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Rainforest Mammals & Plants

The world's rainforests are ecosystems of extraordinary biodiversity. They contain about half the world's total plant and animal species. This includes an estimated two-thirds of the known species of plants. Along with the well-known great apes -- chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans -- and big cats, the rainforests harbor thousands of smaller and less studied mammals. Some rainforests contain mammals found nowhere else, such as the lemurs of Madagascar. New rainforest animals and plants are discovered every year.

Tropical rainforests extend through Central and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia and northeast Australia. There are also pockets of temperate rainforest scattered through every continent except Antarctica.

Carnivores
- The best-known large carnivores in the rainforests are the cats such as tigers, ocelots and jaguars. Rainforests also contain various species of bears, such as the Malayan sun bear, otters, mongooses, armadillos and civets.
Herbivores
- Rainforests contain a few typical mammalian herbivores, in particular, tapirs, deer and elephants. African forest elephants live in the rainforests of the Congo and Asian elephants are found in forests throughout Asia. Rainforests also have a diversity of fruit eaters, notably fruit bats and primates such as orangutans.
Insectivores
- Insectivores essentially are carnivores that eat predominately invertebrate prey. In the rainforests, they range in size from tiny shrews and bats to larger sloths and giant anteaters.
Omnivores
- Omnivores eat both plant and animal material. Wild pigs inhabit most of the world's rainforests. There are several distinct species, including peccaries, warthogs, wild boars and babirusus. Some rainforest primates, including the chimpanzee, and rodents also consume an omnivore diet.
Aquatic Mammals
- The great rivers associated with rainforests, such as the Amazon in South America, and smaller rainforest rivers and swamps contain entirely aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals. The highly endangered river dolphins of the Amazon feed on fish. The pygmy hippopotamus, found in rivers of Western Africa, is an herbivore.
Trees
- The most striking aspect of rainforest trees is the number of species. Temperate forests normally consist of no more than a half-dozen different species. One acre of rainforest might contain hundreds of tree species.
Aerial Plants
- Many of the smaller rainforest plants don't grow on the forest floor, where there is little light. They grow on trees. Aerial plants obtain nutrients from the air or commonly by digesting other organisms. Bromeliads are an example of a semi-carnivorous plant. A number of rainforest orchids are aerial plants.
Climbers
- Another solution to the problem of intense competition for light and nutrients is for plants to grow around trees. Some climbers use their host primarily for support while others, like strangler figs, eventually kill the tree.

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