 |
Tropical forests stay warm
all year and receive plentiful rainfall. These forests are found
in Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, and the Pacific
Islands. More kinds of animals live in tropical forests than in any
other habitat. Scientists estimate that perhaps as many as 30 million
species of tropical animals have not even been discovered yet.
Insects make up the largest single group of animals that live in tropical forests. They include brightly colored butterflies, huge colonies of ants, mosquitoes, and camouflaged stick insects. Spiders are also plentiful. Many tropical birds, such as quetzals and parrots, are spectacularly colored. The broad leaves of trees in tropical forests form a thick overhead covering called a canopy that blocks nearly all sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Many kinds of animals live in the canopies of tropical forests. They include harpy eagles and toucans; tree frogs; flying dragons; spider monkeys and howlers; gibbons and orangutans; sloths; slow lorises; tree boa constrictors; bats; and wasps, beetles, and leaf-cutting ants. Jaguars, tapirs, and bushmaster
snakes live on the ground in tropical forests. Chimpanzees and lowland
gorillas alternate between the ground and the trees. Crocodiles,
fish, and turtles inhabit rivers and ponds.
|