Prairies of Amazonia
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| “Prairies of Amazonia” | |
|---|---|
| The Future Is Wild episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 4 |
| Written by | – |
| Original airdate | – |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Vanished Sea" | "Cold Kansas Desert" |
Prairies of Amazonia is the fourth episode in the documentary series The Future Is Wild. It is set in South America where the Amazon used to stand in 5,000,000 years time. It features three species.
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- Carakiller - a descendant of the caracara which has evolved to replace land predators
- Babookari - a descendant of the uakari which lives like baboons and has discovered how to catch fish
- Rattleback (rodent) - a descendant of the agouti or paca which has developed tough armour and can live through quickly-passing grass fires.
This episode shows that due to the cooling of the planet, the Amazon rainforest has vanished and has been replaced by grassland. Most primates have died out but the Babookari has evolved to live on the plains. They have also become much cleverer and can now make nets out of twigs to catch fish. There is also the Rattleback, a heavily defended rodent which is somewhat fireproof and birdproof and lives on a diet of Carakiller eggs.
The episode also shows the biggest danger to these animals - fire. This also shows how Carakillers hunt in packs.
