10 Prehistoric Monsters Trapped in Baltic Amber — Claws STILL MOVING!

[00:00:01]Now, here's something. Baltic amber is one of the most common resins found in the world. The reason for this >> [cough and laughter] >> is that due to the vast forests of pine, their numerous deposits are so common, they provide wonderful treasures from long ago.

[00:00:16]>> [music] >> Ants are especially common in the Baltic amber, which comes from pine trees. Its resin is rich in sugar, so the ants often live amongst the trees close to the easy source of food. One block found in East Germany has preserved one ant that is estimated to be about 48 million years old. Think of the birthday cake.

[00:00:36]But, what makes this find interesting is another animal inside the amber. It's a mite, notorious hunters in the insect world, capable of traveling at great speed. These guys quickly latch onto their hosts, sucking them dry. They're also capable of destroying entire hives in one go.

[00:00:55]>> [music] >> And within this piece of amber, the amber provides a display of their final struggle.

[00:01:01]In Southeast Asia, feathers belonging to something unique have been found from 80 million years ago. They were captured in resin during the Cretaceous period, a peak time for [music] dinosaurs.

[00:01:12]The many feathers inside are from the Coelurosaur. It looks like a dinosaur, but this animal is more related to birds.

[00:01:20]Other feathers like this have been found in resin. They belong to avian and other non-flying dinosaurs. The discoveries have helped reimagine what dinosaurs actually look like.

[00:01:31]Still, dinosaurs may have had feathers instead of being completely bald. Of course, for most of them, the feathers weren't used for flying, but they helped the dinos stay warm. However, the feathers weren't all that was found, and a part of the Coelurosaur's tail is also preserved. Still, it's so small and ancient that its DNA hasn't survived to map their entire genome. The enclosed tail is also very delicate, and it can't be removed from its protective amber shell. But, although these findings can only be observed, they've still provided a great insight in the evolution of birds.

[00:02:07]But, how does amber preserve things so effectively, even at the initial stages?

[00:02:12]The trees produce the resin to protect any small gaps in the bark against feeding insects. It's antiseptic nature and lack of water content ensures it doesn't degrade for a long time. This also makes it more resilient as it petrifies over long periods, eventually becoming a fossil.

[00:02:30]Some of the oldest amber ever found was from the Triassic period, showing how long it can last. The pieces from Italy are about 230 million years old. And inside one of these ancient droplets holds the oldest arthropod ever recorded. [music] This might found inside has provided a broader understanding to their evolution.

[00:02:52]Today, they're known to mainly annoy gardeners by feeding on the petals of flowering plants.

[00:02:58]However, at the time the might was caught, flowers didn't have any petals, and it would be without this tasty meal for another 100 million years.

[00:03:08]Now, 100 million years ago, Myanmar was part of Gondwana, the great supercontinent. At that time, Myanmar wasn't part of Asia yet. But, it was still lush with a great forest, which contained many species of lizards that lived amongst the undergrowth, hiding away from dinosaurs. Many of them have been stored within amber. This fact helped discover ancestors of geckos and chameleons.

[00:03:33]By using CT scans, scientists have analyzed them, providing a glimpse into the formation of their scales, teeth, feet, and claws. It also provided an understanding of how these archaic creatures once appeared.

[00:03:47]Although mostly [music] pieces of lizards, by using modern technology, the scientists have been able to create 3D images of the lizard. These images can reveal how those guys appeared in their full form.

[00:03:59]The images show that they still retain some of their exact features to this day, like the chameleon's sticky pads used for climbing.

[00:04:08]A salamander fossil from around 20 million years ago is one of the most intact specimens ever found in amber.

[00:04:15]Details of its final moments show that it had been attacked before getting stuck in the resin. However, what's confusing about this [music] find from the Miocene era is that the amber was found in the Caribbean, but it came from a tree that's closer related to those from East Africa.

[00:04:33]The lizard also has ancestry from the same area.

[00:04:36]Finds like this have opened a whole new understanding about how these small lizards migrated. It's expected that they would have ridden fallen logs, which took them across the seas to new homelands, not only to the Caribbean, but to all [music] continents except for Antarctica.

[00:04:53]Nobody goes there. It's too cold.

[00:04:56]In the Dominican Republic, you can find some of the rarest of all ambers. This Dominican amber came from Neotropical forests from around 20 million years ago. Many of the trees that made the resin are now extinct.

[00:05:09]The amber is almost completely see-through and can come in an array of beautiful colors. The most common colors are red, yellow, and even blue [music] and are easily mistaken for gemstones.

[00:05:20]One was found with a flea caught in it dating to when the forest was at its peak and the mammalian variety thrived.

[00:05:28]Fleas were likely common at the time, and this flea in particular had recently fed on a mammal before getting [music] stuck.

[00:05:35]However, something more intriguing was found within the flea. While scientists checked what mammal DNA was within the [music] flea, they found that it was carrying an ancient bacterial blight.

[00:05:47]These blights have been constant throughout Earth's history, dramatically decreasing populations of animals and plants.

[00:05:54]This now [music] extinct blight in the amber helped scientists determine how much the bacteria have evolved and [music] how it spread.

[00:06:02]Now, most remnants of insects inside amber aren't much more than the exoskeleton bodies. But, with some found in Myanmar, they were so well preserved that even the color of the insects is still intact.

[00:06:16]Colors in nature appear in three different ways. The first is bioluminescence, that's produced by a chemical reaction within a living organism. The second is about pigments, >> [music] >> where the color appears in an animal or plant tissue. The third is called structural coloration, and the production of colors here is explained by microscopic services fine enough [music] to react with the light.

[00:06:39]The rare insects in amber were found in the form of structural coloration, but only at specific wavelengths.

[00:06:46]>> [music] >> It all explains the very intense colors rarely found.

[00:06:50]99 million years later, these bugs can still show their vibrant colors, blue, purple, and green. Some of them appear so different in color and shape that they almost look like they're from another world, which of course they are, a [music] very old one.

[00:07:06]Ants have been around for about 168 million years based on fossil evidence provided.

[00:07:12]>> [snorts] >> They're well-known for their social hierarchies and their hive mind system.

[00:07:16]They've dominated almost every corner of the insect world, but when these social capabilities came about have been difficult to determine. Yet, recently, [music] amber dated from 100 million years ago has shed some light into their evolution. Several amber pieces have [music] preserved various ant types, including the worker ants, guardian or soldier ants, and even a queen ant.

[00:07:39]Before [music] these pieces were found, it was estimated their social nature occurred millions of years [music] later.

[00:07:45]A piece of amber dated 100 million years ago helped shed light on the evolution of birds. A perfectly preserved bird that hatched preserved in amber >> [music] >> was already equipped with its flight feathers. With the earlier physical abilities, they would be capable of moving around the nest by themselves at a very young age. And it's expected they could search for their own food almost immediately. But as birds continue to evolve and spend more time in the skies, their brain developed larger for their cognitive abilities. After hatching, their early development was then more focused on the brain. And the chicks slowly became more reliant on their parents over time.

[00:08:27]In Spain, a massive treasure trove of amber and other fossils has been found.

[00:08:32]Inside, there were remnants of an entire ecosystem that existed 110 million years ago.

[00:08:38]A bunch of individual fossils were found. The vast collection includes many types of insects, mollusks, arachnids, plants, 50 [music] different dinosaur bone fragments, feathers, and hair from mammals. And a McDonald's burger [music] wrapper. Nah, just kidding.

[00:08:55]With the abundance of findings, it's helped researchers understand the ancient terrestrial ecosystem [music] that once existed. With loads of specific details of the environment, they've reconstructed [music] the swamp.

[00:09:07]This way, it's now possible to experience what it was like [music] in the world of dinosaurs.

[00:09:15]>> In a frosty Canadian park hidden deep beneath layers of thick ice, scientists discovered a bizarre skeleton they named the frozen dragon. The skeleton [music] had been in the frozen ice for millions of years. It took experts decades to work out the species of this strange fossil. It was identified as a new genus of pterosaur. Pterosaurs were massive [music] flying reptiles with wingspans of over 16 ft. Their heads were 3.5 times the size of their bodies.

[00:09:45]Pterosaurs lived 76 million years ago when they soared above the dinosaurs.

[00:09:51]Scientists describe them [music] as the biggest, meanest, and most bizarre animals that ever flew. The new genus has been named Cryodrakon boreas, which translates to frozen dragon of the north winds.

[00:10:07]In 2013, a young mountaineer was climbing one [music] of the tallest mountains in Western Europe, Mont Blanc.

[00:10:13]He noticed a strange metal box poking out of the snow. The mountaineer pried the box open and [music] found that it was filled with precious rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. The climber immediately handed the box to the authorities. It was discovered that the box likely belonged to a passenger on one of two flights from India that crashed into the mountain over 50 years ago. The box was valued to be worth over $200,000 and authorities are still searching for the heir [music] to the small box of treasures.

[00:10:46]In Northwest Siberia in 2007, a reindeer herder was on an outing with his sons when he noticed something strange in the ice. The man realized it was a frozen mammoth calf and immediately [music] contacted the local museum. The calf was named Lyuba and was the best preserved mammoth mummy in the world at the time of its discovery. Lyuba had been in [music] the ice for 41,800 years and is around 30 to 35 days old.

[00:11:15]>> [music] >> From trunk to tail, the mammoth calf is roughly the same size as a large calf.

[00:11:21]If you're interested in seeing for yourself, Lyuba travels to museums all around the world.

[00:11:27]On the frozen continent of Antarctica, covered in layers of ice and snow, is Mount [music] Erebus, the frozen volcano. The volcano was discovered in the middle of an eruption in 1841 by explorers on an Arctic expedition. The volcano is over 12,000 ft tall and has been active for the last 1.3 million years. Deep within the middle of the volcano is a huge crater filled with large volumes of molten lava. The volcano has occasional explosions, which means it's classified as being in continuing eruption. However, these eruptions are nothing to worry about because they're generally rather small.

[00:12:07]Back in 1991, two hikers were traveling across the Italian Alps when they stumbled across a body that they presumed to belong to a recently lost hiker. The duo trudged back down the mountain to report their unfortunate findings. [music] Once the remains were recovered, it was clear that the body was not recent at all. Scientists determined [music] that the Iceman was more than 5,000 years old and named him Otzi. The discovery was unlike anything scientists had ever before seen because the body was so well preserved. For years, Otzi was studied by scientists who discovered [music] that our ancestors have a lot more in common with us than we ever knew before.

[00:12:48]>> [music] >> Otzi was covered in ink body art.

[00:12:52]Research done on the contents of his stomach [music] revealed that his last meal was dry-cured meat, similar to the bacon [music] we eat today. Otzi has at least 19 relatives living today somewhere in Central Europe.

[00:13:06]Scientists [music] were researching ancient squirrel burrows in Siberia when they came across something interesting.

[00:13:12]One of the squirrels had hidden away precious seeds deep beneath [music] the ground. The seeds had been encased in ice for 32,000 years.

[00:13:21]The seeds were for the flower Silene stenophylla, which [music] had long since gone extinct. Amazingly, scientists were able to recover plant tissue from inside the seeds and grow an entire [music] crop of flowers. They've since reintroduced the previously extinct flower to natural habitats all [music] across the world.

[00:13:41]In 1930, a team of Norwegian scientists sailed around the Arctic Ocean conducting research on the seas and glaciers. They reached White Island, a dangerous and icy land no human had set foot on before, or so they thought. The scientists were shocked to discover the tip of a small boat sticking out of the snow. Frozen inside the boat, they found scientific equipment and various personal items, including a jacket monogrammed S. A. Andree. They had discovered the wreck of the famous Andree Arctic balloon expedition. In 1897, Swedish explorers, [music] led by Andree, attempted to travel to the North Pole by hydrogen balloon.

[00:14:23]>> [music] >> No one had ever heard from them ever again. People only found out what happened to them when the wreck [music] was discovered 33 years later. It turns out that the balloon had crashed on White Island only two days after departing from Sweden. The explorers traveled along the island [music] on a small makeshift boat, but were unable to make it any further.

[00:14:45]The best preserved woolly mammoth ever found was discovered in an area of permafrost in Siberia in 2010.

[00:14:52]Scientists named [music] the frozen mammoth Yuka, after the small village near where it was found.

[00:14:58]Yuka had been frozen for [music] 39,000 years and is thought to have been around 6 to 8 years old. Because Yuka is so [music] well preserved, it has been studied for years and provided new information about mammoths. In 2019, scientists reported that they were able to activate [music] cells taken from Yuka's tissue. Maybe one day we'll have woolly mammoths roaming the land.

[00:15:21]From looking at pictures and videos of Antarctica, [music] the continent appears to be freezing cold, covered in snow, and flat, except for a few small [music] hills.

[00:15:31]Scientists believed that, too. When studying the Gamburtsev Mountains in the early 2000s, they were shocked to discover that the small [music] rocky hills were actually the peak of a gigantic mountain formation under a mile of snow. Using radar technology, researchers worked out that the mountains are really around 10,000 ft tall and sprawl across 750 mi. This is around the same size as the European Alps, except hidden under tons of ice and snow.

[00:16:01]At a gold mine in Siberia, a businessman was examining a nearby river when he noticed something [music] interesting in the frost. It was a small woolly rhino calf that was later named Sasha. The woolly rhino has been extinct for 15,000 years. It's thought that Sasha could have been [music] frozen in the ice for up to 39,000 years. Sasha is unique because it's the only full-body woolly rhino [music] to have ever been discovered.

[00:16:27]Glaciers around the northern Italian town of Peio have begun to melt.

[00:16:32]Artifacts from decades and even centuries [music] ago have been discovered pouring out of the ice.

[00:16:37]Personal belongings from soldiers have been found, things like diaries, [music] photographs, and even love letters.

[00:16:44]Historians have even uncovered an entire cabin preserved beneath the ice. The cabin was filled with hard metal helmets and clothes. In 1845, Sir [music] John Franklin embarked on an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole. The crew traveled on two ships, HMS Erebus and the ironically named HMS Terror. The expedition met with disaster, and both ships were lost to [music] the icy waters.

[00:17:10]In 2016, the HMS Terror was discovered by a team of researchers. Despite being lost [music] for 170 years, the freezing cold waters had maintained the ship in pristine condition. Scientists described the ship [music] as frozen in time.

[00:17:27]Dinner plates and glasses were still on shelves. Beds and desks were still in order, and even the passengers' luggage appeared to be in good condition.

[00:17:35][music] The HMS Erebus was also discovered nearby, but due to changing water conditions, the ship wasn't in great shape.

[00:17:43]The glacial [music] ice surrounding a mountain passageway in Norway that was notoriously used by the Vikings has revealed hundreds of ancient artifacts.

[00:17:52]>> [music] >> One of these artifacts was a giant unopened wooden box that was welded together. Researchers were beside themselves with anticipation waiting to open this box. They believed [music] it would be filled with Viking treasures or artifacts that would give us an insight into ancient society. When they opened the box, all that was inside was a plain [music] old beeswax candle. It turns out that this box wasn't actually as old as they thought it was. By analyzing the candle, they discovered that the box dates back to the 17th century. [music] The age of the Vikings had ended by the 11th century. It's likely that the candle box belonged to a farmer who was shipping it from his summer [music] farm to his winter farm to light up the long nights.

[00:18:37]Antarctica wasn't always a frozen wasteland. [music] A long time ago, it was full of life, and 56 million years ago, something terrifying stalked its jungles.

[00:18:49]A giant flesh-eating bird.

[00:18:52]It was around 6 ft tall and weighed as much as a lion.

[00:18:57]For millions of years, nothing could challenge it. So, why did it disappear?

[00:19:01]And could there be even bigger predators still hidden beneath the ice?

[00:19:07]Paleontologists found two massive claw bones in Antarctica. Sharp, curved, and powerful, [music] belonging to this bird.

[00:19:15]They were dug up from the Eocene-aged rocks of Seymour Island, which means they're around 40 to 50 million years old.

[00:19:24]Their shape left no doubt. These were the so-called terror birds.

[00:19:29]Their scientific name is Phorusrhacidae, some of the most fearsome predators to ever walk the Earth.

[00:19:36]They were flightless and didn't even need wings. Instead, they could sprint at breakneck speed, like ostriches from a nightmare.

[00:19:46]For millions of years, these birds [music] ruled South America.

[00:19:50]But now, for the first time, their presence has been confirmed in Antarctica.

[00:19:55]No surprise here. Back then, South America [music] and Antarctica were still connected, allowing animals to easily commute between continents. So, these birds probably migrated south [music] to adapt to life on Antarctica's prehistoric landmass.

[00:20:11]It didn't just survive here, it thrived.

[00:20:13][music] But at some point, this nightmare of an animal vanished.

[00:20:18]Why?

[00:20:19]Most likely because of the temperature changes.

[00:20:22]Antarctica was cooling, slowly turning into the frozen wasteland we know today.

[00:20:28]Its prey may have declined, leaving the predator without enough food.

[00:20:32]Eventually, it disappeared, leaving no descendants behind.

[00:20:36]Researchers hope that they'll find a complete skeleton [music] of eventually.

[00:20:41]They're also wondering where there might be even bigger species waiting [music] to be discovered. Perhaps these birds evolved into a completely new Antarctic lineage.

[00:20:50]But for now, all we have are two giant creepy claws.

[00:20:57]People often think that there are almost no animals or plants in Antarctica, but that's not true at all.

[00:21:04]Penguins waddle [music] around, and forget the cute tiny ones. Antarctica used to have 6-ft tall monsters.

[00:21:11]The emperor [music] penguins are the largest penguin species alive today.

[00:21:16]They can dive over 1,800 ft deep and hold their breath for over 20 minutes.

[00:21:23]There were giant ancient penguins around 38 million years ago. They were the size of humans.

[00:21:29]Fossils show they had long sharp beaks, making them terrifying hunters of fish and squid.

[00:21:35]The fish there are also absolutely fascinating. Forget giant squids.

[00:21:41]Colossal squids are nightmares even bigger. Some reach over 40 ft long with massive super sharp beaks and eyes the size of dinner plates.

[00:21:52]Finally, orcas, the apex predators of the Antarctic Ocean.

[00:21:57]They hunt in packs, working together like a wolf pack of the sea to take down seals, fish, and even massive whales.

[00:22:06]There are even tiny plants like moss and algae.

[00:22:10]Antarctic hair grass and pearlwort. They somehow survive against all odds.

[00:22:17]There are many other myths going on about Antarctica. For example, some people think that when icebergs break off from glaciers, they immediately start drifting straight into the open ocean until they melt. But, the reality is way more chaotic.

[00:22:32]First, when an iceberg breaks off from a glacier or ice shelf, it has to deal with underwater obstacles. It can stay stuck on the seafloor for decades without moving.

[00:22:42]Then, they get caught in powerful whirlpools and spin in place for months.

[00:22:48]One iceberg, A-23A, spent nearly 40 years frozen in place before finally breaking free. Only to get caught in a swirling ocean vortex for [music] another 8 months.

[00:23:01]After that, their paths are influenced by ocean currents, tides, winds, and even underwater topography.

[00:23:08]They don't just float freely. Their movements are full of literal, unexpected twists. [music] And speaking of glaciers, another strange rumor is that some humans can't travel more than 311 mi inland [music] in Antarctica because of an impassable ice wall, freezing jet fuel, deadly winds, and no oxygen.

[00:23:29]But this is completely false.

[00:23:32]Antarctica has [music] been explored by planes, vehicles, and even scientists on foot.

[00:23:37]There's an entire research station sitting at the South Pole.

[00:23:41]People live there all year long.

[00:23:43]The ice wall is real, a massive ice [music] cliff rising above the ocean, but that isn't some secret barrier. It's an ice shelf.

[00:23:52]These are thick slabs [music] of ice that form when glaciers slowly flow off the land and spread over the ocean.

[00:23:59]Almost 3/4 of Antarctica's coastline is made up of them.

[00:24:03]But they don't form some giant ring around the world.

[00:24:07]Antarctica is one of the most extreme places on Earth, but we've conquered its challenges, and we keep learning more about it every year.

[00:24:16]That's why every year [music] millions of dollars are poured into keeping research stations running, protecting wildlife, and making sure the people who live there have everything they need.

[00:24:27]But where does all this money go?

[00:24:30]Well, Antarctica's stations [music] are basically small cities.

[00:24:34]There's electricity, heating, water purification, food storage, and medical facilities.

[00:24:42]The biggest station, McMurdo, is basically a town with over 1,000 people in summer. It has everything from a fire station to a gym.

[00:24:54]The South Pole Station is super deep inland, so it's one of the hardest places to supply. Getting food and fuel there requires airplanes flying thousands of miles in extreme cold.

[00:25:06]But, the internet loves a good mystery.

[00:25:09]When Google Maps revealed what looked like a massive doorway in Antarctica, conspiracy theorists went wild. People joked about everything from Bigfoot's vacation home to a secret base or even a Star Trek spaceship hanger hidden in the ice.

[00:25:26]But, there's a way simpler and less exciting explanation. It's actually a grounded iceberg.

[00:25:32]A chunk of ice that got stuck in shallow water and is now slowly melting.

[00:25:37]As ice moves across the landscape, it flows around bumps and obstacles creating odd [music] shapes. The process of melting, breaking apart, and refreezing can carve ice into unexpected forms.

[00:25:50]Antarctica also has incredibly strong downward blowing winds that sculpt ice into dramatic formations over time.

[00:25:59]No secret doorway, unfortunately.

[00:26:03]And speaking [music] of doors, for years Ushuaia, Argentina, has been called the gateway to Antarctica.

[00:26:10]The last stop before the icy continent.

[00:26:13]The place where expeditions begin.

[00:26:17]But, there's another option.

[00:26:19]Punta Arenas, Chile.

[00:26:21]Let's compare them.

[00:26:23]Ushuaia is closer to Antarctica. It's a top departure point for tourists going on cruises.

[00:26:29]But, no regular flights to Antarctica.

[00:26:33]No major scientific bases operating from here.

[00:26:36]It's basically [music] controlled by the military, which refuses to allow private flights, only commercially operated ships.

[00:26:43]Yes, Punta Arenas is further from Antarctica, but 22 countries and global organizations use it as their main base.

[00:26:51]There are regular flights to Antarctica happening there every year.

[00:26:55]Private airlines can actually operate here, making it the real air connection to Antarctica.

[00:27:01]Ushuaia may have the best location physically, but Punta Arenas actually runs the show.

[00:27:07]Argentina made a huge error in picking its Antarctic airbase. Instead of setting up a simple, accessible base at sea level, they built Marambio base [music] very high on rough terrain, completely impossible to reach by land. Everything has to be flown in by helicopter, making operations slow, expensive, and frustrating.

[00:27:29]For 50 years, Argentina stubbornly stuck to this bad decision, while Chile set up [music] efficient, well-planned bases that the world now uses.

[00:27:38]If things don't change, Ushuaia will be nothing more than a tourist stop.

[00:27:43]But what's terrifying is that Antarctica seems to be returning to its past. It's supposed to be the coldest place on Earth, but something shocking happened just recently. For the first time in recorded history, temperatures in Antarctica broke 68° F.

[00:27:59]This continent is buried under miles of ice.

[00:28:02]Usually, temperatures there can drop to minus 112°.

[00:28:06]But in the winter of 2020, [music] scientists recorded an insane 69° on Seymour Island, hotter than many places in Europe at that time.

[00:28:17]Scientists believe there are several reasons for that. First, there were changes in the way heat moves around the planet's waters.

[00:28:23]Second, >> [music] >> melting permafrost due to the planet warming.

[00:28:27]It looks like the climate is changing faster than expected.

[00:28:32]The Loch Ness Monster [music] is actually not from Scotland. Turns out this real-life creature lived in the freezing waters of Antarctica [music] about 70 million years ago.

[00:28:44]In 2019, researchers discovered fossils of a huge prehistoric marine reptile that looked a lot like what people described as Nessie.

[00:28:53]This beast was terrifying, measuring up to 36 ft long with a massive giraffe-like neck. It also weighed around 15 tons, which is about the size of three elephants.

[00:29:06]Next up on our list of huge animals is a penguin.

[00:29:10]I know penguins aren't exactly what you'd call big, but scientists have just found what they think might be the biggest penguin ever.

[00:29:18]The Kumimanu fordycei. It's believed that these giant birds were hanging around New Zealand about 55 million years ago, and they were huge, weighing over 330 lb. That's about five times the size of the emperor penguins, which are considered the largest penguins alive today.

[00:29:37]Now, let's move on from massive creatures to something much smaller.

[00:29:41]Meet B Manfred Schmitzi, a great ape that lived around 12 million years ago in what is now Germany.

[00:29:48]This creature is very special, as it's the tiniest great ape ever discovered.

[00:29:54]And when I say tiny, I really mean it.

[00:29:56]These ancient animals only weighed about 22 lb.

[00:30:00]They were basically no bigger than a super chunky cat.

[00:30:04]If you think small creatures aren't scary, wait until you meet the electric blue tarantula.

[00:30:10]This newly discovered species from Thailand's mangroves has an almost otherworldly electric blue color.

[00:30:16]Its vibrant hue doesn't come from pigment. It is actually caused by the unique structure of its hair, which reflects blue light, making it look like an extraterrestrial being.

[00:30:27]We're going even further now, diving into the freezing pitch-black depths.

[00:30:32]At around 2,000 ft deep in the Andaman Sea, scientists found a new species of ghost shark, which they named Chimaera supae.

[00:30:41]Their appearance is straight out of a horror movie. They have sleek pale bodies, frills [music] that look like feathers, and large creepy eyes.

[00:30:50]These ghost sharks aren't actually sharks, but they are related, having diverged from their cousins about 400 million years ago.

[00:30:58]The good news is they're not too scary since they're only a bit bigger than a shoe box.

[00:31:05]Just when you think we can't find stranger creatures, we come across this ancient amphibian from Brazil.

[00:31:11]Scientifically known as C rosai.

[00:31:14]This newly discovered giant crocodile-like creature lived during the Triassic period over 240 million years ago.

[00:31:21]At nearly 10 ft long, it had a powerful jaw resembling the modern-day alligator.

[00:31:27]This beast was definitely a survivor since [music] it adapted to the most severe conditions ever seen on the planet.

[00:31:34]Last year, scientists [music] were tracking the dense Amazon rainforest at night when they found some quirky orange spiders that looked like they were wearing black boots.

[00:31:45]The team soon discovered it was a new type of giant crab spider. And no, they don't look like crabs [music] at all.

[00:31:52]They only got their name because, well, perched on plants, these spiders spread their legs out to the sides just like crabs. [music] Do you know that some new species are named after celebrities?

[00:32:03]Hollywood icon Harrison Ford now has his very own snake, for example. Discovered in Peru, T. Harrisoni honors the actor famous for his role as Indiana Jones, an [music] archaeologist with a notorious fear of snakes.

[00:32:18]Unlike the film's menacing serpents, this new snake species is quite modest [music] in size, measuring about 16 in long.

[00:32:27]We also have the Rhampholeon princei, a small new species of pygmy chameleon from Tanzania that was named after US rapper and poet [music] Prince Ea.

[00:32:38]He received this honor because of his work raising awareness about global environmental issues.

[00:32:44]Another celebrity namesake is DiCaprio's snail-eating snake, which hangs out in the shrubs of Panama's forests.

[00:32:51]This [music] S. Eremophilus caprioae is about 15 in long and spends its nights on palm fronds looking for snails and slugs.

[00:33:00]>> [music] >> Its round eyes look like glowing coals that can be a bit scary, but overall, the creature is super chill. Even when it feels threatened, it doesn't bite. It just coils up around its head and gives off a really bad smell.

[00:33:15]Now, something a bit more sinister. Meet Venomius tomhardyi. Does that name ring a bell?

[00:33:22]Exactly. This new species of spider was named after Tom Hardy's portrayal of the infamous Marvel character, Venom. And all because the black spots on the spider's abdomen reminded researchers of the famous anti-hero. Most spiders of this species [music] were found in Australia at night, sitting in their elaborate webs in forested areas near the coast. When disturbed, these creepy crawlers often hide in silk-lined hollows in tree branches.

[00:33:50]We've also got something for the Lord of the Rings [music] fans. In the vast and warm waters of the Amazon River, scientists have just discovered a new species of pacu.

[00:33:59]>> [music] >> This fish is a relative of the terrifying piranha with a plant-based diet and human-like [music] teeth.

[00:34:06]It was named Myloplus sauron because of a bold vertical black mark on its side, which reminded researchers [music] of the fiery eye symbol of the villain Sauron from Tolkien's epic saga.

[00:34:19]Wait, is that a tanned capybara or a wild dog? Well, actually, it's neither.

[00:34:25]This is a newly discovered dwarf [music] deer.

[00:34:28]This tiny creature, about the size of a basset hound, scurries [music] through the forests of Peru.

[00:34:34]The combo of large eyes, stocky body, and short legs [music] makes this animal simply adorable.

[00:34:41]This cute little deer is the complete opposite of what we've got coming up next.

[00:34:45]This bizarre-looking [music] creature is what we believe the beast of five teeth might have looked like.

[00:34:52]Its fossils, found in Chilean Patagonia, showed that it lived during the age of dinosaurs about 72 million [music] years ago.

[00:35:00]This finding is just another piece of evidence that mammals had been roaming around that part of South America much earlier than we thought. Moving from the forests of South America to the deserts [music] of Australia, we come across a sand dragon lizard, known scientifically as Ctenophorus tjulkaba. With its sandy color and long lean body, this lizard looks like it could star in a Dune movie. Discovered last year, this sand dragon lizard blends in perfectly with the hot sands of [music] the Great Victoria Desert in Southern Australia.

[00:35:33]For over 10 years, a large-eyed [music] creature managed to hide from scientists who ventured into the mountains of southwestern China, but not this time.

[00:35:42]In 2023, the group finally managed to take photos of seven frogs that didn't match any known species.

[00:35:49]They're now known [music] as Leshan Odorous frogs, a species that grows to be about 2 in long and has small bumps all over their grass-green [music] bodies. Off the coast of Chile, we have recently found a seamount nearly four times as high as the Burj Khalifa.

[00:36:05]Underwater mountains [music] are usually home to beautiful life forms like sponge gardens and ancient corals.

[00:36:11]But this Chilean seamount also hid a creature known as the flying spaghetti monster.

[00:36:18]It's a rare type of squid with long noodle-like tentacles that make it look like an underwater pasta dish.

[00:36:24]Including its tentacles, this [music] strange creature can be over 130 ft long. Recently, scientists were diving [music] into the cold waters of the Antarctic Peninsula when they thought they had found an ordinary dragonfish swimming by.

[00:36:39]But, there was something unusual about this one.

[00:36:41]It turned out that this fish had two darker vertical stripes along its slender body.

[00:36:47]That's when they realized they were looking at a new species, the banded dragonfish. From bizarre sea creatures to a cute one.

[00:36:55]In 2017, [music] locals were diving near Kume Island in Japan when they found the skeleton panda sea squirt.

[00:37:02]This deep-sea oddity quickly won people over with its look [music] because its black spots actually resemble a panda bear's eyes and ears.

[00:37:10]At least if you have a good imagination.

[00:37:12]This unusual creature filters water to catch its food and is yet another reminder of the ocean's hidden wonders.