground but to the next safe spot in the tree, showcasing its unique method of avoiding threats.

💡Wind Tunnel

A wind tunnel is a device used to study the effects of air flow on objects. In the script, scientists use a wind tunnel to observe and understand how wandering salamanders control their aerial movements without wings, skin flaps, or webbed toes.

💡Pitch

In the video, 'pitch' refers to the angle at which the wandering salamander can control its ascent or descent during its aerial maneuvers. By swinging its tail up or down, the salamander can adjust its pitch, which is crucial for its aerial navigation.

💡Yaw

Yaw is the rotation around the vertical axis of an object, and in the context of the video, it describes how the wandering salamander turns while staying level in the air. By swinging its tail side to side, the salamander can control its yaw, allowing for directional changes during its 'skydiving'.

💡Roll

Roll, in the script, describes the action of the wandering salamander rotating its body along a horizontal axis while in the air. This is achieved by rotating its tail in the opposite direction, allowing the salamander to perform complex aerial maneuvers.

💡Banked Turns

Banked turns are a type of turn where an object leans into the turn, as if banking into a curve. The wandering salamander can perform banked turns by dipping its foot into the airstream, similar to how a paddle changes the course of a canoe, allowing for controlled directional changes.

💡Parachute Posture

The parachute posture is a term used in the script to describe the way the wandering salamander positions its body during its aerial descent. This posture slows the salamander down and prepares it for landing, which is an essential part of its survival strategy when escaping predators.

💡Grippy Claws

Grippy claws refer to the salamander's toes that swell and stiffen upon landing, providing a strong grip. The forceful impact of landing causes the feet to flex, trapping blood in the toes, which then function as claws, aiding the salamander in its climb back up the tree.

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.