Animals of the Rainforest

Hi.  I'm Terry the toucon here to say welcome to my page!   I live in one of the most beautiful places on  earth- a tropical rainforest!    Let me introduce you to some of my animal friends who live with me! The rainforest is an ideal place for many types of animal to live.  There is plenty shelter, food, water and it is warm all year round!  Scientists believe that there is such a great diversity of animals because rainforests are the oldest ecosystems on earth.   Lets meet some of my friends!!!

These happy looking fellows are called macaws.  Their main colours are red, yellow and blue.  They mostly stay in the canopy because they are good climbers, but they are very clumsy on the ground!  They mostly eat fruit and nuts, but are fond of clay as a source of calcium.  They have hollow bones to help them fly better.  Although the macaw isn' on the endangered species list just yet, many are dying out because of poachers!

When you visit the rainforest, you can be sure that you will meet lots of insects.  This is because the conditions in the rainforest are ideally suited to their lifestyle.   Scientists estimate that there are more than 50 million species living in rainforests and that there are many more that havn't been discovered yet! Perhaps you might find one if you visit the rainforest.  You could even name it after yourself!

This unusual looking insect is called a Praying Mantis.   It is called this because its front legs look like they are praying!!  Most live in warm or tropical climates.  It is not a good friend because it eats other insects, including other mantis!!  Sometimes the female even eats the male!!  When it is fully grown he is between 3 and 5 inches long.  The mantis is camoflagued so that it is the same colour as the tree.  This means that predators find it hard to see it.  It uses its forelegs to capture its prey because they have sharp spines and hooks.

The millipede lives in the Amazon rainforest, and lives on the forest floor and under rocks.  It eats other bugs and decaying plants and it is eaten by birds itself.  A millipede has around 115 legs!!  It has a round head and is basically blind, so it uses its antennae to see!! When disturbed, they usually coil up and give out foul odours!  There are at least 7,500 types to be found!

The next friend that I want you to meet is someone you may have heard about,  but never believed existed.  It is ....... wait for it.........the

FRUIT BAT!!!!  Yes, it does exist!   It is usually grey, black and orange colour, with red eyes.  Its nickname is the flying fox.  It loves to eat fruit, except citrus, and even sleeps in fruit trees!  It lives in the canopy layer, and is found in Africa, Asia and Australia and in the Amazon.  It is a nocturnal animal, but occasionally comes out during daytime to eat.  It can have a wing span of up to three feet! its arms are found at the top of it's wings.  These wings are two very thin layers of skin, which provide a warm blanket at night.

Here is someone else I want you to meet.  But don't annoy him, because its the.....

POISON ARROW FROG!!!  It is usually brightly coloured,and can be found in the rainforests of Central America and Brazil.  Its skin produces some of the strongest natural poison in the world, which indigenous people often use for hunting purposes.  It gets its name from the fact that these people used the poison on the arrows which they used for hunting.  The strenght of their poison ranges from being harmless, to causing instant death!!It has very moist skin, and is about 2 inches long.  It makes its home on the forest floor, the lowest level of the forest. One species, called 'Phylobates Terribilis', has enough poison to kill several humans, ans close to 20,000 small, rodent- like animals. I wonder how it got its name!!!!

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