There is an animal that stands out in the green forest. It is the largest animal capable of flying seeds in Australia, where there are few mammals and no monkeys. It has a dinosaur-like skull and dagger-like claws, measuring 2 meters in length, and it is a flightless bird called the cassowary. The cassowary feeds on fruits, and it is the male that takes care of the chicks, not the female. The colorful fruits are easily noticeable on the ground, making them vulnerable to being eaten. The cassowary has a neck adorned with a variety of colors, matching the colors of the fruits it eats. This coloration is said to serve the purpose of attracting mates, similar to the colors of food during mating season. However, the cassowary can only eat fruits that have fallen to the ground; it cannot reach fruits that are hanging high. Therefore, some figs give up their vibrant colors to accommodate the limitations of the cassowary.

The fruits grow under the tree. Even if the colors of the fruits are not changed to be more vibrant for the birds, they will still be noticeable to them. However, there are limits to visual temptations such as location and color. Visual temptations are only effective when approached closely. In such dense areas, other methods may be more effective. Smell can be detected even from a distance, especially if the odor is strong. Durian is a fruit that is prohibited from being brought onto airplanes due to its rotten smell, reminiscent of a sewer. However, there are animals that like this pungent smell. Orangutans are strong enough to move quite large fruits. An orangutan is capable of peeling the fruit's skin with its teeth. This means they are waiting for a large animal, which may be unpleasant to smell, but the taste is...

It is a paradise. Moreover, while the two are doing it, one is digested and becomes sexually active. Thanks to this, the seeds get scattered all over the place. It does not spread its seeds by itself. This plant is named after its habitat near water. The flower language of the water lily's fruit is Do not touch me. The seeds of the water lily explode and jump into the water by themselves. This allows them to grow again by the water. The seeds of this plant are very common edible flowers, yet the flowers point towards the ground. The ovary, which is the end part of the flower, grows. How does it know to grow downward? In the human ear, there are stones called otoliths that sense gravity. This plant also has a similar structure at the end of its ovary, which allows it to grow in the direction of gravity.

When buried in the ground, the likelihood of damage decreases while the probability of growth increases. After about a month, seeds begin to germinate at the end of the pods. There is a desire for the peanuts that have planted themselves in the soil to grow well. This desire is not exclusive to animals. After the flowers wilt, the pods elongate like columns reaching towards the sky. People may have created weapons after observing the way this plant's seeds disperse. The seeds are located at the bottom of the columns, and soon they will disappear. The plant, like a catapult, launches its seeds. While it is not entirely clear what mechanism is at work, the seeds are propelled in an instant. Plants are often thought to be stationary, but they may be moving so quickly that it goes unnoticed.

Slow is just a perspective of humans; plants live in a different timeframe. Here, there are plants with longer seed pods. What is the role of these spear-like seed pods? Originally, they should fall to the ground, but a seed that lands incorrectly ends up on the grass. However, the seed keeps trying to curl its tail. Now, a perfectly formed seed falls. Why does this seed have a spring-like tail? When we plant seeds, we always make sure to water them afterward. The seeds of the chrysanthemum begin to spread only when it rains, knowing that it is a good time to dig in and grow. The optimal depth for planting seeds is 1.5 times the size of the seed. The seed can easily burrow this much. What’s even more surprising is that it makes the digging angle vertical.

The unwatered tail part serves that role. The seed, which plants itself in the soil, solves the final problem of the seeds that have fallen to the ground by itself. It doesn't matter if the spring is completely unwound before it even gets buried in the ground; the seed anticipates such situations. When it dries out, the spring rewinds and returns to its original state, waiting for the next rain. The desire of our plant friends to do their best for reproduction, until the very end, raises the question: just how far does that desire go?

EBS 다큐프라임 - 자연다큐멘터리 녹색동물(GREEN ANIMAL) 1부- 번식_#003

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