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Every year, the Amazon Basin rivers overflow their banks and flood these woodlands, creating the largest area of flooded forests on the planet. The region's streams and rivers also contain 20 percent of the Earth's available fresh water.
This flooding phenomenon creates a host of extraordinary seasonal migrations and unusual relationships between aquatic and terrestrial species. These flooded forests are home to blue-faced birds called hoatzins, pink freshwater dolphins, giant river turtles, short-tailed monkeys, and more.
Photograph of
hoatzins by
Michael and Patricia Fogden/Corbis
