Giant hieroglyphs? Coral reefs? Pink dolphins? These and other curious facts of this enigmatic and magical jungle territory.

Coral reef in the Amazon River.

Perhaps you think this type of training exists only in the oceans, it is not, even more amazing is the fact that they exist in the muddy waters of the Amazon River. A group of scientists, led by Rodrigo Moura, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, found the existence of the reef along almost one thousand kilometers and at a depth that varies between 30 and 120 meters, with more than 60 species of sponges, 73 species of fish, lobsters, starfish and much more diversity of life.

Giant hieroglyphs hidden in the jungle floor.

Surely you will know the hieroglyphic giants in the desert of Nasca Peru, these are not the only giant figures carved on the ground in South America. A group of archaeologists from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, flying over the deforested areas of the Amazon discovered circles, squares and hexagons carved into the ground, many of these geometric figures have a diameter of more than 100 meters, according to preliminary investigations were Settlements of communities that were inhabited by between 500,000 and one million people, between the years 1,200 and 1,450. Paradoxically, these areas are considered "worthless" archaeological because they are far from the large rivers where initially weighed were the only sites where pre-Columbian communities were established.

Photo: University of Exeter.

Photo: University of Exeter.

Pink dolphins.

Also known as Boto, Boutu or Amazon river dolphin is one of the 5 known species of freshwater dolphins. Very present in the myths and legends of the pre-Columbian cultures of the Amazon area. The pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) is friendly, social and curious by nature, the reason why they are pink is unknown, it is said to be a consequence of the habitat where they live, they are almost totally blind due to the turbid waters where lives, it is considered the most intelligent freshwater dolphin and although it seems incredible because of its resemblance they do not have direct relationship with the sea dolphins since they come from different families.

The greatest diversity of life on earth.

Between 1999 and 2009, more than 1,200 new species of plants and animals were discovered, which means a new species every three days, confirming that the Amazon is the place with the greatest diversity of life on earth, according to the WWF report: Amazon Alive! A decade of Discovery 1999-2009.

One of the largest carbon reserves.

The Amazon not only has the greatest diversity of life on the planet, it is also one of the largest carbon reserves, hosting between 90 and 140 billion tons of carbon. Releasing all this gas to the atmosphere would be lethal for the life of the planet, one more reason to take care of the Amazon rainforest.

The river with more water in the world.

The Amazon river is the river with the largest amount of water in the world, it is estimated that it contains much more water than the Nile, the Yangtze and the Mississippi together and is more than 6,400 kilometers long. It represents approximately one fifth of the total fluvial flow worldwide, crossing 9 countries of South America: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana and Suriname. It pours so much water into the Atlantic that, more than 160 kilometers out in the open sea in front of the mouth of the river, you can drink fresh water from the ocean.

The Amazon is a green jewel on our planet Earth, not only its diversity, its rich resources and its great mysteries yet to be discovered, because we has to remember that it still has huge unexplored areas, it is what it represents for us as a species that inhabits this blue planet, our only home.

More awareness and protection for our forests!

Thank you for reading.

Sources and references:

• Wwf.panda.org. (2018). Increíbles descubrimientos en el Amazonas en la última década. [online] Available at: http://wwf.panda.org/?196150/Increibles-descubrimientos-en-el-Amazonas-en-la-ultima-dcada [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].

• iAgua. (2018). 10 curiosidades sobre el Amazonas, el río de los excesos. [online] Available at: https://www.iagua.es/blogs/magic-places/10-curiosidades-amazonas-rio-excesos [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].

• RT en Español. (2018). "Nos quedamos todos atónitos": Gran descubrimiento en las profundidades del Amazonas. [online] Available at: https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/205562-descubren-enorme-arrecife-coral-amazonas [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].

• BBC News Mundo. (2018). El sorprendente hallazgo de un grupo de aldeas en el Amazonas que replantea la historia de la selva más grande del mundo. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-43575866 [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].

• Images taken from Pexels.com. (2018). Free stock photos: https://www.pexels.com/

• Images taken from Pixabay.com. (2018). Stunning Free Images: https://pixabay.com/

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