An example of survival and another of intelligence. Two animals from Costa Rica appear in the Netflix series that explains the evolution of life on Planet Earth.Life on Our Planet is an eight-part series produced by renowned artist Steven Spielberg. It is available from the end of October 2023.
Dozens of animals, plants and scenarios are part of the narrative of the violent but beautiful process of formation of this planet. The changes they experienced over thousands of years allow us to understand the intense evolution they have gone through.And two animals that live in Costa Rica were the perfect example in two moments.
Survival example
Chapter four tells the story of the era of reptiles, a species that has taken advantage of its hard, scaly skin to survive even the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
However, in the particular case of lizards, their ability to swim is reduced, so they had to adapt to survive some predators. For example, a bird that attacked them from above.
The Costa Rican anole lizard developed an “extraordinary survival technique,” says actor Morgan Freeman, narrator of the English-language series.A bubble that sticks to the skin and repels water allows it to form its own diving tank. Thanks to this, you can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes, as the series explains.
A big brain
The development and growth of the brain allowed mammals to have an additional tool, which today makes them the dominant species: intelligence.The series moves to the forests of Costa Rica to capture the capuchin monkeys. In the images you can see one of them constantly hitting a closed clam until opening it to remove the meat.
Intelligence, the narrator explains, causes species to be curious, which can bring great benefits.This development of intellectual capacity was not the only thing that allowed mammals to grow, expand and dominate other species. Another bonus was the milk.
Recently Costa Rica appeared in another series on the same platform: “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones”. Through the different chapters we try to explain why in some regions of the world people can live longer. They are known as Blue Zones.One of these regions is the Nicoya Peninsula, in Guanacaste.
