Ministry of Education of Ukraine

on the topic "Animals South America»

Performed:

7th grade student

Shostak A.I.

Checked:

Donetsk 2004

PLANTS AND ANIMALS The natural world of South America is one of the richest on the planet. At least 44,000 can be found in the Amazon Basin different types plants, 2,500 species of river fish and 1,500 species of birds. In the jungle there are huge sciences that feed on birds, and mammals such as armadillos and sloths. The rivers of South America are home to sea cows, freshwater dolphins, giant catfish and electric eels. Thousands of species of forest insects have not yet been studied.
Alnacas and vicuñas from the camelid family are found in the Andes. The steppes of Pamna are inhabited by a large running nandu bird, or the American ostrich. In colder areas on the southern fringes of the continent, penguins and seals are common. On the Galapagos Islands, lying in the Pacific Ocean west of the coast of Ecuador, there are such rare representatives of the animal world as the famous giant tortoises.
Fertile soils nourish the rich vegetable world continent. South America is the birthplace of prickly araucaria, rubber, potatoes and many domestic plants (for example, monstera).
The nature of South America is under threat of destruction. As people cut down forests, many species of forest animals and priceless plants that have not adapted to new living conditions disappear without a trace.

TAPIRLAIN
(Tapirus terrestris)

Mammals / Artiodactyls / Tapirs / Tapirs
Mammalia / Perissodactyla / Tapiridae / Tapirus terrestris

· The species TAPIR PLAIN is listed in the International Red Book

THE PLAIN TAPIR (Tapirus terrestris) is the best known and most widely distributed of other tapir species. He is relatively small in stature, his body length is about 2 m, the height at the withers is about 1 m, and his weight is 200 kg. dark brown short hair cover the entire body. Starting between the ears, a standing stiff mane stretches along the entire neck. The plain tapir lives in the forests of South America, from the Amazon basin to Paraguay and Northern Argentina. The tapir is a solitary, cautious inhabitant of the rainforest. He avoids open spaces, but is very attached to water. Where he is not disturbed, the tapir feeds at any time of the day, except for the hot midday hours, which he spends in the water. Bathing tapirs are easy to find along the trails and a lot of droppings on the shore and shallow water. In the water, tapirs not only escape the heat, but also get rid of blood-sucking arthropods. They walk along the same paths, which are laid in dense thickets in the form of tunnels, more often along rivers and streams. Along these paths, a mass of ticks and ground leeches accumulate on foliage and grass, lying in wait for the victim, so a person should not use these paths. Fleeing from the attack, the tapir (and its main enemy is the jaguar) abandons the path, breaks through dense thorny bushes with extraordinary speed. The plain tapir feeds on young leaves of shrubs and trees, marsh, water and meadow grasses, as well as fruits and fruits, grabbing the leaves with a moving trunk. If the tapir cannot get a tasty branch, he stands on his hind legs, leaning on the trunk with his front legs. The tapir's trunk is unusually mobile; he is constantly stretching and retracting, feeling all objects. The tip of the trunk with a snout similar to a button is equipped with sensitive hard hair - vibrissae - and serves as an organ of touch. Like all forest animals, the tapir has a good sense of smell and hearing, but poor eyesight. Near human settlements, tapir raids fields and plantations of corn, sugar cane, mango, cocoa. Females become sexually mature at the 3-4th year of life; males, probably a year later. The sexual cycle occurs every 50-60 days throughout the year, and the cub (always one) can be born in any month. Pregnancy lasts 390-400 days, and the female brings offspring, on average every 15 months. Animals are usually excited before mating; the male, looking for a female, makes a short coughing sound or a sharp drawn-out whistle. Like all tapirs, the striped-spotted cub walks with its mother for a long time. He suckles his mother when she lies on her side like a piglet and sleeps lying next to her mother. She does not let the cub go far from her, calling him as soon as he runs two or three steps to the side. With age, the young tapir becomes very mobile, runs around the mother, jumps, shakes his head. locals hunt the lowland tapir for meat and skin. In case of danger, tapirs try to hide in the water, where the natives catch up with them in boats and, as soon as the animals emerge, kill them with spears or knives. In the villages one can often see tapir cubs taken from dead mothers. They quickly become tame, take a pacifier with milk, and at the age of a few weeks they eat boiled vegetables and porridge well. Later, tapirs feed on leaves and grass, and are especially fond of leaves and young ears of corn. Village kids ride hand tapirs on horseback. It is said that the colonists in the last century successfully plowed by harnessing hand tapirs to the plow. In captivity, tapirs have lived up to 30 years.

JAGUAR
(Panthera onca)

Mammals / Carnivores / Felines / JAGUAR
Mammalia / Carnivora / Felidae / Panthera onca

· The Jaguar species is listed in the International Red Book

JAGUAR (Panthera onca) is a representative of a group of large cats in the fauna of North and South America. It is somewhat larger than a leopard: the body is 150-180 cm, the tail is 70-91 cm, and the weight is 68-136 kg. The body of the jaguar is more stocky, massive, the tail and legs are relatively shorter than those of the leopard, and it looks more like a tiger. The jaguar is distributed throughout almost all of South and Central America and in the south North America. For him, dense tropical forests are most characteristic, to a lesser extent - arid thickets of shrubs. Sometimes jaguars appear even in the pampas. They lead a wandering life and often overcome wide rivers, as they swim excellently, and most importantly, willingly. Jaguars prey on deer, peccaries, agoutis, and capybaras. He attacks large tapirs when they come to drink, kidnaps dogs and livestock, catches alligators, turtles, fish, and small animals. Jaguars breed all year round. Pregnancy lasts 100 - 110 days. There are up to 4 cubs in a brood. They grow quickly, but reach sexual maturity at three years.

armadillo white-bristled
(Euphractus sexcinctus)

Mammals / Teethless / Armadillos / ARMADRATE
Mammalia / Edentata / Dasypodidae / Euphractus sexcinctus

BATTLESHEETS (Euphractus sexcinctus) is distributed farthest to the north from Central Argentina to the lower reaches of the Amazon; the second inhabits Northern and Central Argertina. The white-bristle, in addition to the color of the bristles, is distinguished by a slightly larger size (its body length is 40-50 cm, tail -20-25 cm, weight - 3.5-4.5 kg) and relatively poorly developed bristly cover. These armadillos, called peludos (hairy) in Argentina, are best known because they dig numerous temporary burrows in the savannah and often emerge from their burrows during the day, even in bright sunshine. If the ground is soft and there is no hole nearby, then in case of danger, the peludos quickly burrows in front of the pursuer. The course of an ordinary burrow does not exceed 2 m and ends with a chamber. In addition, there are many small burrows or, more precisely, deep ridges dug by the animal in search of food. Because of its burrows, peludos are a “thorn in the eye” for local gauchos (riders), as horses often fall into its burrows and break their legs. In addition, armadillos spoil crops by digging holes. In some areas, there are even bonuses for the destruction of peludos, and hunters kill hundreds of these animals in a few days. They hunt them by moonlight with dogs and kill them with a stick or fill their holes with water. Bristly armadillos feed on insects, worms and other invertebrates, as well as carrion. At the corpse of an animal, you can meet several animals at the same time, usually living alone. They breed twice a year. Pregnancy lasts 62-74 days. They usually bring two cubs, which the female feeds in a hole for a month.

CAIMAN CROCODILE
(Caiman crocodilus)

Reptiles or Reptiles / Crocodiles / Alligators / CAIMAN CROCODILE
Reptilia / Crocodylia / Alligatoridae / Caiman crocodilus

CAIMAN CROCODILU (Caiman crocodilus) has a relatively long muzzle narrowed in front. In adults, to accommodate large - the first and fourth - teeth of the lower jaw (in the premaxillary bone in front of the nostrils and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe seam between the premaxillary and maxillary bones), through holes are formed. Often, on one or both sides of the skull, the outer wall of the hole at the suture of the premaxillary and maxillary bones is destroyed, forming not pits, but cuts in the edges of the upper jaw to accommodate the fourth teeth of the lower. This gives the skull an appearance common to the skulls of real crocodiles, which led to the specific name of this species. In length, the animals reach 2.4-2.6 m. The crocodile caiman is common in Central and South America: from Chiapas in the north to the mouth of the Parana in the south, in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Guiana, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay , Argentina. On this vast territory, the caiman forms 3-5 subspecies. It is tolerant of brackish water, which allowed it to settle from the continent of America to some islands close to the mainland: Trinidad, the small islands of Gorgon and Gorgonilla off the western coast of Colombia. Crocodile caimans were sometimes found in the sea near the coast. In the distribution of these animals big role Floating islands play, formed from water hyacinths (Eichhornia) and other plants, sometimes reaching significant sizes (over 900 m²) and often floating down the river. These floating islands ("mats") provide shelter for young caimans and can carry them over long distances and into the open sea. Animals prefer calm waters and are more common in swamps and small rivers. Juveniles feed mainly on aquatic insects. Adults attack any prey they can handle. The main food consists of large water snails, freshwater crabs and fish. They reproduce during all year round, but especially intense from January to March (Colombia). For laying eggs, females build nests from rotting plants among thickets near water. The clutch consists of 15-30 eggs. Adult males occupy a certain territory and fight with males that have violated the boundaries of individual sites. The number of crocodile caimans is now greatly reduced due to intensive hunting for their skin.

Dwarf marmoset
(Cebuella pygmaea)

Mammals / Primates / Marmosets / Pygmy Marmoset
Mammalia / Primates / Callitrichidae / Cebuella pygmaea

Dwarf marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) lives in the upper reaches of the Amazon River - from the western bank of the Purus River to the foot of the Andes, it is also found on the banks of the Putumayo River in Colombia. Their fur is thick, brownish, with yellowish and greenish marks on the hair, the lower parts of the body are whitish, the tail has indistinct stripes. The face is covered. The ears are small, naked and hidden in a thick mantle. They sleep in the hollows of trees. They feed on insects, fruits, small birds and their eggs. They are difficult to observe in the wild. At the slightest approach of danger, they instantly hide in the thick of foliage. Judging by the observations, in captivity, pygmy marmosets give birth to two cubs, which stay on the body of their father for up to 6 weeks. From 8 weeks they gradually become independent and independently look for their own food. By 24 weeks they reach the size of adults.

ANACONDA
(Eunectes murinus)

Reptiles/Reptiles / Scaled / Snake-footed / ANACONDA
Reptilia / Squamata / Boidae / Eunectes murinus

ANACONDA (Eunectes murinus) the world's largest snake - inhabits the entire tropical South America east of the Cordillera and the island of Trinidad. The average size of an adult anaconda is 5-6 m, but occasionally there are individuals up to 10 m long. A unique, authentically measured specimen from Eastern Colombia reached 11 m 43 cm (we will mention, however, that this specimen could not be preserved). The main color of the body of the anaconda is grayish-green with large dark brown spots of a rounded or oblong shape, alternating in a checkerboard pattern. On the sides of the body there is a row of small light spots surrounded by a black stripe. This coloring perfectly hides the anaconda when it lurks, lying in a quiet backwater, where brown leaves and tufts of algae swim in the gray-green water. Anaconda's favorite places are low-flowing branches and backwaters, oxbow lakes and lakes, swampy lowlands in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. In such secluded corners, the anaconda, lying in the water, guards its prey of various mammals that come to the watering hole (agouti, paca, peccaries), waterfowl, sometimes turtles and young caimans. Domestic pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks also fall prey to the anaconda when they approach the water. Anaconda often crawls ashore and takes sunbaths, but does not move far from the water. She swims well, dives and can stay under water for a long time, while her nostrils are closed with special valves. When the reservoir dries up, the anaconda moves to the neighboring ones or goes downstream the river. During the dry period, which may occur in some areas, the anaconda burrows into the bottom silt and falls into a stupor, in which it remains until the rains resume. The process of molting at the anaconda also often takes place under water: in captivity it was necessary to observe how the snake, having plunged into the pool, rubs its belly against its bottom and gradually pulls the crawl out from itself. Anaconda is ovoviviparous, and the female brings from 28 to 42 cubs 50-80 cm long, but occasionally she can lay eggs. They do not live long in captivity - 5-6 years, the maximum life expectancy in captivity is 28 years. The main food of the anaconda is rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, but it also eats various reptiles, fish, and sometimes swallows snakes. Once a 5-meter anaconda strangled and ate a 2.5-meter dark python, which took her only 45 minutes. Contrary to the numerous "terrible" stories of "eyewitnesses", the anaconda cannot be considered dangerous for an adult. Single attacks on people are made by the anaconda, apparently by mistake, when the snake sees only a part of the human body under water, or if it seems to her that they want to attack her or take away her prey. Only the case of the death of a thirteen-year-old boy swallowed by an anaconda, cited by R. Blomberg, is quite reliable. Local hunters, as a rule, are not afraid of the anaconda and kill it whenever possible. A number of myths and superstitions that exist among Indian tribes are associated with this snake.

HUMMINGBRI-SAPFO
(Sappho sparganura)

Birds / Long-winged / Hummingbird / Hummingbird-Sappho
Aves / Macrochires / Trochilidae / Sappho sparganura

Hummingbird Sappho (Sappho sparganura) is native to southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. It adheres to the dry, open landscape of the foothills and high plateaus of the Bolivian Andes. The head and front of the body are brilliant green, the back is purple-violet, the long forked tail is red with black tips on each feather. When a bird flies up with great ease, its "burning" tail gives the impression of a comet's trail. Due to excessive persecution, this bird has now become very rare.

CONDOR
(Vultur gryphus)

Birds / Birds of prey diurnal / American vultures / CONDOR
Aves / Falconiformes / Cathartidae / Vultur gryphus

· The species CONDOR is listed in the International Red Book

CONDOR (Vultur gryphus) is a huge bird: the length of the male is about 1.15 m, the wingspan is up to 2.75 m. The female condor is somewhat smaller. The color of adult condor birds is black with a white collar of leaf-shaped feathers. Secondary feathers with wide white edges, humerals white with black bases. The bare skin of the head and throat is blackish-gray, the neck and goiter are red. The legs of the condor are dark grey. The rainbow is red. The beak is black with a yellow tip. Males have a comb on the cere (females do not have it). Young condors are brown in color, their heads are covered with down. The condor is distributed in South America from Venezuela and Colombia to the southern tip of the mainland (Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego) and the Falkland Islands. In the northern part of the breeding range, the condor inhabits a high belt of mountains at an altitude of 3000-5000 m, sometimes flies even higher (in Chimborazo it was noted at an altitude of more than 7000 m). In the southern part of the nesting area, the condor is found both in the foothills and on the plains. During nesting time, the condor keeps in separate pairs, at other times of the year it leads a flock of life. The condor nests on the rocks, sometimes arranging a small litter of twigs. There are 2 eggs in the clutch. The female incubates for 54-55 days. The development of young condors is slow, they apparently reach sexual maturity (full dress) only at the age of six. Condor feeds mainly on carrion, decomposed to varying degrees. Occasionally, condors also attack live animals (newborn or weakened vigonians, calves and lambs).

VICUNA
(Lama vicugna)

Mammals / Calluses / Camelids / VICUNA
Mammalia / Tylopoda / Camelidae / Lama vicugna

· The VICUNA species is listed in the International Red Book

Vicuña (Lama vicugna) is a species of wild llamas. It is smaller than a guanaco: body length 125-190 food, height - 70-110 cm and weight - 40-50 kg. Her head is shorter, but her ears are longer. The coat is brighter, reddish; it is longer than that of the guanaco; it forms a dewlap 20-35 cm long on the neck and chest. The chestnuts on the legs are hidden by hair. The border between dark and light coat color is not pronounced. Vicuna is common only in the Andean highlands. Like the guanaco, it keeps in family herds of 5-15 females with young ones, led by an adult male. Single males form temporary, easily disintegrating groups of 20-30 animals. The rut of the vicuña is from April to June. Pregnancy lasts 10-11 months. Previously, the Incas annually drove a large number of vicunas into corrals, sheared their wool and then released them into the wild. Now the Indians also sometimes drive a herd of vicunas into pens near rocky cliffs, shear them and release them, but the number of vicunas has drastically decreased, and such cases are now rare. At a research farm in Cusco, Peru, at an altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level, work is underway to domesticate and breed vicuñas. Currently, no more than 5,000 vicuñas have survived in Peru, and about 1,000 heads in Bolivia, and this species is under protection. All types of wild and domestic humpless camels live well in zoos up to 20-25 years old, breed and produce fertile hybrids. The vicuña is more difficult to keep than others and rarely crosses with other forms.

Sloth family
(Bradypodidae)

Mammals / Teeth / Sloths /
Mammalia / Edentata / Bradypodidae /

Sloth family (Bradypodidae) Sloths are purely arboreal animals that feed on leaves and spend their entire lives in trees in a suspended position with their backs down. In this regard, 3 fingers on the hind and 2 or 3 fingers on the front paws, together with powerful curved claws, form, as it were, hooks with which animals hang or move slowly. Unlike all other animals, their hair has a pile directed not to the belly, but to the ridge, so that rainwater easily rolls off the body. The only way these harmless animals protect themselves is to go unnoticed, which is the reason for their extreme slowness. Among the foliage of trees in the tropical rainforest, these animals are really completely invisible, which is facilitated by the greenish tint of their long, coarse hair. This green coloration of gray-brown wool depends on blue-green microscopic algae (Trichophilus and Cyanoderma) that settle in the longitudinal and transverse grooves of sloths' hair. On the body of these animals, another cohabitant spends almost all his life - a special kind of moth butterfly, which lays its eggs in the sloth's fur.

The internal organs of the sloth, due to the constant position of the animal with its back down, are also located unusually for mammals. The liver is turned to the back, covered by the stomach and does not come into contact with the abdominal wall; the spleen and pancreas do not lie on the left, but on the right. The bladder is very large and almost touches the diaphragm, the trachea makes two bends, etc. Sloths feed on leaves, young shoots, flowers and fruits of trees, which they cut off with hard lips covered with keratinized skin. In exceptional cases, when there is no food, sloths move to neighboring trees along the ground. But on earth they are completely helpless. Lying with their limbs stretched out to the sides, they look for something to catch on with their claws, and move several meters with difficulty.

Sloths sleep for 15 hours a day, sometimes gathering several animals together in a fork of branches, and then they surprisingly resemble an armful of hay. Their breathing and blood circulation are very slow, and the body temperature can drop to 24-33 °. They defecate very rarely, about once a week, usually after rain, and for this they go down to the base of the tree in a group. Sloths are resistant to hunger and suffer such injuries from which other animals die. Though heavily hunted for their lamb-like meat, their skins for saddles, and their curved claws for necklaces, sloths have survived in many areas of South and Central America where other mammals have long been extirpated. .

Instruction

South American rainforests are located in the Amazonian lowlands. Animal world this vast region is very diverse. Some, and its most diverse representatives, are interesting in that they have perfectly adapted to life on trees.

For example, broad-nosed American primates lead an arboreal lifestyle. Some of the most interesting are cybids and marmosets. Main Feature cybid or chain-tailed monkeys is a long and strong tail that plays the role of the fifth limb in these primates. With their tail, cybids cling to branches when moving in the crowns of trees. Tiny marmosets or claws have claws on their fingers, thick hair and tassels at the tips of their ears. The body length of the marmoset monkey is 13-37 cm. At the same time, the length of the tail, which they use as a counterweight when moving, is from 15 to 42 cm. They live in the upper tier of rain forests. They rarely come down to the ground. Omnivorous.

The sloth is an animal that lives only in South America, another representative of the fauna that prefers life in the crowns of trees. Inactive, spends most of the time in a hanging position. It rarely descends to the ground. Feeds on leaves and shoots of trees.

Tamandua, or four-toed, is an animal that leads mainly a nocturnal lifestyle. Most spends time in trees, has long claws and a tenacious tail. On the ground they move slowly. In contrast, a large anteater, also living in the Amazonian forests, lives only on earth.

The arboreal way of life is led by some representatives of raccoons and rodents - nosuha, kinkajou or flower bear, koendu or tree chain-tailed porcupine - as well as certain species of marsupial rats or opossums. The largest representative of the rodent family, the capybara capybara, also lives in the Amazon forests, the body length of which reaches 120 cm.

And the forests are inhabited by a large number of amphibians and reptiles - the anaconda water boa, the tree dog-headed boa, many poisonous snakes and lizards, reptiles live in the rivers. The Orinoco crocodile is the largest South American animal. The body length of individual individuals reaches 5 m. But perhaps the most famous river dweller is the bloodthirsty predator piranha. Interesting representatives of amphibians are tree frogs.

A lot of birds live in the forests - hotians, harpies, black-billed herons, sun herons, a large number of parrots, among which the largest species is the macaw. A characteristic representative of birds is the hummingbird. One of the species of these birds, the hummingbird, is the smallest bird in the world. In addition, the South American rainforests are home to a huge number of insects - ants, beetles, butterflies.

In the South American savannah and subtropical steppes, there are no such large herbivores as in Africa. Here you can see small pampas deer, several types of llamas, armadillos, anteaters, wild pigs-peccaries. Coypu and marsh beavers live on the banks of reservoirs. In addition to the same predators as in the rain forests, here you can find cougars, cats and pampa foxes, Magellanic foxes, maned wolves.

In remote mountainous regions of the continent, 2 species of llamas live - vicuña and guanaco - a spectacled bear, some species of marsupials. Of the birds in the Andes, the condor is ubiquitous - the largest bird of prey in the world.

The fauna of the Galapagos Islands is peculiar. There are many large reptiles here - land turtles, iguanas. Among the birds, there are representatives of both tropical and Antarctic fauna - parrots, cormorants, penguins. Mammals are not numerous - seals, some species of rodents, bats.

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South America is rich in a variety of plant and animal species. This is primarily due to the fact that here most of the territory is occupied by rainforests, in which in small areas you can find a great variety of diverse life forms, many of which are not yet known to scientists. Except for the boundless rainforest, in South America there are steppes, which are called pampas, coniferous and deciduous forests. All of them are located to the south, in a more temperate climate.

The main part of the tropical forests of South America is located in the Amazon basin, for which this region was called the Amazon. Scientists believe that the Amazonian forests are the "lungs" of the planet. Indeed, they absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide and release a lot of oxygen, maintaining the balance of these gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

The climate of the tropical forests is warm and humid. It's never winter here. All this contributes to the rapid development of life. Plants use every centimeter of space to gain a foothold and make their way to the sun. Many of them have adapted to live on big trees using their trunk and branches as soil. This allows them to be closer to the light. Many insects live in these forests, among which you can find huge beetles and butterflies. Because of the bright light and a lot of light reflections, birds, butterflies and even flies had to “dress up” in incredibly colorful and bright outfits.

Unfortunately, America's rainforests are being mercilessly destroyed for valuable timber. By cutting down trees, people destroy the habitat for millions of other plants and animals. Clearings leave the land bare, and stormy torrents wash the soil into rivers. This leads to the fact that in the next hundreds of years the restoration of tropical forests becomes almost impossible.

Jaguar is the most large predator South America. The body length of jaguars is up to 2 m, and the mass reaches 130 kg. This is a close relative of the African leopard, only stronger and more densely built.

Before intensive human use of tropical forests, jaguars lived in the territory from Argentina to the United States. Now these are rare animals and are found only in remote forest places.

Jaguars try to stick to forest waters, they are excellent swimmers and climb trees. Like most big cats, he lives and hunts alone. The prey is guarded and rushed at it from an ambush. They catch ungulates, monkeys, large rodents - capybaras, without abandoning the monkeys that have descended to the ground.

Males and females come together only during the breeding season. After mating, the male immediately disappears, leaving the female to take care of the offspring. Previously, jaguars were distributed throughout South America, now their range is limited to dense impenetrable forests and national parks.

Armadillos are peculiar mammals, they can be found only on the American continent. The smallest of the armadillos is the small frilled, or Argentine shield-bearer, the body length is not more than 12-15 cm. The giant armadillo, the largest of the armadillos, reaches a length of more than 1 m and weighs about 50 kg.

These animals got their name for the bony shell, which is laid in their skin and serves as a passive defense tool against predators. From above, the bone plates of the shell are covered with a horny substance. Armadillos have little wool, only rare tufts can be seen on the belly and between the plates. Therefore, there are no armadillos in the cold regions of the continent; they are heat-loving animals.

The nine-banded armadillo is quite common in America. Its dimensions are small, the body length reaches half a meter, and the weight is 5-8 kg. Armadillos have long claws, 3-4 cm, so when walking, the front paws rest on their tips. They run fast enough.

Armadillos are excellent diggers. In case of danger, they quickly, in a few minutes, dig a hole and hide underground. It is difficult for a predator to grab them by their protected back. When attacked, armadillos try to hide first, usually quickly burrowing into the ground. But in extreme cases, they roll up into a tight ball, so that the whole body is protected by a shell.

Armadillos live in burrows and are active at night. Their food is varied: frogs, lizards, juicy fruits and mushrooms, but termites are their favorite. With the help of long claws, it easily destroys termite mounds.

Having few enemies, armadillos are not too sensitive to danger. So, they often get out on the highway at night and do not run away even in the headlights, for which they often pay with their lives.

giant anteater

In the tropical part of Central and South America, peculiar mammals live - anteaters. The largest among them is the giant anteater.

In these animals, the anterior part of the head is disproportionately elongated and looks like a tube. The mouth is so small that only a thin one can fit through it, long tongue. Giant anteaters have a huge flat tail, with which they cover themselves like a blanket while resting. The length of such a blanket is almost a meter, and the width is 80 cm.

Anteaters live in forests and savannas. Most of the time they roam in search of food, mainly ants and termites. The main tool for the extraction of insects is the tongue - a kind of trapping organ. It is wetted with sticky saliva and pulled out of the mouth like a string, more than 60 cm. Such a tongue allows the anteater to reach the most secluded places of the ant dwelling. To destroy impregnable termite mounds, anteaters use powerful forepaws armed with claws. Even jaguars fear these claws. In the event of an attack by a predator, the anteater is able to inflict terrible, non-healing wounds on it. Only young, inexperienced jaguars risk attacking a large anteater.

The female anteater gives birth to only one cub, which she carries on her back.

Maned wolves have a thin body and long legs, its weight reaches 25 kg. Being tall, they can look out for prey in the pampas and coastal lowlands where they live. Maned wolves feed on small mammals, insects, birds, plants, and fruits. They live alone, meeting only during mating. The female usually gives birth to three or four cubs and raises them herself. The beautiful and unusual maned wolf, with its red fur, black muzzle, mane and paws, was nicknamed the fox on stilts, and it really looks more like a fox.

The economic development of the areas where they live and the intensive hunting of wolves have led to a sharp reduction in their numbers. For the past hundred years they have been constantly pushed further and further west.

Tapir

Tapirs are unusual animals. They are heavy, densely built, with short, thick legs and a small trunk. Outwardly, they resemble pigs, but they are larger. The body weight of tapirs reaches 300 kg. Tapirs are related to horses and rhinos. They belong to the order of equids.

The lowland tapir lives in the swampy forests and scrublands of South America. Its body is painted dark brown. Young tapirs have a yellow or reddish body with bright white stripes or spots. Such motley coloration makes them invisible to predators.

Tapirs are exclusively herbivorous. They spend the whole night eating a variety of plants, mainly aquatic ones. They are excellent swimmers, and in order to get the tasty parts of some plants, they are able to dive to a considerable depth. They live alone or in pairs, trying not to go to the neighbors' plot.

Tapirs are easy to train and do well in captivity.

In the Andes, from the foothills to the borders of eternal snows, passing at an altitude of 5 km, llamas live. These are pets. Local Indians tamed llamas long before the arrival of the Spaniards in South America. They use them as beasts of burden and for meat and wool. Lamas are very hardy: laden with luggage weighing tens of kilograms, they are able to walk for many kilometers without rest. In addition, they run great, on the mountain plains reaching speeds of up to 50 km / h.

The ancestors of llamas are wild guanacos, which are still found in the Andes. Guanacos are unpretentious, they feed on grass and mosses, they can even drink salt water. A favorite pastime of guanacos is swimming in mountain streams. They are happy to lie or stand in a cold stream for hours. And swim with great willingness and very well.

The Indians also domesticated alpacas, which are very similar to llamas, only smaller in size and have a thicker and longer coat. They probably also came from guanacos. Llamas, alpacas and guanacos are relatives of camels and belong to the callous-footed order. They easily interbreed with each other and give numerous offspring.

Vicuña lives in the most severe hard-to-reach high-altitude (over 4000 m) regions of the Andes. It belongs to the camel family and is perfectly adapted to life at high altitude. Thick fur reliably protects her from the freezing cold, and in very rarefied air she breathes easily due to the fact that her blood tends to be well filled with oxygen.

Vicuñas live in groups consisting of one male, several females and their cubs. The remaining males gather in independent groups of bachelors. Vicuñas feed on grass and lichen.

capybara

The capybara, or capybara, is the largest of all rodents that exist on earth. Her body reaches more than a meter in length, and she weighs about 60 kg. The capybara lives, as a rule, not far from the water: in swampy areas, in the coastal regions of rivers, in the forests and plains of South America - from Panama to Argentina.

During the dry season, capybaras gather in groups of 100 or more individuals near water bodies. Usually they live in small families (from 10 to 40 animals), consisting of dominant males and females with cubs. The rest of the males live separately and often fall prey to jaguars and anacondas. Capybaras are often attacked by predators, lying in wait near or inside water bodies where capybaras come to drink. Animals feed on grass and aquatic plants.

coata

Many different monkeys live in tall trees in the tropical forests of South America. Most often found koats. With strong tails, they cling to branches, jumping from one tree to another. There are four types of these monkeys. Most of them are black or dark brown.

They mainly feed on fruits, seeds, flowers, but they can also eat insects and bird eggs. Koats live in rather large communities, which are often divided into smaller groups. These monkeys are very mobile, they are dexterous acrobats and are among the most common species of monkeys in South America.

Humanity still has a truly unique corner of the earth, located on the continent called South America. Although the enclave itself raises concerns about the future exclusivity of the enclave a natural phenomenon, which formed a special flora and fauna, and human activity, which makes its own adjustments to the environment.

Animals and plants in South America are constantly in a struggle for survival, adapting to the ambiguous climate. The continent is under the constant influence of tropical rainstorms, highlands, savannahs, subequatorial forests, dramatic elevation changes and human progress. It is quite possible that all this variety of climatic zones of the southern part of the New World predetermined the uniqueness of natural world, which must be preserved and increased.

Interference with human nature

However, a recent example of human intervention in the world of nature, which did not bypass even an inhospitable place remote from civilization in the Atacama Desert (northern Chile), where the largest ground-based observatory arose, is indicative. Any traveler, once within sight of this oasis of human progress, can confuse reality with fiction, since such a fantastic landscape no longer exists on earth.

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South America - the territory of contradictions

The territory of the controversial continent, which occupies the fourth place in terms of area on the globe, literally crammed with contrasting natural areas. Indeed, through the countries of Uruguay and Argentina, where the livestock-breeding way of life, the hot steppe of the Pampas stretches. But on the island of Tierra del Fuego, which is under the partial jurisdiction of Chile and Argentina, mostly cold weather prevails with constant storm winds from the Atlantic. Quite a different matter is the west, where there are fertile valleys with a cool climate that arose in the Andean mountain system. The presence on the continent of the most sultry place on the Earth (Atacama Desert) and at the same time the functioning of one of the deepest river basins in the world (Amazon) with impenetrable jungle adds to the picture of contrast.

Fauna of South America

A reasonable question arises: "What animals in South America could have appeared and survived, given such a natural habitat?". First of all, animals of the humid forest tropics and sparse forests, savannahs and, of course, the inhabitants of the real mountain kingdom of the Andes are as inimitable and diverse as the very nature of the southern part of America.

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It makes no sense to consider the animal world of the southern half of the American mainland separately from the longest - about 9000 km - mountains of the Earth. The Andes spread their presence widely in various climatic zones in South America, covering six belts. The vertical division of the mountain range has identified three zones (terra elada, terra fria and terra calente), which are strictly demarcated, and regardless of the climate. Unique nature The Andes allowed mankind to acquire new crops and plant species. Potato tubers, tomatoes, tobacco leaves, cinchona have become valuable and indispensable representatives of the flora of the whole Earth.

Animals living in South America, for the most part, came from the Andes themselves or the surroundings of the mountain range. Here you can find a large number (up to 600) species of mammals and even more (900) varieties of amphibians. The nature of the Andes painted many insects with bright colors, especially highlighting the population of butterflies, and among the ants tried to create unique specimens of large individuals. Andean bird colonies number 1,700 species and deserve special attention. In the dense thickets of plants, a constant numerous bird hubbub is heard. The colorful parrots and tiny hummingbirds have a special presence in the Andes.

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Condor is an animal symbol of South America

But the main animal of South America, belonging to the bird kingdom, is the condor, which has not taken an honorable place in the International Red Book. Mainly thanks to man, the condor became an endangered species, as it was considered dangerous predator, and its habitats have been reduced to two relatively small areas of the Andes. Nevertheless, he was awarded the honorary attention of a person, becoming the national symbol of several states of South America at once - Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and the Colombian authorities depicted a condor on the national emblem of the country. V Lately began to appear programs to protect the present cultural heritage many Andean peoples.

The condor is one of the largest flying birds in the world. and has a rare graceful coloring, and males are often much smaller than females. Among the feathered inhabitants of the planet, the condor rightfully belongs to the centenarians, able to overcome the age threshold of fifty years.

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The nature of this continent was formed in conditions of isolation from other lands. This is due to its unusualness and richness. The flora and fauna of the mainland began its development in the Cretaceous period. The nature of the region, having ancient history and formation in conditions of isolation, has preserved many unique species, but there is also evidence that on other continents there are ancient representatives of the fauna close to specimens living in South America. This is a confirmation that, nevertheless, the isolation of the mainland was incomplete and there was a connection with other continents.

Interestingly, among the species of monkeys in South America, there are no monkeys similar to humans.

Monkeys living on the mainland are broad-nosed, and their habitat is limited to tropical forests.

It is noteworthy that South America has three, unique to it, families of edentulous. Unique Species animals are found among ungulates, rodents and predators. The animal world in different parts of the mainland has differences. This is primarily due to unequal natural and climatic conditions.

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Rainforest animals are adapted to life on trees. First of all, these are monkeys of two families: marmosets and capuchins. marmoset monkeys smaller and have developed limbs with long claws. Capuchin larger and they have a long strong tail, almost like a hand.

Sloths, belonging to the family of edentulous, lead a sedentary life, preferring to hang on trees and rarely go down.

Lives in savannas and forests large anteater.

Among predators, the cat family stands out. Its prominent representatives are large jaguars, ocelots and jaguarundis.

Ungulates are very few in number.

Almost throughout the mainland, you can find numerous rodents, among them marsupial rats and opossums.

Amphibians and reptiles are also widespread. In the rivers you can find crocodiles.

Parrots with bright colors, numerous birds also live in the forests of this part of the Earth.

Typical representatives of the birds of the mainland are hummingbird.

Rainforests they are simply teeming with various insects, among them you can find many unique ones.

The fauna of the open and dry spaces called savanna is different from the fauna of forests.

Here is found another representative of the edentulous - armadillo. This is the place where they live jaguars, pumas, pampas, ocelots, some types foxes. Of the ungulates can be distinguished pampas deer. live here ostriches nandu. A large number of snakes and lizards.

The mountain fauna is represented by such animals as lama. Also common are some marsupials and spectacled bear.

Of the mountain representatives of birds, of course, it stands out condor.