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Presentation for the extra-curricular activity "Jungle Animals". Jungle Animals Jungle Animals List

You can spend the whole day in the untouched jungle and not see a single animal larger than a mouse. There are really few of them here. Especially few big ones.

By weight, animals make up only 0.02 percent of the total forest biomass. This is 2-3 times less than the similar ratio for the entire total biomass of the Earth. In absolute terms, about 200 kilograms per hectare, and at least a third of the rainforest animals (again by weight) live in the soil and litter.

But you need to keep in mind that hiding in the jungle is not at all difficult. There are so many suitable shelters for this! In addition, many animals lead a twilight or nocturnal lifestyle, showing their activity only in pitch darkness.

The story of the okapi testifies to how difficult it is to see the inhabitants of the jungle. This huge beast, the closest relative of giraffes, with almost the same long legs and neck, which was well known to the natives of the virgin forest, skillfully hid from the eyes of Europeans until 1901. Only thanks to the efforts of the pygmies, hurt to the quick by distrust of their stories about the amazing inhabitant of the thicket, the Royal Zoological Society in London received the skin and two skulls of the mysterious invisible man. However, in the next 80 years, only a few jungle explorers were lucky enough to see okapi in the wild.

The life of any forest animal is necessarily connected with a tree. This connection is especially noticeable in the jungle. Almost all of their inhabitants live on trees - on trunks and in crowns, in extreme cases they huddle near the roots in the forest floor and in the soil, but few build burrows on their own or use them constantly. Among land animals, only a few are not able to climb trees. Tropical wilds are the domain of the most skilled climbers.

Large terrestrial animals, unable to climb to the upper floors, face two important problems: how to move in the chaos of thickets and what to eat here. Large creatures need significant amounts of food, and there is not much on the ground floor.

The problem of movement is even more difficult. Of the large animals, the live bulldozer, a huge forest elephant, is best adapted to life in the impenetrable jungle. Crushing everything in its path, a herd of giants is able to break through any thickets, maneuvering among huge trunks, which also serve as an insurmountable obstacle for them.

However, even elephants gravitate towards forest edges, clearings, grassy, regularly flooded meadow lowlands near the banks of forest rivers and streams. Like other inhabitants of the jungle, they need sunbathing, especially baby elephants, otherwise they may develop rickets.

There are few ungulates in the rain forests. There are no animals here crowned with such spreading horns as our European red deer and elk. With such an ornament on your head, you will not make your way through the thicket. Mazama, or pointed deer, living in Central and South America, wear small straight horns on their heads. The American pudú's horns are so small that they do not protrude from the thick coat. The deer themselves are also small. The growth of various types of mazam varies from a large hare to a small fallow deer. The common pudu is a dwarf, 30-35 centimeters high and weighing 7-10 kilograms.

Of the 14 species of African crested duikers, peculiar forest antelopes, 12 prefer to live in tropical rainforests. Their slightly curved back horns only slightly rise above the high crest of thick wool growing between them. A baby antelope has horns no more than 10 centimeters, and a very miniature dwarf antelope, barely reaching a quarter meter at the withers, has very tiny horns - only 1.5-2 centimeters.

Among the few exceptions are markhorned antelopes. In bushbucks, helically twisted horns can reach a length of 55 centimeters, and in larger bongos - a meter. But they are directed back and do not interfere with wading through the thickets. Moreover, on the run, antelopes throw their heads back. How often bongos have to do this is evidenced by the bald patches on the back, behind the shoulder blades, rubbed with horns.

Most ungulates of the dense rainforest are pygmies compared to their relatives from other areas of the planet. The jungle is characterized by deer and antelopes the size of a small dog. Small kanchil, a resident of the island jungles of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java, is as tall as a rabbit and runs on thin, pencil-like legs, and weighs 2-2.5 kilograms. He is nocturnal and seems timid and defenseless. At the slightest danger, the deer dissolves in dense thickets, but if a predator overtakes it, it bites desperately, inflicting serious wounds on the enemy. Dwarfism is an adaptation to dense thickets. It is characteristic of bulls, bears and other animals.

The red subspecies of the African buffalo, which lives in the jungle, will pass for the calf of its huge black counterpart living in the savannah. The height of the baby is 100-130 centimeters, and it weighs four times less. Even smaller is the anoa dwarf buffalo from the forests of Sulawesi. His height is 60-100 centimeters. These gobies have short, backward-curving horns, while those of the black African buffalo form an intricate figure eight on the head of the animal, and the distance between their tips can reach a meter. The same conditions of existence caused unidirectional adaptations: they were similarly reflected in the external appearance of most jungle ungulates and required their miniaturization, which affected not only the body, but also the horns.

The same applies to bears. If we compare the size of the animals living in the open plains and in various forests, it is easy to see that they gradually become smaller as the forests become denser. The polar white bear weighs up to a ton. Almost as large is the subspecies of the brown land bear from Kodiak Island, off the coast of Alaska. In the forests of our country, brown bears rarely reach a weight of 750 kilograms, more often they are much smaller. The Himalayan bear, more closely related to the tree, is never heavier than 140-150 kilograms. The North American baribal, South Asian sloth and South American spectacled bears are slightly smaller. And the smallest Malay bear, or biruang, is just a baby, weighing up to 65 kilograms! It lives in tropical rainforests and spends most of the day in the trees. It sleeps or feeds on leaves, fruits and all living creatures.

Among the ungulates of the tropical rainforest, tapirs are the most peculiar. These large creatures weighing up to 300 kilograms resemble pigs in their appearance, ideally adapted for life in the thickets. They have relatively short legs and an elongated body, so that the animals at the withers do not exceed 1 meter. The elongated muzzle and narrow-browed head allow tapirs to easily fit into any spaces between branches. A torpedo-shaped torso with a narrow shoulder girdle, slightly widening towards the pelvic region, which is dressed in thick skin covered with short, smooth hair, allows it to squeeze through the thicket. Like elephants, tapirs gravitate to open glades, mainly to the banks of water bodies. Animals love to spend hot time in the water. On the territory occupied by tapirs, a system of paths and manholes is created, which animals use daily. However, if the owner of the site is attacked by a jaguar, the only predator dangerous to an adult animal, the tapir turns off the well-found path and dives into the thicket. Here the peace-loving beast gets some advantages, and this often saves his life.

It is much more difficult to live in the okapi jungle. The younger brother of the long-necked giraffe is unable to dissolve in the thickets, like tapirs and small deer. Okapi are extremely attached to thickets, and they prefer not to use wide lanes and open glades. To pave the way in the wilds, they have only one device - a massive chest, slightly hanging over their front legs. This allows the animal to bring down the entire weight of its body on the obstacle, and the head raised high and pushed forward makes it possible to look behind the obstacle and assess how it can be overcome.

Pigs are well adapted to life in the jungle. In the mountain forests of Africa, a large forest pig lives, discovered only in 1904. This is the largest representative of the pig family. Bush-eared or river pigs are more widespread - large beautiful animals of bright yellow color, with a white mane-strap on the back, with white sideburns and tassels on the ears. Unlike most forest ungulates, bush pigs live in herds, sometimes up to 100 heads, but are so wary that it is difficult to meet them in the jungle.

The bearded pig, so named for the abundant thickets of light bristles covering its muzzle, lives in the jungles of the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and the small islands of the Indian Ocean. It is the size of a European boar and also lives in families and herds. On the island of Sulawesi, the babirussa lives, an almost hairless pig of medium size, with two pairs of large fangs, bent back and intended only for decoration. The lower pair takes its place between the teeth of the lower jaw. The upper one does not grow from the mouth, but sticks out right on the muzzle. In old males, their tips almost reach the forehead or bend 180 degrees and grow back into the skin of the snout. In the shape of the upper fangs, there is a clear analogy with the horns of forest ungulates.

The body shape and mass of large pigs and tapirs proved to be successful for life in the jungle. With such dimensions, they still do not get stuck in the weaves of vines, and their solid weight allows them to break through the thickets.

The dimensions of the pygmy hippopotamus are approximately the same. Pygmy again! Its height at the withers does not exceed 80 centimeters. It is the size of a large pig, and weighs 10 times lighter than its large relative. The "baby" lives in the tropical forests of the Niger Delta. Adapting to life in the wilds, he not only changed his dimensions, but borrowed the most typical forms of behavior from the indigenous inhabitants of the forest. Animals do not gather in herds, but live alone or in pairs, are less connected with water and trample paths in coastal bushes.

Most tree rodents in the process of adaptation, like other mammals of the jungle, turned into pygmies. Let's take protein as an example. In the mountainous jungles of Panama, spread out on the slopes of the Chiriqui volcano, live bright red pygmy squirrels about 15 centimeters in size. In the thickets of the Amazon basin, midge squirrels with a body length of 10-11 live, and in South Asia, Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and other Indo-Pacific islands, crumb squirrels are only 7–10 centimeters tall.

Some terrestrial rodents adapted to the wilds by increasing their size. It is in the tropical rainforests that the largest representatives of this order live. There are very few of them. The largest is the capybara, or capybara. Outwardly, the animals are an exact copy of guinea pigs, enlarged 10 times. Males reach 1.5 meters in length and weigh 60-70 kilograms. The body is covered with long dense brown bristles, which protect the skin well from numerous spines.

Capybaras do not like hermitage, are very sociable and live in groups, sometimes quite large. On the paws, between the fingers, the capybara has swimming membranes, so it, like tapirs, swims and dives. It is not surprising that capybaras settle along the banks of rivers and other bodies of water. Most of all, capybaras like areas of the coastline covered with tall grass, which they feed on.

Two other giant rodents - paka and agouti - outwardly resemble large rabbits, only their ears are short. They are much smaller than the capybara, but they are similar to the habits of the pi, swim well, and the paca can even dive. In case of danger, the animals rush to the water and plop down there with a terrible noise, which for the rest of the group serves as a signal of extreme danger.

These are the requirements in the jungle for the shape and size of animals that cannot climb trees. It is not advantageous to be neither too big nor too small. For life in the wilds, the golden mean is good. Apparently, the size of the body in the range from agouti (up to 50 centimeters long) to capybaras and large pigs does not yet impose serious restrictions on movement in the dense thickets of the rainforest, but sharply reduces the number of natural enemies. After all, there are few large predators here, so capybaras, pigs and tapirs have almost no enemies. This is where dwarfism among traditionally large animals and gigantism in small fry arose.

On Earth, which supports a huge amount of fauna. One of the reasons for such a wide variety is constant heat. Tropical rainforests also contain vast reserves of water (2000 to 7000 mm of precipitation falls annually) and a variety of animal food. Many small animals, including monkeys, birds, snakes, rodents, frogs, lizards and insects found in the rainforest have never set foot on the ground. They use tall trees and undergrowth to hide from predators and search for food.

Because there is a huge variety of animals (40-75% of the Earth's animal species) competing for food, many species have adapted to eat certain foods that others do not. For example, toucans have a long, large beak. This adaptation allows the bird to reach fruit on branches that are too small to support the weight of the bird. The beak is also used to extract fruit from the tree.

Sloths use behavioral adaptations and camouflage to survive in the rainforest. They move very, very slowly and spend most of their time hanging upside down. Blue-green algae grow on their fur and give sloths their greenish coloration and protect them from predators.

This article examines the structure of the rainforest and some of the animals that live in its layers, from the litter to the top tier.

forest floor

The forest floor is the lowest layer of the rainforest and receives only about 2% of sunlight. Thus, the plants growing here are adapted to low light conditions. Thus, relatively large animals such as okapi, tapirs, Sumatran rhinoceros, etc. live in the lower level of the rainforest. A large number of reptiles, insects, etc. also occur in this layer. Organically, substances (of plant and animal origin) are collected in the forest floor, where they decompose, such as and.

Okapi

Okapi (Okapia johnstoni listen)) is a unique mammal species that is native to the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. Although okapi have distinctive zebra-like stripes on their limbs, they are more closely related to giraffes. Okapi are diurnal and solitary in nature. These rainforest animals feed on tree leaves and buds, fruits, ferns, and fungi.

Tapir

Tapir ( Tapirus sp.) are pig-like herbivorous mammals with a short, tenacious muzzle. These rainforest animals are found in the forests of South and Central America, as well as in Southeast Asia.

Sumatran rhinoceros

One of five surviving rhino species, ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) lives in the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra. It is the smallest species of rhinoceros in the world and has two horns. The Sumatran rhinoceros is on the verge of extinction as poachers actively hunt for its horns, which are used to make traditional medicines in China and Vietnam.

western gorilla

Western gorilla ( gorilla gorilla) is found in the forests of Central Africa. These animals are extremely intelligent and can use tools to obtain large amounts of food. The western gorilla is critically endangered today. Hunting for gorilla meat and the reduction of their natural habitat are two of the main threats to these amazing primates.

Undergrowth

The rainforest undergrowth is between the forest floor and the canopy, and it only receives about 5% of the sunlight. This level is home to a large number of small mammals, birds, reptiles and predators such as the jaguar. Small trees, shrubs and herbs grow in the undergrowth. As a rule, plants at this level rarely reach 3 m in height and usually have broad leaves to provide a large surface area for.

Jaguar

(Panthera onca) is the largest species in the Americas, and the third largest in the world after and. The jaguar prefers to live in tropical forests and is distributed from Central America to Argentina and Paraguay. It is very similar to a leopard, but more muscular and larger. The jaguar is a solitary superpredator in which it dwells.

Dart frogs

About three species of frogs from the poison dart frog family are deadly. The terrible leaf climber is considered the most dangerous among the three species and one of the most poisonous animals on Earth. These frogs are painted in bright colors including gold, red, green, blue and yellow to protect them from predators. This feature is known as aposematic coloration.

South American nosoha

Also known as coati ( Nasua nasua), this animal lives in the tropical forests of South America. Most of the range is in the lowlands east of the Andes. It is a diurnal animal that lives both on the ground and in trees. The diet includes fruits, other small animals and bird eggs.

common boa constrictor

common boa constrictor ( Boa constrictor) is a massive snake that is found in forests throughout America, as well as on the islands of the Caribbean. Although boas live in a wide variety of places, they prefer rainforests due to high humidity and suitable temperatures. In addition, rainforests provide ample cover and many food sources for these snakes.

forest canopy

The forest canopy (or canopy) is the most distinctive level of the rainforest, forming a roof over the undergrowth and forest floor. The canopy contains most of the largest trees in the rainforest, growing up to 30-45m in height. Broad-leaved evergreen trees dominate the canopy, making it the densest part of the rainforest. It is home to over 20 million species and a large number of birds, as well as mammals, invertebrates and reptiles.

Jaco

Jaco, or African gray parrots ( Psittacus erithacus) are medium-sized, gray-black birds common in equatorial Africa. Birds are currently classified as Near Threatened and number between 120,100 and 259,000.

rainbow toucan

Rainbow Toucan ( Ramphastos sulfatus) is common in the tropical forests of Latin America. In this environment, it settles in tree holes, often with other toucans. Overcrowded roosting sites force toucans to tuck their beaks and tails under their bodies to save space.

coats

Koats are a genus belonging to the family of spider monkeys. They live in the tropical forests of Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil. All seven coat species are endangered to some extent. These primates live in large groups of about 35 and split into smaller groups to forage during the day.

Three-toed sloths

Three-toed sloths are a family of arboreal mammals found in South and Central America. These rainforest animals are so named because of their slow gait, which is an adaptation to conserve energy. Sloths have the body size of a small dog or a large cat, and have three clawed toes on each limb.

Gold-helmed kalao

Golden Helmet Kalao ( Ceratogymna elata) lives in the rainforests of West Africa. It is one of the largest birds in this environment and lives in forest canopies and rarely feeds on the ground. Birds of this species live in small family groups consisting of an adult pair and several chicks.

kinkajou

The kinkajou is one of the rainforest animals that is mistaken for a monkey or a ferret. The kinkajou is native to the tropical forests of Central and South America. These nocturnal animals are arboreal and have an omnivorous diet. Unfortunately, they are hunted for their valuable wool.

Upper tier

At this level of the rainforest there are several giant trees reaching a height of about 45-55 m or even higher. Thus, these trees rise above the canopy. They are well adapted to withstand strong winds and high temperatures over the canopy. When such trees die, holes form in the canopy, allowing sunlight to reach the lower layers of the rainforest.

crowned eagle

crowned eagle ( Stephanoaetus coronatus) is a massive and fierce predatory predator, common in the upper tier of tropical forests. The eagle primarily feeds on mammals, including small ungulates, small primates, birds, and lizards. It is one of the largest eagles in Africa, but is now classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN due to large-scale habitat destruction.

royal colobus

Royal Colobus ( Colobus polykomos) is one of the rainforest animals that is found in the African rainforests in countries such as Senegal, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast. The king colobus lives in the upper tier of the forest, but feeds, usually on the ground 3 to 4 females and 1 to 3 males form together one social group.

Giant flying fox

Giant flying fox ( Pteropus vampyrus) is one of the largest bat species in the world. It lives in tropical forests, where it feeds exclusively on nectar, fruits and flowers. Although these bats do not have the ability to echolocate, they use their keen eyesight to locate food sources.

The rainforest is very rich in animals. There are many different kinds 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, American monkeys are called broad-nosed. A long tenacious tail helps the monkeys deftly climb trees. The spider monkey has a particularly long and tenacious tail. Another monkey, the howler monkey, wraps its tail around the branch and holds it like a hand. Howler was named for its powerful, obnoxious voice.

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

America's other big cat is the cougar. It is common in North America to Canada, in South America it is found in the steppes to Patagonia. The cougar is colored yellowish gray and somewhat resembles a lion (without a mane); this is probably why it is called the American lion.

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

On the lakes in the reed beds on the plains of Patagonia and on the mountain slopes of the Andes, the nutria lives - the swamp beaver, or koipu - a large rodent the size of our river beaver. The life of a nutria is connected with water. The nutria feeds on the roots of succulent aquatic plants; it builds nests from reeds and reeds. The animal gives valuable fur. The nutria was transported to the Soviet Union and released in the swampy thickets of Transcaucasia. They have acclimatized and breed well. However, they suffer greatly during the cold winters that occur in Azerbaijan and Armenia, when the lakes freeze.

Unadapted to life in freezing reservoirs, nutria, diving under the ice, do not find a way out. At the same time, their habitats become accessible to jungle cats and jackals, which pass through the ice to nests of nutrias.

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

The body of the armadillo is covered with a shell, a bit reminiscent of a turtle shield. The shell consists of two layers: inside it is bony, outside - 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 come out to prey only at night. 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 got their name for slowness and slowness. The dull greenish-gray protective coloration of the sloth reliably hides it from the eyes of the enemy in the branches of trees. The color of the sloth is given by green algae that live in its rough and shaggy coat. This is one of the great examples of the cohabitation of animal and plant organisms.

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

Marsupials in the forests of Brazil are eared and water opossums. The water opossum, or swimmer, lives near rivers and lakes. It differs from the eared one in color and swimming membranes on the hind legs.

There are many different types of bats in South America. Among them are blood-sucking leaf-beetles that attack horses and mules, and vampires.

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

Of the birds of great interest is the hoatzin. This is a motley colored, rather large bird with a large crest on its head. The nest of the hoatzin is placed above the water, in the branches of trees or thickets of shrubs. Chicks are not afraid to fall 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 branches. It is curious that the adult hoatzin loses the ability to quickly move 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 over 160 species of parrots in the rainforests of South America. The most famous are green Amazonian parrots. They are good at speaking.

Only in one country - in America - live the smallest birds - hummingbirds. These are unusually bright 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 flower juice with a thin beak and tongue. In addition, hummingbirds also feed on small insects.

There are many different snakes and lizards in the rainforests. Among them are boas, or boa, anaconda, reaching 11 m in length, bushmaster - 4 m in length. Many snakes, due to the protective coloration of the skin, are hardly noticeable among the forest greenery.

There are especially many lizards in the tropical rainforest. Big broad-toed geckos are sitting on 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.

In the forests of Brazil and Guiana lives a large frog - the Surinamese pipa. It is interesting in a special way of reproduction. The eggs laid by the female are distributed by the male on the back of the female. Each egg falls into a separate cell. In the future, the skin grows, and the cells close. The frogs develop on the back of the female; when they grow up, they leave the cells. Nutrients necessary for frogs during development are transferred from the mother's body by blood vessels branching in the walls of skin cells.

In the rivers of tropical America there is a large fish - an electric eel, which has special electrical organs. With electric shocks, the eel stuns its prey and scares away its enemies.

In many rivers of South America, an unusually predatory fish lives - piranha, 30 cm long. In her strong jaws sit sharp, like knives, teeth. If you lower a piece of meat into the river, piranhas immediately appear from the depths and instantly tear it apart. Piranhas feed on fish, attack ducks and domestic animals that inadvertently entered the river. Even such large animals as tapirs suffer from piranha. Fish damage the lips of water-drinking animals. Piranhas are also dangerous to humans.

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

Ants are very numerous. Penetrating into human dwellings, they eat his reserves and thereby cause significant harm. Umbrella ants live in underground galleries. They feed their larvae with mushroom mold, which is grown on finely chopped foliage. Ants bring pieces of leaves to the anthill, moving along strictly constant paths.

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

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

Chimpanzees are smaller than gorillas. An adult male is not higher than 1.5 m. They live in families, but sometimes they gather in small herds. Descending from 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. The fur of these long-tailed little monkeys is greenish in color. Fingerless monkeys (colobus) are interesting, they do not have a thumb on their hands. The most beautiful of these monkeys is the Gverets. She lives in Ethiopia and in the forests to the west of that 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. So, for example, lemurs live on this island. Their body is covered with thick fur. Some have fluffy tails. The muzzles of lemurs are more animal than monkey; hence they are called semi-monkeys.

There are many different types of parrots in the rainforests of Africa. The most famous gray parrot is a jaco, which imitates the human voice very well.

Crocodiles have been preserved in large numbers in places. They are especially fond of rivers, the banks of which are overgrown with dense tropical forest. The Nile crocodile reaches 7 m in length.

Large, up to 6 m long, boas - pythons live in the forests of Africa.

Among the fish, the lungfish protopterus, which inhabits muddy lakes and swamps, attracts attention. These fish, in addition to gills, have lungs that they breathe during a drought. The lungfish lepidosiren lives in South America, and the ceratodes live in Australia.

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

Close to the 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. The nosed monkey lives on the island of Borneo. Her nose is long, almost proboscis-shaped. In older animals, especially in males, the nose is much longer than in young monkeys.

In the forests of India and on the nearest large islands, the Indian elephant is often found. Since ancient times, it has been tamed by man and used in various jobs.

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

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

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

The tiger is a twilight animal; he hunts for large ungulates. A tiger, in the event of a hunter, illness or headman being wounded by an unsuccessful shot, or in general for any reason who has lost the ability to hunt ungulates that make up his main food, attacks people, becomes a "cannibal".

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

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 bar. Leopard attacks domestic animals; he is cunning, bold, and dangerous to humans. On the Greater Sunda Islands, black leopards are often found; they are called black panthers.

South Asia is home to the sloth bear and the Malay bear, the Biruang. Gubach is a large, heavy beast, armed with long claws, allowing him to climb trees well. The color of his fur is black, on the chest there is a large white spot. Its large lips are mobile, they can be stretched out with a tube, and with a long tongue the bear takes out insects from the cracks of trees. Gubach lives in tropical forests on the peninsula of Hindustan and on the island of Ceylon. It feeds on plants, fruits, berries, insects, bird eggs and small animals.

The Malayan bear has short, black fur. It spends most of its life in trees, feeding on fruits and insects.

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

In the forests of the Sunda Islands, in Ceylon and in India, there live banking, 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 r. Ganges.

On the Malacca peninsula, a reticulated python snake is found, reaching 10 m in length.

In the forests of India there are many poisonous snakes, from the bites of which a large number of people suffer every year. The most dangerous cobra, or spectacled snake. She got her name from the spots on the back of her head that look like glasses.

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

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

Studying the past of the Earth from the fossil remains of animals that once inhabited the continents and islands, scientists came to the conclusion that the composition of the fauna, that is, the animal world, has continuously changed in all geological epochs. Connections arose between the continents; so, for example, there was a connection between Asia and North America. Animals that inhabited Asia may have entered the Americas; therefore, in the fauna of America and Asia, we still see a lot of similarities at the present time. The geological history of the Earth helps to clarify some features in the distribution of animals on 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, earlier marsupials on the globe were much more widespread. 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 the globe into areas characterized by animal species that are found only in this area.

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

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

The crowns of the tropics are so tightly closed that the hornbills, turacos and toucans that live here have almost forgotten how to fly. But they are excellent at jumping and climbing branches. It is easy to get lost in the intricacies of trunks and roots. Only one expedition in 2007 to the island of Borneo gave the world 123 previously unknown tropical animals.

Inhabitants of the forest floor

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

There are such creepers among animal bedding. Many of them are large and with long necks. This allows, so to speak, to come out of the shadows. The rest of the inhabitants of the lower tier of the tropics do not need lighting, but depend only on heat. We are talking about snakes, frogs, insects and inhabitants of the soil.

Tapir

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

Leading a nocturnal lifestyle, pig-like creatures disguised themselves. Black and white coloration makes tapirs invisible in the dark jungle floor, illuminated by the moon.

Animals that live in the rainforest got a long nose in order to hide from the heat and predators under water. When diving, tapirs leave the tip of the "trunk" on the surface. It serves as a breathing tube.

Tapir is a primitive animal that looks today as it did a thousand years ago, which is rare for animals.

Cuban flint tooth

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. Outwardly, its representatives are something between a hedgehog, a rat and a shrew.

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

Cassowary

These are flightless birds. Awarded the most dangerous on earth. In from the powerful paws and clawed wings of cassowaries, 1-2 people die annually. How can feathered wings be clawed?

The fact is that the flying "devices" of the cassowaries have been transformed into such rudiments. On their central finger is a sharp claw. Its size and strength are frightening, given the bird's 500-kilogram weight and 2-meter height.

On the head of the cassowary there is a dense leathery outgrowth. Its purpose is not clear to scientists. Outwardly, the outgrowth resembles a helmet. There is an assumption that he breaks the branches when the bird runs in the thick of the tropics.

The cassowary is an extremely irritable bird, goes into a rage for no apparent reason, attacking people