There is such an ugly freshwater creature, much smaller than a crocodile, but it can defeat a strong crocodile in a short period of time. So who is it?
"King of Reptiles" and "Living Fossil" - Crocodile
Crocodile is one of the most primitive animals on earth so far, living in the same era as the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago. At that time, dinosaurs ruled the land, and the overlords in freshwater rivers and lakes were crocodiles. Today, the giant prehistoric creature dinosaurs have long been extinct, but crocodiles have survived and multiplied by virtue of their strong vitality. Today, when large mammals dominate the animal world, crocodiles, as reptiles, are still leisurely entrenched in their own territory. After a long period of evolutionary evolution, it seems that no creature can easily threaten it.
Although the crocodile is usually old and slow, it actually has very sensitive vision and smell. Once it enters a fighting state, its movements will become crisp and agile. Most of the time, crocodiles will lurk in the water motionless, with only the two eyes on the top of their heads exposed, waiting for prey on the shore. They will look for the opportunity when antelope or wildebeest lower their heads to drink water, and then use their tails to jump up. , quickly bites the prey's neck and drags it into the water.
The crocodile's bite force is amazing, with a maximum force of 1.9 tons. Most mammals are unable to guard against it. Once dragged into the water, they will eventually suffocate to death. This trick can be said to be tried and true.
Caiman vs. Electric eel
On this day, a caiman in the Amazon basin stared at its prey - an electric eel swimming slowly in the shallows. The electric eel is only a little over one meter long. In terms of size and strength, it is very different from the crocodile. Naturally, the strong and fierce crocodile will not take it seriously. The crocodile quietly and slowly approached from behind, preparing to repeat its old tricks and suddenly launch a sneak attack. This ever-victorious general never imagined that instead of gaining any advantage in the upcoming battle, it would turn into a Waterloo.
There is a natural protective film on the crocodile's eyeballs, which allows it to see clearly even when submerged in water. I saw it as usual, patiently lurking in the water, motionless observing an electric eel in front of me. The electric eel has a flat head and a yellow belly and black back. It swims slowly under the sandy water surface and occasionally raises its head above the water to breathe.
Before long, the crocodile suddenly launched an attack and bit the electric eel with its big mouth. The frightened electric eel struggled unconsciously, and its electrified tail swept the side of the crocodile's body. Suddenly, the crocodile's eyes widened, its mouth opened, and it began to twitch and roll violently. After a while, it fainted and sank to the bottom of the water. The electric eel also died of serious injuries because it could not withstand the crocodile's super bite force. The fight between the two sides ended in mutual destruction.
This scene was accidentally discovered by biology experts during a field expedition. It shocked everyone in just a few seconds. Are electric eels the natural enemies of crocodiles? In order to verify this conjecture, experts conducted three simulation experiments in an aquarium, placing caiman and electric eels in a duel, recreating the duel scene that occurred in the wild.
The results of the experiment were beyond expectations. After three rounds, the electric eel won with one win and two draws, without losing a single game! In the battle, the caiman was either stabbed until his limbs were numb and died, or he fled in a hurry and hid far away. The King of Freshwater, who has always been arrogant among the others, has lost all his prestige at this moment, which is very disappointing.
"High-voltage wire in water" - the electric eel's "unique skill"
Why did the giant crocodile, which has always been king in shallow water, stumble on the tiny electric eel? It turns out that although the crocodile's neighbor is not big, he possesses a unique skill - electric discharge.
's one-meter-long body hides huge energy. When it encounters danger, it instantly releases a high voltage of 860V, which is equivalent to the power of 573 batteries . The power is enough to stun an adult, even a crocodile wearing heavy armor cannot withstand it. Therefore, the electric eel is also known as "High-voltage line in the water" . "National Geographic " magazine even rated it as one of the "most terrifying freshwater animals" .
This creature that lives in fresh water has an unattractive appearance, with a flat head, a cylindrical body, a gray and black back, and an appearance similar to an eggplant. It is mainly distributed in the Amazon basin of South America. Although the name contains the word "eel", it is not a type of eel. In terms of genetic relationship, it is closer to catfish.
has long since degenerated because it mostly moves in turbid waters with a lot of sediment, and its eyes are no longer used. It mainly relies on the receptor on its head and its own discharge talent to sense the dangers around it.
The mystery of electric eels’ discharge
Why can electric eels discharge electricity at will? It turns out that the electric eel's body is covered with a special kind of cells. When stimulated by nerve signals, these cells can allow ions to flow through the cell membrane and are connected in series to form specialized muscle tissue, just like miniature stacked batteries. Each piece of tissue can produce 0.15 volts. In a normal-sized electric eel, there are thousands of muscle tissues that can discharge like this, accounting for more than 80% of the body length.
Miraculously, the electric eel itself, which is also made of flesh and blood and acts as a power generator, was unscathed. It turns out that this is related to the special structure of his body. The skin of the electric eel is electrically insulated, and the outside of the main organs in the body are also wrapped with insulators. The tail and head are the positive and negative poles, which are equivalent to the "live wire" and " neutral wire " in the wire, so it Immune to electrical current. If the electric eel leaves the water and is exposed to the air, the resistance of the air is greater than the resistance of the electric eel itself, and it will also be electrocuted by itself.
A unique trick that can be eaten everywhere. Because of this skill, electric eels have almost no natural enemies in nature except humans. This is why it can coexist with the terrifying crocodile as a neighbor. It usually detects enemies by emitting weak currents and issues warnings to other nearby creatures to ensure that it is in a safe environment. Once encounters the police or hunts prey, it will release high voltage to give the opponent a charged blow, killing the opponent instantly.
The electric eel has mastered the discharge technique with ease, and can adjust the discharge time and intensity freely. When all the discharge bodies in the body act at the same time, they can discharge 50 times per second. The voltage produced instantly is usually between 300 and 800 volts, and the energy is amazing.
However, this ultra-high voltage can generally only be maintained for a short time, and will soon weaken as the electric eel fatigues. Experienced fishermen take advantage of this weakness. When hunting electric eels, they often drive groups of cattle and horses into the water first, so that they are irritated and discharged desperately until they are exhausted and no longer pose a threat to humans.
Reference:
Electric eel vs. caiman, who can win? Chuxiao. Little Brother Bai Ni (Wild Animals). CNKI.2018.12.21
Little electric eel that can discharge electricity. Song Linlin. Science Fiction Illustrated. CNKI.2021.08 .15
Author: Sun Yuxiao Preliminary review: Ding Haier Proofreading Editor: Xiaowan
