Aired (March 21, 2025): Once called slow, this lizard stuns with its diving skills and perfect sunbathing routine.
For more Amazing Earth Highlights, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLYaldfT7P2R-suSwxKHEp3on5rSa9b50
Join Kapuso Primetime King Dingdong Dantes as he showcases the deadliest weather on planet Earth in GMA's newest infotainment program, 'Amazing Earth.' Catch the episodes every Friday at 9:35 PM on GMA Network. #AmazingEarthGMA #AmazingEarthYear6
For more Amazing Earth Highlights, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLYaldfT7P2R-suSwxKHEp3on5rSa9b50
Join Kapuso Primetime King Dingdong Dantes as he showcases the deadliest weather on planet Earth in GMA's newest infotainment program, 'Amazing Earth.' Catch the episodes every Friday at 9:35 PM on GMA Network. #AmazingEarthGMA #AmazingEarthYear6
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FunTranscript
00:00If there's an animal that's low-key, for sure, this is on the list.
00:04It moves around because it's on land, but when it swims in the sea,
00:08it's giving action hero vibes.
00:10The reason for that trip is here in Kwentong Amazing number 1.
00:14Booty kings,
00:15in the heat,
00:16and in the cold.
00:18Fishes are the first animals that tried to live on land.
00:22Not the modern fish that we have today,
00:25if not the old-school animals that we call lobe-finned fish.
00:31The most popular is the coelacanth.
00:34They've been extinct for 50 million years,
00:36until one of them survived.
00:39That was in 1938.
00:41We now know that the closest land animals to giving birth
00:46is a type of lobe-finned fish.
00:49The lung fish is used to oxygen and fresh water.
00:54Not long ago, lobe-finned fish became the arms and legs of land animals.
00:59The lung fish has a mouth, but their surroundings are low in oxygen.
01:04The lung fish has to swim up and down to breathe fresh air.
01:10The unique thing about this fish is that it has gills like ours.
01:14The lung fish now has problems that they can't experience.
01:19Land-based predators.
01:21Shoebill is just one of the fish that evolved from the old-school fish
01:25that decided to live on land.
01:27Now that land has been taken by other animals,
01:30there's only one thing to do.
01:32Go back to the sea.
01:34Otters are from the species of homesick land fish.
01:38For 5 million years,
01:40they were given sea-based web-feet,
01:43which are long, spiky, and water-proof fins.
01:46But they don't want to stay on land anymore.
01:49But because their bodies can't adjust to living in water,
01:53their 100% comeback to the sea hasn't happened yet.
01:58There are many sea animals that have homesick land fish.
02:04Whales are from the species of hippos.
02:08The penguin is a fat albatross with a small beak.
02:13The dugong is a cousin of the hyrax.
02:16But the so-called animals that can't survive are living here.
02:21The Galapagos Islands is known for its unique animals.
02:26Blue-footed booties.
02:29Gigantic dugong.
02:31Tropical penguins.
02:34Charles Darwin became famous for studying the not-so-interesting animals.
02:41The finch.
02:43The coolest and most alien animal is what he called
02:47the coolest and heaviest booties.
02:50It's so cool, right?
02:52What he liked the most about the booties that he called
02:56the darkest kampon is their taste.
02:59There, they ate it.
03:01The iguanas have no other home but the sea.
03:04That's why they only eat seaweed.
03:08The difference here is that they are not far from the iguanas on the ground.
03:13They are all iguanas, but they are not fond of the sea.
03:17The question is, what happened to a cold-blooded lizard
03:20that moves slowly on the ground
03:22and becomes an alien action hero under the sea?
03:27The water is cold.
03:29Every time it passes, it loses energy.
03:32Now, it needs to rest.
03:35And it fights its own weight to be able to dive 10 meters or more.
03:41At last, it attacked.
03:43It literally grabbed it while it was eating fast.
03:47It's hard, it might get cold.
03:50This iguana is also good at timing going up
03:53so that it still has energy.
03:55When it reaches the hot water,
03:57it will rest under the sun.
04:00It needs to warm up
04:02because there is one more thing that makes iguanas weird
04:06compared to other aliens.
04:08They can't digest what they eat alone.
04:11They rely on bacteria in their stomachs
04:14to break down the hard seaweed.
04:17And this will only happen when they are heated.
04:20It collects its strength to swallow the salt
04:23that its blood got using a special gland.
04:26Meanwhile, its cousins on the ground
04:29still haven't left their cacti.
04:32These two species are very similar.
04:35They can produce hybrids.
04:38Marine iguanas are land iguanas
04:41that have a different behavior compared to other creatures.
04:45In the air, compared to land iguanas,
04:47their feet have slightly curved toes.
04:50Their tails are thin like paddles.
04:53You can drown an iguana in water within an hour
04:56and you won't be able to kill it.
04:58They both switch to anaerobic respiration
05:02when they run out of air
05:04even though it's not necessary for land iguanas.
05:07Here's the trick.
05:08Lizards have salt-removing glands.
05:12In fairness,
05:13marine iguanas have the best salt glands compared to reptiles.
05:18The amount of salt they have
05:19will make any liver of a lizard itch.
05:23All of them.
05:24They change their behavior.
05:26They just follow their bodies.
05:28For example,
05:29they change their timing every time the sun rises.
05:32Their bodies are hot when it's sunny
05:34and when it's cloudy,
05:35they're cold from head to toe.
05:39And they're full.
05:40Just right, right?
05:41They're not different from most of us.
05:43They just fit in their place.
05:45As long as one is ahead,
05:46the others will follow.
05:56For more UN videos visit www.un.org