Enter: UNDERDOGS, a new series narrated by *checks notes* Ryan Reynolds.
Yep, that Ryan Reynolds, here to celebrate the unsung heroes of the natural world with a refreshing touch of candor because, let’s be honest, the natural world can be absolutely bonkers.
Take, for example, the velvet worm (technically not a worm but an entirely separate group called Onychophora).
“The velvet worm is my favorite freak,” said Ryan Reynolds to IFLScience.
A superpower we can only dream of born from a humble blind worm, and there are plenty more underdogs where that came from.
Let’s introduce UNDERDOGS, a brand-new television series that Ryan Reynolds narrates. Indeed, Ryan Reynolds is here to honor the unsung heroes of nature with a fresh dose of frankness because, let’s face it, nature can be utterly bizarre.
Consider the velvet worm, which is actually a member of the Onychophora, a completely different group of worms. It is quite adorable compared to other invertebrate predators, and its two antennae give it a Zuul-like appearance. However, when it comes to fighting, it draws inspiration from Spider-Man.
“My favorite freak,” Ryan Reynolds told IFLScience, “is the velvet worm.”. It freezes its enemies with this gooey, disgusting, juicy thing it shoots. I sort of enjoy that. That would remain with you if you were mugged in that manner on the streets of New York City. Oh dear. “”.
Indeed, a velvet worm will rear up and brandish two appendages like a cowboy in a Western, shooting reels of lethal silly string, when it detects that a meal is within reach or that an enemy is nearby. Since it behaves differently than any other goo we see in nature, this type of slime has long captivated scientists.
After a few seconds, it changes into a glassy fiber that is as stiff as synthetic nylon, even though it initially appears gooey, gross, and juicy. The strangest part is that the solidified slime dissolves back into a viscous solution from which the fibers can be extracted when it is soaked in water. That is something that we humans could use extensively. An underdog with a superpower we can only imagine was born from a simple blind worm, and there are many more like it.
There are some genuinely memorable moments in what must be the funniest wildlife documentary out there, with firsts in wildlife filmmaking such as African wild dogs discovering that it’s supposedly impossible to kill a honey badger and the beetle that effectively deters ants by getting its babies to wave their diapers in the air. It’s the first to receive an advisory rating, in fact. An action that we at IFLScience can wholeheartedly support.
The five episodes that make up this glimpse into nature’s B-side are SuperZeroes, Terrible Parents, Sexy Beasts, The Unusual Suspects, and Total Grossout. Some of the episodes that stand out are as follows.
Pearlfish “reverse park” into sea cucumber colons, to borrow Ryan Reynolds’ phrase.
When it sticks an incredibly long finger up its nose, the aye-aye must be searching for something more valuable than gold.
Geese who believe that raising children is like throwing them off a precipice.
Monkeys that have mastered stealing, bartering, and begging for their visitors’ phones.
Slug mating. That’s all I have to say about that.
