Type
of animal |
Poison dart frogs are amphibians. Amphibians spend part of their lives under water breathing with gills, and part of their lives living on land breathing with lungs. |
Size
of animal |
Poison dart frogs are about one to two inches long and weigh less than a half of an ounce. They are about the size of a small paper clip. |
What
it eats |
Poison dart frogs eat insects like ants, termites, and tiny beetles. They are carnivores, or meat eaters. |
How
it captures prey |
Poison dart frogs use their excellent eyesight and sticky tongues to capture prey. |
|
How
it protects itself |
Poison dart frogs have special glands on their backs that contain poison that will harm whatever eats it. Their bright colors warn animals to stay away. |
Other
facts |
Poison dart frogs have suction cup pads on the bottom of their feet to help them climb and cling to leaves and branches. They do not bite, but if you bite it, you will be poisoned! The poison comes from the insects the frogs eat in the wild. Those insects eat poison plants, and that poison gets into the insects' bodies. These frogs are poor swimmers and are never found in the water. Eggs are usually laid in small pools of water, and tadpoles live in small amounts of water, sometimes in the middle of a flower! At times the mother will carry the eggs and tadpoles on her back until she finds a nice moist place to put them. After the eggs hatch, the father takes care of the babies. Their poison is used by natives to make poison darts. One day we might be able to use the frog's poison as medicine such as pain killers. There are three types of these frogs that can kill humans. Poison dart frogs that are captured and fed a different diet, are not poisonous because they are fed insects that don't eat poisoned plants. Poison dart frogs are bold, agressive and fearless! |
Type
of animal |
Tarantulas are arachnids. They are not insects. They have eight legs, not six, and only two body segments. |
Size
of animal |
The largest tarantula is the bird eating spider. They can be ten inches wide! Some tarantulas can be as small as one and a half inches wide. |
What
it eats |
Tarantulas eat insects, small frogs, lizards, baby mice, birds and even other tarantulas. They are carnivores, or meat eaters. |
How
it captures prey |
Tarantulas do not spin webs like other spiders do to catch prey. Tarantulas hunt at night on the ground. They stalk their prey, slowly creeping up and then quickly leaping onto the prey and then sticking their furry fangs into it. Venom is pumped in, making the inside of the prey liquid, and then the spider eats it, like bug soup! |
How
it protects itself |
If a tarantula feels threatened, it can kick hairs off its body into an enemy's face. Those hairs contain venom and make their enemies itch terribly. Their main enemy is a type of wasp which paralyzes it with a sting. Tarantulas spend most of their time hiding. They can run pretty fast, too. |
Other
facts |
Tarantulas are the biggest of all spiders. Most have fangs. Tarantulas have eight eyes, but poor eyesight. All tarantulas shed their outer skin, called exoskeletons. This is called molting. Other animals like snakes do this, too. Tarantula bites are not dangerous. For most people, tarantula bites are no worse than a bee sting. Tarantulas have retractable claws just like cats. Female adults can grown back a leg if they lost it in a fight. Sometimes they make a hissing noise by rubbing their legs together. Tarantulas live alone, usually in a cool, dry hole in the ground. The first known tarantula was found in Italy and people believed, incorrectly, that its bite was very dangerous. They invented a dance, the tarantella, to ward off the illness. The truth was that there were other really dangerous spiders, like the black widow, that would bite and make people sick. They were small though, so people didn't think they were dangerous. They thought the big, hairy tarantula must be the one that caused the illness. Some people keep tarantulas as house pets! |
Type
of animal |
The three-toed sloth is a mammal. |
Size
of animal |
Sloths are about 2 feet long, about the size of a cat. They can weigh up to about nine pounds. |
What
it eats |
Three-toed sloths eat leaves and fruit. They are herbivores, or plant eaters. They get almost all of their water from juicy plants. |
Who
are its enemies? |
The jaguar and harpy eagle are their main enemies. |
How
it protects itself |
The weapons of three-toed sloths are their claws and their teeth. Their coloring helps them to hide in the trees, and since they move slowly, they are hard to see. They have excellent eyesight, and can turn their heads 3/4 of the way all around! |
Other
facts |
Three-toed sloths spend most of their time hanging upside down from tree branches. They use their strong claws to cling to the trees. Males stay alone, but females sometimes stay in groups. A mother will carry its baby for up to six months. They are nocturnal, mostly active at night. Some sloths have green algae in their fur, making them appear greenish. They lick the algae. It's like a little snack! They sleep about 15 to 18 hours every day. They are very quiet animals. They are the slowest mammal on Earth. They rarely walk on the ground, but they are good swimmers. They have a long, high-pitched call that echoes through the forests. |
Type
of animal |
The toucan is a bird. |
Size
of animal |
Toucans can grow to two feet long. |
What
it eats |
Toucans eat mostly fruits and seeds, although they also eat small insects and small reptiles and amphibians. The edges of their bills are like a saw, which helps them tear their food. After eating fruit, they spit out the seeds onto the forest floor, to help regrow the fruit. They are omnivores because they eat plants and animals. |
Who
are its enemies? |
Large birds of prey such as eagles are one of its enemies. |
How
it protects itself |
The large bill of a toucan might scare away enemies, but it really isn't helpful. When they see a bird of prey, toucans will gather together and make a lot of noise to frighten the bird away. |
Other
facts |
The toucan's beak
is surprisingly light because it is hollow. They make several different
sounds. During mating toucans will use their bills to toss and catch tasty
morsels to and from each other. Toucons are very social and live in small
flocks of about six or more birds. Toucans are one of the noisiest jungle
birds, with a croak like a frog that can be heard for half a mile! Toucans
are related to woodpeckers. They both have tongues with bristles and have
the same kind of toes, with two facing front, and two facing backwards.
Toucans are intelligent birds. They are poor fliers and prefer to hop
about from branch to branch. They do not build nests, but live in tree
holes. When they sleep, they turn their heads around and tuck their bills
under their wings and tail. |
Type
of animal |
Vampire bats are the only flying mammal in the world. Flying squirrels really just soar, and do not fly. |
Size
of animal |
Vampire bats are about three inches long and weigh about 1 to 2 ounces. Their bodies are about the size of an adult's thumb. |
What
it eats |
Vampire bats drink the blood of other animals. They are carnivores. They hunt at night, so they are nocturnal. |
How
it captures prey |
Vampire bats fly very quietly. They make a small cut with their teeth and then lick up the blood with their tongues. They are so light and quiet that they are sometimes able to drink blood from an animal for more than 30 minutes without waking it up! They have a special chemical in their saliva that helps to numb the animal, too. They have special heat sensors on their noses to help them find a good spot on an animal's body to feed. Vampire bats find their prey using echolocation, smell and sound. |
Who
are its enemies? |
They have few natural enemies, other than large snakes and hawks. |
Other
facts |
Unlike other bats, vampire bats can walk, run, and jump. If a vampire bat doesn't feed for two nights in a row, it will die. Sometimes bats will help each other out by throwing up food so another bat can eat it. Scientists have found that vampire bat saliva helps keep blood from clotting. One day it may help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Vampire bats live in caves. Baby vampire bats have no fur and are called pups. They drink milk from their mothers, like all mammals. |
