Where do tropical forests grow? Animal world of tropical forests. Tropical forest climate. Animals of the rainforest A group of animals living in the tropics

Occupying only 6% of the landmass, the jungle is home to 50% of living species. Many of them are archaic and ancient. The constant heat and humidity of the jungle have allowed them to survive to this day.

The crowns of the tropics close together so tightly that the hornbills, turacos and toucans that live here have almost forgotten how to fly. But they jump well and climb branches. It’s easy to get lost in the intricacies of trunks and roots. The 2007 expedition to the island of Borneo alone gave the world 123 previously unknown tropical animals.

Inhabitants of the forest floor

The lower layer of the tropics is called the litter. There are fallen leaves and branches here. The overgrowth blocks the light. Therefore, only 2% of the litter is illuminated total number sun rays. This limits vegetation. Only shade-tolerant representatives of the flora survive in the litter. Some plants reach for the light, climbing tree trunks like vines.

These kinds of lianas also exist among animal litter. Many of them are large and long necks. This allows you to come out of the shadows, so to speak. The rest of the inhabitants lower tier tropics do not need lighting, but depend only on heat. We are talking about snakes, frogs, insects and soil inhabitants.

Tapir

Looks like a pig long trunk. In fact, the tapir is a relative of rhinoceroses and horses. Together with the trunk, the length of the animal’s body is about 2 meters. Tapirs weigh approximately 3 quintals and are found in Asia and.

Leading night image life, the pig-like creatures disguised themselves. Black and white coloring makes tapirs invisible in the dark jungle floor, illuminated by the moon.

Animals living in the tropical forest acquired long nose, in order to hide from the heat and predators under water. When diving, tapirs leave the tip of their “trunk” on the surface. It serves as a breathing tube.

The tapir is a primitive animal that looks today the same as it did a thousand years ago, which is rare for animals

Cuban slittooth

It was declared extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, the animal was found again. The insectivore is a relict species. Externally, its representatives are something between a hedgehog, a rat and a shrew.

Living in the mountain tropics of Cuba, the slittooth is the largest of the insectivores. The body length of the animal is 35 centimeters. The slit tooth weighs about a kilogram.

Cassowary

This flightless birds. Honored as the most dangerous on earth. 1-2 people die every year from the powerful paws and clawed wings of cassowaries. How can a bird's wings have claws?

The fact is that the flying “vehicles” of cassowaries are transformed into such rudiments. On their central finger there is a sharp claw. Its size and strength are frightening, considering the bird's 500-kilogram weight and 2-meter height.

The cassowary has a dense, leathery growth on its head. Its purpose is not clear to scientists. Externally, the growth resembles a helmet. There is an assumption that it breaks branches when the bird runs in the thick of the tropics.

The cassowary is an extremely irritable bird, it flies into a rage without visible reasons, attacking people

Okapi

Found in the tropics. The appearance of the animal combines the characteristics of a giraffe and a zebra. The body structure and coloring were borrowed from the latter. Black and white stripes adorn the okapi's legs. The rest of the body is brown. Head and neck like a giraffe. According to the genome, okapi is precisely his relative. Otherwise, representatives of the species are called forest giraffes.

Okapi's neck is shorter than that of savannah giraffes. But the animal has a long tongue. It is 35 centimeters long and bluish in color. The organ allows okapi to reach foliage and clean its eyes and ears.

Western gorilla

It is the largest among primates and lives in the jungles of central Africa. The animal's DNA is almost 96% identical to human DNA. This applies to both lowland and mountain gorillas. The latter live in the tropics. They are few in number. There are less than 700 individuals left in nature.

There are about 100 thousand lowland gorillas. Another 4 thousand are kept in zoos. There are no mountain gorillas in captivity.

Being able to walk on their hind legs, gorillas prefer to move on all fours at once. In this case, the animals place their hands sideways, resting on the back of their fingers. Monkeys need to keep the skin of their palms thin and tender. This is necessary for proper sensitivity of the brushes and fine manipulation of them.

Sumatran rhinoceros

He is the smallest among them. There are generally few large animals in the jungle. Firstly, it is easier for small creatures to get through the thickets. Secondly, the diversity of tropical species must fit into fertile but small areas.

Among rhinoceroses, the Sumatran is also the most ancient and rare. Animal life in the rainforest limited to the territories of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Here rhinoceroses reach one and a half meters in height and 2.5 in length. One individual weighs about 1300 kilograms.

Rhinoceros picks up berries and fruits fallen from careless birds

Animals of the undergrowth

The undergrowth is slightly higher than the litter and already receives 5% of the sun's rays. To capture them, plants grow wide leaf blades. Their area allows them to capture maximum light. The height of representatives of the undergrowth flora does not exceed 3 meters. Accordingly, the tier itself is the same minus half a meter from the ground.

They fall on the canopy. Rainforest Animals in the undergrowth they are often medium-sized, sometimes medium-sized. The tier is inhabited by mammals, reptiles, and birds.

Jaguar

Lives in the tropics of America. The weight of the animal is 80-130 kilograms. In America this is the most big cat. The color of each individual is unique, like human fingerprints. The spots on the skins of predators are compared to them.

Jaguars are excellent swimmers. Cats prefer to move through water by clinging to logs. On land, jaguars are also associated with trees. Cats drag prey onto them, hiding them in the branches from other contenders for meat.

The jaguar is the third largest of the big cats after lions and tigers.

Binturong

Belongs to the viverrid family. Externally, the binturong is something between a cat and a raccoon. The animal's relatives are genets and lysangs. Like them, the binturong is a predator. However, the touching appearance seems to cast off the fear of the animal.

Binturong lives in the tropics of Asia. Mostly Indian population. When dividing territories, binturongs mark their possessions with a liquid that smells like roasted corn.

South American nose

Represents raccoons. The animal has a long and mobile nose. It, like the head of the beast, is narrow. The name of the species is associated with the nose, as a distinctive feature. You can meet its representatives in the tropics of South America.

There, noses, like jaguars, are excellent tree climbers. The noses have short, but flexible and mobile paws with tenacious claws. The structure of the limbs allows animals to descend from trees both backwards and forwards.

The nosoha climbs into the trees to get fruit and hide from danger. In her absence, the beast is not averse to strolling through the jungle floor. Digging with its clawed paws, the nose finds reptiles and insects. Being an omnivore, the animal hunts them.

dart frog

Among the existing reptiles, poison dart frogs are the most colorful. On photo of tropical forest animals stand out with their indigo coloration. There are also turquoise and blue-black colors. It’s not for nothing that they highlight the frog in the background surrounding nature like a tropical bud.

The poison dart frog has no need to camouflage itself. Among reptiles, the animal produces the most powerful poison. They don’t touch the frog, even if they see it in front of their nose. More often, predators and people recoil from the blue beauty, fearing poison. One frog injection is enough to kill 10 people. There is no antidote.

Dart frog venom contains 100 non-protein substances. It is believed that the frog gets them by processing the tropical ants that it feeds on. When poison dart frogs are kept in captivity on other food, they become harmless and non-poisonous.

The singing of poison dart frogs does not at all resemble the usual croaking, but rather resembles the sounds made by a cricket

Common boa constrictor

Similar to a python, but slimmer. The boa constrictor also does not have a supraorbital bone. Finding out what animals live in the tropical forest, it is important to “discard” the Argentine boa constrictor. It settles in arid and desert places. Other subspecies live in the tropics.

Some hunt in the water. In America, where rivers and lakes are occupied by anacondas, boa constrictors obtain food on the ground and trees.

Common boa constrictor in the tropics it often replaces the cat. Residents of jungle settlements lure snakes, allowing them to live in barns and warehouses. There are boa constrictors catching mice. Therefore, the snake is considered partially domesticated.

flying dragon

This is a lizard with skin projections on the sides. They open when the animal jumps from the tree, resembling wings. They are not attached to the paws. Movable, rigid ribs open the folds.

The flying dragon descends into the jungle floor only to lay eggs. There are usually from 1 to 4 of them. Lizards bury their eggs in fallen leaves or soil.

The dragon can dive long distances while landing silently

Rainforest Canopy Dwellers

A tropical canopy is otherwise called a canopy. It is composed of tall, broad-leaved trees. Their crowns form a kind of roof over the litter and undergrowth. The height of the canopy is 35-40 meters. Many birds and arthropods hide in the treetops. There are 20 million species of the latter in the tropical canopy. There are fewer reptiles, invertebrates and mammals at altitude.

Kinkajou

Represents the raccoon family. Kinkajou lives in America. In the tropics, the animal settles in the crowns of trees. The kinkajou moves along their branches, clinging long tail.

Despite the slight similarity and lack of relationship with clubfoot, the animals are called tree bears. It's about diet. Kinkajou loves honey. The animal obtains it using its tongue. It reaches 13 centimeters in length, allowing it to climb into hives.

Kinkajous are easily tamed, very friendly and are often kept at home.

Malayan bear

Among the bears, he is the only one who almost never descends to the ground; he lives in the trees. The Malayan clubfoot is also the smallest in its order. The bear's fur is shorter than that of other Potapychs. Otherwise, representatives of the Malayan species would not be able to live in the tropics of Asia.

Among bears, the Malayan clubfoot has the longest tongue. It reaches 25 centimeters. The animal's claws are also the longest. How else to climb trees?

Jaco

One of the smartest parrots. Like a real intellectual, Gray is modestly “dressed.” The bird's plumage is gray. Only the tail has red feathers. Their shade is not flashy, but rather cherry. You can see birds in the jungle Africa. Animals tropical forests continent are successfully kept in captivity and often become news heroes.

Thus, a Gray Gray named Baby from the USA remembered the names of the robbers who broke into his owner’s apartment. Birds gave the thieves' information to the police.

Jaco, who knew about 500 words, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. different languages. The bird spoke in coherent sentences.

Koata

Otherwise called spider monkey. The animal has a tiny head, a massive body against its background, and long, thin limbs. When the koata extends them between the branches, it looks like a spider waiting for prey. The black, shiny fur of the animal, like fluff on the bodies of arthropods, is also confusing.

The coata lives in South and Central America. With a 60-centimeter body length of the monkey, the length of its tail is 90 centimeters.

Koats very rarely come down to the ground, sometimes spider monkeys fall and get injured, which heal quickly

Rainbow toucan

A large bird up to 53 centimeters long. With its massive and long beak, the toucan reaches for fruits on thin branches. If a bird sits on them, the shoots will not survive. A toucan weighs about 400 grams. The animal's beak is colored green, blue, orange, yellow, and red.

The body is mostly black, but there is an extensive lemon-colored patch on the head with a red scarlet border on the neck. Even the irises of the toucan’s eyes are colored, turquoise. It becomes clear why the species is called rainbow.

The colorful appearance of the toucan is combined with the fruit variety of the tropics. However, the bird can also feast on protein food, catching insects, tree frogs. Sometimes toucans eat the chicks of other birds.

Golden-helmed kalao

The largest among the birds of the tropics. The bird weighs approximately 2 kilograms. The golden-helmeted animal is named due to the feathers sticking out on its head. They seem to be raised, forming a semblance of armor from the times of the Roman Empire. The color of the feathers is golden.

There is a patch of bare skin on the neck of the kalao. It is slightly drooping and wrinkled, like that of a vulture or turkey. The kalao is also distinguished by its massive beak. It is not for nothing that the bird belongs to the hornbill family.

Long beaks make it convenient for birds to collect fruits from branchy trees.

Three-toed sloth

What animals are in the rainforest the slowest? The answer is obvious. Sloths move on land with maximum speed 16 meters hour. Animals spend most of their time on the branches of trees in the African jungle. There are sloths hanging upside down. The animals sleep most of the time, and leisurely chew the leaves for the rest.

Sloths not only feed on vegetation, but are also covered in it. Animal fur is covered with microscopic algae. That's why sloths are greenish in color. Algae are plants of water bodies. From there the sloths took “tenants”.

Slow mammals are good swimmers. During the rainy season, sloths have to swim from tree to tree.

Upper tropics

Animals of the tropical rainforest the upper tier live at an altitude of 45-55 meters. At this mark there are single crowns of particularly tall trees. Other trunks do not strive higher, because they are not adapted to stand alone in the face of the winds and heat of the sun.

Some birds, mammals, and bats also fight them. The choice is determined either by the proximity of the food supply, or by the availability of an overview of the area, or by moving to a safe distance from predators and dangers.

Crowned eagle

Among birds of prey he is the largest. The animal's body length exceeds a meter. The wingspan of the crowned eagle is more than 200 centimeters. A distinctive feature of the species is the crest on the head. In moments of danger or fighting spirit, the feathers rise, forming something like a crown.

The crowned eagle lives in the jungles of Africa. You rarely see birds alone. Crowned birds live in pairs. Animals even fly around their territories together. The eagles’ “allotment,” by the way, is approximately 16 square kilometers.

Giant flying fox

The muzzle of this bat looks like a fox. Hence the name of the animal. His fur, by the way, is reddish, which also reminds of foxes. Soaring in the sky, the flyer opens his wings to 170 centimeters. Weighs giant fox more than a kilogram.

Giant flying foxes are found in Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Fruit bats live in flocks. Flying in groups of 50-100 individuals, foxes terrify tourists.

Royal colobus

Belongs to the monkey family. It differs from other colobus monkeys by white markings on the chest, tail, and cheeks. The monkey lives in the jungles of Africa, growing to 60-70 centimeters in length, excluding the tail. He is 80 cm.

Colobuses rarely descend to the ground. Monkeys spend most of their lives in the treetops, where they feed on fruit.

Animal world tropical forests- this is fierce competition not only for space, light, but also food. Therefore, it is in the jungle that species are found that eat food that the inhabitants of other places do not even consider as food.

What about eucalyptus leaves, for example? They contain a minimum of nutrients, but there are enough poisons, and only koalas have learned to neutralize them. Thus, the animals of the species provided themselves with an abundance of food, for which they did not have to fight.

IN tropical zone large representatives of the cat family live. The most common of them are leopards and tigers. The tiger is considered the most dangerous predator tropics. He is fast and merciless. Monkeys, gazelles, and even zebras become his prey. However, despite this, tigers are afraid of people and attack them only in the most rare cases.

Leopards of the tropics are divided into several species, but they all have characteristic spots on their skin. By the way, the famous black one, a symbol of grace and beauty, is also a leopard, but with black spots on the background. Clouded leopard is also interesting. He climbs trees just as well domestic cat, jumping from branch to branch and terrifying the monkeys.

Tigers are found not only in the tropics, but also in the mountains and northern regions.

Such different monkeys of the rainforest

The funny ones that children like so much are not only mischievous ones and macaques. In the tropics there are dozens of species of these animals, very tiny and huge. The smallest one is pygmy marmoset. Its dimensions are 11-15 cm. The animal looks like a cute fluffy toy and easily fits in the palm of your hand. Marmosets live in trees and feed on tree sap and insects.

The largest ape is the gorilla. Males reach the height of an average person - 1.75 m, and their weight often exceeds 200 kg. Gorillas live on the ground and eat insects and shoots of green plants.

According to scientists, gorillas are the closest relatives of humans.

Pachyderms of the tropics

The hippopotamus least of all resembles a slender horse, and yet its name translates as “river horse.” Hippos spend most of the day in a tropical swamp, and even their births occur right in the water. Despite their bulk and apparent melancholy, hippos are very ferocious if they or their young are threatened.

Another typical tropical animal is the rhinoceros. These animals are among the most dangerous - an angry rhinoceros runs at a speed of 40 km/h, and its sharp horn can pierce the thickest skin. The only thing that saves the victim from the rage of the rhinoceros is poor eyesight pachyderm. Rhinoceroses usually navigate by smell.

The only animals that don't mind the rage of a rhinoceros are elephants. Some of the most large mammals They live in herds, which are usually led by the oldest female. Elephants are one of the most intelligent animals - they are able to distinguish notes, have their own language and recognize themselves in the mirror.

From gliding anacondas to fluttering blue morpho butterflies, rainforests are teeming with life—in fact, these precious ecosystems are home to 80 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. The Rainforest Alliance makes active efforts to protect tropical forests and biodiversity, including restoring degraded lands, surrounding forests and protecting waterways. Here are 11 amazing rainforest animals that the Rainforest Alliance is helping to protect.

With her brilliant, iridescent blue wings, the blue Morpho butterfly flutters through the rainforest. The many “eyes” on its inner brown side fool predators into thinking it is a large predator.

These gentle giants of the ocean can be found in warm waters the southern United States, the Caribbean and the northeastern coasts of Brazil. These manatees can weigh up to 500 kg. and grow up to 3 meters in length.

The striking okapi, the giraffe's closest relative, lives in the dense Ituri rainforest in central Africa. A master of camouflage, its striped back and brown coat help it remain undetected by predators.

This slow-moving animal lives exclusively in trees and feeds on leaves, branches and fruits. It moves so slowly that its fur is tinted green by the algae that grows on it. And it can take a sloth a whole month to digest one meal.

Bearing a strong resemblance to guinea pig The capybara is the largest rodent on Earth. Its weight can reach 65 kg and its height up to 60 cm. It lives in dense vegetation that surrounds water, and often jumps into bodies of water to hide from predators. The capybara can hold its breath for up to five minutes.

One of the most iconic species of rainforest animal, the red macaw is a large parrot with bright red plumage and brilliant blue and yellow feathers. Its powerful beak can open tough nuts and seeds. The scarlet macaw is one of the few species that mates for life.

Being one of the most colorful animals on the planet, poison frog the arrow uses its color to warn predators of the toxic venom that lies inside its skin. Indigenous cultures often use this frog's venom to coat arrowheads used for hunting.

Black howler monkeys get their nickname because of their loud howls, which they use to mark territory. These screams that sound like strong wind blowing through the tunnel can be heard up to 3 km away. Black Howlers live high in tropical forests, in groups of 4 to 19 individuals.

This is the largest of all anteaters, which can be found in meadows, swamps and wet forests from southern Belize to northern Argentina. Its long, sticky tongue can flick out 150 times per minute, allowing it to easily eat 30,000 insects a day.

The green anaconda is one of the largest snakes in the world, reaching more than 9 meters in length, 30 cm in diameter and weighing more than 220 kg. Due to its size, it is quite unwieldy on land, but very stealthy in the water.

The Praying Mantis is a master of camouflage, blending and mimicking the foliage around it. He uses his sharp vision and powerful forelimbs for catching and devouring prey.

The rainforest is very rich in animals. There are many different types of monkeys living in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. In their structure they differ from the Old World monkeys living in Africa and India. Old World monkeys are called narrow-nosed monkeys, American monkeys are called broad-nosed monkeys. A long, prehensile tail helps monkeys climb trees deftly. The tail is especially long and prehensile. spider monkey. Another monkey, a howler monkey, wraps its tail around a branch and holds it like a hand. The howler was named for its powerful, unpleasant voice.

The most powerful predator in the rainforest is the jaguar. This is a large yellow cat with black spots on its skin. She is good at climbing trees.

America's other big cat is the puma. It is distributed in North America to Canada, in South America found in the steppes up to Patagonia. The puma is yellowish-gray in color and somewhat resembles a lion (without the mane); This is probably why it is called the American lion.

Near ponds in the thicket of the forest you can meet an animal that resembles a little horse and even more like a rhinoceros. The animal reaches 2 m in length. His muzzle is elongated, as if extended into a trunk. This is an American tapir. He, like a pig, loves to wallow in puddles.

Nutria lives along lakes in reed thickets on the plains of Patagonia and on the mountain slopes of the Andes - swamp beaver, or koipu, - large rodent the size of ours river beaver. Nutria's life is associated with water. Nutria feeds on succulent roots aquatic plants, makes nests from reeds and reeds. The animal produces valuable fur. Nutria was transported to Soviet Union and released into the swampy thickets of Transcaucasia. They have acclimatized and are reproducing well. However, they suffer greatly during the cold winters that occur in Azerbaijan and Armenia, when the lakes freeze.

Unadapted to life in freezing bodies of water, nutria, having dived under the ice, do not find a way back. At the same time, their habitats become accessible to jungle cats and jackals that walk across the ice to nutria nests.

Armadillos, sloths and anteaters live in the forests of South America.

The armadillo's body is covered with a shell that slightly resembles a turtle's shield. The shell consists of two layers: inside it is bone, outside it is horny - and is divided into belts, movably connected to each other. A giant armadillo lives in Guiana and Brazil. The largest of the armadillos reach one and a half meters in length. Armadillos live in deep burrows and only come out at night to hunt for prey. They feed on termites, ants and various small animals.

Sloths have a monkey-like face. The long limbs of these animals are armed with large sickle-shaped claws. They received their name for their slowness and clumsiness. The dull greenish-gray protective coloring of the sloth reliably hides it from the eyes of the enemy in the branches of trees. The coloring of the sloth is given by green algae that live in its rough and shaggy fur. This is one of the wonderful examples of cohabitation between animal and plant organisms.

Several species of anteaters are found in the forests of South America. The average anteater is very interesting - the tamandua, with a prehensile tail. It runs superbly along inclined trunks and climbs trees, looking for ants and other insects.

Marsupials in the forests of Brazil are represented by long-eared and water possums. The water possum, or swimmer, lives near rivers and lakes. It differs from the long-eared one in its coloring and swimming membranes on its hind legs.

South America is home to many bats various types. Among them are blood-sucking leaf-nosed insects that attack horses and mules, and vampires.

Despite their ominous name, vampires feed exclusively on insects and plant fruits.

Of the birds, the hoatzin is of great interest. This is a variegated, rather large bird with a large crest on its head. The hoatzin's nest is placed above the water, in the branches of trees or thickets of bushes. The chicks are not afraid of falling into the water: they swim and dive well. Hoatzin chicks have long claws on the first and second fingers of the wing, which help them climb branches and twigs. It is curious that the adult hoatzin loses the ability to move quickly through the trees.

Studying the structure and lifestyle of hoatzin chicks, scientists came to the conclusion that the ancestors of birds also climbed trees. After all, the fossil first bird (Archaeopteryx) had long fingers with claws on the wings.

There are more than 160 species of parrots in the tropical forests of South America. The most famous are the green Amazon parrots. They learn to speak well.

Only in one country - in America - live the smallest birds - hummingbirds. These are unusually brightly and beautifully colored fast-flying birds, some of them the size of a bumblebee. There are over 450 species of hummingbirds. They, like insects, hover around flowers, sucking out flower juice with their thin beak and tongue. In addition, hummingbirds also feed on small insects.

There are many different snakes and lizards in tropical forests. Among them are boa constrictors, or boa, anaconda, reaching 11 m in length, and bushmaster - 4 m in length. Many snakes, due to the protective coloring of their skin, are little noticeable among forest greenery.

There are especially many lizards in the tropical rainforest. Large, broad-toed geckos sit in the trees. Among other species of lizards, the most interesting is the iguana, which lives both in trees and on the ground. This lizard has a very beautiful emerald green color. She eats plant foods.

Lives in the forests of Brazil and Guiana big frog- Surinamese pipa. It is interesting in its special way of reproduction. The eggs laid by the female are distributed by the male on the female's back. Each egg is placed in a separate cell. Subsequently, the skin grows and the cells close. The baby frogs develop on the female's back; when they grow up, they come out of their cells. The nutrients needed by frogs during development are transferred from the mother's body by blood vessels that branch in the walls of the skin cells.

Found in rivers of tropical America big fish - electric eel having special electrical organs. With electric shocks, the eel stuns prey and scares away its enemies.

In many rivers of South America lives unusually predatory fish- piranha, 30 cm long. Her strong jaws contain teeth as sharp as knives. If you drop a piece of meat into the river, piranhas immediately appear from the depths and instantly tear it apart. Piranhas feed on fish and attack ducks and domestic animals that carelessly enter the river. Even large animals such as tapirs suffer from piranha. Pisces damage lips drinking water animals. Piranhas are also dangerous to people.

The tropical forests contain a diverse world of insects. Very large diurnal butterflies are numerous. They are very beautifully and richly colored, varied in shape and size. In Brazil there are over 700 species of diurnal butterflies, and in Europe there are no more than 150 species.

Ants are very numerous. Penetrating into a person’s home, they eat his reserves and thereby cause significant harm. Umbrella ants live in underground galleries. They feed their larvae with fungal mold, which they grow on finely chopped leaves. Ants bring pieces of leaves to the anthill, moving along strictly constant paths.

There are many spiders in the tropical zone of South America. Among them, the largest is the tarantula spider. Its size is more than 5 cm. Its food is lizards, frogs, and insects; Apparently, it also attacks small birds. The same large earthen spiders are found in New Guinea and Java.

In the tropical forests of Africa live elephants, various monkeys, okapi - an animal related to the giraffe; in the rivers - hippopotamuses and crocodiles. The most interesting are the great apes - gorillas and chimpanzees. The gorilla is a very large monkey, the height of males reaches 2 m, weight - 200 kg. They live in the most remote parts of the tropical forest and in the mountains, inaccessible to humans. Gorillas make their dens in trees or on the ground. dense thickets. Gorillas have been severely exterminated by humans and are now preserved only in two areas of tropical forests in Africa - south of Cameroon to the river. Congo and the country of lakes Victoria and Tanganyika.

Chimpanzees are smaller than gorilla. An adult male is no higher than 1.5 m. They live in families, but sometimes gather in small herds. When descending from the trees, chimpanzees walk on the ground, leaning on their hands clenched into fists.

There are many species of monkeys in the tropical forests of Africa. These long-tailed small monkeys have greenish fur. Interesting are the toeless monkeys (Colobus), which lack thumb on hands. The most beautiful of these monkeys is Gveretsa. She lives in Ethiopia and in the forests to the west of this country. Macaques, related to African monkeys, live in tropical Asia.

Dog-headed monkeys - baboons - are very characteristic of the African continent. They live in the mountains of Africa.

The fauna of Madagascar has some peculiarities. For example, lemurs live on this island. Their body is covered with thick fur. Some have bushy tails. Lemurs' faces are more animal-like than monkey-like; That's why they are called prosimians.

There are many different species of parrots in the African rainforests. Best known gray parrot- Gray, very good at imitating the human voice.

In some places, crocodiles survive in large numbers. They especially love rivers, the banks of which are overgrown with dense tropical forest. Nile crocodile reaches 7 m in length.

The forests of Africa are home to large, up to 6 m long, boa constrictors - pythons.

Among the fish attracts attention lungfish Protopterus, inhabiting muddy lakes and swamps. These fish, in addition to gills, have lungs with which they breathe during drought. The lungfish Lepidosirene lives in South America, and the ceratod lives in Australia.

In the humid dense forests of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo (Kalimantan) lives the great ape orangutan. This is a large monkey, covered with coarse red fur. Adult males grow a large beard.

Close to great apes The gibbon is smaller in size than the orangutan, its body length is 1 m. The gibbon is distinguished by long limbs; with their help, swinging on the branches, he very easily jumps from tree to tree. Gibbons live on the island of Sumatra, on the Malay Peninsula and in the mountain forests of Burma.

A variety of macaques live in the forests of the Greater Sunda Islands - Sumatra and Borneo - and in Eastern India. On Borneo lives a big-nosed monkey. Her nose is long, almost trunk-shaped. Old animals, especially males, have significantly longer noses than young monkeys.

In the forests of India and nearby big islands The Indian elephant is not uncommon. Since ancient times, it has been tamed by humans and used in various jobs.

The common one is well known Indian rhinoceros- the largest one-horned rhinoceros.

A relative of American tapirs lives in Asia - black-backed tapir. It reaches 2 m in height. His back is light, and other parts of his body are covered with short black hair.

Among the predators of southern Asia, the most famous Bengal tiger. Most tigers are preserved in India, Indochina, on the islands of Sumatra and Java.

The tiger is a crepuscular animal; he hunts for large ungulates. A tiger, if wounded by an unsuccessful shot from a hunter, sick or an elder, or generally for any reason has lost the ability to hunt ungulates, which constitute its main food, attacks people and becomes a “man-eater.”

We have tigers in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Primorye and in the south of the Ussuri region.

The leopard is distributed in southern Asia, in the forests of the Greater Sunda Islands and in Japan. It is found in the Caucasus, in the mountains of Central Asia and in Primorye. We call him a leopard. Leopard attacks domestic animals; he is cunning, brave, and dangerous to humans. Black leopards are often found on the Greater Sunda Islands; they are called black panthers.

The sloth bear and the Malayan bear, the biruang, live in South Asia. The sloth fish is large, heavy beast, armed with long claws that allow him to climb trees well. Its fur color is black, and there is a large White spot. Its large lips are mobile, they can stretch into a tube, and with its long tongue the bear takes insects out of the crevices of trees. The sloth fish lives in tropical forests on the Indian subcontinent and on the island of Ceylon. It feeds on plants, fruits, berries, insects, bird eggs and small animals.

U malayan bear The fur is short, black. Most it spends its life in trees, feeding on fruits and insects.

There are many birds in tropical Asia. One of the most beautiful is considered to be the peacock, living in the wild in Java, Ceylon and Indochina.

In the forests of the Sunda Islands, Ceylon and India live bank or bush chickens - the wild ancestors of domestic chickens, many species of pheasants and other chickens.

The waters of South Asia are inhabited by long-snouted crocodiles - gharials. They live in the river. Ganges.

On the Malay Peninsula there is a reticulated python snake, reaching 10 m in length.

There are many in the forests of India poisonous snakes, from whose bites the big number of people. The most dangerous cobra, or spectacled snake. It gets its name from the spots behind its head that look like glasses.

The tropics are inhabited by many amphibians, or amphibians. Among them is the Javan flying frog. Strongly developed membranes between the toes of the front and hind paws allow it, while gliding, to jump from one tree to another.

Having become familiar with the distribution of animals on the globe, it is easy to notice that similar animals live on different continents under similar living conditions. Some species have adapted to life in the tundra, others in steppes and deserts, and others in mountains and forests. Each continent has its own fauna - species of animals that live only on this continent. The animal world of Australia is especially unique in this regard, which we will consider below.

By studying the Earth's past through the fossil remains of animals that once inhabited continents and islands, scientists came to the conclusion that the composition of the fauna, that is, the animal world, was continuously changing in all geological eras. Connections arose between continents; for example, between Asia and North America there was a connection. Animals that inhabited Asia could penetrate into America; Therefore, in the fauna of America and Asia we still see a lot of similarities. Geological history The Earth helps to clarify some features in the distribution of animals across the continents. Thus, the remains of marsupials are found in the ancient layers of the earth of Europe and America. Nowadays, these marsupials live only in Australia and only a few species in America. Consequently, marsupials were previously much more widespread on the globe. This confirms the opinion of geologists about the connection that existed between these continents.

Having studied the composition of the animal world of individual continents and islands, scientists divided Earth into areas characterized by animal species found only in that area.

The main regions are: Australian, Neotropical (Southern and Central America), Ethiopian (Africa), Eastern, or Indo-Malayan, Holarctic (Northern Asia, Europe and North America).

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Jungle, or scientifically, rainforests, from the treetops to the forest floor, are filled with life. Found here animals, about each of which you can write a separate report: a crocodile, an anteater, a hippopotamus, a bat, a sloth, a koala, a chimpanzee, a porcupine, a gorilla, an armadillo. Insects: termites, tropical butterflies, mosquitoes. Tarantula spiders, hummingbirds and parrots. Hundreds of species of plants, birds, and animals feel comfortable in the tropical forest.

Select a report about a tropical forest dweller:

What does "tropics" mean?

The tropics are the forests that grow near the equator. These forests are the most important ecosystem on Earth. Coast Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, South American shores, the islands of the West Indies, part of Africa, the island of Madagascar, and some Asian countries and islands Pacific Ocean- occupied by tropical thickets. The tropics make up only 6 percent of the landmass.

High humidity and hot climate are the main features of the fabulous diversity of life forms here. Constant warmth, frequent, heavy, short-lived tropical showers contribute to the rapid growth and development of flora. And the fauna, thanks to the abundance of water, also does not suffer from drought. Tropical forests have red or spotted soils, and the forest itself is multi-tiered, with each level densely populated. Such a diversity of flora and fauna is possible due to ideal living conditions.

Who lives in the tropical forest and how?

The wilds of the forest are inhabited by a variety of animals. Giant elephants and small insects, birds and medium-sized animals can live simultaneously in one area of ​​the forest, but at different levels, finding their own forest areas shelter and food. No other place on land has such a wealth of ancient life forms - endemics. Thanks to the dense foliage cover, the undergrowth in the rainforest is weak and animals can move freely.

The diversity of animals in the tropical forests is amazing: along with reptiles (turtles, crocodiles, lizards and snakes), there are many amphibians. The abundance of food attracts herbivores. Predators come after them (leopards, tigers, jaguars). The color of the inhabitants of the tropics is rich, since spots and stripes help to better camouflage in the forest. Many species of ants, tropical butterflies and spiders provide food for hundreds of bird species. The tropics are home to the largest number of monkeys on the planet; there are more than one and a half hundred parrots and 700 species of butterflies, including giant ones.

Unfortunately, many representatives of the jungle fauna (antelope, rhinoceroses, etc.) were exterminated by humans during colonialism. Now many animals that previously lived freely in tropical forests remain only in nature reserves and zoos. Human destruction of forests leads to a reduction in fauna and flora, soil erosion, and loss of the ecological balance of our planet. Tropical forests - the "green lungs of the planet" - have been sending us a message for decades that signals that humans must be held accountable for their actions.

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