A Rainforest Bestiary • “Animal life is, on the whole, far more abundant and more varied within the tropics than in any other par of the globe, and a great number of peculiar groups are found there which never extend into temperate regions. Endless eccentricities of form, and extreme richness of colour are its most prominent features, and these are manifested in the highest degree in those equatrorial lands where the vegetation acquirers its greatest beauty and its fullest development” Wallace
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A Rainforest Bestiary “Animal life is, on the whole, far more abundant and more varied within the tropics than in any other par of the globe, and a great.
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A Rainforest Bestiary
• “Animal life is, on the whole, far more abundant and more varied within the tropics than in any other par of the globe, and a great number of peculiar groups are found there which never extend into temperate regions. Endless eccentricities of form, and extreme richness of colour are its most prominent features, and these are manifested in the highest degree in those equatrorial lands where the vegetation acquirers its greatest beauty and its fullest development” Wallace
A Rainforest BestiaryMammals
• As a group, rainforest mammals tend to be secretive and mostly nocturnal, making them difficult to see
A Rainforest BestiaryMonkeys
• Neotropical monkeys all belong to a group named the platyrrhines (nostril position, open at the sides), but their prehensile tails are the obvious trait
• A minimum of 49 sp in the Neotropics
• Occupy a variety of niches in various kinds of forest
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Range from large, apelike monkeys (spider, woolly, howler) to medium-sized ‘typical’ monkeys (e.g. capuchins, and squirrel monkeys), monkeys with bald faces (uakaris), monkeys with long, shaggy fur (sakis), nocturnal (owl monkeys or douroucouli), small lemur-like monkeys (marmosets) and squirrel-like monkeys (tamarins)
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Typical monkeys are Cebidae while tamarins and marmosets are Callitricidae
• Occur all across all forest types, but reach there greatest numbers in lowland rainforest
• Strongly arboreal
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Although there are many species, there are a few areas in which there are no ecological equivalents to some OW sp
• All NW monkeys are forest monkeys (vs. baboons of the AF savanna)
• There are no great apes (howler @ 20lb)• Spider monkeys are similar to Gibbons
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Capuchins (4 sp) range from C Am through Amazonia and are very abundant
• Relatively small (0.3-0.6m; 1-4kg)
• Pale brown to black fur with whitish face
• Travel in troops (5-30)• Omnivorous, eat palm seeds• Important seed dispersers
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Titi monkeys (3sp; 8subsp) and are smaller than capuchins
• Thick fur around face• Small groups (2-6)• Non-prehensile tail• Thick jungle (bamboo)• Dawn chorus
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Squirrel moneys (3sp) are widespread occuring into C Am
• Smaller than capuchins• Gallery, lowland, and
early succession forests• Big troops (20-100)• Fruits and insects• Estimated 50-80/mi2
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Night monkeys (or douroucouli) are small (1 kg) and truly noctornal (9sp)
• Throughout SAm into C• 2-5 roost in tree cavities• Forage ground to canopy• Fruits, insects, nestlings• Body positioning, not face
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Uakaris (2sp) are med-large monkeys in the gallery forests of the upper reaches of Amazon
• Armadillos, anteaters, and sloths are Neotropical (expect 1) and are in the family Xenarthra (peglike teeth)
• Anteaters are toothless (edentate), but the others are peglike and have other skeletal modifications that unite the group
A Rainforest Bestiary
• One of the most common anteaters is the (0.6m) tamandua (2 sp, N and S)
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Anteaters from around the world look alike…why?
• They have long, pointed snouts, formidable curved claws, prominent ears, and a long, prehensile tail (coat is variable)
• Will feed on the ground or in trees (termites, ants, and sometimes bees)
A Rainforest Bestiary
• An anteater exploring a tree in the cerrado of Brazil
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Giant anteater is terrestrial and is big (body 1.2m and 1m tail)
• A 50cm tongue
A Rainforest Bestiary
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Pygmy anteater is small (0.5m) and is nocturnal as well as arboreal
A Rainforest Bestiary
• The three-toed sloth is the most common sloth, although don’t count on seeing it…
• It is one of 3 sp• Once thought to
forage in cecropia exclusively, now know otherwise
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Two-toed sloths (2 sp) are larger, but otherwise similar
• Both have 12 toes..• More confined to
forests• Distantly related to three
toed’s (more closely related to giant ground sloths)
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Many species of armadillos, one of which successfully invaded the northern temperate zone (9-banded)
• Largely found in savannas• Nocturnal insectivores
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Northern migration of 9-banded…
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Giant armadillo ranges throughout much of S Am, but is widely hunted for its meat and as such, is now listed by CITES
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Tropical raccoons and weasels range as far south as Panama
• Tropical members of the Procyonidae include the coatimundi, kinkajou, and olingo (and the crab-eating raccoon)
A Rainforest Bestiary
• Coatimundi (2 sp) occurs in most habitats
• Travel in small groups• Males usually solo• 63cm body• 33-70cm tail• Non-prehensile
A Rainforest Bestiary
• The kinkajou is smaller than a coatimundi, has a very prehensile tail
• Forest dweller• Nocturnal• Frugivore, with some
meat
A Rainforest Bestiary
• The Olingo looks like a kinkajou, but is a different color and lacks a prehensile tail
• Most humid forests• Nocturnal and arboreal• Fruits and small animals• Perhaps 6 sp
A Rainforest BestiaryMustelids
• The weasal family (Mustelidae) has several interesting members in the tropics
• The tayra (0.6m) lacks a prehensile tail but is good tree climber
• Omnivores• Dens in tree cavity
A Rainforest Bestiary Mustelids
• The grison is a low-cal version of a badger
• Found throughout lowlands and savannas
• Carnivore• 2nd sp (high elevation)
A Rainforest Bestiary Mustelids
• There are several tropical skunks
• A few temperate species range into the tropics, but also several strictly tropical species (e.g. several hog-nosed skunks)
A Rainforest BestiaryFelines
• The top cat in the tropics is the jaugar
• The largest (1.8m), ranges from northern Mexico through Patagonia, now hanging on in deep Amazon, montane forests and other remote sites
A Rainforest BestiaryFelines
• Jaguars are dietary and ecological generalists (although take many of the larger tropical animals)
• ‘yaguar’ means ‘he who kills in one leap’
A Rainforest BestiaryFelines
• The ocelot and margay are much more common than jaguars
A Rainforest BestiaryFelines
• Another forgotten feline is the oncilla (F. tigrina), a cat ½ the size of the margay
• Very little is known about this cat
A Rainforest BestiaryFelines
• The Jaguarundi is one of the most commonly seen tropical cats
• Common and diurnal• Short legs and long tail• 0.9m with 0.6m tail• solitary
A Rainforest BestiaryFelines
• The puma occurs throughout S Am, C Am, and N Am
• Wide-ranging• solitary
A Rainforest BestiaryMarsupials
• Marsupials, not just for Australia• Until recently (GAI), S Am had a very
impressive marsupial fauna (e.g. sabre-toothed tiger and marsupial sabre-toothed tiger)
• Opossums have been relatively successful in the tropics
A Rainforest BestiaryMarsupials
• Short-tailed opossum, Brazil
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• Amphibians do not lay eggs in
protective eggs and as a consequence, require water
• During the aquatic phase the animal breathes by external gill, but are reabsorbed during metamorphosis
• Most require moisture for their skins, though toads can survive without it
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• Salamanders are one of the few
exceptions to the latitudinal diversity gradients (low in tropics)
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• There are 4000 species of anurans in
the world and 1600 or so occur in the Neotropics
• Some sites, 80 sp can co-occur• While many follow traditional life-
cycles, others depart
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• Many give birth to
fully formed miniature adults
• Eggs laid on plants and larvae drop into water below
• Eggs laid on land, but in foam nests
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• The constant moistness of much of
the tropical rainforest (and cloud forest) has allowed an impressive radiation of reproductive strategies among anurans
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• The males guards the
eggs for 10-12 days after which, the female takes each tadpole to a bromeliad (each gets their own), later returning with unfertilized eggs for the developing frogs
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• Tree frogs are arboreal and are aided
by the tiny suction disks on their feet
A Rainforest BestiaryTrue Frogs, Tree Frogs, and
Toads• Glass frogs are small green tree frogs
with somewhat transparent bellies• They attach to leaves and drop eggs
into water, tadpoles become bright red and burrow into stagnant litter