In the Amazon River, an animal in life can produce up to 860 volts of high-voltage electricity, and it is not a problem to knock down animals within 3 to 6 meters in an instant. They were selected as one of the "most feared freshwater animals on earth" by the National Geographic website, known as the "high-voltage line in the water", which is the electric eel that makes crocodiles feel frightened.
Old rules, please ask the audience grandpa to move the small hand of fortune, give the author a thumbs up and attention, let's take a look at how the electric eel is rampant, so that the crocodiles are afraid.
Electric eels are eel-shaped South American fish of the naked-backed electric eel family, which are mainly distributed in the Amazon basin of South America and prefer to move in shallow ponds or on the shores of more turbid water bodies. Although the name bears the word "eel", it is not an eel. Biologically taxonomized, electric eels and catfish are related.
Interestingly, electric eels are famous for their origin as edible fish. Some of the natives of the Amazon rainforest will use their wisdom to catch electric eels, and in the past few centuries, the indigenous peoples living in Guinea will dig a hole in the shallow water, wait for the eels to drill in, and then use dry wooden sticks to get the eels to the shore to get delicious fish meat.
In addition, they also had a way to drive the horses into the water, and the electric eels were so exhausted that they could not discharge them, and then they were caught one by one.
Compared to intelligent and intelligent humans, other predators in the Amazon Basin are less fortunate, such as caimans. Caiman crocodile is a small and medium-sized crocodile, generally about 2 or 3 meters long, mostly inhabiting the Amazon River Basin.
Also living in the Amazon River, caimans and electric eels are not looking up or looking down. As one of the overlords of the water, caimans also prey on the slow-moving, fattening electric eel. But don't look at the large difference in size between the two, once the life and death fight each other, the victory and defeat are basically half of each.
When attacked by a caiman, the electric eel will first release a strong current as a warning, causing the crocodile to convulse violently, but usually recovers after a few seconds. Experienced caimans know at this time that they have to retreat, and they cannot be hard, otherwise they are likely to die together.
But some young and inexperienced, or extremely hungry caimans, will rush up like a reckless man to bite the electric eel after being electrified for the first time, and continue to fight for their lives.
At this time, there will be an insoluble situation, the crocodile is electrified by the 860 volt voltage to the whole body convulsions, and the mouth cannot be released. The electric eel is bitten by death and cannot get out, and continues to discharge until death, and the final result is that the electric eel and the caiman crocodile both go to the western sky.
So why can electric eels generate high-voltage electricity? Humans have long known that electric eels can release high currents, but it took more than a hundred years for scientists to thoroughly figure out the reason why electric eels can discharge.
On both sides of the body of the electric eel is a discharge body composed of specialized muscle tissue, which contains 6,000 to 10,000 muscle flakes arranged in a regular manner. Each muscle sheet is like a small battery that, under the control of the central nervous system, can produce a voltage of 0.15 volts. Nearly 10,000 "small batteries" can be connected in series to generate a high voltage.
However, when the electric eel is discharged, it is not "full of fire". The average voltage of electric eels when discharged is more than 350 volts, but the maximum voltage can reach more than 860 volts. Only when life is at stake, electric eels will do their best to release the highest voltage. Seeing this, maybe there are friends who have problems again. Water is conductive, and electric eels discharge in water why they don't charge themselves.
Because most of the body and important organs of the electric eel are wrapped in a highly insulating structure, when discharged in the water, the current will be transmitted through the water with a lower resistance, so the electric eel will not be electrified to its own or to the same kind. As a result, electric eels have also evolved group foraging abilities.
A group of electric eels gather together, carefully surround the prey, and then collectively discharge, leaving the prey paralyzed and easier to prey. Individual eels are also very clever when they hunt, and they will continuously emit small electric currents that make the hidden fish twitch and expose their position.