There
are a lot of species of tropical
rainforest animals.
Tropical rainforests are ecosystems with lots of heat and rain.
Although plants thrive very well in this biome, animals need to be
adapted to the amount of heat and humidity.
Cassowary by Tchami via Flickr.com
Frogs and Reptiles
Amphibians and reptiles are ectothermic (so called cool-blooded)
animals, and
they thrive very well in hot climates. In Australian tropical
rainforests, we have Green Tree Frogs (Litoria
caerulea), New
Guinea Tree Frogs (Litoria
genimaculata), many species of common tree snakes
(Colubridae sp.),
Amethystine
Pythons (Morelia
amethistina),
Eastern Water Dragons (Physignathus
lesueurii),
Boyd's Forest Dragons (Hypsilurus
boydii), freshwater turtles
and the large and deadly salt water crocodiles
(Crocodylus porosus),
which don't exactly live in forests,
but in waterholes and tidal river mouths in tropical rainforests.
Tropical Birds
Birds that inhabit this ecosystem include Wompoo Fruit Doves (Ptilinopus magnificus),
Pied
Imperial
Pigeons (Ducula bicolor),
Paradise Kingfishers
(Tanysiptera sp.),
Little Kingfishers (Alcedo
pusilla),
Papuan Frogmouths (Podargus
papuensis),
Great Billed Herons (Ardea
sumatrana),
Black
Bitterns (Ixobrychus
flavicollis),
Metallic Starlings (Aplonis
metallica),
Orange Footed Scrub Fowls (Megapodius
reinwardt) and
the
endangered Southern Cassowary
(Casuarius casuarius).
Tropical Rainforest Animals: Mammals
Mammals that are found in this biome include Bennett's Tree
Kangaroos (Dendrolagus
bennettianus), Masked White Tailed Rats (Uromys hadrourus),
Fawn Footed Melomys (Melomys
cervinipes), Spectacled Flying Foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus),
Musky Rat
Kangaroos
(Hypsiprymnodon moschatus),
Striped Possums (Dactylopsila
trivirgata), many species of ringtail possums;
and the monotremes
- echidna
(Tachyglossus aculeatus)
and platypus
(Ornithorhynchus anatinus).
Tropical Rainforest Insects Insects
grow huge in this climate. In Australian tropics, there are many
spectacular butterflies, the largest and prettiest ones are Cairns
Birdwing (Ornithoptera
euphorion)
and Ulysses Butterfly (Papilio
ulysses)
- they can be larger than small
birds.
Note:
This site uses
British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will
find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all
correct in the language used in Australia.
Disclaimer: Although
best efforts have been made to ensure
that all the information on this site is correct,
gondwananet.com is not to be blamed should there be a mistake.
Copyright notice:
All contents of this website are strictly protected
by the Law of Copyright. What
does that mean?