![]() Also, the Atlantic Ocean rose around 5 million years ago, expanding into the flood plains of the Amazon and other South American rivers. Fossil evidence puts piranha ancestors in the continent’s rivers 25 million years ago, but modern piranha genera may have only been around for 1.8 million years.Ī 2007 study suggests that modern species diverged from a common ancestor around 9 million years ago. Though estimates vary, around 30 species inhabit the lakes and rivers of South America today. Today, piranhas inhabit the freshwaters of South America from the Orinoco River Basin in Venezuela up to the Paraná River in Argentina. Piranhas have lived in South America for millions of years Dated 1856, this sketch by French explorer Francis de Castelnau depicts a red-bellied piranha.Ģ. Scientists and explorers had knowledge of piranhas dating back to the 16th century, but Roosevelt’s tale is largely credited with dispersing the myth. Given that Roosevelt was widely read, it’s easy to see how the piranha’s supervillain image spread. After storing the fish in a tank without food, they tossed a dead cow into the river and released the fish, which naturally devoured the carcass.Ī fish that can eat a cow makes for a great story. ![]() According to Mental Floss, locals put on a bit of a show for Roosevelt, extending a net across the river to catch piranhas before he arrived. Roosevelt went on to recount a tale of a pack of piranhas devouring an entire cow. They will tear wounded wild fowl to pieces and bite off the tails of big fish as they grow exhausted when fighting after being hooked.” They will snap a finger off a hand incautiously trailed in the water they mutilate swimmers-in every river town in Paraguay there are men who have been thus mutilated they will rend and devour alive any wounded man or beast for blood in the water excites them to madness. But the piranhas habitually attack things much larger than themselves. Even the most formidable fish, the sharks or the barracudas, usually attack things smaller than themselves. “They are the most ferocious fish in the world. Here’s what he had to say about them in his bestseller, Through the Brazilian Wilderness: When Theodore Roosevelt journeyed to South America in 1913, he encountered, among other exotic creatures, several different species of piranha. Piranhas’ bad reputation is at least partially Teddy Roosevelt’s fault Here are 14 fun facts about the freshwater fish:ġ. But they may be misunderstood, and scientists are rewriting the piranha’s fearsome stereotype. This lack of knowledge adds a bit of dark mystery to the creatures. Piranhas are also hard to tell apart in terms of species, diet, coloration, teeth, and even geographic range. But there’s a lot of diet variation among species-that’s one reason piranhas have proved hard to taxonomically classify. Piranhas do indeed have sharp teeth, and many are carnivorous. But are these freshwater fish the vicious river monsters they’re made out to be? Not exactly. Then or now, Hollywood certainly hasn’t done the piranha any favors. Or the 2010 remake, where prehistoric piranhas devour humans in 3D detail. Just look at the 1978 cult film Piranha, in which a pack of piranhas escape a military experiment gone wrong and feast on unsuspecting lake-swimmers. Piranhas have never had the most darling of reputations. The continent is home to the ultimate biters: piranhas. But Luis Suarez is hardly the most feared biter in South America. Biting has played an unusually dominant role in this year’s World Cup conversations.
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