Jungle herbivores. Animals of the tropical forest. Description, names and characteristics of animals of the tropical forest. Giant flying fox

On Earth, which supports a huge amount of fauna. One of the reasons for such a wide variety is the constant warmth. Tropical rainforests also contain vast reserves of water (2,000 to 7,000 mm of rainfall annually) and a variety of food sources for animals. Many small animals, including monkeys, birds, snakes, rodents, frogs, lizards and insects, found in tropical forests have never set foot on land. They use tall trees and undergrowth for shelter from predators and for searching for food.

Because there is a huge species diversity animals (40-75% of Earth's animal species) competing for food, many species have adapted to eat certain food that others don't eat. For example, toucans have a long, large beak. This adaptation allows the bird to reach fruits on branches that are too small to support the bird's weight. The beak is also used to extract fruit from trees.

Sloths use behavioral adaptation and camouflage to survive in the rainforest. They move very, very slowly and spend most of their time hanging upside down. Blue-green algae grows on their fur and gives sloths their greenish color and also protects them from predators.

This article discusses the structure tropical forest and some animals living in its layers, from the litter to the upper tier.

forest floor

Forest litter is the most bottom layer tropical forest that receives only about 2% sunlight. Thus, the plants growing here are adapted to low light conditions. Thus, at the lower level tropical forests Relatively large animals such as okapi, tapirs, Sumatran rhinoceroses, etc. live in this layer. A large number of reptiles, insects, etc. are also found in this layer. Organic substances (plant and animal origin) are collected in the forest floor, where they decompose, such as and.

Okapi

Okapi (Okapia johnstoni listen)) is a unique mammal species that is native to tropical forests Democratic Republic Congo in Central Africa. Although okapi have characteristic zebra-like stripes on their limbs, they are more closely related to giraffes. Okapi are diurnal and solitary in nature. These rainforest animals feed on tree leaves and buds, fruits, ferns, and mushrooms.

Tapir

Tapir ( Tapirus sp.) - pig-like herbivores mammals with a short, tenacious muzzle. These rainforest animals are found in the forests of South and Central America, as well as Southeast Asia.

Sumatran rhinoceros

One of the five extant species of rhinoceros, ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) lives in the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra. This is the most small view rhinoceroses in the world and has two horns. The Sumatran rhino is on the verge of extinction as poachers actively hunt for its horns, which are used to prepare traditional medicines in China and Vietnam.

Western gorilla

Western gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla) found in forests Central Africa. These animals are extremely intelligent and can use tools to obtain large amounts of food. The western gorilla is now critically endangered. Hunting for gorilla meat and the reduction of their natural habitat are two of the main threats to these amazing primates.

Undergrowth

The rainforest understory is located between the forest floor and the canopy, and it receives only about 5% of the sunlight. This level is home to a large number of small mammals, birds, reptiles and predators such as the jaguar. The undergrowth contains small trees, shrubs and grasses. Typically, plants at this level rarely reach 3 m in height and usually have wide leaves to provide large area surfaces for .

Jaguar

(Panthera onca) is the largest species in the Americas, and the third largest in the world after and. The jaguar prefers to live in tropical forests and is distributed from Central America to Argentina and Paraguay. It is very similar to a leopard, but more muscular and larger. The jaguar is a solitary superpredator in which it lives.

Tree frogs

About three species of frogs from the dart frog family are deadly. The terrible leaf climber is considered the most dangerous among the three species and one of the most poisonous animals on Earth. These frogs are brightly colored, including gold, red, green, blue and yellow, to protect them from predators. This feature is known as aposematic coloration.

South American nose

Also known as coati ( Nasua nasua), this animal lives in the tropical forests of South America. Most of the range is in the lowlands east of the Andes. This is a diurnal animal that lives both on the ground and in trees. The diet includes fruits, other small animals and bird eggs.

Common boa constrictor

Common boa constrictor ( Boa constrictor listen)) is a massive snake that is found in forests throughout America, as well as on the islands Caribbean Sea. Although boas live in the most different places, they prefer tropical forests due to high humidity and suitable temperature. Additionally, rainforests provide ample shelter and plenty of food sources for these snakes.

Forest canopy

The forest canopy (or canopy) is the most distinctive level of the rainforest, forming a roof over the understory and forest floor. The canopy houses most of the most big trees tropical forest, growing up to 30-45 m in height. Broad-leaved evergreen trees dominate the canopy, making it the densest part of the rainforest. It is home to more than 20 million species and a large number of birds, as well as mammals, invertebrates and reptiles.

Jaco

Gray parrots or African gray parrots Psittacus erithacus) are medium-sized, grey-black birds common in equatorial Africa. The birds are currently classified as Near Threatened and number between 120,100 and 259,000.

Rainbow toucan

Rainbow toucan ( Ramphastos sulfatus) common in tropical forests Latin America. In this environment, it settles in tree holes, often with other toucans. Crowded roosting sites force toucans to tuck their beaks and tails under their bodies to save space.

Koats

Koats are a genus belonging to the family of spider monkeys. They live in the tropical forests of Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil. All seven koat species are endangered to some extent. These primates live in large groups of about 35 individuals and split into smaller groups to search for food during the day.

Three-toed sloths

Three-toed sloths are a family of arboreal mammals found in South and Central America. These rainforest animals are so named because of their slow gait, which is an adaptation to conserve energy. Sloths have the body size of a small dog or large cat, and have three clawed toes on each limb.

Golden-helmed kalao

Golden-helmeted kalao ( Ceratogymna elata) lives in the tropical forests of West Africa. It is one of the largest birds in this environment and lives in forest canopies and rarely feeds on the ground. Birds of this species live in small family groups consisting of an adult pair and several chicks.

Kinkajou

The kinkajou is one of the rainforest animals that is mistaken for a monkey or ferret. The tropical forests of Central and South America are considered the homeland of kinkajou. These nocturnal animals are arboreal and have an omnivorous diet. Unfortunately, they are hunted for their valuable wool.

Upper tier

There are several in this rainforest level giant trees, reaching a height of about 45-55 m or even higher. Thus, these trees rise above the canopy. They are well adapted to withstand strong winds And high temperatures over the canopy. When such trees die, holes are formed in the canopy, allowing sunlight achieve lower layers tropical forest.

Crowned eagle

Crowned Eagle ( Stephanoaetus coronatus) is a massive and fierce carnivore common in the upper layer of tropical forests. The eagle primarily feeds on mammals, including small ungulates, small primates, birds and lizards. It is one of the largest eagles in Africa, but is now classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN due to large-scale habitat destruction.

Royal colobus

Royal colobus ( Colobus polykomos) is one of the rainforest animals that is found in the tropical forests of Africa in countries such as Senegal, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast. The royal colobus lives in the upper layer of the forest, but feeds usually on the ground.3 to 4 females and 1 to 3 males form together one social group.

Giant flying fox

Gigantic flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) is one of the largest species bats in the world. It lives in tropical forests, where it feeds exclusively on nectar, fruits and flowers. Although these bats do not have the ability to echolocate, they use their keen vision to locate food sources.

Jungle animals

Prepared

Grigorieva S.A.

The name of this animal translated from Greek means "river horse". It weighs more than three tons.

Water is the natural habitat where the hippopotamus spends most of its time. However, with such a thick figure, it is not easy to swim, so usually hippos do not go far into the water, but stay in shallow water, where they can reach the bottom with their paws.

Feeling in danger, the hippopotamus emits a threatening roar, and opens its huge mouth as wide as possible, showing the enemy its unusually long lower fangs. This threatening posture usually produces the desired result.

He enjoys the respect of all the other animals, who try to avoid meeting him. Newborn rhinoceros weighs about 65 kilograms. It has only one horn, and its body is covered with thick shields of leather. Horn a rhinoceros can reach a length 1.5 meters. It usually moves slowly, but if necessary it can reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour.

Although in appearance leather it is rough, in fact very sensitive thanks to a coat of short and flexible bristles that respond to even the lightest touch.

Tusks and trunk are two miracle survival tools for elephants. Tusks The elephant protects itself from predators and uses them during periods of drought to dig up the ground in search of water. Very mobile trunk he picks leaves and collects water, which he then puts into his mouth. The elephant loves water very much and, at the first opportunity, climbs into a pond to freshen up. He's great floats .

The elephant willingly hides in the shade because its huge body has difficulty cooling down. For this purpose they serve huge ears, which he rhythmically fans himself to cool off.

Most often tapirs are eating leaves, shoots and stems aquatic plants. They love water very much and are great swim. They always walk along the same familiar paths, which over time turn into well-trodden paths, ending, as a rule, in a “gutter” - a convenient descent to the water.

Body The tapir is squat, has short legs, and has almost no neck. The movable trunk is a very sensitive organ of smell. - with its help, the tapir explores the surface of the earth and surrounding objects. Vision, on the contrary, is very poorly developed

They settle in along the banks of rivers and lakes in areas with warm and hot climates. Crocodiles are much more comfortable and calm in the water than on land. Swimming they use their paws and tail.

Young crocodiles eat mostly fish, but also birds and insects. Only as adults will they be able to cope with larger mammals, which need to be caught, dragged from the shore and held under water for some time.

Teeth The crocodile does not need them to chew food, but only to grab prey and tear off pieces of meat from it.

Chimpanzee great climb, they spend a lot of time on the ground and even travel on foot. But sleeping they are still in the trees, where they feel safer.

These monkeys are practically omnivorous. For example, insects, bananas.

This is a large monkey that spends most of its time among the branches and only sometimes descends to the ground.

Female orangutans, perhaps more than any other monkey, care about raising their children. Mothers bite their cubs' nails, bathe them in rainwater, and shout at them if they start acting up.

It's big, more two meters the monkey is very friendly in stature; males from the same flock usually do not compete with each other, and in order for the leader to be obeyed, it is enough to widen his eyes and utter an appropriate cry, hitting himself on the chest with his fingers.

Having woken up, the gorillas go in search of food. They devote the remaining time rest and games. After the evening meal, a kind of bedding is arranged on the ground, on which fall asleep .

This monkey owes its name to its huge, ugly nose, which in males sometimes goes down to the chin. The proboscis whale not only climbs trees well, but also swims very well and can stay under water for a long time.

The pointed muzzle and huge eyes that can see in the dark make this prosimian very cute. During the day, the loris hides in the branches, and at night it gets its food.

Sloths so named for the extreme slowness of their movements, reminiscent of movements in slow motion filming. The constantly wet skin of sloths serves as a breeding ground for microscopic algae, which is why the animals' fur acquires a greenish tint, making them almost invisible among the foliage.

Its height is a little less two meters, and the mass is about 250 kilograms.

It is known that live they are in thickets of bushes, and their coloring, at first glance very unusual, in fact makes them completely invisible in natural environment a habitat. Okapi live solitary lives, and only mothers are not separated from their cubs for a long time.

The giraffe can feed on tree leaves that other herbivores cannot reach: thanks to six meters tall he is taller than all other animals. A giraffe can take food from the ground, as well as drink water, but to do this, it must spread its front legs wide apart in order to bend over. In this position, he is very vulnerable to predators, because he cannot immediately rush to flight.

Giraffes live in herds, divided into two groups: one contains females with cubs, the other contains males.

The black panther is a dark-colored leopard.

She jumps from branch to branch as well as a monkey.

I also call her the fishing cat. In fact, she really likes to live near water and is a good swimmer. In addition to fish and shellfish, it catches small vertebrates on land. The habits of this animal have been little studied.

"Secret weapon"The cheetah is distinguished by its flexible body with a strong spine, curved like the arch of a bridge, and powerful clawed paws that allow it to rest firmly on the ground. It is the fastest-footed animal. No one can imagine an animal running faster than a cheetah. In short moments, it reaches speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour. The cheetah climbs trees and surveys the area from above to detect herds of grazing herbivores that could become its prey.

Almost all jungle inhabitants are at risk of becoming prey of a tiger. Contrary to popular belief, the tiger is not a very clever hunter; he's so heavy. That for a successful jump he needs to start his run from a distance of 10 - 15 meters; if the tiger gets closer to its prey, it risks missing.

An animal similar to a leopard, but larger; It is also distinguished by a special pattern on the skin: ring-shaped dark spots, inside of which there are smaller specks. Jaguars hunt alone and mainly on the ground, although they crawl well in trees and swim. Having caught prey, the predator usually hides it somewhere in a secret place and then eats it piece by piece.

Leo prefers open spaces, where he finds coolness in the shade of rare trees. For hunting, it is better to have a wide view in order to notice herds of grazing zebras, buffalos, and antelopes from afar and develop a strategy on how best to approach them unnoticed. Outwardly, it is a lazy beast that dozes and sits around for a long time. Only when the lion is hungry and forced to pursue herds of herbivores or when he must defend his territory does he emerge from his stupor.

A characteristic feature of a lion is the thick mane of males. A lion's claws can reach 7 cm.

The zebra skin is original and easily recognizable. At first glance, all zebras seem the same, but in fact, each animal has its own stripe pattern, like human fingerprints.

Zebras lack horns and other means of defense and flee from predators. Once surrounded, they defend themselves with their teeth and hooves.

A pursued zebra can run at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, but not for a long time.

The mass of the ostrich exceeds 130 kilograms. A long neck increases the height of an ostrich up to two meters. A flexible neck and excellent vision allow him to notice danger from afar from this height. Long legs give the ostrich the ability to run at speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. The ostrich prefers open spaces where it can see everything from afar and there are no obstacles for running.

Ostrich beak short, flat and very durable. It is not specialized for any particular food, but serves to pluck grass and other vegetation and grab insects, small mammals and snakes on which it feeds.

This bird cannot be confused with any other because of the huge motley beak, which toucans sometimes longer than the entire body. Toucans make nests in the recesses of tree posts, but often occupy hollows left by families of woodpeckers.

This tiny bird(size from 5.7 to 21.6 cm; weight from 1.6 to 20 g.) with a long curved beak is capable of flapping its wings so often that it manages to hang almost motionless in the air, sucking nectar from a flower. This is the only bird in the world that can fly backwards.

There's nothing sweeter than good old stories about animals. But today I will not talk about pets, but about those that live in tropical forests. The rainforest ecosystem is home to a greater variety of animals than any other ecosystem. One of the reasons for such great diversity is the constantly warm climate. Rainforests also provide an almost constant supply of water and a wide variety of food for animals. So here are 10 amazing rainforest animals and some facts about their lives.

Toucans

Flying dragons

Bengal tigers

South American harpies

Tree frogs

Sloths

Spider monkeys

Wine snakes

Capybaras

Brazilian tapirs

Longest neck

At the very beginning of this century, a “living fossil” of okapi was found in the jungles of Africa - relatives of the giraffe, which was considered extinct long ago. Okapi is no bigger than a donkey. And his neck is short. And, like the giraffe, it eats grass and leaves. The common ancestor of the giraffe and okapi looked like a short-necked runt. But over time, some of these animals moved to the open spaces of the savannah, where it was possible to “graze” in plenty only on the treetops. Therefore, animals with long necks survived. Gradually, the giraffe grew such a long neck that it became completely different from its distant ancestor. And okapi remained a copy of its great-grandfather.

Gorillas, the largest apes, also live in Africa. A gorilla in the jungle has almost no enemies, except people, of course. Most of the day, gorillas are on the ground, and not in the trees like other monkeys. Gorillas are vegetarians. They eat leaves, fruits, and tree bark. But in zoos, gorillas very quickly get used to different food, begin to eat meat and fish, and drink milk.

Relatives of the cat

Our domestic cat has 37 relatives. These are forest and reed cats, lynxes and manulas, servals and ocelots, snow leopards and leopards, jaguars and pumas, leopards, panthers and cheetahs, tigers, lions and others wild cats. Cats are the most agile predators. All wild cats hunt in approximately the same way: they sneak up on their prey, then freeze in anticipation. And having chosen an opportune moment, they overtake their victim with one throw. However, our domestic cat hunts mice in the same way as the African leopard hunts antelopes.

The rainforest is very rich in animals. There are many different types of monkeys living in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. In their structure they differ from the Old World monkeys living in Africa and India. Old World monkeys are called narrow-nosed monkeys, American monkeys are called broad-nosed monkeys. A long, prehensile tail helps monkeys climb trees deftly. The spider monkey has a particularly long and prehensile tail. Another monkey, a howler monkey, wraps its tail around a branch and holds it like a hand. The howler was named for its powerful, unpleasant voice.

Most strong predator tropical forest - jaguar. This is a large yellow cat with black spots on its skin. She is good at climbing trees.

America's other big cat is the puma. It is distributed in North America to Canada, in South America it is found in the steppes to Patagonia. The puma is yellowish-gray in color and somewhat resembles a lion (without the mane); This is probably why it is called the American lion.

Near ponds in the thicket of the forest you can meet an animal that resembles a little horse and even more like a rhinoceros. The animal reaches 2 m in length. His muzzle is elongated, as if extended into a trunk. This is an American tapir. He, like a pig, loves to wallow in puddles.

Along the lakes in the reed thickets on the plains of Patagonia and on the mountain slopes of the Andes lives nutria - the swamp beaver, or coipu - a large rodent the size of our river beaver. Nutria's life is associated with water. Nutria feeds on the roots of succulent aquatic plants and makes nests from reeds and reeds. The animal produces valuable fur. Nutria was transported to Soviet Union and released into the swampy thickets of Transcaucasia. They have acclimatized and are reproducing well. However, they suffer greatly during the cold winters that occur in Azerbaijan and Armenia, when the lakes freeze.

Unadapted to life in freezing bodies of water, nutria, having dived under the ice, do not find a way back. At the same time, their habitats become accessible to jungle cats and jackals, which walk across the ice to the nutria nests.

Armadillos, sloths and anteaters live in the forests of South America.

The armadillo's body is covered with a shell that slightly resembles a turtle's shield. The shell consists of two layers: inside it is bone, outside it is horny - and is divided into belts, movably connected to each other. A giant armadillo lives in Guiana and Brazil. The largest of the armadillos reach one and a half meters in length. Armadillos live in deep burrows and only come out at night to hunt for prey. They feed on termites, ants and various small animals.

Sloths have a monkey-like face. The long limbs of these animals are armed with large sickle-shaped claws. They received their name for their slowness and clumsiness. The dull greenish-gray protective coloring of the sloth reliably hides it from the eyes of the enemy in the branches of trees. The coloring of the sloth is given by green algae that live in its rough and shaggy fur. This is one of the wonderful examples of cohabitation between animal and plant organisms.

Several species of anteaters are found in the forests of South America. The average anteater is very interesting - the tamandua, with a prehensile tail. It runs superbly along inclined trunks and climbs trees, looking for ants and other insects.

Marsupials in the forests of Brazil are represented by long-eared and water possums. The water possum, or swimmer, lives near rivers and lakes. It differs from the long-eared one in its coloring and swimming membranes on its hind legs.

South America is home to many different species of bats. Among them are blood-sucking leaf-nosed insects that attack horses and mules, and vampires.

Despite their ominous name, vampires feed exclusively on insects and plant fruits.

Of the birds, the hoatzin is of great interest. It's motley colored, pretty large bird with a big crest on his head. The hoatzin's nest is placed above the water, in the branches of trees or thickets of bushes. The chicks are not afraid of falling into the water: they swim and dive well. Hoatzin chicks have long claws on the first and second fingers of the wing, which help them climb branches and twigs. It is curious that the adult hoatzin loses the ability to move quickly through the trees.

Studying the structure and lifestyle of hoatzin chicks, scientists came to the conclusion that the ancestors of birds also climbed trees. After all, the fossil first bird (Archaeopteryx) had long fingers with claws on the wings.

There are more than 160 species of parrots in the tropical forests of South America. The most famous are the green Amazon parrots. They learn to speak well.

Only in one country - in America - live the smallest birds - hummingbirds. These are unusually brightly and beautifully colored fast-flying birds, some of them the size of a bumblebee. There are over 450 species of hummingbirds. They, like insects, hover around flowers, sucking out flower juice with their thin beak and tongue. In addition, hummingbirds also feed on small insects.

There are many different snakes and lizards in tropical forests. Among them are boa constrictors, or boa, anaconda, reaching 11 m in length, and bushmaster - 4 m in length. Many snakes, due to the protective coloring of their skin, are little noticeable among forest greenery.

There are especially many lizards in the tropical rainforest. Large, broad-toed geckos sit in the trees. Among other species of lizards, the most interesting is the iguana, which lives both in trees and on the ground. This lizard has a very beautiful emerald green color. She eats plant foods.

In the forests of Brazil and Guiana there lives a large frog - the Surinamese pipa. It is interesting in its special way of reproduction. The eggs laid by the female are distributed by the male on the female's back. Each egg is placed in a separate cell. Subsequently, the skin grows and the cells close. The baby frogs develop on the female's back; when they grow up, they come out of their cells. Nutrients, necessary for frogs during development, are transmitted from the mother’s body by blood vessels that branch in the walls of skin cells.

In the rivers tropical America common big fish - electric eel having special electrical organs. With electric shocks, the eel stuns prey and scares away its enemies.

In many rivers of South America there lives an unusually predatory fish - the piranha, 30 cm long. Her strong jaws contain teeth as sharp as knives. If you drop a piece of meat into the river, piranhas immediately appear from the depths and instantly tear it apart. Piranhas feed on fish and attack ducks and domestic animals that carelessly enter the river. Even large animals such as tapirs suffer from piranha. Pisces damage lips drinking water animals. Piranhas are also dangerous to people.

The tropical forests contain a diverse world of insects. Very large diurnal butterflies are numerous. They are very beautifully and richly colored, varied in shape and size. In Brazil there are over 700 species of diurnal butterflies, and in Europe there are no more than 150 species.

Ants are very numerous. Penetrating into a person’s home, they eat his reserves and thereby cause significant harm. Umbrella ants live in underground galleries. They feed their larvae with fungal mold, which they grow on finely chopped leaves. Ants bring pieces of leaves to the anthill, moving along strictly constant paths.

IN tropical zone South America has a lot of spiders. Among them, the largest is the tarantula spider. Its size is more than 5 cm. Its food is lizards, frogs, and insects; Apparently, it also attacks small birds. The same large earthen spiders are found in New Guinea and Java.

In the tropical forests of Africa live elephants, various monkeys, okapi - an animal related to the giraffe; in the rivers - hippopotamuses and crocodiles. The most interesting are the great apes - gorillas and chimpanzees. The gorilla is a very large monkey, the height of males reaches 2 m, weight - 200 kg. They live in the most remote parts of the tropical forest and in the mountains, inaccessible to humans. Gorillas make their dens in trees or on the ground in dense bushes. Gorillas have been severely exterminated by humans and are now preserved only in two areas of tropical forests in Africa - south of Cameroon to the river. Congo and the country of lakes Victoria and Tanganyika.

Chimpanzees are smaller than gorilla. An adult male is no higher than 1.5 m. They live in families, but sometimes gather in small herds. Descending from the trees, chimpanzees walk on the ground, leaning on their hands clenched into fists.

There are many species of monkeys in the tropical forests of Africa. These long-tailed small monkeys have greenish fur. Interesting are the toeless monkeys (Colobus), which lack thumb on hands. The most beautiful of these monkeys is Gveretsa. She lives in Ethiopia and in the forests to the west of this country. Macaques, related to African monkeys, live in tropical Asia.

Dog-headed monkeys - baboons - are very characteristic of the African continent. They live in the mountains of Africa.

The fauna of Madagascar has some peculiarities. For example, lemurs live on this island. Their body is covered with thick fur. Some have bushy tails. Lemurs' faces are more animal-like than monkey-like; That's why they are called prosimians.

There are many different species of parrots in the African rainforests. The most famous is the gray parrot, the gray parrot, which imitates the human voice very well.

In some places, crocodiles survive in large numbers. They especially love rivers whose banks are covered with dense tropical forest. The Nile crocodile reaches 7 m in length.

The forests of Africa are home to large, up to 6 m long, boa constrictors - pythons.

Among the fish attracts attention lungfish Protopterus, inhabiting muddy lakes and swamps. These fish, in addition to gills, have lungs with which they breathe during drought. The lungfish Lepidosirene lives in South America, and the ceratod lives in Australia.

In the humid dense forests of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo (Kalimantan) lives the great ape orangutan. This is a large monkey, covered with coarse red fur. Adult males grow a large beard.

Close to great apes The gibbon is smaller in size than the orangutan, its body length is 1 m. The gibbon is distinguished by long limbs; with their help, swinging on the branches, he very easily jumps from tree to tree. Gibbons live on the island of Sumatra, on the Malay Peninsula and in the mountain forests of Burma.

A variety of macaques live in the forests of the Greater Sunda Islands - Sumatra and Borneo - and in Eastern India. On Borneo lives a big-nosed monkey. Her nose is long, almost trunk-shaped. Old animals, especially males, have significantly longer noses than young monkeys.

In the forests of India and nearby big islands The Indian elephant is not uncommon. Since ancient times, it has been tamed by humans and used in various jobs.

The common one is well known Indian rhinoceros- the largest one-horned rhinoceros.

A relative of American tapirs lives in Asia - the black-backed tapir. It reaches 2 m in height. His back is light, and other parts of his body are covered with short black hair.

Among the predators of southern Asia, the most famous is the Bengal tiger. Most tigers are preserved in India, Indochina, on the islands of Sumatra and Java.

The tiger is a crepuscular animal; he hunts for large ungulates. A tiger, if wounded by an unsuccessful shot from a hunter, sick or an elder, or generally for any reason has lost the ability to hunt ungulates, which constitute its main food, attacks people and becomes a “man-eater.”

We have tigers in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Primorye and in the south of the Ussuri region.

The leopard is distributed in southern Asia, in the forests of the Greater Sunda Islands and in Japan. It is found in the Caucasus, in the mountains of Central Asia and in Primorye. We call him a leopard. Leopard attacks domestic animals; he is cunning, brave, and dangerous to humans. Black leopards are often found on the Greater Sunda Islands; they are called black panthers.

The sloth bear and the Malayan bear, the biruang, live in South Asia. The sloth fish is a large, heavy animal, armed with long claws that allow it to climb trees well. Its fur is black and has a large white spot on its chest. His big lips They are mobile, they can stretch out into a tube, and with their long tongue the bear takes out insects from the cracks of trees. The sloth fish lives in tropical forests on the Indian subcontinent and on the island of Ceylon. It feeds on plants, fruits, berries, insects, bird eggs and small animals.

The Malayan bear has short, black fur. It spends most of its life in trees, feeding on fruits and insects.

There are many birds in tropical Asia. One of the most beautiful is considered to be the peacock, living in the wild in Java, Ceylon and Indochina.

In the forests of the Sunda Islands, Ceylon and India live bank or bush chickens - the wild ancestors of domestic chickens, many species of pheasants and other chickens.

The waters of South Asia are inhabited by long-snouted crocodiles - gharials. They live in the river. Ganges.

On the Malay Peninsula there is a reticulated python snake, reaching 10 m in length.

There are many in the forests of India poisonous snakes, from whose bites a large number of people suffer every year. The most dangerous cobra, or spectacled snake. It gets its name from the spots behind its head that look like glasses.

The tropics are inhabited by many amphibians, or amphibians. Among them is the Javan flying frog. Strongly developed membranes between the toes of the front and hind paws allow it, while gliding, to jump from one tree to another.

Having become familiar with the distribution of animals on the globe, it is easy to notice that different continents Similar animals live under similar living conditions. Some species have adapted to life in the tundra, others in steppes and deserts, and others in mountains and forests. Each continent has its own animal world- species of animals that live only on this continent. The animal world of Australia is especially unique in this regard, which we will consider below.

By studying the Earth's past through the fossil remains of animals that once inhabited continents and islands, scientists came to the conclusion that the composition of the fauna, that is, the animal world, was continuously changing in all geological eras. Connections arose between continents; for example, between Asia and North America there was a connection. Animals that inhabited Asia could penetrate into America; Therefore, in the fauna of America and Asia we still see a lot of similarities. Geological history The Earth helps to clarify some features in the distribution of animals across the continents. Thus, the remains of marsupials are found in the ancient layers of the earth of Europe and America. Nowadays, these marsupials live only in Australia and only a few species in America. Consequently, marsupials were previously much more widespread on the globe. This confirms the opinion of geologists about the connection that existed between these continents.

Having studied the composition of the animal world of individual continents and islands, scientists divided Earth into areas characterized by animal species found only in that area.

The main regions are: Australian, Neotropical (South and Central America), Ethiopian (Africa), Eastern or Indo-Malayan, Holarctic (Northern Asia, Europe and North America).

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