Animals of the Amazon Index
Below is a list of all of the Animals of the Amazon entries we have published so far. Click on an entry's title to see the full entry.
Update 18: Animal Relationships for Survival
: May 05, 2006It seems as though every living organism in the jungle is highly adapted and most species are interdependent (known as mutualism). This means that they create a relationship where they help each other survive.
Read more!
Update 17: The March of the Leaf-Cutter Ants
: May 03, 2006Leaf-cutter ants are a serious threat to certain trees in the rainforest. During every hike we've taken- which is rare in the flooded forest- we've run into colonies of the industrious leaf-cutter ant. It is easy to see their...Read more!
Update 16: Hoatzin - the Great Leaf Hunter
: May 01, 2006Along the river we have been seeing a funny-looking bird that looks like a cross between a chicken and a pterodactyl- the flying dinosaur. Known as the hoatzin, these birds are rather clumsy flyers that respond to our approach by clambering through tree branches and announce their feelings with hisses and croaks.
Read more!
Update 15: Paiche For All
: April 28, 2006The paiche, or Arapaima, is the largest freshwater fish in the world. They typically grow to be over ten feet long and weigh 350 pounds! It is unbelievable to think that the locals catch these monsters with nothing but...Read more!
Update 14: Sloths - Not Lazy, Just Slow
: April 26, 2006Directly across the river from where I write this, a three-toed sloth is napping in the highest branches of a Cecropia tree. It is curled up in a tight ball- although it is hard to tell, I think it...Read more!
Update 13: Understanding the Black Caimans
: April 24, 2006Black Caiman's are one of the largest predators in the Amazon basin. They can grow to be over thirty feet long. They usually eat birds, fish, and small mammals, but they have also been known to eat human flesh....Read more!
Update 12: Squirrels of a Different World
: April 21, 2006Seeing squirrel monkeys in the flooded rainforest is as common as seeing squirrels in your backyard. These playful little monkeys hop around from tree to tree much like the North American Squirrel.
Read more!
Update 11: Macaws in the Wild
: April 19, 2006I've just known parrots as caged pets, so discovering them for the first time in their natural habitat has been strange and bewildering for me.
Read more!
Update 10: The Cercopia Tree and Friends
: April 17, 2006One of the most prominent life forms lining the riverbank is the unique Cecropia tree. Like many of the plants in the rainforest, the Cecropia has developed a mutualistic, or companion relationship with other organisms.
Read more!
Update 9: Anteaters Take to the Trees
: April 14, 2006We were all surprised and very excited when we looked up in a tree and saw. . . a monkey? A sloth? Neither; it was a Southern Tamandua, a type of anteater, sleeping on a branch!
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Update 8: Fish Flow with the Floods
: April 12, 2006Today we came across a man that had made a very lucky catch. A bunch of Tambaqui (tam-bah-KEE), were in the bottom of his canoe ready to be cleaned and prepared for eating. Finding these fish in the vast flooded forest takes a lot of knowledge and experience.
Read more!
Update 7: Seeing Pink Dolphins from the Launcha
: April 10, 2006From the top of our three story floating hostel, the Launcha, we witnessed the river invading the forest. The launcha's wake creates waves of water that spill across fields and into homes. We spotted a playful Pink River Dolphin cruising the river by itself in the sediment-rich water.
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Update 6: The Wild Woolly
: April 07, 2006The baby woolly monkey that we saw seemed quite bothered by its new caged home. Not only had it lost its mother, but it lost its home in the rainforest. Yet at the same time, its mother was a food source for a hungry family living in the Amazon.
Read more!
Update 5: The Seeds Have Wings
: April 05, 2006Have you ever wondered how animals actually help plants reproduce?
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Update 4: The Domesticated Wolves of Lima
: April 03, 2006Wildlife in Lima is hard to come by. Yet in a city of 10 million people, lurking around the streets and alleys, stray dogs can be seen everywhere. As they are "wild" there are several things we should know about stray dogs before sharing the streets.
Read more!
Update 3: We aren't the only ones flying to Peru
: March 31, 2006The purple martin is a bird that makes its home in the Midwestern United States and the Amazon rainforest.
Read more!
Small critters can pack a powerful punch.
: March 29, 2006It is true that the Amazon Jungle is full of dangerous creatures including snakes, caimans, poison frogs, jaguars, spiders, and wasps. However, the real threat to our team on Project Peru 2 comes from things we can't even see,...Read more!
Update 1: Anna, Parick, and Dave's favorite Rainforest Critters.
: March 27, 2006Brittany from Fairview Elementary asked us what animal each of us are most excited to see. Brittany, that's a great question! Dave says that he wants to see an arapaima. An arapaima is one of the largest freshwater fishes...Read more!
