The Amazon river has the largest debit of all the rivers in the world. It draws it’s waters form the Andes mountains and it has thousands of tributary rivers which donate their waters in order to form the mighty river which is Amazon. Due to its sheer size, the river has not only influenced the landscape and the local climate, but it also dictated the evolution patterns of the animals living in it’s proximity.  Every single species which has it’s habitat in the Amazon river basin is fully adapted to live in that environment. Because the water are rather murky due to the amount of debris coming from upstream, most of the fish and mammals swimming in it’s waters have sharpened scenes of smell, and some even rely on echolocation to find their way around as is the case of some dolphin species.  Some fish species such as the discus fish have adapted to live among roots, closer to the shore line in order not to be dragged away by the strong current form the middle of the river and to better evade predators. There are countless species of birds which nest in the trees adjacent to the waterline in order to have easy access to their main source of food: fish. However they are also in danger when close to the water because that’s also the habitat of other animals which are higher up the food chain such as the cat fish, the deadly piranha fish or the Amazon alligator.