Francine Topacio - Creatures in a Wet Rain Forest

Published in 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2020 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Copyright 2011; revised edition 2020

Editor: Elizabeth Krajnik

Book Design: Reann Nye

Photo Credits: Cover Rene Holtslag/Shutterstock.com; Series Art SaveJungle/Shutterstock.com; p. 5 Asif Islam/Shutterstock.com; p. 7 Dmitriy Bryndin/ Shutterstock.com; p. 8 wasanajai/Shutterstock.com; p. 9 Carlos Macapuna/ Moment/Getty Images; p. 10 Tom Black Dragon/Shutterstock.com; p. 11 GUDKOV ANDREY/Shutterstock.com; p. 13 ToniFlap/iStock / Getty Images Plus/ Getty Images; p. 14 skaman306/Moment/Getty Images; p. 15 Ryan M. Bolton/ Shutterstock.com; p. 16 Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock.com; p. 17 PhotocechCZ/ Shutterstock.com; p. 18 Jakub Koziol/Shutterstock.com; p.19 Mark_Kostich/ Shutterstock.com; p. 21 Juan Carlos Vindas/Moment/Getty Images; p. 22 ProDesign studio/Shutterstock.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Topacio, Francine, author.

Title: Creatures in a wet rain forest / Francine Topacio.

Description: Revised edition. | New York : PowerKids Press, 2020. | Series: Wild! Exploring animal habitats | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019009983| ISBN 9781725304369 (paperback) | ISBN 9781725304383 (library bound) | ISBN 9781725304376 (6 pack)

Subjects: LCSH: Rain forest ecology--Juvenile literature. | Rain forest animals--Juvenile literature. | Habitat (Ecology)--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC QH541.5.R27 T67 2020 | DDC 577.34--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019009983

Manufactured in the United States of America

CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #CSPK19. For Further Information contact Rosen Publishing, New York, New York at 1-800-237-9932.

RAIN FOREST BASICS

Rain forests are forests found in places where it rains a lotusually more than 70 inches (177.8 cm) each year and is usually warm and humid. The trees found in rain forests are evergreen. Tropical rain forests are found in South and Central America, West and Central Africa, Indonesia, parts of Southeast Asia, and tropical Australia.

Dry rain forests are rain forests in places that have a dry season, such as northeastern Australia. There, it only rains between 31.5 and 70.8 inches (80 and 180 cm) a year. This book focuses on tropical rain forests.

Temperate rain forests, like the one pictured here in Olympic National Park in Washington State, receive between 60 and 200 inches (152 and 508 cm) of rain each year.

RAIN FOREST LAYERS

Tropical rain forests are divided into four layers. The lowest layer is the forest floor. The forest floor is very dark, hot, and moist. Few plants grow there. Animals big and small live on the forest floor.

The understory is home to plants such as small trees and large-leafed bushes. Many animals and insects live in the understory.

The canopy is made up of the tops of trees. Lots of sunlight and rain reach this layer. Birds, monkeys, snakes, and other animals live in the canopy.

The emergent layer is made up of the tallest trees. Many animals, such as eagles, monkeys, bats, and butterflies live in the emergent layer.

Creature Corner

Even though tropical rain forests cover only about 6 percent of Earths land, about one-half to three-quarters of Earths plant and animal species, or kinds, live there.

Plants in tropical rain forests lose water through holes in their leaves very quickly. This moisture feeds clouds, which hold rain. This process happens very fast because of how hot it is. This is why rain forests are so rainy and steamy!

GIANT GREENHOUSES

Tropical rain forests are like greenhouses because theyre warm and humid. This is the perfect environment for plants to grow in. Tropical rain forests are home to more than two-thirds of the worlds plant species. These plants are food and cover for many rain forest animals. Bees and butterflies depend on the pollen from colorful flowers for food. Monkeys snack on the trees fruits and leaves.

Creature Corner

People use the fibers from the kapok trees seedpods for many things, including stuffing pillows. Birds also make their nests in the kapok trees branches.

The most common tree species in the Amazon rain forest is Euterpe precatoria, which is a type of palm tree related to the aa palm. People and animals eat the berries from these trees.

Tropical rain forests are sometimes called Earths lungs. This is because rain forest plants take in a harmful gas called carbon dioxide and turn it into a gas called oxygen, which all animals need to live.

THE FOREST FLOOR

The forest floor is home to many rain forest animals. Animals here are herbivores, or animals that only eat plants; carnivores, or animals that only eat meat; and omnivores, or animals that eat both plants and meat.

Creature Corner

Army ants travel in huge swarms of more than 300,000 ants! They eat any insect or small animal that cant get out of the swarms path.

Mountain gorillas are rain forest floor omnivoreseating plants and insects. Adult male gorillas can weigh up to 500 pounds (227 kg). They live in groups called troops in the forests of the Virunga Mountains in central Africa.

Insects, such as beetles and ants, eat leaves that fall to the ground. Snakes crawl over the forest floor. Lizards jump from log to log. Armadillos dig burrows in the forest floor and feast on all kinds of insects. Mongooses eat eggs and hunt for lizards, frogs, and other small animals. Tapirs are some of the largest animals on the Amazon rain forest floor.

THE GREEN ANACONDA

Green anacondas are the biggest snakes in the world. Theyre members of the boa family and live in wet areas on land and slow-moving streams in the tropical rain forests of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

Green anacondas eat large animals including wild pigs, turtles, birds, deer, caimans, capybaras, and even jaguars. They wait in the water with just their eyes and nose showing. Then, they attack. Green anacondas kill their prey by wrapping their strong bodies around the prey and squeezing the animal until it cant breathe anymore. Then, they swallow their prey whole. Green anacondas can go weeks or months without food depending on the size of their prey.