What are Rainforest Animals?

You will be amazed to know that more than half of the animal species on this planet are present in the rainforest. Due to this, the rainforests bear the most explicit and exclusive range of biodiversity on earth. The rainforests have a rich history of existence from when the dinosaurs lived there. Millions of years back, most of the earth’s surface remained covered with these forests. But presently they occupy 7% of the area.

As their name suggests, they are rainy forests getting more rainfall than any other region. The amount of rainfall can range from 260 mm to as high as 400 mm per annum. And because of that, they are intensively humid. The location of these forests is near the equator, which makes them warm due to straight sun rays. This combination of wet and warm habitats favours the growth of large biodiversity.

The rainforest animals are those organisms that have adapted to live in extreme and unique conditions of the rainforest. These animals have evolved their body structure and functions in such a way that they can tolerate extreme rainfall, excessive moisture, hot and humid climate etc.

The adaptations like camouflaging, stronger modified limbs for climbing and jumping, extraordinary swimming skills, water-resistant skin etc. help the rainforest animals to survive the harsh conditions.

There are abundant varieties of animals present in the rainforest, including different types of mammals, birds, rodents, reptiles, amphibians and snakes.

This content aims to provide a thorough overview of some exclusive rainforest animals, along with related facts and pictures. Here, we will study the animals based on their location in the rainforest layers. So let’s get started.

Layers of the Rainforest

We can categorize animals based on their selection of habitat or place to live with. There are four prominent layers of rainforest:

Emergent layer
Canopy
Understory
Forest floor

Animals Living in the Emergent layer

The emergent layer is the topmost level among the layers of any rainforest. It comprises trees ranging from the height above 160 to 200 ft or sometimes even more than that.

The trees of the emergent layer generally grow distant from one other and endure different conditions than the rest of the trees. These trees sticking out of the canopy are the most ancient trees that may be hundreds of years old.

This layer is prone to receive maximum sunlight and minimum moisture. Thus, they lack the shady or humid atmosphere at the top.

This layer lies just above the canopy, due to which they share many common residents. In order to live at such a height, the animals have adapted themselves with incredible flying and climbing skills.

1. Harpy Eagle

In rainforests, you may certainly come across the sight of a harpy eagle soaring through the sky at phenomenal heights.
They are the top predator of rainforests’ trophic levels.
Featured with intensely gazing eyes and a sharp beak, it is always ready to catch its prey.
They are huge-sized, with a grey head and white belly.
Also possess intricate fashion of white, grey and black feathers over their wings.

2. Conures

The emergent layer is home to many colourful birds, including conures. They belong to the family of parrots.
People often look to them as clowns of the parrot world. This is because they constantly seek attention by performing weird actions like hanging upside down, dancing or swaying upside down.
They bear long tails with small but strong, grey or black-coloured beaks.
They live in flocks of 20 or sometimes more.
They survive over grains which is why they are agricultural pests.

3. Macaw

The macaws are one of the fascinating birds found in the rainforest. Their vibrant colours attract people to them.
They bear long tails and strong beaks and are the member of the parrot family
There are around 18 different species of the macaw present.
80-81 cm in length 1 to 1.5 kg weight, they are one of the best pet animals in European countries
They are loud creatures generating high-pitched squeaks or screams that can travel up to several kilometres to signalling their group.
Their average lifespan is about 40 to 50 years but sometimes can survive even up to 75 to 80 years.
Macaws have a very high demand in the market, which leads to their illegal trade. This fact has boosted the extinction rate of some of the rare species of macaws, including Spix’s macaw, Blue-throated macaw, Lear’s macaw etc.

4. Spider Monkeys

We refer spider monkeys as the new world monkeys because of their intelligence, prehensile tails and disproportional long limbs.
They reside and forage both in the emergent layer as well as in the canopy from time to time.
Their main food is fruits, but they can also survive by eating leaves, flowers and occasionally insects.
They necessitate large tracts of undisturbed primary evergreen forests for a living.
Like other monkeys, they live in a group or band of 35 and get separated at the time of foraging.
They can generate a variety of sounds, including barking and whining sounds when in danger.

Animals Living in the Canopy

Moving down to the next layer, i.e., Canopy. The canopy resembles the umbrella structure created by the gathering of treetops. The canopy covers the entire rainforest when we see from above.

It comprises trees with an average height of 65 to 145 ft..The canopy serves as a home to around 80 % or 2/3rd of the total animal population of the rainforest.

The umbrella of the canopy layer is responsible for capturing all the sunlight and humidity from the atmosphere. This makes it the most suitable and safe place for the animals to live in.

1. Toucans

Toucans are the cutest birds of the rainforests, with varied colours and oversized beaks.
Their beak might appear very heavy to you, but they are actually light as they are hollow from the inside.
This beak is extremely helpful for them to crack open the nuts and the fruits.

2. Orangutan

The man orangutan literally means “the man of the forest“.
They are the world’s largest tree-dwelling animals (arboreal), spending 95% of their lifespan at the top of the tree.
Unfortunately, all species of orangutans are critically endangered. Because of the surplus deforestation, they are losing their natural habitat, which can be the potential reason for their extinction.

3. Sloth

The sloths are the exclusive tree creature, spending almost their entire life hanging and climbing on the trees.
They are among the slowest animals present on the planet. Their slowness can be asserted from the fact that they take months to digest their single meal.
They bear claws which resemble the structure of meat hooks. They facilitate their griping and save them from falling down.
Sloth hangs upside down on the tree, thus, they bear the hair parting on the belly instead of the head and neck. This way, the rainwater runs off better from their body.

4. Black Howler Monkey

They are referred to as howlers due to their loud alarming howl.
The monkey howls in two situations, one when he wants to claim his territory and the second at the sight of danger.
These shrieks are so strong and piercing, just like fast winds passing through the tunnel. It is impossible to ignore them as they are ear-splitting and can be heard from miles away.
They also live in troops of 4 to 19 monkeys.

Animals Living in the Understory

This layer lies below the canopy, consisting of little ferns, vines, shrubs etc.

Since they lie below the canopy, the treetop umbrella blocks the sunlight. This makes the understory layer dark and damp. Thus, plants here have broad and large leaves so as to increase the surface area for capturing sunlight.

This layer favours the growth of many insects because of its humid conditions.

1. Sparkling Violet Ear

It belongs to the family of hummingbirds.
Mainly found hovering next to the flowers with a sweet, pleasant smell due to nectar.
They use their long tongue to lick up the nectar that reaches the end of their sharp beak.

2. Coati

Coati, also known as “coatimundis” or “Nasua-Nasua“, is a cat-sized mammal.
They belong to the racoon family and are strictly carnivorous.
They live in the understory layer but go to the forest floor for foraging during the daytime.
They search for the food in the leaf litter by their acute smelling skills.
They are usually prevalent in the lowland rainforests of the Andes from Columbia to northern Argentina, Uruguay and Guianas.

3. Jaguar

The jaguars are among the apex predators of the rainforest. They live in the understory layer on the branches of mediocre height trees, but they come down to the forest floor for hunting.
They make up the world’s 3rd largest cat community leaving tigers and lions at the top two positions.
They bear extremely powerful jaws capable of tearing the flesh in one stroke.
Unlike the other cat species, they have excellent swimming skills and can easily cross a long distance from water bodies.
At the time of mating, they send signals to the other partner by roaring in one’s direction.

4. Poison dart frog

They are among the most colourful, appealing and attractive creatures in the rainforest. But as much as they look beautiful, they are equally dangerous.
These small organisms have small intricate patterns on their bodies with vibrant colours. They are mainly blue, yellow, light green, red, orange or sometimes brown in colour.
These colours help them to ward off their predators.

5. Chameleon

Chameleons can live in various habitats, including rainforests, semi-arid deserts, savannas, and even mountains.
They are experts in camouflaging by changing their skin colour. This helps them to blend with the surroundings making them nearly invisible to their predators.

6. Emerald Tree Boa

Its green colour and shiny skin make it one of the most beautiful animals in the rainforest.
The skin bear green-coloured scales with white discontinuous stripes resembling thunderbolts.
They are orange or red in their juvenile phase and turn into vibrant green at the age of nine or ten.
Can reach up to the length of 6 ft.
They survive over small animals like birds, frogs, lizards etc.
Since their metabolism is quite weak and slow, they don’t eat often (sometimes not even for months)
Although they are nonvenomous, their bite can be memorable due to sharp frontal teeth.

Animals Living on the Forest Floor

The forest floor receives the least amount of sunlight (1-2%). Thus only a limited variety of plants grow here.

This layer is highly damp due to the continuous evaporation of the plants growing there as well as the decomposing material. Moist conditions help the process of decomposition of the biological debris.

1. Okapi

The Okapis are like rainforest giraffes, tall and sleek, eating leaves and buds.
It is a unique mammal which is native to the tropical forest Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa.
They bear black brown zebra-like stripes on the hind limbs, but they look more like a giraffe.
They are solitary diurnal creatures, i.e., active during the day and resting at night.
Okapi forges basically on fruits, ferns, buds, and fungi.

2. Amazonia Tapir

Tapirs are mammals bearing long trucks. This trunk helps them to easily pluck leaves from the trees.
It appears like a fusion of wild boar and anteater. However, it has no connection to them. Instead, they have some connection to horses and rhinos.
The baby tapirs are born with spots and stripes of white colour. As they grow bigger and older, these stripes fade over time.
They are well known for their swimming abilities. People consider that they have evolved this ability to escape predators with time.

3. Caiman

Referred to as caiman due to the bony ridge on its nose. This ridge makes them appear as if they are wearing glasses.
The black caiman is the largest of its kind, with a length of about 5m or 16 ft.

4. Capybara

They strongly resemble their cousins, the guinea pigs.
Capybara is considered to be the largest rodent present on the earth.
They weigh more than 100 pounds and can reach up to the height of 2 ft.
Capybaras live in dense vegetation near water bodies so that they can leap into the water at the site of a predator.

5. Cassowary

It is a large-sized flightless bird which appears like a flamboyant ostrich wearing a helmet.
They can maximally grow to a height of 4 to 5.5 ft.
The female cassowary birds are more attractive and have vibrant colours than the males.
They can sometimes become aggressive and attack humans, causing wounds, punctures, lacerations and fractures.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do the rainforests receive so much rainfall?

The rainfall may range from 200-400 cm per year in rainforests. That makes it more than 3 cm per day!

Even when there is no rain, the plants constantly release water via transpiration. This water keeps on getting evaporated, making the rainforests wet and damp always. A single tree releases around 755 litres of water every year.

Thus, they receive more than half of the precipitation by their own evaporation.

Why don’t the lower layers of the rainforest get enough water even after so much rainfall?

The rainwater barely reaches the lowers level because most of the rain gets stored in the canopy, where the leaves act like an urn to capture water.

Do macaws need water?

Yes, the macaws need water daily to drink. In fact, they like water so much that they love to take a bath.

Why do raccoons dunk their food in water before eating?

The moisture helps them determine the food they are eating, like its shape, texture, size etc.

How do we protect the rainforest?

The rainforests have survived many harsh attacks during the evolutionary phases of the earth. But now, we humans are making them extinct by our ruthless actions.

In order to protect them, strict laws concerning the problems like deforestation, hunting and poaching, erosion etc.