Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
tortoise and Malaysian box tortoise live in the swamps, ponds, and streams within
the forest. The river tortoise spends most of its time in rivers. Like sea turtles, the
river tortoise will come onto a river beach to lay its eggs. It will dig a hole, lay its
eggs, and cover the hole as well as its tracks to avoid egg predation by mongooses
that will cruise the beaches in search of the eggs. A few freshwater turtles, but no
land turtles, live in the rainforests of New Guinea and Australia.
Toads, frogs, and caecilians are the amphibians of the Asian-Pacific rainforest.
Many live in or near water, while others spend their lives in the trees or forest floor.
True toads (Bufonids) are found all over the world. They have squat bodies, rough
textured skin, and short legs. They tend to walk rather than hop. Some of the toads
present in the Asian-Pacific rainforest are Sulawesi toads, Asiatic toads, forest
toads, and four-ridge toads. True frogs (Ranids) are abundant throughout the
region; they include crab-eating frogs, swamp, field and creek frogs, puddle frogs,
cricket frogs, rock frogs, the Malaysia frog, and rhinoceros frog, among others. Lit-
ter frogs and horned frogs live on the forest floor among the decomposing leaves,
and bullfrogs, chorus frogs, black-spotted, stick, and narrow-mouthed frogs (micro-
hylids) emerge from burrows after it rains. Tree frogs are also abundant in the can-
opy and include Wallace's flying frog. Like the gliding snakes, lizards, squirrels,
and lemurs, Wallace's flying frog glides through the rainforest. Their loose skin
flaps and webbed fingers and toes provide them with the lift they need for gliding.
These frogs can change their direction in midair.
Caecilians are legless amphibians that resemble worms or snakes. They spend
most of the time in burrows in the tropical forests. They are mostly blind and have
sensitive tentacle-like organs on their snouts that help them navigate and find prey.
Caecilians eat worms and insects. Caecilians have not been well studied and much
of their ecology and evolutionary history is still unknown.
Insects and Other Invertebrates
Like other tropical rainforests, the Asian-Pacific rainforest has a multitude of
insects and other invertebrates that play important roles in the forest. Insects are
the largest class of invertebrates in the rainforest. Butterflies, moths, ants, wasps,
bees, termites, beetles, and stick and leaf insects are incredibly varied and have
many unique adaptations to life in the forest.
Butterflies are abundant and colorful sights in the rainforest during certain
times of the year. Many in this region are members of the five main butterfly fam-
ilies: (1) the birdwings and swallowtails, (2) milkweed butterflies, (3) gossamer-
winged butterflies, (4) satyrs, and wood and tree nymphs, and (5) saturns and jun-
gle glories. New butterflies are continuously discovered and identified. The
birdwings and swallowtails are some of the largest and most spectacular butter-
flies of the region. They have long, pointed, bird-like forewings and tails on their
hind wings. Birdwings tend to be large and brilliantly colored; their wingspans
can reach up to 7 in (180 mm). Borneo alone has 11,000 species from this one
family. The gossamer-winged butterflies are mostly small, brilliantly colored
