Spider monkey:
Inhabits the canopy of the rainforest eating fruits, seeds and leaves. It can grow up to two feet tall, excluding the
tail. The spider monkey likes to hang upside down using only its powerful tail to hold on to branches.
Other species include: squirrel monkey, capuchin monkey, woolly monkey, red howler monkey and pigmy
marmoset.
Golden Lion Tamarin:
A type of monkey of the omnivore type, the golden lion tamarin eats fruits, insects, spiders, lizards, etc. It can reach
up to 12 inches long (with a 12 inches tail) and a weight of about 2 pounds.
Sloth:
Lives in the Amazon rainforest canopy, rarely climbing down from the trees. Have huge, hooked claws and long
arms. The sloth eats mainly fruits, leaves and bugs, spending most of the time hanging upside down.
Giant Anteater:
Armed with a 2 foot long tongue, the anteater can swallow ants and termites very fast. An adult can reach up to 8
feet long and a weight up to 140 pounds.
Giant River Otter:
A highly endangered specie of the Amazon river, it can grow up to 6 feet long and a weight of around 70 pounds.
Biggest of its kind in the world, the giant river otter eats mostly fish, small reptiles and birds.
Capybara:
Biggest rodent on Earth, the capybara it's about 2 feet tall and a weight of around 100 pounds. An excellent
swimmer, even under water, lives and sleeps in the water, showing only its nostrils above water level.
Endangered specie in the Amazon River. Its diet consists mainly of grass, aquatic vegetation, melons and
squashes.
Amazonian Manatee:
The largest of all marine mammals found in the Amazon river and its tributaries. An adult manatee can reach
up to three meters long and 450 kg in weight.
Toucan:
Inhabits the canopy of the Amazon rainforest. With short, thick neck, the toucan is distinguished by its large
and colorful beak (black, blue, red, white or combinations).
It can grow from about 7 inches to over 2 feet.
Macaw:
Largest of the parrot family, the macaw has a sharp, hooked bill ideal for eating nuts, fruits and seeds. It can
reach from 1 foot to 3 feet in size, like the Hyacinth macaw. The scarlet macaw - like most of tropical rainforest
macaws - is endangered due to poaching, hunting and destruction of habitat through deforestation. Its lifespan
is about 75 years in captivity.
Amazon Pink River Dolphin:
One of the most beautiful creatures of the Amazon river, surrounded by all kinds of myths and legends in the
jungle. Read more about the Amazon Pink River Dolphin here.
Electric Eel:
A type of fish - not eel at all - that can grow to about 8 feet long and weight of up to 60 pounds. Visit Amazon
River Fish for more on the electric eel.
Piranha:
Perhaps the most feared creature in the Amazon river. It has a powerful jaw and razor-like triangular teeth that can
shred flesh from bone in a matter of seconds.
Read more about piranha at Amazon River Fish page.
Black Caiman:
The largest predator in the Amazon river. It has no enemies other than man and can eat from piranha, capybara and
giant river otters to humans.
The black caiman can grow to 20 feet long and reach up to 3,000 pounds in weight.
Anaconda:
Snake of the boa constrictor type, the anaconda continue to grow throughout its entire life, reaching up to 21 feet
long and an astonishing 40 stone of mass.
It will squeeze it’s pray until it cannot breathe, then swallow it, not chewing at all. From capybara to humans,
the anaconda doesn't eat often, as it will take more than a week to digest, according to the size of the prey.
Jaguar:
One of the most dangerous animals in the Amazon rainforest.
An excellent hunter able to swim after piranha or turtles (see the video at Amazon River Fish for an example), climb
trees or run after its prey. The jaguar is about 6 feet long and can reach up to 250 pounds in weight.
Poison Arrow Frog:
Very small in size, but poisonous enough as to kill up to 100 people.
It has the most powerful poison known by man, but harmless if left alone. Amazon Indians hunt using its poison in
the tip of their arrows.
Gorilla: Gorillas are found in West Central Africa rainforests primarily in Zaire, Rwanda, and in the
Congo River Basin, and where ever they are found, they are threatened. Loss of habitat, hunting
for bush meat and the Ebola Virus are some of the threats the gorillas of Africa fade
Bengal Tiger: The Bengal Tiger lives in the Sundarban regions of India, Bangladesh, China,
Siberia and Indonesia, and is extremely endangered. Today, only about 4,000 are left in the wild
whereas at the turn of the century in 1900 there were over 50,000. Poaching and loss of habitat
are the two major reasons for the decline in numbers.
Chimpanzee: Throughout Africa, destruction of habitats, hunting and commercial trapping for the
animal trade have all put chimpanzees on the endangered animals list.
Harpy Eagle: One of the largest and most powerful of the fifty species of eagles in the world, the
Harpy Eagle lives in the tropical lowland rainforests of Central and South America, from southern
Mexico southward to eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil and the northernmost parts of Argentina.
Endangered, the major threat to Harpy Eagles is loss of habitat from clear cutting, destruction of
nesting sites and hunting.
Orangutan: Orangutans live in the Southeastern tropical rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, and
are on the ICUN endangered list due to destruction and loss of habitat as well as poaching and
hunting for the wild animal trade.
Insects
The Goliath beetles are 4 1/2 inches long, as a big mouse. Goliath beetles are the
largest beetles in the world. They use their long claws to pierce vines, then drink
the juice inside. The Goliath beetles range in color from completely white to black
with small markings on its body and wings. They are active flyers and very skilled
climbers.
An ant is a small insect that lives in a colony. There are estimated 5,000,000 ants
in one colony. There are four types of ants in the colony. The queen, the male,
the worker and the solider. The solider can spit out a massive acid. The queen
can lay up to 100,000,000 eggs at a time
Termites live in colonies. There are three jobs in the termite family; the worker,
the solider, and the queen. The queen is the biggest of them all. When termites
fight they spit out a massive acid that can kill if enough is injected into the
system. The queen has the hardest job of them all. The workers and soldiers
have to fight and work for the colony. The soldiers are wingless and blind so the
workers have to feed and groom them. Although they are blind, they are the
strongest in the colony.
Mosquitos live throughout the world. Some mosquitos carry diseases in their
bites. A mosquito is an insect that sucks your blood. There are more than 3,000
types of mosquitos in the world. About 150 of those 3,000 types of mosquitos
live in America. The mosquito's slender body has 3 parts: the head, the thorax,
and the abdomen. Only female mosquitos bite. A mosquito's life has four
stages: the egg, the lava, the pupa, and the adult.
Aztec Ant
Aztec ants, like several other ant species in the rain forest, are quite aggressive but do not
inflict agonizing stings like their cousin the army ant. Living almost exclusively in cecropia
trees located in the rainforests of Costa Rica, Peru and Venezuela, these insects thrive on
protein-abundant secretions emitted from the bottom of the leaves. Aztec ants will protect
their tree abode by attacking any other insects that happen to land on it and will even bite
through and destroy vines and other plants that attempt to grow there. Most trees in the
rainforest are covered with vines and other parasitic plant growths, but the Aztec ant keeps
the cecropia vine-free, allowing it and the ant colony to thrive.
Morpho Butterfly
Morpho butterflies are one the largest and most beautiful species of butterflies. They reside
in the rainforests of Latin America. Displaying vibrant blue wings that appear to shimmer in
the light, these butterflies are quite adept at avoiding predators with their agility and swiftness
of flight. However, the morpho has another distinct asset that enables it to escape its wouldbe predator. Instead of the vibrant blue of the tops of its wings, this butterfly's underside is
camouflaged to blend in with its surroundings. By simply closing its wings, the morpho
seems to disappear into whatever tree or leave it has landed on.
Sloth Moth
Holding true to its name, the sloth moth hides and lives in the fur of sloths. Sloths are 3- or 2toed, clawed mammals with thick dense fur that live in the trees and canopies of the Central and
South American rainforests. This moth reproduces when the sloth climbs down from his lofty
habitat to "answer the call of nature". When the sloth is finished, mature moths emerge from his
fur and deposit eggs in the fresh dung pile. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on nearby
plants until they are grown, when they fly into the trees and find their own host sloth.
KATYDID
The Spiny-legged Rainforest Katydid (Phricta spinosa) is known colloquially as the wait-a-while
cricket. It is a cryptic rainforest species with a lichen-like camouflaged colour pattern. It can grow
to about 100 mm in body length. It is mostly males that ‘sing’ through an action described as
stridulation; where the ‘file’ on the underside of the left wing cover (tegmen) is rubbed against the
‘scraper’ of the opposite side.
Rhinoceros beetle
This small and strong beetle looks like a Rhinoceros. That’s why it’s called a
Rhinoceros beetle. Male Rhinoceros beetles have two powerful horns as females have
none. Amazingly Rhinoceros beetles can carry up to 850 times their weight.
Tortoise beetle
The tortoise beetle has an oval shape with flattened sides that looks like a miniature turtle.
Information on these bugs, including eating habits and habitats.The incredible little tortoise
beetle, which is from the Chrysomelidae family and the Cassidinae subfamily, is quite interesting
to observe. The body of this tiny creature has an oval shape with flattened sides that give it the
appearance of a miniature turtle. Tortoise beetles are herbivores, feeding on and spending their
entire lives on plants.