Rainforest
Animals
Each animal in the rainforest is unique. Some are nocturnal like the marble cat; some are awake during the day, like the poison dart frog. Some use camouflage, and some cannot. About 50-90% of the world's population of animals lives in the rainforest. If poachers destroy one animal species, the entire food chain can be destroyed because every animal depends on another. |
|
|
One nocturnal animal is the Marbled Cat. The Marbled Cat is just slightly bigger than your average house cat. It is named for all the spots all over its back and can retract all claws. Because it has fur and breathes air, it is a mammal. The Marbled Cat preys upon smaller mammals, birds, lizards and frogs. This makes the Marbled Cats carnivores. They live in the Asian part of the rainforest because that is where most of their prey is found. The Marbled Cat can sometimes be found in mountains, but very rarely. They are dangerously close to extinction and they are afraid of people. Scientists have a hard time helping them or putting them in zoos to regrow the population. The Marbled Cat spends most of its time in trees, and it's an excellent climber because of its retractable claws. The Marbled Cat is able to mate all year round, and lives for about 12 years. |
An insect in the rainforest biome is the Katydid. The Katydid is usually about 3/4 to 2 inches in length. The Katydid is an insect that is related to the grasshopper, cricket, walking stick, praying mantis, cicada, and cockroaches. The Katydid preys upon leaves, stems, flowers, and fruit from plants. Because they eat these things, Katydids can be classified as herbivores. The predators of the Katydids are bats, birds, snakes, shrews, and monkeys. This insect survives in this biome by using camouflage to blend into its background. Katydids live in trees most of the time. The leaf Katydid looks exactly like a leaf, so the predators would be fooled, and go right past it. Sometimes the predators do see it, and then the Katydid uses its back legs and pushes away to safety. The Katydids ears are on its legs. There are 2,000 different kinds of Katydids and each is different. Some are brown and some are green. The Katydid is also found all over the United States. |
|
|
The Basilisk is a lizard in the rainforest that people call the Jesus Christ Lizard. They call it this because it walks on top of the water. The Jesus Christ Lizard can be up to 3 feet long and they can weigh up to 12 ounces. Their feet are tremendously large to provide a big air cavity to help them to walk on water. There are flaps on each toe to help in the process. The Basilisk eats insects, shrimp, scorpions, other lizards, snakes, fish, small mammals, birds, flowers and fruit. Its predators are raptors, opossums, and snakes. The Basilisk survives by walking on water away from predators. When they glide across the water, it puzzles the predator, which usually goes away. They also survive by sleeping on vegetation and being very alert. If the vegetation moves, then it springs off of it so it doesn't get hurt. The Jesus Christ Lizard is only found in the Costa Rican Rainforest. |
Animals |
||
