the honey bear’s tongue is 13cm long! useful for reaching the nectar from the inside of flowers...
TRANSCRIPT
The honey bear’s tongue is 13cm long! Useful for reaching the nectar from the inside of flowers and hanging fruits up high in the canopy.
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The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down.
He has strong hooked claws like coat hangers.
He moves around the trees very slowly climbing down to the forest floor only once a week to go to the toilet!
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The harpy eagle is one of the biggest and strongest birds of prey in the world. It has a wing span of 2 metres.
The basilisk, also known as the Jesus Christ lizard is able to run at speeds of up to 133 metres per minute.
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The rocket frog is only 5cm long, but it can jump a distance of 5.25m in one leap!
That’s 105 times its own length!
Who makes that noise?
Listen to these noises from animals which live in the Amazon rainforest and guess what they could be.
© JUAN PRATGINESTOS / WWF-CANON
Who makes that noise?Play audio file 1.
Which animal do you think made that sound?
It was a poison dart frog’s call!
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Who makes that noise?
Play audio file 2.
Which animal do you think made that sound?
It was a scarlet macaw!
© ANTHONY B. RATH / WWF-CANON
Who makes that noise?
Play audio file 3.
Which animal do you think made that sound?
It was a jaguar’s roar!
© ANTHONY B. RATH / WWF-CANON
Who makes that noise?
Play audio file 4.
Which animal do you think made that sound?
It was a howler monkey’s howl!
© ANTHONY B. RATH / WWF-CANON
The layers of the Amazon
Rainforests are very tall, dense forests made up of loads of plants and animals.
They can be separated into four different layers:
• Forest floor
• Understory
• Canopy
• Emergent layer
Different plants and animals live in each layer…
The layers of the Amazon
The layers of the Amazon
Emergent layer
This is the tops of the tallest trees in the forest. They can be up to 200 feet tall! This layer gets lots of sunlight.
The layers of the Amazon
CanopyThis is the main roof and busiest part of the forest. All the treetops grow closely together to catch most of the sun. There are lots of fruits and flowers to eat which means a lot of animals live in this layer.
The layers of the Amazon
UnderstoryThis layer is made up of smaller trees and plants. Not much sunlight gets through the layer above so the plants have big leaves to catch the sunlight where they can.
The layers of the AmazonForest floor
Hardly any sunlight reaches the bottom layer so it is dark and stuffy in this layer. Not many plants can grow down here but there are lots of dead leaves which have fallen from above which makes it a paradise for insects.
The layers of the Amazon
Different animals live in the different layers and might spend all their time there.
This might be because they can stay safe from predators or because the only food they eat is in a specific layer.
The layers of the Amazon
Emergent layer
These high tree tops are home to some of the biggest birds in the Amazon along with bats, butterflies and even snakes.
• Harpy eagle
• Blue morpho butterfly
• Scarlet macaw
The layers of the AmazonCanopy
There are plenty of animals keen to get at the fruits which can be found in the roof of the forest.
• Toucan• Squirrel monkey• Coati
The layers of the Amazon
Understory
The understory is very hot and damp so is well suited to frogs as well as some birds and snakes.
• Vine snake• Tree frog• Hummingbird
The layers of the AmazonForest floor
The forest floor is full of insects who survive by eating the leaves which fall to the floor. Other larger mammals also live here.
• Funnel web spider
• Tapir
• Hercules beetle
Life cycles
Every animal and plant has a life cycle which can be used to describe its life, from when it is born to when it dies.
Different animals go through different stages in their life cycle.
© DAVID LAWSON / WWF-UK
Life cyclesButterfly
Caterpillars hatch from the eggs.
The caterpillars eat leaves and start to grow.
The caterpillar turns into a chrysalis.
A butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.
The butterfly lays eggs
The butterfly mates with another butterfly.
Life cyclesFrog
A female frog lays frog spawn. This is then fertilised by a male. The frogspawn
develop into tadpoles.
Frogs feed on insects and grow larger. They can survive in and out of the water
The tadpoles develop legs and turn into frogs.
Life cyclesMonkey
The female monkey gives birth to a baby monkey.
The baby stays with his parents while he grows and learns to survive.
Two monkeys mate.
The female monkey becomes pregnant and the baby grows in its womb.
The baby turns into an adult monkey capable of surviving on its own.