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Tropical rainforests are home of many kinds of animals. Even those animals you can't even
think of can be found in tropical rainforests. But you've probably heard of some of them:
jaguars, toucans, parrots, gorillas, and tarantulas all make their home in tropical
rainforests. But have you ever heard of the aye-aye? Or the okapi? There are so many
fascinating animals in tropical rainforests that millions haven't been named or even
identified yet. In fact, about half of all the earth's animal species live in tropical
rainforests. The rainforest is home to monkeys and apes that feed on the fruit and leaves that grow there. Monkeys spend most of their time leaping around the tops of the trees in the forest. Monkeys either have long arms that help them to manuever through the trees or they swing by their long tails.
¡@ Some rainforest species have populations that number in the millions. Other species consist of only a few dozen individuals. Living in limited areas, most of these species cannot be found in other part of the world. |
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This monkey, pictured above, is a white-faced capuchin monkey. When you stand
quiet for a few minutes in the rainforest, you will certainly hear monkey
"talk." Monkeys call to each other to keep in contact with their groups or to
warn strangers away.
 The monkey pictured in this tree on the right is a howler monkey. Howler monkeys get their name from their very loud calls which can be heard over long distances. Groups of howler monkeys call to each other early each morning. ¡@ ¡@ |
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 Nocturnal animals have special eyes that help them see at night. It
appears that their eyes are glowing in the dark. Other animals are not very active at
night, like this Mastigodryas melanomus, that is found asleep at night. |
 Many animals wake up to full activity in the night and can be seen and heard
throughout the rainforests if you are walking through at night. Bats generally fly far
around the rainforests at night searching for food.
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 Other animals find night life a good time to look for food, escape
predators, or enjoy the cooler temperatures. |
All the above images are from Science in the Rainforest website © Copyright 1999,
ThinkQuest team 26634 |