por What are the animals of the jungle?
The jungle animals They are those that inhabit tropical or temperate plant formations where trees predominate at various levels of height. In addition, there are a large number of climbing plants and epiphytes (plants that live on trees).
These formations, called jungles, tend to have warm temperatures, high environmental humidity, and abundant water. In the jungles, the diversity of animals is very high, since they have a great variety of environments.
Therefore, there are animals adapted to life on the jungle floor and others that live on the trees in the intermediate part. There are also those that inhabit the upper canopy (upper cups), where solar radiation is intense.
In this complex ecosystem, food webs are also complex and long, with herbivorous, carnivorous, omnivorous and decomposer animals. In the jungle there are small herbivores like grasshoppers and large ones like elephants.
Likewise, there are small carnivores such as the Amazon mantis and large ones such as the jaguar. You can also find animals that eat everything, such as chimpanzees, which is a group closely related to humans.
Characteristics of jungle animals
Adapted to warm temperatures and vegetation
Jungle animals must adapt to a generally warm environment where temperatures never drop below 10°C. In these ecosystems there is abundant rainfall, at least in part of the year, sometimes in large quantities.
In addition, the abundance of vegetation, and in particular of various strata or levels of trees, produces a gloomy environment inside the jungle. This structure with several floors of vegetation provides a diversity of environments for the animals.
There is a layer of herbs and shrubs below (understory), medium-sized trees, then taller ones and even larger ones that form a closed crown canopy. There are even so-called emergent trees, giants that protrude from the uniform canopy. This makes jungle animals have varied characteristics, depending on the jungle environment to which they are adapted.
the climbing habit
Due to the dominance of the trees, many of the jungle animals have adapted to living in them. In such a way that animals with limbs that facilitate climbing and holding on abound.
Such is the case of monkeys, such as the spider monkey or sloths with their strong claws. Many snakes also forage in the treetops, such as the emerald boa.
water affinity
In the jungles, in general, water abounds, forming large rivers and even periodically flooding the land. Because of this, many animals have adapted to living in close contact with water.
For example, jungle cats love water and are good swimmers, as is the case with the Asian tiger and the American jaguar. On the other hand, fish are adapted to feed on fruits that fall from trees.
Some fish such as the paiche or pirarucu even jump out of the water to capture insects in the low branches of the flooded forest.
High temperatures and high relative humidity
Since cold is not a problem in the jungle, the animals do not have very abundant fur. In general it is rather short, except in some cases such as sloths, whose long hair is even filled with algae due to the existing humidity.
Camouflage and other forms of protection
In the interior of the jungle, shade predominates, due to the abundant and closed vegetation. Because of this, many animals have developed dark colors, such as many monkeys and other primates such as chimpanzees or gorilla, while others have patterns with black spots or stripes, such as cats. All this to take advantage of the play of shadows in the undergrowth to hide.
On the contrary, others choose to be very flashy and in these cases it is often a warning. In general they are poisonous animals and their bright colors warn of it. For example, the dart or arrowhead frogs of the American tropical forests.
The abundance of hard fruits
In the forests, fruits with a hard cover or with seeds protected by corozos or hard covers abound, as in some palms. This has meant that many species of birds have evolved to develop robust beaks to break through these covers. This is how birds such as toucans or parrots (macaws and parrots) inhabit the jungles.
The jungle is like an apartment building
The jungle is a complex plant formation, with many levels of trees, plants that climb, hang and live on the trees. This means that there are many places to live at different levels, from the ground to the top of the cups.
Each area has its particular characteristics, for example the undergrowth is shady and humid. While the upper part of the tops of the large trees receive a lot of solar radiation.
Therefore, there are animals adapted to each condition and in many cases they never interbreed with each other. The jaguar lives in the shady understory, while many insects and birds inhabit only the upper part.
What do jungle animals eat?
In the jungle there is such a diversity of species that complex and long food webs are formed.
primary producers
The food chains that form these networks include primary producers such as plants. They produce their own food using nutrients and water from the soil and energy from the Sun. Therefore, plants form the base of the food chains of the jungle.
herbivores
There are a large number of herbivorous animals, that is, animals that feed on plants. Among these, the most abundant are insects that consume plants, especially leaves.
In tropical forests, for example, cutter ants abound. They cut leaves and other plant parts and use them to cultivate a fungus in their colonies, which they feed on. There are also large herbivores such as the jungle elephant in Africa, the sloth or the tapir in America and Asia.
Carnivores
In turn, herbivores are the food of carnivorous animals, which can be of different sizes. In the jungle there are small ones like the praying mantis that feeds on other insects.
There are also very large carnivores such as the tiger in the jungles of Asia, the jaguar in the American jungles or the leopard in Africa. There are also large flying carnivores such as the harpy eagle and in the rivers such as alligators and crocodiles.
omnivores
Other animals eat both vegetables and other animals, that is, they eat almost everything. Such is the case of chimpanzees, the collared peccary and fish such as piranhas.
decomposers
Finally, every animal and plant in the jungle ends up dying and their remains end up on the forest floor. Here a large number of animals act that help break down waste, as well as other organisms such as bacteria and fungi. Among the animals that help process organic remains are many insects and earthworms.
List of jungle animals
These are some of the animals that can be found in jungles around the world:
Auchí green or tintin (Myoprocta pratti)
Harpy eagle (harpy harpyja)
Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
Electric eel or quaver (Electrophorus electricus)
Armadillo (Dasypodidae)
Aye Aye (daubentonia madagascariensis)
emerald boa (Corallus caninus)
Bonobo (pan paniscus)
black alligator (melanosuchus niger)
Chameleon (family Chamaeleonidae)
chimpanzee (pan troglodytes)
blue cua (coa caerulea)
ocelot or cunaguaro (leopardus pardalis)
Tapir (Tapirus spp.)
African bush elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
Asian elephant (elephas maximus).
pit (Cryptoprocta ferox)
Cock of the Rock (rupicola spp.)
Gibbon (family Hylobatidae)
Gorilla (Gorilla spp.)
giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa)
Macaw (now spp.)
Bullet ant or ant 24 (paraponera clavata)
cutter ants (Atta spp.)
Indri (indri indri)
Jaguar (panthera onca)
Leopard (Panthera pardus)
Earthworms (Lumbricidae)
Amazon mantis (amazonian metilia)
Spider monkey (Ateles spp.)
howler monkey (alouatta spp.)
white-faced monkey (Cebus albifrons)
tsetse flyglossine spp.)
Anopheles mosquito (Anopheles gambiae)
Lizard Jesus Christ (basiliscus basiliscus)
Okapi (okapia johnstoni)
Orangutan (Put spp.)
Paiche (Arapaima gigas)
Helmeted Curassow (pauxi pauxi)
Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu)
sloth (suborder Folivora)
piranha (Pygocentrus spp.)
Ball python (Python regius)
tree porcupine (Coendou prehensilis)
Quetzal (Pharomachrus spp.)
dart frog or arrowhead frog (family Dendrobatidae)
Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi)
Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia)
giant tarantula (Theraphosa blondi)
Tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus)
Asian tiger (panthera tigris)
Red-bellied Marmoset (Callicebus moloch)
radiated tortoise (Astrochelys radiata)
Toucan (family Ramphastidae)
Deer (american mazama)
Fox (Atelocynus microtis)
Themes of interest
Animals of the African savannah.
Animals of Africa.
Amazon animals.
References
Diaz-Castañeda, F. (Ed.) (2013). The jungle and its animals. Putumayo Tres Fronteras Project for the Trinational Program. Available at: awsassets.panda.org
Estes, RD (2012). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates, 20th Anniversary Edition. University of California Press.
Martin, M. (Ed.) (2009). Amazon. Illustrated guide to flora and fauna. Peruvian Hispanic Cooperation Program – Araucaria XXI Nauta Project. Ministry of the Environment.
Purves, WK, Sadava, D., Orians, GH and Heller, HC (2001). Life. The science of biology.
World Wild Life (Accessed on December 9, 2020). Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Taken from: worldwildlife.org