The shihuahuaco (Dipteryx micrantha) is a giant tree that sustains a staggering amount of life. During the wet season, lilac flowers blossom in its upper canopy. By the dry season, these flower clusters have morphed into heavy fruit pods or legumes (the shihuahuaco is a member of the bean family).

Bats, spider monkeys, agoutis, possums, squirrels, and spiny rats all rely on these fruits. After eating them, these critters store the seeds in a special hiding place for future use. Sometimes, the animals forget where they stored the seeds, allowing the seeds to germinate and the parent tree to reproduce. A towering tree like the shihuahuaco may owe its life to the forgetfulness of a tiny squirrel 1,000 years ago!

No story is as old and universal as the tree of life. In Nordic mythology, a huge tree connects the nine worlds of the universe. In Iroquois legend, a pregnant woman creates the world by planting a tree on a turtle’s back. In his theory of evolution, Darwin shows that all organisms are interconnected in a single tree of life.

If one species embodies the tree of life in the modern day, it might be the Dipteryx micrantha, known as the shihuahuaco in Peru. Among roughly 390 billion trees growing in the Amazon, shihuahuacos are among the tallest and most ancient. They take about one millennium to grow to full height of up to 60 m or almost 200 feet.

Forest giants like the shihuahuaco are called “emergent trees” because they reach the emergent layer or overstory of the forest. The emergent layer endures heavy winds, rain and sun exposure. Despite these harsh conditions, bold animals like eagles, bats and monkeys all venture to the emergent layer.