The Americas: The Amazon’s Pantanal, the Largest Tropical Wetland in the World, Explained
In episode 4 of The Americas, we visit the Amazon Rainforest and the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland.
In each of The Americas’ 10 incredible episodes, we visit a different part of the titular Americas, getting up close and personal with unique landscapes and the plants and animals who live there. In the fourth episode, we visited “The Amazon,” one of the most impressive environments on the planet.
It’s the world’s largest rainforest, containing the world’s largest river, home to giant snakes, pink river dolphins, and more biological diversity than anywhere else on Earth. The Amazon covers nearly half of South America, fed by the vast Amazon River. Alongside the hidden turtle nesting grounds, troupes of hunting river otters, and swarms of destructive army ants, you’ll find the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland on the planet.
The Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland, fed by a sky river of clouds
While the Amazon River gets all of the attention for holding 15 percent of the world’s fresh water, there’s an even larger source of water flowing overhead. The dense vegetation of the forest pulls water from the earth, then breathes it out as water vapor. Some of that water falls back down to the forest as rain but the rest of it spreads into the wider environment.
The forest creates a river of clouds in the sky, carrying water all over South America. Those rains provide fresh water to millions of people and create the Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland in the world. It’s a vast collection of shallow lakes, marshes, grasslands, and forests 20 times the size of the Florida Everglades.
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The exact size of the Pantanal varies throughout the year, swelling to roughly 75,000 square miles during the rainy season. It supports more than 250 species of fish, 650 species of birds, and a wide variety of terrestrial animals including tapirs, marsh deer, howler and capuchin monkeys, capybaras, giant anteaters, and more.
Every year torrential rains flood the Pantanal, filling the landscape with fresh water. Later, when the rains subside, water drains into the Paraguay river. Isolated pools of fish and snails get left behind, attracting birds and other predators, including 15-foot anaconda, elegant jaguars, and an estimated 4 million yacare caiman.
The submarine singing of the Pantanal’s yacare caiman
Most of the time, adult yacare caiman are solitary, but during the rainy season they gather by the thousands to mate. The males grow to between 6 and 10 feet and weigh approximately 100 pounds, fully grown. Females are comparatively smaller, growing to about 5 feet long and weighing between 30 and 45 pounds. They are notable for brown scaly skin and small dark marks across the body.
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During mating season, males fight over shallow water territory, looking for the best place to make their mating display. Once they find a spot they like, the show begins. With their bodies underwater, males generate low-frequency roars. Sound waves travel through the water, making the surface dance in a parade of droplets, and the spectacle draws the attention of females.
If the performance is good enough, they wrap themselves around one another and mate. The female builds a nest made of mud and vegetation, then lays her eggs, usually between 20 and 35. Once the babies hatch they’re on their own, feeding and defending themselves from day one. If they survive the wilderness of the Pantanal to maturity, they’ll come back here themselves to find their own dance partner.
Where to Watch The Americas
The Americas debuted with a special two-part premiere on Sunday February 23, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Viewers were treated to a documentary double feature two weeks in a row, following a schedule change. New episodes will air weekly on Sundays at 8:00 pm ET and will be streaming on Peacock the following day!
