Stories: Peru

Stories connected to Peru.

• A teenager survived a crash and the rainforest.Juliane Koepcke survived an airliner crash in Peru in 1971 and made her way through the rainforest to help. S…
• A record made of cords and knots.Andean quipus recorded information with cords and knots. Used in Inca administration and other contexts, they…
• A towering Andean plant flowers once, then diesPuya raimondii sends up a large flowering stalk in the Andes. It reproduces once and dies soon afterward. Tha…
• A nocturnal fruit eater navigates with clicking soundsOilbirds forage for fruit at night and can supplement their vision with echolocation in poor light. Their sha…
• The maned wolf helps disperse a plant’s seedsThe South American maned wolf is omnivorous and regularly eats the tomato-like wolf apple. It can pass the se…
• Some ants steer back towards their treeSome canopy-dwelling ants control the direction of a fall and glide towards their tree trunk. Gliding behavio…
• Lomo saltado brings rice alongside potatoesPeruvian lomo saltado stir-fries beef, onions, tomatoes and french fries, and is commonly served with rice. I…
• The Andes’ green mounds are flowering plants, not mossYareta forms low, rounded green cushions in the high Andes. It may resemble a mound of moss, but it is a flow…
• June means the winter season hereCusco’s Inti Raymi on June 24 presents a reconstruction of rituals associated with the Inca sun god. In the S…
• A rocky-looking exterior hides a filter feederPiure, Pyura chilensis, is a tunicate found along Chilean and Peruvian shores. It resembles a mass of organs…
• A leaflike turtle draws fish into its mouthThe mata mata is a South American freshwater turtle with a flattened triangular head and skin flaps. Its shel…