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Explore the symbiotic, evolutionary relationships in the Americas, such as how rodents (like the agouti) plant seeds that eventually grow into massive trees...
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00:05At the onset of a new day, fog creeps in over a primordial forest, like a hazy apparition
00:13with chilled teeth.
00:18Awe-inspiring giants, more than a thousand years old, stand rooted to the coastal mountains
00:25of Chile, like ghosts from the past.
00:31Offering a glimpse back in time to prehistoric Earth.
00:38These are Araucaria aracana, monkey puzzle trees, living fossils whose lineage stretches
00:47back for millions of years.
00:52Like age-old lovers, two trees, a male and a female, have formed an ancient liaison, both
01:02with each other and with those that rely on them.
01:08Vivid green parakeets lend a helping hand, pollinating the monkey puzzle's cones.
01:18While a tiny forager acts as an important seed disperser.
01:25Without these animals, the endangered monkey puzzle's future is uncertain.
01:30Their numbers are dwindling.
01:35This is their last stand.
01:38Can Chile's most revered trees persist against the odds when time has turned against them?
02:10It's August, the peak of the wet season in central Chile.
02:18Glacial winds blow in from the Pacific, bringing dense clouds on the verge of rupture.
02:28It's the end of winter, and dawn's icy breath smothers the coastal mountains in a thick, roving fog.
02:43The morning is especially cold, a frosty 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
02:52This is Nawalbuta National Park, a reserve dedicated to the protection of the endangered monkey puzzle trees.
03:08Monkey puzzles have evolved to stand the test of time.
03:15Some are up to 2,000 years old.
03:20Here in Nawalbuta, this ancient tree took root nearly 1,600 years ago.
03:28An imposing male, 130 feet tall.
03:35Conifers, like the monkey puzzle, evolved millions of years before flowering plants first appeared on the planet.
03:46Each tree is either male or female and produces different cones according to its sex.
03:55The cones on this primeval patriarch produce pollen.
04:02They've been slowly developing since autumn, but have another 4 months to go until they release their fertile dust.
04:18As the sun's rays pierce the clouds, a melody of birdsong returns to the mountain.
04:35And with it, an incessant tap-tap-tapping resonates throughout the forest.
04:45It's coming from high in the male monkey puzzle's canopy.
04:54Making the most of the warming weather, a male Magellanic woodpecker and his mate frantically hammer at the tree's branches
05:03in search of a tasty tidbit.
05:12As he drums, the male listens for the hollow sound of a cavity that betrays where a larva hides.
05:24He drills deep into its core, gulping down tree sap as he goes.
05:37For the grub, there's no escaping the woodpecker's 4-inch harpoon-tipped tongue coated with bristles and sticky saliva.
05:49A woodpecker knocks on wood up to 12,000 times a day looking for grubs, leaving the trees riddled with
05:59holes.
06:13Not far from the male tree, another arachana towers over a rocky outcrop.
06:20A female.
06:23At 120 feet tall, she's not as imposing as her male counterpart, but she's still a staggering 1,500 years
06:33old.
06:36For millennia, these two have stood the test of time, their lives intertwined through a long-distance liaison.
06:48Her round cones will be the vessel for his pollen.
06:54Once fertilized, they produce seeds.
06:59Known locally as piñas, these take almost two years to mature.
07:06So, as this year's new crop develops, she already flaunts cones that are about a year old.
07:15Her young piñas wait for the male's pollen, which he will release at the end of spring.
07:28Like ancient wrinkles, centuries of wear and tear have molded the matriarch's flaky skin into a rumpled crust.
07:40The winter sun beguiles a tiny resident from under her bark.
07:49A male jeweled lizard bedecked in sapphire and emerald.
08:01Charged with enough solar warmth, he sets off in search of food.
08:15At last, spring's warmth begins to drive off winter's chill.
08:23By September, the heat in the air is palpable.
08:27A sweltering shimmer distorts the land.
08:34As the world thaws, ice slips from the female monkey puzzle's grasp.
08:55The snow recoils from the sun's radiance, shrinking back into the soil.
09:13The mountain begins to smolder, steam rising from the earth.
09:25The warming weather inspires new growth on the tree's limbs.
09:34The rigid leaves spiral around its branches, resembling the tough scales of an archaic
09:40reptile, each blade armed with a hazardous tip.
09:48This armor evolved to defend the tree against dinosaurs.
09:53Even today, few herbivores have the stomach for them.
10:02They're so hardy, a single leaf can live up to 24 years.
10:11With spines like these, the tree would be a challenging puzzle for a monkey to climb.
10:17Hence its name, the monkey puzzle tree.
10:22The Araucana is so revered in Chile that it's the country's national tree.
10:27Logging is forbidden, but man-made fires remain their biggest threat.
10:35Their forests are now fragmented.
10:39This is one of the endangered tree's last stands.
10:57As night douses dusk's smoldering remains, a million glowing pinpricks pierce the sky over
11:09Nawabuta National Park.
11:17The half moon casts its silvery limelight on the female monkey puzzle tree, exalting her
11:27from the darkness.
11:35Spring's first warm night entices a primitive arachnid from beneath the tree's scaly skin.
11:50This is a female Chilean sudokus harvestman, a distant relative to modern spiders.
12:01Now that the snow's melted, she's able to scavenge for food on the ground.
12:13She skewers tiny particles of waste with sharp claws next to her mouth.
12:19Anything from bird droppings to dead plant and animal matter.
12:28When she's done feeding, she returns to the female monkey puzzle to look for prospects of
12:33another kind, a mate.
12:41But this male has a rival, also vying for the female's affection.
12:52Both males are well-equipped to fight for her, with sharp spines on their back legs.
13:00Tonight, however, all it takes is a race.
13:11The first male scrambles past the slower interloper and claims his prize.
13:19As break of day approaches, the two retreat back into the tree's belly to consummate their union.
13:33At the base of the female tree, a stealthy forager creeps from between her roots.
13:44An Andean long-clawed mouse is looking for something to eat.
13:50But at this time of the year, the arachana seeds aren't ripe yet.
13:56So it digs for worms and tidbits on the forest floor.
14:09A bone-chilling cackle stops the tiny rodent in its tracks.
14:16It's a rufous-legged owl, a species endemic to Chile and Argentina.
14:24It's time for the mouse to skedaddle before the black-eyed hunter spots it.
14:39It's now October, the height of spring.
14:48As a white-hot sun peers over the horizon, it floods the female monkey puzzle in a toasty
14:56tinge of orange brilliance.
15:05At her base, the sun's warmth rouses a sleepy stowaway in a lily of the Incas.
15:15Yesterday, this ruderal bumblebee got caught outside the nest while foraging and had to
15:21tuck into the flower for the night to stay warm.
15:29She washes her face and feet, gives the haunches a good scrub.
15:40And after stretching her cold, stiff muscles, she's off to gather some pollen and nectar
15:47to take back to the nest.
15:53All over the mountains, an array of multicolored flowers enriches the land.
16:06By midday, the sun's radiance turns the boulders in front of the female monkey puzzle into a sizzling
16:14hot plate.
16:16The warm stone draws a cold-blooded resident from its winter slumber.
16:25The culebra de la corta, or short-tailed snake, is one of only two species of snake found in Chile.
16:36Months of being inactive leaves this hunter hungry.
16:43As good fortune would have it, an alluring aroma beguiles the slithering stalker
16:49in the direction of the female monkey puzzle tree.
16:56It's smelling a painted tree iguana.
17:04But how to get to this scrumptious snack?
17:16The snake slowly works its way up the grooves between the tree's flaking bark.
17:29But soon, these become too difficult to mount.
17:35The iguana chose its home well.
17:40It's unreachable.
17:43The snake abandons its quest and laboriously slides down the tree's stem the same way it came.
17:55It settles into a small hollow at the base of the tree.
18:02This hunt is far from over.
18:10In November, a late spring dryness settles over the forest.
18:19It's time for the male and female monkey puzzles to once again renew their bond.
18:28His cones have grown into fat, six-inch prickly fingers, tinged with a reddish-brown blush.
18:39They're ready to spill their precious cargo.
18:49The wind carries the pollen away from the male tree.
18:55And some drifts towards his mate.
19:03But being fairly heavy, the fertile dust doesn't travel far.
19:08So the duo needs the help of allies.
19:16The male monkey puzzles protein-rich pollen attracts a flock of austral parakeets.
19:24It's a much-needed nutrient before the start of their breeding season.
19:32As they feed, they're bathed in pollen grains.
19:40When the birds move on, they perch on the female monkey puzzle's limbs and inadvertently pollinate her young piñas.
19:51But it will be another year and a half before these newly fertilized cones release their seeds.
20:03Last year's cones, however, will be ready this autumn.
20:13Two young parakeets separate from the flock and seek some privacy in the forest.
20:20The budding Don Juan serenades her with a chirpy ballad.
20:28And she moves in to inspect the goods.
20:37If he wins her over, they'll become inseparable.
20:46His charm pays off and she takes her place by his side.
20:52They will remain faithful to each other for the rest of their lives.
21:00They will remain faithful.
21:01They will remain faithful.
21:04It will remain faithful.
21:21She will remain faithful to each other for the rest of her life.
21:23And the whole world of the forest is a super cold.
21:27Temperatures seldom exceed 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
21:36The sun's opulent flare floods the mountain in golden tones.
21:45In the warm, dry months, sparkling silver strands
21:50bedazzle the female tree's bark and branches.
21:59She's covered in silk.
22:03This shimmering veil is spun by a clutter of itsy bitsy spiders,
22:09almost invisible to the eye.
22:20Over on the male monkey puzzle tree,
22:22a white-throated tree runner eagerly pecks for insects.
22:30This tiny songbird lives only in the forests along the southwestern tip of South America,
22:37seeking out the largest and oldest trees in which to nest.
22:44But frantically probing for insects requires a lot of energy.
22:51To boost his calories, the tree runners developed a sweet tooth.
22:58The little bird flies to a nearby Lenga, or southern beech tree, to get a sugar fix.
23:18A swarm of wasps, beetles, and ants, all yearning for something sweet crowd and oozing gash.
23:31A swarm of wasps, beetles, and ants all yearning for something sweet crowd and oozing gash.
23:38In Chile, this invasive pest competes with local species for food.
23:48They greedily lap up the sap from the Lengus bark, not wasting a single drop.
23:59Notoriously aggressive, with immensely painful stings,
24:03there are few creatures willing to take on a swarm of these invaders.
24:10But the tree runners unfazed.
24:17Cool as a cucumber, he meticulously flicks away the aggressive wasps to get to the tree's sap.
24:37The tiny bird drinks its fill.
24:41Gets rid of a few more attackers.
24:46And is off to hunt more insects.
24:51Leaving the wasps to feed their insatiable apples.
25:20By the end of December, the female monkey puzzle's trunk was
25:24has become terribly crowded with a lounge of lazy lizards.
25:31It's prime property, offering safety from predators.
25:36To escape the horde, the tiny male jeweled lizard relocates to an old stump close to the tree.
25:46It's a first-rate bachelor pad.
25:52And he curiously explores every inch of his new home.
25:58Licking at the surfaces tells him if it's already occupied.
26:12Satisfied that no one's around, he stretches out on a notch to catch some rays.
26:21But just as he's about to drift off,
26:25a trespasser ruffles his scales.
26:34It's a second male, also looking for more space.
26:41But he's not giving up his castle so easily.
26:47A couple of confident push-ups to show his mettle should drive off his rival.
26:59His message is clear.
27:01This is my turf, buddy. Move off!
27:08That showed him.
27:21By the beginning of January, the male monkey puzzle's cones are spent.
27:29Devoid of pollen, they've turned brown and have begun to disintegrate.
27:38But the husks aren't lifeless.
27:43An array of minuscule beetles, larvae, and spiders lives and feeds within the decaying cones.
27:55Gravity begins to claim the male tree's leftovers.
28:03With no more monkey puzzle pollen to eat, the austral parakeets move on to green langanuts.
28:12They're building up reserves before they can start nesting.
28:19The noisy acrobats perform daring stunts to reach the immature fruit.
28:30An eagle-eyed hunter keeps its gaze fixed on the distracted diners.
28:38A rufous-tailed hawk can snatch a parakeet from the air.
28:50But a warning from a watchful lookout makes the flock fly the coop.
28:56Safety in numbers pays off.
29:03The young Don Juan and his mate retreat to their new home in a nearby langa's trunk, an old woodpecker
29:11nest.
29:21A rufous-tailed hawk can snatch a parakeet, an old woodpecker nest.
29:22Maybe those few extra langanuts weren't such a good idea.
29:29This cavity seems to be made for a skinnier bird.
29:42He gets to work modifying the entrance so the female would fit comfortably.
29:49It's her job to incubate their eggs for the next three weeks, while the male tends to her needs.
29:55It's her job to incubate their eggs for the next three weeks.
30:20Autumn slays summer with a golden touch.
30:30It's March, fall in the southern hemisphere.
30:37The langa trees in the monkey puzzle forest are transforming.
30:43Adding vibrant hues of orange, red and yellow to their complexion.
30:55The evergreen Arakanas stand unwavering in this time of flux.
31:02Their deep green armor adds to the richness of Nawalbuta's autumn palette.
31:24By now, the colony of yellowjackets has grown to more than 8,000 wasps.
31:33By now, the colony of yellowjackets has grown to more than 8,000 wasps.
31:37The colony of yellowjackets will die off.
31:41But this is also when the next generation of queens are born, up to 300 of them.
31:50If they survive winter, each of them is likely to start her own colony.
31:55Which means the population of these pests increases year after year.
32:09As the autumn days grow colder, a familiar face appears at the foot of the female monkey puzzle tree.
32:18It's far warmer underneath her bark than out in the open.
32:24But something stands between him and the tree.
32:30A Chilean ocelot tarantula.
32:36This fierce-looking hunter prefers devouring insects and usually doesn't eat lizards.
32:43But that doesn't mean it won't try.
32:50The spider heads straight for the Arakanas.
32:57With its orange hair and reddish tuft, it's considered the most beautiful tarantula in Chile.
33:06Which makes it a sought-after species in the exotic pet trade.
33:12So much so, that it's now endangered.
33:20The spider scales the monkey puzzle's rough bark with ease.
33:29Best take another route.
33:37But someone else has the jeweled lizard in its sights.
33:47The short-tailed snake strikes.
33:56The plucky lizard fights back, biting his attacker's neck.
34:09The snake lacks conventional venom.
34:13But glands behind its eyes release a secretion that has a calming effect on the lizard.
34:22It flows down grooved fangs and into the subdued victim, who lets go.
34:34Now the snake can inch its mouth around the immobilized lizard's head.
34:41It will swallow him whole while he's still alive.
34:54With winter only a few months away, this is a welcomed feast that will last several days.
35:03Now for a well-deserved nap.
35:11By April, last year's crop of piñas has begun to dry on the female monkey puzzle's branches.
35:20The seeds nestled inside are finally mature.
35:27They are the male and female tree's offspring, ready to be sown.
35:36But before she can drop a single seed, the austral parakeets swoop in.
35:48They tear apart the cones to expose their treasures.
35:57They tear apart the cones to expose their treasures.
36:04But the parakeets are messy eaters.
36:11A flurry of seeds spills to the forest floor, allowing others to enjoy these nutritious nuggets.
36:21But the gray fox isn't interested in seeds.
36:29It's not just wildlife that appreciates these delicacies.
36:35The almond-sized piñones taste similar to pine nuts.
36:41They're a staple food for the local people, too.
36:55At this time of year, the Arakanas aren't the only trees feeding the forest.
37:02The Lenga tree's nuts are also ripe.
37:07The parakeets gorge on the dried nuts to fatten up for winter.
37:14Both Lenga nuts and the monkey puzzle's seeds are high in carbohydrates,
37:19which will sustain the flock through the lean times ahead.
37:27The maqui, or Chilean wineberry, is another ancient tree species
37:32whose fruit provides a much-loved feast for the rowdy birds.
37:39During this time of plenty, great flocks of parakeets gather to feed as a group.
37:46Some consisting of more than a hundred birds.
37:55The young parakeet couple's chick has fledged.
38:00From time to time, mom still treats the pleading youngster with a bite to eat.
38:09She regurgitates seeds and berries into its mouth, passing on the monkey puzzle's nourishment.
38:18The little one will pester its parents like this for a few more weeks,
38:23before seizing its independence and beginning its own quest for a mate.
38:41For eons, the moon has cast its glowing gaze over these forests.
38:56As the eye of the night climbs the dimming sky, its shimmering radiance floods Nawalbuta.
39:10In the pale moonlight, the archaic forms of a thousand living fossils seem to belong in one of those faraway
39:18galaxies.
39:27Tonight, one of the monkey puzzle's most important seed dispersers is out for its nightly treasure hunt.
39:35The long-clawed mouse.
39:40Its loot literally falls from the sky.
39:48But the little critter isn't as adept at peeling the seeds as its feathered friends.
39:57To gnaw through this tough skin is a test of its endurance.
40:03But it's well worth it.
40:07The mouse depends on the tree's highly nutritious seeds for its winter survival.
40:15And with so many now scattered on the forest floor, it buries some of its treasure for later.
40:25But it doesn't always retrieve its stash.
40:29The forgotten seeds take root where they're hidden.
40:34In this way, the tiny mouse helps this ancient and endangered tree to sow her seeds and gives her saplings
40:43a better chance to survive.
40:51May is the dawn of the cold, wet months.
40:58Brilliant white billows churn over Nawalbuta's darkening forests.
41:05Until finally, the clouds let go of their stormy burden.
41:12The age-old pair stand resolute against the elements.
41:19Winters fast approaching.
41:25The rain spurs the male into action, and he sprouts fresh green cones.
41:38The female monkey puzzle's branches bear the scars of the seasonal harvest.
41:45The parakeets have left her piñas in tatters.
41:51But amongst the half-eaten fodder, she still flaunts this year's fertilized cones.
42:01And tucked between the boulders in front of the matriarch, the female ocelot tarantula has constructed a nest.
42:10New life is emerging.
42:13Inside are hundreds of her furry offspring.
42:17The tiny spiderlings have already molted for the first time.
42:21They're exoskeletons littering the burrow floor.
42:26They'll have to grow and molt a few more times before they can leave the nest.
42:38The Magellanic woodpeckers also have a new addition to the family.
42:43A male.
42:47Junior doesn't yet have a striking red head like his father.
42:51But he's already mastering the art of finding larvae.
43:01When Dad calls, he still comes fluttering.
43:06They'll treat him to the odd grub from time to time until he's ready to go it alone.
43:11But this can take up to four years.
43:15For now, the doting parents rely on the monkey puzzle forest to raise their chick.
43:22These ancient arachana trees have stood the test of time.
43:29A home for countless species that nestle in their bark, hide among their spines, and feed high in their canopy.
43:41Today, Chile honors and protects them.
43:50This might be their last stand, but their story is not yet over.
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