How much do you know about Amazon Rainforest? The truth is that, even though it’s very important for the whole of humanity, few people know much about this ancient place which was formed 55 million
years ago.
Let me start with revealing the origins of the forest’s name. It was given by Francisco Orellana, a Spanish
explorer who was attacked by female warriors ‘Tapuyas’ in the forest. He clearly saw reminiscence
between this tribe and female warriors Amazons of Greek mythology and named this place the Amazon
Rainforest.
It is also a place where people have made really bizarre discoveries, and here are but a few of them. To
find out the most bizzaro of them all. Make sure you stay tuned till the end. Here are 15 of the most
bizarre discoveries made in the Amazon.

Giant Spiders
The Amazon is home to a lot of bizarre creatures. This is but one of them.
This is the goliath birdeater. As you may have guessed from its name, it’s a spider so huge that it can eat
birds. In fact, it’s the heaviest tarantula in the world. With a body length of 13 centimeters, it makes
almost every other spider look tiny.
Luckily for us, it’s not dangerous to humans. However, if you touch its prickly hair which it can shed
when approached, it can cause irritation that can last for days.

Real Ents
If you watched Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy then you surely remember huge tree-like creatures
called Ents. Guess what, they’re more real than Gandalf. While they don’t look and act exactly like it was
shown in the movie, they can walk. The speed of their movement is tremendously slow because these
trees move due to new roots growing toward sunlight and replacing the old roots. Imagine how much
time it takes them to walk one meter.
These trees are known as walking palms or Cashapona. If you spot them in the forest, please don’t wait
until you see them move.

See-through Frogs
You’ve probably seen this unique frog before on Discovery Channel or National Geographic. Now let me
tell you some more information about it so that can be the coolest guy in the party, that is if you’re
attending a party for people that have a strange liking for frog facts.
Glass frogs live in Amazon Rainforest, they usually have a green color and they are famous for the
transparency of their skin which makes their inner organs visible. Because of that, frog’s body takes the

color of the surroundings and makes it difficult for predators to see it. So it wasn’t made like this for our
entertainment. Evolution doesn’t joke around.

The Legendary Pink Dolphin
This is one of the most incredible Amazon river residents. Pink dolphins can grow larger than humans
and there’s an interesting legend about them which suggest that these dolphins can transform into
handsome men in the evening. Disguised as men, they hypnotize and seduce young women and turn
into dolphins again closer to the sunrise.
I don’t know where this legend originated from, but looking at this dolphin I can hardly suggest him
doing anything like this.
In regards to their skin color, scientists are still not sure why it’s pink. They suppose that it happens due
to blood capillaries near their skin’s surface.

A Giant Amazonian Flower

The list of giant Amazonian things continues with this giant flower which reminds an alien monument,
rather than a flower. Calling this flower strange would be inappropriate, because it is more than just
strange. The name ‘Amorphophallus Titanum’ is a scientific name of the flower and its nickname is
‘corpse flower’. How cute is that? It was named like this due to the disgusting odor which can be smelled
when the flower blooms.
However, that happens rarely because it blooms only a few times during its 40 year life span.

Plastic Eating Fungus
Pestalotiopsis microspora is an extremely important fungus because it can help us solve the global
plastic pollution problem. It was found in the Amazon Rainforest by a student of Yale University Pria
Anand. She examined almost 60 samples and one of them was especially significant because it could
grow and survive without oxygen. It makes these fungi a powerful tool in eliminating the plastic in the
oceans and other places devoid of oxygen.
Research is in early stages, but scientists hope that these fungi can provide a solution to one of the
biggest environmental problems of humanity. No word if they have adverse effects on human who had
too much plastic surgery done though.