Animals on land in the rainforest

It’s name Jaguar is an Indian word meaning, “he who kills with one leap”. It is the largest and most powerful member of the Americas cat family. Leanly built, jaguars average between 3 and 6 feet in length, and between 70 and 300 pounds.

          With its crushing jaws, with which it can penetrate a turtle shell, the jaguar tops the Amazonian food chain, feeding on large mammals like deer and tapir and if necessary reptiles.

The Anaconda may not be the longest snake in the world. The Reticulated Python is longer. The anaconda is certainly one of the longer snakes in the world, and recognized as the heaviest, weighing more than a cow.

          After ambushing prey at a watering or feeding site, the anaconda coils itself tightly around its victim, shallower head first, the prey is gradually ingested and then slowly digested.

 There are 950 species of bats in the Amazon. Each species has its own peculiar strategy for survival. When night falls, bats leave the roost and forage in the waiting forest.

          The vampire bat found in the Amazon. New world vampire bats are the only true vampire bats in the world, and they do feed on blood just like the mythological creature.

          Every thing about vampire bats, from its padded thumbs to the way it flies, is designed to keep its movements silent. Silence is the key for vampire bats, it allows them to land near or on there prey undetected.

          Food sources include many different kinds of mammals including man. Once a vampire bat is able, it uses it razor sharp teeth to scoop out a small amount of the victim’s skin, enough to allow the blood to flow. It does not clot due to an anticoagulant in the vampire bats salvia.

 The Tapir is one of the oldest inhabitants of the Amazon. It is one of the world’s most primitive large mammals. The tapir is recognizable by its unusual proboscis. The proboscis functions like an elephants trunk, the tapir uses it to sweep plants into its mouth.

  They say that snakes with bright colors are dangerous, but this little brown snake the vine snake ( Busiswipi, long- headed snake) is the exception, it eats lizards and is mildly venomous.

  Here’s a picture of an inhabitant of the rainforest that hopefully you won’t run across the Tarantula. Some Tarantula species can live up to 20 years. Their diet consists of smaller items then itself, including spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, small snakes, lizards, and baby mice.

          A bit from a Tarantula will cause localized pain and swelling. A critical period for a Tarantula is molting (shedding) of the exoskeleton. When close to molting it becomes sluggish and stops eating. Molting is Approximately 4 times a year for the first 4 years, 2 times a year for the next 4 years and mature adults at least once a year. During exoskeleton splits and forms a shell from which the spider must free itself.

         If a limb is missing, but it appears to be healed, over the next several molts the limb will regenerate.

 Here is a picture of a Burmese Python and an Albino Python. Burmese Pythons can reach a length of 27 feet, but average 18-20 feet.

          The habitants in which they are found are, woodlands, swamps, grasslands, river valleys, rocky foothills and open jungle.

          The main diet of a Burmese Python is mammals, birds and reptiles.

  The Long – nosed Bandicoot a carnivorous marsupial with a reverse pouch. Its days are spent in shallow nests which have been dug into the Rainforest floor. Lined with grass and leaves they gather with their forelegs. The upper surface of the nest, which is some times flattened and partly covered with soil, maybe well concealed under Rainforest litter. When the nest is in use its entrance is closed.

          In searching for food, the Bandicoot digs holes with its forefeet; these holes are large enough to fit its snout underground. These Bandicoots feed on insects and foodstuff found underground, in rotted logs and Rainforest floor.

          These are solitary animals. Meetings between males and females are restricted to their mating season. Breeding occurs throughout the year.

 Lumholtz tree kangaroos are only macropods, which can move their hind feet independently of each other. It is a nocturnal animal, thus, its days are spent asleep in a crouched sitting posture in the crown of a tree or branch.

          The Lumholtz tree kangaroo is predominantly a leaf eater, known to feed on the leaves of the silkwood as well as fruit and maize from farms on the Rainforest edge.

 The carpet python is one of the most common known snakes. It is variable in color and pattern and it can grow up to a length of 2 meters.

          Its prey consists of mammals, birds and some reptiles. The eggs are laid in groups of 15-20, and the young hatch at a length of 30-40cm.

 The Boyd forest dragon is very distinctive with large pointed scales on the crest behind the head, pinkish flat-topped conical scales on the cheeks and a deep mustard yellow pouch beneath the jaw line. Despite the ornate structure and bright coloration it is cryptic in its tropical Rainforest environment where it can camouflage well.

          It spends most of its time in trees and due to its camouflage it is often very hard to see and tends to go unnoticed.

          The Rainforest dragon grows in length of about 15cm but its tail adds much to the overall length. They can be seen on tree trunks of Rainforest trees. The Boyd’s Forest Dragon is only found in the Rainforest of north and eastern Queensland.

 This frog is a light brown or gray-brown above with a series of irregular dark brown stripes and spots.

 Bright green and brown above with defined with stripe covering its lower lip, which extends to the base of the forelimb.

          They are found in a wide variety of habitats from Rainforest to cultivated areas. This is the largest tree frog on earth reaching an average of ten centimeters long. Yet some adults may reach up to 14 centimeters in length.  

  The bromeliads are a resting place for many frogs, like this one the Phyllomedusa Lypochondrials.

 The Polychrus Marmoratus also called Agama, is in fact a member of the Iguana family.

 Here is a lees pleasant encounter the Corallus Caninus or  also known as the emerald tree boa. This one here is in the attack position. I don’t think you would want to say hello to her right now!  

        Here was a look at some of the animals that live in the rainforest. These animals mostly make their home on land. It is only a few out of  thousands maybe even millions of animals that live in the rainforests.