DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Renewable Revolution
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Wonders of Nature
*****************************************************
#Post#: 10134--------------------------------------------------
🌴 Tropical Species
By: AGelbert Date: July 1, 2018, 5:56 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-160614020239.gif[/center]
[font=times new roman]Rainforest Alliance[/font]
[center]7 Crazy ✨ Species From The Tropics 🌟
[/center]
Published on June 27, 2018
Here’s a mystery that has perplexed scientists for centuries:
the closer to the Equator, the greater the biodiversity.
[center]
HTML http://dl2.glitter-graphics.net/pub/780/780562lvhmtn5nuw.gif<br
/>
HTML https://media1.giphy.com/media/EM9XeL515bYyY/200w.webp[/img]<br
/>[img]
HTML http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/57/57396kkkx0l656b.gif
[/center]
[center]🐸[/center]
Why is that? Theories range from higher origination rates in the
tropics to the advantages of warmer weather for genetic
diversity. While we might not know the exact reason, one thing
is certain: the incredible species found near the Equator—and so
many more that have yet to be discovered there—serve as
reminders of why we need to protect tropical forests. [img
width=70
height=40]
HTML http://cliparts.co/cliparts/Big/Egq/BigEgqBMT.png[/img]<br
/>
Here are a few fascinating examples of tropical flora and fauna:
[center][img
width=800]
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/sites/default/files/styles/900w/public/2018-06/blue%20footed%20booby.jpg?itok=a80ici6O[/img][/center]
[center]Blue-footed booby Photo credit: iStock[/center]
1. Blue-Footed Booby
Who isn’t a sucker for a pair of baby blues? Certainly nothing
makes this species swoon more than intensely blue hoofers—in
fact, males perform a high-stepping dance that features their
azure assets to charm prospective mates. These amusing
creatures, which live all along the western coasts of Central
and South America (with about half dwelling on the Galápagos
Islands), get their name from the Spanish word bobo, meaning
“stupid” or “fool,” for their awkward gait. Albeit clumsy on
land, boobies display true grace once they take to the air and
water, circling the skies before diving head-first at any sign
of fish.
[center][img
width=800]
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/sites/default/files/styles/900w/public/2018-06/golden%20lion%20tamarin.jpg?itok=iZLh3jHi[/img][/center]
[center]Golden lion tamarin[/center]
2. Golden Lion Tamarin
Despite its impressive lion-like mane, the golden lion tamarin
has far more in common with monkeys than big cats. Its claw-like
nails allow this primate to securely stay aloft and agile,
moving from branch to branch; a lengthy tail that can reach up
to 16 inches helps, too. Long digits also let this tamarin
skillfully forage for food among the forest’s concealed
crevices. The fiery orange coat covering these squirrel-sized
acrobats is believed to have evolved from a carotene-rich diet
and excessive sunlight exposure. Native to South America’s
rapidly diminish Atlantic Forest, the golden lion tamarin’s
current endangered status is a direct result of the ongoing
fragmentation and destruction to its forest habitat.
[center][img
width=800]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-010718181004.png[/img][/center]
[center]Coc k of the Rock[/center]
3. Coc k-Of-The-Rock
The poetically—and provocatively—named c o c k-of-the-rock
earned its peculiar moniker from a preference for building nests
on the rocky cliffs and in caves of the Andes mountains. By not
digesting the seeds of its primarily fruit diet, the c o c
k-of-the-rock—which is the national bird of Peru—also acts as an
important seed disperser. Whereas a striking orange crest adorns
the males’ heads, making their beaks almost invisible, sexual
dimorphism leaves females with far more muted coloring. The male
squeals, grunts, and dances to impress during elaborate
courtship showdowns with other competing bachelors. That vibrant
plumage may be a boon to the males’ love lives, but it also
draws the attention of predators, such eagles, hawks, pumas,
jaguars, and even boa constrictors. Talk about fatal attraction.
[center][img
width=800]
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/sites/default/files/styles/900w/public/2018-06/bromeliad.jpg?itok=W-sVGoD-[/img][/center]
[center]Closeup of an epiphytic bromeliad growing on a branch
Photo credit: Sergio Izquierdo[/center]
4. Bromeliad
As if bromeliads weren’t cool enough, with their amazing ability
to thrive without roots in soil, it turns out one of the world’s
most beloved fruits—the pineapple—is a bromeliad. Even cooler?
At least three types of bromeliads are carnivorous. With
urn-like pitfall traps formed by tightly packed leaf bases, they
rely on bacteria to break down their prey (instead of digestive
enzymes like other carnivorous plants). Other bromeliads take on
a more hospitable approach, acting like mini-ecosystems unto
themselves: tree frogs, snails, flatworms, tiny crabs,
salamanders, and other animals may spend their entire lives
dwelling in one such bromeliad. These are just a few of the more
than 2,700 species native to the Neotropics.
[center][img
width=800]
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/sites/default/files/styles/900w/public/2018-06/harlequin%20beetle.jpg?itok=c24KAut6[/img][/center]
[center]Harlequin beetle Photo credit: iStock[/center]
5. Harlequin Beetle
Despite its striking and variegated exoskeleton, the harlequin
beetle has no trouble hiding within the fungus-covered trees of
southern Mexico and South America. The fungus acts as both a
food source and the perfect camouflage for the beetle’s eggs.
This beetle is also known to host tiny arachnids, known as
pseudoscorpions, on its abdomen and beneath its colorful wing
covers. Harmless to the beetle itself, these commensal organisms
latch on via a silk thread and use their newfound mode of
transportation to probe for potential food sources and mates.
[center][img
width=800]
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/sites/default/files/styles/900w/public/2018-06/northern%20glass%20frog.jpg?itok=FEs4z6tg[/img][/center]
[center]Northern glass frog Photo credit: iStock[/center]
6. Northern Glass Frog
The northern glass frog’s translucent skin on its belly and
chest are a window into its beating heart and other organs. When
illuminated from above, its subtle silhouette remains less
obvious to any potential predators below. The rest of the
nocturnal amphibian’s body appears lime green, allowing it to
blend in with its surrounding foliage. Found in the humid
forests of Central and South America, this arboreal frog lives
exclusively among the trees, laying its eggs on the underside of
leaves nearby streams of water. The territorial males—the
ultimate stay-at-home-dads—stand guard over their unborn
youngsters day and night to protect them from predators like
wasps until the tidepools are ready to hatch and fall into the
water below.
[center][img
width=800]
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/sites/default/files/styles/900w/public/2018-06/leafcutter%20ant.jpg?itok=ghXqYrrI[/img][/center]
[center]Leafcutter ant Photo credit: iStock[/center]
7. Leafcutter Ant
These small but mighty insects learned to farm way before humans
did. Using their sharp jaws to cut pieces of leaves, leafcutter
ants transport these fragments back to underground webs of more
than 1,000 chambers. There, the ants cultivate the plant pieces
into an extensive fungal garden. By pruning vegetation (they
consume more vegetation than any other animal group!), these
“farmers” stimulate new plant growth, and, by harvesting their
food into fungus, they enrich the soil. Found principally in
Latin America and the Caribbean, millions of individual ants
make up one colony—and one of the natural world’s most studied
social caste systems. Individuals take on specific roles such as
defenders of the colony, caretakers, gardeners, foragers, and
leafcutters. There are even tiny ones that straddle the backs of
larger worker ants and fend off carnivorous flies. It takes a
village.
HTML https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/article/seven-crazy-species-from-the-tropics
[center]
[move][font=courier]
Losing the biodiversity in the tropics from unchecked Global
Warming is an existential threat to humanity. [/font][/move]
[center][img
width=990]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-110617203715.png[/img][/center]
[center]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-160614020132.gif[/center]
[center][img
width=300]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-110617161054.png[/img][/center]
[center][img
width=300]
HTML http://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-110217171320.png[/img][/center]
*****************************************************