Alligator Snapping Turtle Lures Crayfish Into Deadly Trap   Love Nature - video Dailymotion

Hadeer cA TV

Watch Alligator Snapping Turtle Lures Crayfish Into Deadly Trap   Love Nature - Hadeer cA TV on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00 An alligator snapping turtle.

00:04 This slow-moving reptile first emerged in North America 90 million years ago.

00:15 Somehow it survived the mass extinction that wiped out 80% of life on Earth, including the dinosaurs.

00:25 The snapping turtle doesn't stalk its prey.

00:29 Instead, it lies motionless with its jaws open, waiting for prey to come to it.

00:43 But it's not just an opportunist.

00:50 The snapping turtle has one more trick up its sleeve to attract a meal.

00:56 A rush of blood transforms its two-pronged tongue into a red, wiggling worm.

01:05 A passing crayfish can't resist the possibility of a meal.

01:16 It's carapace is no match for the snapping turtle's powerful bite.

01:22 Zoologists call this kind of luring "aggressive mimicry" to distinguish it from straight camouflage.

01:31 There are many examples of this.

01:35 But the most common is the alligator's "sneak attack".

01:41 It's a way to distinguish it from straight camouflage.

01:45 There are many examples of these imposters who use lures evolved from their own body parts.

01:52 But perhaps none is as beautiful as the orchid mantis.

01:58 It masquerades as part of the flower it's named after, attracting, then ambushing unwitting insects.

02:09 This luring, which seems sophisticated and cunning, is actually inbuilt behaviour, instinctual rather than learned.

02:17 One of the world's most unusual predators to use this trick lives in the Pacific Ocean.

02:25 The warty frogfish, surely one of the oddest-looking fish.

02:33 It lacks a swim bladder, which most fish use to control their buoyancy.

02:39 So it can't swim in search of food.

02:44 Despite its relative immobility, the frogfish has evolved into a highly effective killer.

02:54 Fishy hands, rather than fins, allow it to move along the seabed.

03:01 Its dorsal fin has elongated to become a fishing rod.

03:06 And the final touch, a lure that looks like a tasty marine creature.

03:19 Using its hands to anchor itself, the frogfish dangles its bait and waits.

03:28 A shrimp spots what it thinks is a potential meal and moves closer.

03:35 By the time it realises this isn't food...

03:40 ...it's too late.

03:44 Hook, line and sinker.

03:48 The frogfish is now a fish.

03:54 It's a fish.

03:57 It's a fish.

04:00 It's a fish.

04:03 It's a fish.

04:06 It's a fish.

04:10 Line and sinker.

04:13 The usually sluggish frogfish strikes in an astonishing six thousandths of a second.

04:20 It can enlarge its mouth twelvefold to gobble up prey twice its own size.

04:28 But angling with your own body part isn't risk-free.

04:33 The frogfish's lure is so convincing it sometimes gets eaten.

04:39 It can take six months to regrow, leaving the frogfish no alternative...

04:44 ...but to catch its prey the traditional, more difficult way.

04:49 To understand how this fish and animals such as the snapping turtle...

04:55 ...evolved bodies with such elaborate lures...

04:59 ...scientists are studying another reptile.

05:07 The puff adder.

05:10 Africa's deadliest snake.

05:13 It's responsible for more human deaths than any other species.

05:17 But the puff adder has given scientists an extraordinary insight...

05:21 ...into one of the evolutionary pathways that led to luring.

05:25 The puff adder is a sit-and-wait predator.

05:30 On a stakeout it lies immobile, conserving its energy.

05:36 Flicking its forked tongue, it picks up scent molecules in the air, sniffing for prey.

05:42 A mouse comes within striking distance.

05:51 A textbook puff adder kill.

06:01 It's one of the snake world's fastest strikes.

06:05 Just a quarter of a second.

06:08 But recently, scientists studying puff adders...

06:13 ...noticed they don't always go by the book.

06:17 Sometimes they flick their tongues for 30 seconds...

06:21 ...far longer than needed to smell their environment.

06:25 After filming thousands of hours of video in the field...

06:29 ...the scientists discovered something remarkable.

06:33 When amphibians were nearby, a puff adder, like this one in the centre of the frame...

06:39 ...flicks its tongue more frequently.

06:43 And when a frog comes closer to investigate...

06:47 ...the snake is using its tongue to mimic a worm to attract the frog.

06:57 It's the first recorded evidence of a terrestrial snake using its tongue to lure prey.

07:03 But the study also reveals the puff adders only use tongue-luring for amphibians.

07:22 When they're targeting prey that don't eat worms, they switch to another method.

07:26 Ambush.

07:28 This ability to choose between hunting techniques...

07:32 ...means they're far smarter than scientists thought.

07:36 Predators like the puff adder or snapping turtle...

07:41 ...rely on getting as close as possible to their prey before closing in for the kill.

07:47 Hey Love Nature fans! Be sure to like and subscribe to catch all our wild animal stories.

07:52 Get closer to nature, right here on YouTube.

07:55 Be sure to like and subscribe to catch all our wild animal stories.

07:59 Get closer to nature, right here on YouTube.

Alligator Snapping Turtle Lures Crayfish Into Deadly Trap Love Nature

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended