Vegetarian Piranhas

Written by Sy Montgomery

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Unlike anywhere else on Earth, in the flooded forests of the Amazon many fish feed on seeds and fruit for a significant part of the year—an arrangement that has sculpted unique adaptations in both plants and animals. When the annual rains come, the rivers rise and engulf much of the forest, inundating a floodplain the size of England for up to seven months a year. Most trees fruit during this high-water season, and at the same time more than 200 species of fruit-eating fish migrate into the flooded forest to gorge and to spawn. Many trees rely upon fish, especially ...(100 of 342 words)

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