Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
species. Three of these species are Neotropical and are the only extant native odd-
toed ungulates in the New World. Weighing up to 670 lbs (300 kg), the tapir is the
largest land mammal in the Neotropical rainforest. Tapirs are herbivores and need
large amounts of plant matter every day. Their noses are prehensile, allowing them
to grab onto and pull up plants. Both the Brazilian tapir and Baird's tapir occur in
the rainforest. The Brazilian tapir's range includes South America east of the
Andes from northern Colombia to southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argen-
tina. Baird's tapirs occur further north in Central and South America from south-
ern Mexico through Panama and west of the Andes through northern Colombia
and Ecuador. (The third species is the mountain tapir. It is the rarest and occurs
only in high elevations in the equatorial Andes, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.)
Two families, peccaries and deer, represent the even-toed ungulates (order
Artiodactyla). Peccaries are medium-size pig-like animals with large heads and
pig-like snouts, thick necks, and large stocky bodies with practically no tail. They
are diurnal and feed on fruit, nuts, vegetation, snails, and other small animals. All
are restricted to the Americas. The collared peccary and the white-lipped peccary
are found in the rainforests of Central and South America into Argentina. (The col-
lared peccary has moved into drier areas in the United States in Texas and Ari-
zona.) The third species is the rare Chacoan peccary, which lives in the Gran
Chaco of northern Argentina, southeastern Bolivia, and western Paraguay (see
Chapter 5).
Representatives of the deer family in the Neotropical rainforest are the red
brocket deer, whose range extends from Central America into South America, and
the brown or gray brocket deer, whose distribution is restricted from Panama into
South America, east of the Andes. Rainforest deer are rather small and solitary, di-
urnal, and feed on leaves, fallen fruits, and flowers.
Rodents (order Rodentia) are widespread, varied, and by far the most diverse
group of mammals worldwide. Three major groups of rodents occur in the Neo-
tropics: squirrels, mice and rats, and caviomorph or hystricognath rodents, among
which are the world's largest rodents.
Squirrels are highly variable in coat color and pattern geographically. Eighteen
species have been identified in the Neotropical rainforest. All are diurnal and arbo-
real, with some foraging in the trees and on the ground. They typically feed on
fruits,
flowers, nuts, bark,
fungi, and some insects. Many have restricted
distributions.
Grass mice, pocket mice, Mexican deer mice, long-nose mice, house mice, har-
vest mice and spiny mice, rice rats, forest rats, water rats, armored rats, climbing
rats, crab-eating rats, spiny rats, bamboo rats, and tree rats are just a few of the
native mice and rats found in the Neotropical rainforest. They occupy a variety of
niches, feeding on myriad fruits, plants, fungi, and invertebrates. Some are aquatic,
some terrestrial and some spend their entire lives in trees. Many are restricted in
distribution, but others are common throughout the rainforests of Central and
South America.
