Peculiar Partners Barney's Latin America

Hola, mis amigos! Bienvenidos a Barney's America Latina.

Arriba! Arriba! It's show time. Let me introduce you to

a crazy carnival of creatures, from fabulously freaky frogs

to hollering howler monkeys to manic meat-eating plants. Es magnifico!

And what's more, they're all connected to each other

in this wonderful world of wildlife

by funny, fabulous and fantastic facts.

-Get on with it!

-Oh, sorry.

Tres, dos, uno. Es la hora de Barney's Latin America!

Just take a look at that, Zico.

Latin American rainforest at its best. Isn't it amazing?

You can see the fog going through the trees and in the distance.

See that? That is the Caribbean coast. Beautiful.

Barney? What are you doing?

Um, nothing. I'm, I'm just, um...

What is that? A cuddly toy? Why have you got a teddy?

For your information, he's called Zico. My best mate.

Some say we're inseparable. I've been showing him the rainforest,

-like a little guided tour.

-Sometimes I think you're a bit strange.

I'm in good company. Think about it,

because today's guests have all got peculiar partnerships.

Oh, yeah, from birds as bessie mates to wolves who love fruit.

Yeah, and we've also got rodents who are nuts about...well, nuts.

Seriously, Barney, a teddy, at your age?

Yeah, whatever! We've got some more sightseeing to do.

Well, I think it's ridiculous.

-Look at that. We've got a tree over there...

-Don't you agree?

I mean, with me and you it's different, you know? We're girls.

I mean, I'm not talking to a teddy monkey, ha-ha!

Zico, look. There's some trees.

You like my lipstick? Oh, thanks. Your hair's lovely.

Attention! Quick march!

These little guys here are leaf-cutter ants.

-Well, I can see how they get the name.

-Exactly.

They are experts at cutting pieces out of leaves,

which they then carry back to their nests.

Crikey. Those bits of leaf are huge.

-Must be strong little ants.

-They are.

Leaf-cutter ants give a whole new meaning to small and mighty.

They can lift up to 12 times their own body weight.

Wow! Wish I was that strong.

Yey!

Yeah, in your dreams, Barney.

So, the ants can't live without those leaves, right?

Kind of, but it's a bit more complicated than that.

These ants are not just ordinary ants. They are gardeners.

Oh, OK, like the Alan Titchmarshes of the bug world?

That's right, and in their gardens, they use all those bits

of leaf to grow a very special crop,

which looks a bit like a mini-mushroom.

What? So the ants use the bits of leaves to grow a fungal feast?

Yeah, and the fungus is fed by the ants' poo.

Cool! Now that's what I call recycling.

-Exactly, and plenty of poo and lots of leaves means lunch.

-Yummy!

I wouldn't like to eat poo-covered mushrooms every day

for the rest of my life...because as we all know, I am a "fun-guy"!

Ha, ha, ha!

Huh! "Fun-guy", "fungi" - very funny - not!

These ants will never go hungry,

as long as they keep gardening and keep on growing their special fungus.

The ants would probably starve without their fungal friend.

And the fungus wouldn't be able to grow without being given a constant

supply of leaves to grow on by the ants.

Next, please.

Time for our next partnership - it's the Galapagos tortoise.

She looks like she's been around for a while.

-You're no spring chicken yourself!

-Sorry!

That's quite likely, because these guys can live between

100 and 150 years, and that allows them to reach quite a size.

These species are easily the world's biggest tortoise.

A top weight of over 300 kilos is not unheard of.

150 years old? You're having me on.

I'm not, Barney.

A big old girl like that can look after herself, surely.

Pretty well, yes, but she has little problem with her...um, hygiene.

Maybe she should just have a bath.

They haven't brought my bikini.

That's not going to be necessary.

Bring on the finches.

Ah, so the tortoise has some bird buddies.

Mrs T has hangers-on like ticks and parasites,

which burrow into the soft skin under her shell.

Looks like she's exercising.

This is no time for press-ups.

She lifts her shell up so that her finch friends can get into

the nooks and crannies and get rid of all of those pesky parasites.

Oh, left a bit. Right a bit.

Oh, yes!

Hey, those finches are fab.

And after a feast of ticks and lice, the finches have had their fill.

And Mrs T is tick-free - another successful partnership.

Which brings us to our connection.

Both the tortoise and those leaf-cutter ants are linked,

because they both supply their partners with food.

What's coming up next?

Well, with all that water around from the mighty Amazon river,

it's no surprise that there are a lot of swamps,

and when you get swamps, you get capybaras.

-Capy-whats?

-Capybaras.

They're sometimes known as water hogs, but these aren't pigs.

They're rodents.

They're a bit like giant guinea pigs.

Yeah, in fact, they're the biggest rodents of all,

and weigh in at around 65 kilos.

So even though they aren't pigs, they're the size of one.

They are so at home in the water, they even have slightly webbed feet.

Well, it's that or wellies in all that mud.

But capybaras love a good mud bath!

Oh, lovely, what a bubble bath.

-It's not a bubble bath.

-What?

-FARTING

Steve, that's disgusting!

-It coats their fur in mud and gives them protection.

-Like sun cream?

Yeah, kind of, but it's not the sun they need protection from.

It's those pesky pests and parasites again.

They're coming, quick!

-Thank goodness!

-God, they get everywhere, don't they?

Yeah, and as you can see, it's the old back-scratching problem again.

I guess stumpy, webbed feet can't be much good for scratching.

-It's not easy.

-That's true.

So the capybara gets someone to do it for them - the caracara.

It's got quite a sharp beak.

Is this wise?

It absolutely is.

This bird just happens to have an appetite for bugs, grubs and flies,

all of which drive those poor capybaras mad.

-So they have their own personal grooming service?

-Exactly,

and they both get a good deal from their peculiar partnership.

Well, the capybara certainly seems happy.

The capybara is linked to our ancient tortoises by the fact

that both of them enlist the help of birds to get rid of pesky parasites.

So both the capybara and the tortoise have birds as buddies.

Our next guest is, frankly, a little bit strange-looking.

Me? Strange?

-It's the sloth.

-Now, that is one weird-looking animal.

But although the sloth is a bit odd-looking,

for the way he lives, he is perfectly designed.

Well, those claws do look ideal for hanging from trees.

It spends most of its time upside down.

It even gives birth upside down.

And just hanging around all day is fine, because the sloth doesn't need

to move too quickly because of his diet.

Oh, has he got to go on fat fighters?

Fat? It's all muscle!

Barney, he's not on a diet! He just eats leaves,

so he doesn't need to move around too much because he's surrounded by them.

Ah, I see. So where's his partner?

Well, have you noticed how the sloth's fur is green?

That's because its hair is covered in algae.

Isn't that the green stuff that you get in a pond?

Well, it's very similar,

but this type of algae grows really well in the sloth's fur.

Well, why doesn't it wash itself, the dirty algae-covered sloth?

Because the algae helps it to camouflage itself in the treetops.

Shh! I'm hiding.

And the algae even makes the sloth smell like a plant.

-Like a rose.

-More like a cabbage!

So they're virtually invisible to predators.

Has anybody seen a sloth?

-Anybody? No?

-That's amazing.

The sloth's algae partner actually helps it to survive.

Ah, but Barney, there's a final twist to this story.

Our sloth has another peculiar partner.

Ew, what are those?

-Moths. There are moths that live in the sloth's fur.

-Well, how rude.

They feed on the algae and stop too much of it from growing.

Let me get this straight. Algae lives on the sloth,

and the moth lives on the sloth too because it likes to eat the algae.

-Yep.

-Yummy!

Like the caracara, the sloth moths get their food

from the fur of their partner.

So both the sloth and the capybara have partners.

They get food from their fur.

Here's a puzzle for you, Gem.

I bet you can't guess what this is.

The leaves look a bit like banana leaves.

That's a pretty good guess, because they are related to bananas.

These are heliconias.

Those flowers are a really weird shape.

Well, that is a clue to their partners, because the flowers

are mainly pollinated by something that can reach right inside them

with no problem.

-What-oh!

-Hummingbirds!

Yep, birds that hum.

Heliconias are pollinated by nectar-loving hummingbirds.

They have such a fast metabolism, they need to drink a lot of nectar

to keep their fuel levels up.

-Wow! You can say that again!

-Oh, OK.

They have such a fast metabolism, they need to drink a lot of...

Ha, ha, ha. Very funny(!)

Cor, they don't hang around, do they?

The heliconias are so closely linked to their bird pollinators

that the flowers perfectly fit the shape of the hummingbird's head.

That's amazing. It's like they were made for each other.

Every time a hummingbird visits a flower to feed, its head lines up

perfectly, so the pollen from the plant dusts off onto its head.

And then it carries the pollen on to the next flower it visits?

Exactly, and when the hummingbird passes the pollen

on to a new flower, it turns into a fruit full of seeds.

The heliconia does well out of this deal, doesn't it?

Yeah, but skipping from flower to flower,

the hummingbirds get their fill of high-energy nectar,

so they're pretty happy with the arrangement too.

Now, that's a great partnership!

And it links nicely to our sloth's moth partner,

which feeds on the sloth's algae,

because the hummingbirds also get their food from a plant.

So both the sloth's moth mate and the hummingbird

rely on plant partners for food.

So, how did we get from the leaf-cutter ants...

To the hummingbirds in our line-up of partners?

You're about to find out. It's recap time.

The leaf-cutter ants are linked to the giant tortoise,

because they both provide food for their partners.

And then we have the capybara, which linked up with the tortoise,

because they both relied on bird buddies to lend them a helping beak.

Which connects to our sloth,

because it also has a partner which feasts in its fur.

Algae in the sloth's fur provides our sloth moths with food

just like the heliconia plant feeds its hummingbird buddies.

-Gem, those are some very clever connections.

-Ha!

You haven't seen anything yet.

Let's have a look at some more peculiar partners.

The Amazon is the biggest rainforest in the world, so everything is

on a grand scale, and you don't get much more grand than these.

Now, that is what you call a water lily.

Yep, these are giant Amazon water lilies,

and they really live up to their name.

They have the second biggest leaves of any plant, and they can measure

-two metres across, with a stalk of six metres.

-That is a lot of leaf.

But hang on, Gem. I thought this was going to be about a beetle.

We'll get to the beetles later.

I'm just getting to the best bit.

-Well, the best bit is just a big plant.

-A-ha!

But this plant is so big that its leaves could support a small child.

But not a grown Barney!

Hey-ho! Hey-ho!

Arghh! Hmm.

These amazing water lilies rapidly grow into an impenetrable

blanket of leaves, and then it's time to flower.

Oh, partner alert! Partner alert!

Cue our star beetle. Amazon lily beetles are a type of scarab beetle,

and they find the smell of the lily's white flower irresistible.

You smell gorgeous!

And fly in to feed on the nectar.

Hang on. The lily just ate the beetle.

Oh, let me out of here! Help! Help!

These aren't carnivorous plants, Barney. They just need a favour.

The scarab beetle is trapped overnight, and the flower

turns from female to male, showering the beetle with pollen.

A bit like the heliconia and the hummingbird.

-Exactly.

-I'm absolutely covered in pollen!

Oh, good. The beetle's escaped.

I'm free, free!

And the first thing it will do is fly off

and find another seductively-smelling white lily.

And look. The flower the beetle was trapped in has turned pink.

And it's lost its smell,

so any beetle buddies won't bother coming back to it again.

These scarab beetles pollinate the giant water lily,

allowing it to form seeds and make new plants.

And at the same time, the beetle gets a nectar feast

-and a night's accommodation.

-Oh, not again!

Yeah, whether it wants it or not.

The Amazonian lily beetle pollinates giant water lilies

just like the hummingbirds pollinate the heliconia plant.

Both the lily beetles and the hummingbirds are linked,

because they are plant pollinators.

One tree that is found all over the forest is the fig tree.

Mmm, I love figs!

Mmm. Mmm.

-So do the forest animals.

-Figs, figs, figs, figs.

Figs, figs, figs, figs, figs. What?

Because lots of them feed on the figs.

-Figs, fig, figs...

-So the figs' mate is a monkey or something?

No, Gem. You're thinking too big.

The fig's peculiar partner is a wasp.

Oh, I am out of here! I hate wasps!

Oh, don't worry. These wasps are tiny, wee little ones,

and the fig is reliant on them for pollination.

Ah, they are small, aren't they?

Yeah, and there's a reason for that.

You see, the wasps actually grow up inside the figs.

Ugh, I think I've gone off figs! Egh!

The female wasp crawls through a small hole in the fig flower

and lays her eggs.

And as she does this, she pollinates the flower.

So the fig provides the wasps with a nest?

Yep, and when the eggs hatch, the female wasps fly out

of their fig flower, taking pollen from that fig to the next.

So the wasps get a home, and the figs get pollinated.

And this weirdly close relationship

has been going on for over 80 million years.

Wow! They must be great partners, then.

They are!

And the fig wasps are connected to the Amazon lily beetle,

because they both become trapped inside their plant partners.

So both the lily beetles and the fig wasps are linked by the fact that

they are both imprisoned by plants.

This bird is a hoatzin,

and it looks like a cool punk rocker, with its feathery Mohican.

ROCK MUSIC

Well, in a tropical rainforest, it's good to be cool.

The hoatzin is about the same size as a pheasant,

and it likes nothing more than to sit in the treetops eating leaves.

It only eats leaves?

That's a bit of a dull diet!

You got any ketchup?

But aren't leaves a bit tough to eat all the time?

The hoatzin is a remarkable bird,

because it is the only bird in the world that has a crop

filled with bacteria, which it uses to break down those leaves.

Barney, you're losing me.

I think it might be time for...

Professor Piranha.

Yes, it's me, the genius of the jungle.

Um, Professor P, what's all this bacteria crop nonsense?

I thought a crop grew in a field like wheat or oats or something.

Well, young Gemma, in this case, a crop is a pouch in the neck

-where many birds break down food before swallowing.

-Ah!

In the hoatzin, and only in the hoatzin, the crop is full

of microscopic bacteria, so when it eats leaves, the bacteria breaks

them down, making it possible for the hoatzin to then digest them,

which, of course, it does.

Thank you, professor.

So the bacteria are safe and sound in the crop of the hoatzin,

getting regularly fed fresh leaves,

which they then break down, so the hoatzin can eat them.

And those bacteria allow the hoatzin to eat all sorts of tough,

and even poisonous, leaves, which it wouldn't be able to without them.

It's a perfect partnership.

It is. But there is a downside to the arrangement.

Because of its diet, the hoatzin smells like a big pile of poo,

earning its name of "stink bird".

Ooh, nice!

Both the hoatzin and fig wasp

have partners that assist with their daily diets.

The fig wasp has a constant source of figs to eat,

and the hoatzin's bacterial partner helps to digest its leaves.

The moist, tropical rainforest is the ideal home for our next guest.

-This is the poison arrow frog.

-Now, that is one colourful little frog!

And each different species has its own spectacular strip.

Cool. Looking good, frogs!

Those bright colours are a warning to any predators,

as these guys live up to their name.

-What? They're poisonous?

-Yep!

Oh, yes!

Local tribes in the Amazon roll their arrows on the back of these frogs,

coating them in poison,

which makes the arrows deadly enough to down any jungle animal in seconds.

Wow! Now, that is toxic!

But the reason this little frog joins our list is this -

when they breed, the male carries the tadpole way up into the canopy

to find a pond for it to grow up in.

There can't be any ponds up there!

Well, that's what you think!

This plant is a bromeliad,

and it grows on tree branches high up in the canopy, and in its centre...

Oh, that's cheating. You didn't mention ponds in plants.

Got ya! This little pool is the perfect splash pad

for our tadpole to grow up in.

What? So the tadpole lives in there until it becomes a fully grown frog?

Yep, it does, and here's the clever bit - the tadpole is a perfect

partner for the bromeliad, because any poo it produces feeds the plant,

which is very useful indeed when its nearest soil is ten storeys below.

Huh! Who'd have thought a bit of tadpole plop

would have come in so useful, hey, Gem?

Which means the hoatzin and poison arrow frog are linked,

because they both provide their partners with food in return.

The hoatzin provides food for the bacteria, and the poison arrow frog's

poo provides nourishment for the bromeliad.

This is the Brazil nut tree,

and it relies on a partner with a unique skill.

I love Brazil nuts, because they remind me of Christmas. I know,

let's sing Jungle Bells.

Ready?

Stop it.

Anyway, the fruits of the Brazil nut fall down through the canopy

to the forest floor, and there they sit, because this is one tough nut.

Don't mention me, mate!

-Ah, it doesn't look that tough to me!

-Well, it is,

and there's only one critter that is capable of cracking it.

The agouti.

Oh, yes, please. Two sugars!

-Hey, look! It's a bit like one of them capybaras.

-I'm better looking.

That's right, because agoutis are rodents too, and just like

all rodents, the agouti has teeth which never stop growing.

Really? That could be a bit painful.

Not a problem, because the teeth are constantly worn down when it eats,

forming sharp, strong chisels.

Strong enough to crack a tough nut?

Yep, and once the nut is cracked, the agouti has its fill.

But then it does something which makes it

the Brazil nut tree's bessie mate.

Not if it's scoffed all the nuts, it's not. It's a rubbish partner.

If my best mate ate all my nuts, I would not be happy.

But that's the point. It doesn't eat all the nuts.

It saves some of them, and hides them all over the forest

to nibble on later.

-So technically, he's still going to eat them.

-Ah, not necessarily,

because agoutis are not the brainiest rodents in town.

Um, where did I put those nuts? Oh, it's in my mouth.

They tend to forget where they've stashed their nuts,

and those forgotten nuts grow into new Brazil nut trees.

Has anyone seen any nuts?

Ah, so it helps spread the Brazil nut trees round the forest.

Which is something the tree couldn't do without its toothy buddy.

Seriously, has someone borrowed my nuts?

So the Brazil nut tree is helped to spread and grow by the agouti,

just like the poison arrow frog helps the bromeliad to grow

by providing it with food.

The agouti and the poison arrow frogs are linked,

because they both help their plant partners survive.

Hey, Gem, that last story was nuts.

Barney, get on with introducing our next guests.

OK, I guess that was a bit of a howler!

Anyway, speaking of which...

-Is that a wolf?

-Yeah, but not just any wolf.

-This is a maned wolf.

-Ooh, and I can see why.

Look at that black mane on its back.

Maned wolves live on the grasslands of South America,

where they have a pretty varied diet.

They spend most of their time hunting out tasty morsels,

such as insects and small mammals.

-Us?

-You're a big mammal.

-Thank you.

Ooh, look. He's got something.

Yeah, but this diet needs a health warning.

Some of the things the maned wolf eats

carry the eggs of parasitic worms, and inside the maned wolf...

-these eggs hatch out.

-Barney, that's gross!

Imagine having lots of little worms living inside you - ew!

As the worms grow, they can start to make the maned wolf feel ill,

and lots of maned wolves end up being killed

by these grim wrigglers.

I feel terribly, terribly woozy - awful, awful!

But that's not much of a partnership.

Well, Gem, don't worry about our wolves,

because they've found a cure from a very odd source.

More than half of their diet is made up of a special fruit,

which is actually named after them, the fruit of the wolf.

Looks like it's time for a midnight feast.

When the fruit is ripe, the wolves gorge on it,

and it's just as well, because the fruit contains a chemical

which kills off all those parasitic worms.

So the fruit is the wolves' cure to make sure they stay healthy

-and worm free?

-Exactly.

For a maned wolf, eating fruit doesn't just keep them healthy.

It can actually save their lives.

Good job they eat so much of it, then.

And of course, when the maned wolf roams the grasslands

after a fruity feast, he then has a poo.

The seeds of the fruit are spread across the plain,

and that poo also gives the new fruit plants a head start.

But here's the really, really clever bit.

Just like the Brazil nut relying on the agouti to spread its seeds,

the fruit of the wolf relies on the maned wolf to do the same.

So both the maned wolf and the agouti distribute and even plant the seeds

of their peculiar plant partners.

And that's not all.

Leaf-cutter ants sometimes collect maned wolves' poo

and take it into their nests to feed their fungus gardens.

Which takes us right back to the start of our incredibly friendly

line-up of peculiar partners.

So now we've seen the whole line-up. Let's take a look back at how we got

all the way from the leaf-cutter ant to the maned wolf.

Ready for this? Deep breath.

The leaf-cutter ants and the Galapagos tortoises

are connected because they both provide food for their partners.

Our tortoises and the capybara both have bird buddies,

which peck away any unwanted pests,

and just like the capybara, the sloth's fur is maintained by a mate.

The sloth's moth and the hummingbirds both use their

plant partners for food, and the hummingbird is just like

the water lily beetle because they are both plant pollinators.

Those fig wasps are trapped by the flowers that they pollinate,

just like the water lily beetle, and the fig wasps live inside figs

just like those bacteria live inside the hoatzin.

The hoatzin is linked to the poison arrow frog

because both of them provide food for their partners,

and the poison arrow frog and the agouti

both help their plant partners survive.

SPED-UP SPEECH

Anyone seen any nuts?

And lastly, the maned wolf links back to the agouti, because both

of them help spread the seeds of their plant partners,

and the maned wolf also gets a little help from those

leaf-cutter ants, which brings us right back to where we started.

Do you know what, Gem? I'm exhausted after all of that.

It's been worth it, because we have met some amazing animals

and seen how they've learned to live together in the most weird

-and wonderful ways.

-They sort of need each other

-to get along as well, don't they?

-To help feed each other.

-Clean each other.

-From partners you can see...

To partners you can't.

You know what, Gem, I've got to say, I'm very excited that I've got

a partner that I can trust, you know, one that I can rely on,

-one who's always there for me.

-Ah, me?

No, Zico. Look at him. Look how cool he is.

That is the funky monkey of the rainforest.

I can call him in the middle of the night and ask him what's going on.

He's there for me. Not only that, he's a friend.

He goes on tours with me and everything. Before, we went out

on the dirt track, looking at some vultures, and he was like...

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