Cross Breeds

what animals live in the tropical rainforest?

Public Comments

1. ALL OF THEM.
2. well bugs and spiders like to live there and a whole range of birds
3. The remarkable abundance and diversity of plant life in the tropical rain forest ensures that there is always plenty of food available for herbivorous animals. Because most vegetation is concentrated high up in the canopy, it is here that many of the forest's animals are to be found, some descending only rarely to the ground. Among the most numerous of these are primates, several species of which inhabit the rain forests of Ghana and Togo. These include monkeys such as the black and white colobus, the spot-nosed monkey, and the Diana monkey, as well as larger apes such as chimpanzees, and smaller primates such as bushbabies. Also living in the canopy are an enormous variety of birds such as hornbills, parrots, and turacos, some of which feed on plant matter. Others enjoy a diet of insects, which are exceptionally numerous in the rain forest. The forest floor, although not home to as many species as the canopy, still has its share of interesting fauna. Hoofed mammals, including various types of duiker, reptiles such as the common hinged tortoise, and larger mammals such as the pygmy hippopotamus and forest elephant, are just a sample of the creatures to be found on the ground. Where herbivores abound there will inevitably be carnivores to prey on them, and the west African rain forests are no exception. Leopards prowl on the ground and in the trees, Nile crocodiles lurk in the rivers and pools, and birds of prey soar overhead, carrying off rodents and small primates. The forests are complex ecosystems, delicately balanced with every animal and plant playing its own role in maintaining the equilibrium. From the smallest plants and the insects that pollinate them, to the carnivores right at the top of the food chain, nothing is dispensable.
4. ants
5. Basically the kinds that don't live on open grasslands. Unlike the savannah, there are no large browsing animals in rainforests. This is because the forest floor is too dark to support the growth of grass. Because there are no vast herds of large grazers, there are no large preditors, either. Lions, tigers and bears are species which inhabit open country. Rainforests are dominated by trees, and animals which live in trees are very abundant. Squirrels and monkeys live in rainforests, along with sloths and in Australia there are even kangaroos which live in trees. The preditors which live in rainforests tend to be small enough to climb trees and navigate thin branches. Many small cats are well adapted to do this. The jaguar of south America is the only large cat to be found in a rainforest. It is able to survive because it hunts pigs, but will also eat just about anything else it can catch, like fish and even turtles. 3 of every 4 mammal species is either a bat or a rodent, and hundreds of species of bats are found in rainforests. The bats are important pollinators of many night blooming flowers. Rodents are common on the forest floor and come in all sizes. The largest rat in the world lives in African rain forests. It is about the size of a housecat. There are also many reptiles which live in rainforests. Most climb trees like iguana and anole lizards and there are tree living snakes like Boas. Because of the many rodents found in forests, many viper species are ambush preditors which live on the ground. The most diverse group of animals which live in rainforests are insects, although creatures like butterflies and grasshoppers can be found in any environment. In the rainforest, species diversify to the point of being totally dependant on only one or two species of plants to survive. Rain forest orchids are typically pollinated by a single insect species and have even evolved flowers specifically designed to suit the requirements of the insect species which pollinates it. The most famous example was an orchid first observed by Charles Darwin. The nectar lay at the end of a narrow tube a foot long. Darwin proposed the insect which pollinated the flower has a foot long tongue. 50 years after Darwin's death the insect was discovered, a species of hawkmoth whose tongue was long enough to reach the nectar.