Search:

Tropical Rainforest Animals

By: Furia Andress The tropical rainforest is a unique ecosystem that is home to many plants and animals, in fact more plants and animals than we even know about. The plants found in the tropical rainforest produce much of the oxygen that is essential for our planet. In addition, many of the plants have unique healing properties against illness and disease.

Many of the animals that reside in the rainforest can't be found anywhere else on earth. One such creature is the Brazilian Tapir. The Tapir is a mammal that is found in only a few areas in South America, and feeds only on small braches and leaves. This animal is quite harmless to man, it has a fear of anything larger than it. The Tapir lives near the water and spends much of its time diving and swimming in the ponds, lakes and rivers throughout the tropical rainforest.

There are also many varieties of birds to be found in the rainforest. One such bird is the Crested Guan, which can be found on the northern tip of South America. This bird lives in the tall trees of the rainforest and lives off of the seeds and fruits that are available on the floor of the tropical rainforest.

After animals and birds it is the turn of the reptiles. One unusual reptile species is the reptile called "Flying Dragon" found in the forests of Indonesia and the Philippines. It derives its name from the fact that it can fly from one tree to another with its skin flaps. It lives on insects and ants. This forest also has another use for these reptiles. At breeding time, these reptiles bury their eggs in the fertile soil of the rainforest to breed.

Slow Loris adds to the list of select animals found in the tropical rainforest. It lives on tree tops in day and at night comes down to the ground to feed on shoots and leaves, small birds, bird's eggs, and insects. It is basically a lazy animal spending all its time either sleeping on the trees or hanging upside down from his feet. It also moves very slow fashion but doesn't stumble on the way down from the top to the forest floor.

A visit to the tropical rainforest wouldn't be complete without a few sightings of some of the snakes found only in this unique environment. One such snake is the Vine Snake, which can be found in central and northern South America. This snake prefers to eat small birds that it steals from nests or lizards that it finds on the ground and in the trees of the forest. The Vine Snakes name derives from the snakes appearance - a very thin snake (approximately half inch in diameter), which will stop what its doing when frightened by predator and hang from the trees, swaying from side to side. This hanging appearance looks much like the vines that are so common in this part of the rainforest.

Besides these the tropical rainforest is filled with numerous native animals. The tropical rainforest is a beautiful environment which at times could get harsh. As a result many of these animals have specific features to deal with and survive in these harsh conditions. The wonders of this rainforest, information about plants and animals continues to amaze us day by day as it is revealed.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Furia Andress is the owner and operator of Furia Tropical, a fantastic resource for information about all things tropical. For more articles on all things tropical why not visit: www.furiatropical.com/articles
You can get a unique content version of this article for your website or ezine.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated