Rainforest

Cuvier's dwarf caiman is a small species of crocodilian that inhabits in the rivers and swamps in the forests of northern South America. The appearance of this species changes as it matures. Caimans have large protruding brown (although occasionally yellow) eyes. Males are an average of 1.3-1.5m in length while females are an average of 1.15m in length. They usually weigh between 6-7kg.

The giant otter is a large semi-aquatic mammal that lives in the Amazon river basin and the Pantanal wetlands of South America. The giant otter has thick, velvet-like brown fur with distinctive white markings around its throat. Giant otters have large, webbed feet and a wing like tail adapted for swimming. Male and female giant otters do not differ in size and are typically between 150 and 180cm long, though they vary in weight. Males weigh 26 to 32kg, while females are slightly lighter with 22 to 26kg.

The southern cassowary is a large flightless bird that lives in the rainforests, mangroves and grasslands of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Northern Australia. They have black plumage with a shaggy fur-like appearance and robust, grey legs and feet. The southern cassowary has a distinctive brown casque on top of their head, a brown-black curved beak, a royal blue throat and a pale blue crown. The back of its neck is orange and it has two red wattles hanging down from its throat.

The red-eyed tree frog is a species of arboreal amphibian that lives in the tropical rainforest regions of Central America. Female frogs are larger than males, but both have the same markings. As the name suggests, the red-eyed tree frog has vivid red eyes with black pupils. The upper body and upper legs of the frog are pale green, and as such when the frog curls up and closes its eyes it is well camouflaged against the leaves on which it lives. The red-eyed tree frog has bright blue sides with yellow reticulation and blue thighs. It has orange feet and a pale underbelly.

The giant anteater (or Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is a medium sized mammal that lives in the grasslands and forests of Central and South America. As the name suggests, the species feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites, detecting ant colonies by smell, before digging a hole to feed using its long, sticky tongue. The giant anteater has a very distinctive appearance, with a long, tubular snout, small eyes and ears, stocky limbs, a coarse mane and a thick bushy tail.

The Colombian white-faced capuchin monkey (or Cebus capucinus) is an arboreal primate that lives in the forests of Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. There are 11 species of capuchin and even more subspecies, and the Colombian white-faced variant can be distinguished by its black body fur and distinctive white fur on the shoulders, upper chest and around the face. They also have a 'cap' of black fur on the top of their head and a pale pink face covered in sparse hair, as well as forward facing brown eyes.

The jaguar (or Panthera onca) is a species of big cat that lives throughout South America, Central America and Mexico, with rare individual sightings in southern USA. Although they can live in multiple environment types, they prefer to be in dense forests, near swamps and rivers. They are stockily built compared to the other big cat species, weighing an average of between 56 and 96kg, and measuring 112 to 185cm long. They have yellow to orange fur with black rosette patterning, and a white underside.

The giant forest scorpion (or Heterometrus swammerdami titanicus) is a large species of arachnid that lives in the tropical rainforests of India and Sri Lanka. It’s a stout, black coloured animal with thick chitinous body plates and very large pincers. It may also have a blue or green sheen to its cuticle. The giant forest scorpion’s pincers are strong and capable of catching and crushing prey, whereas its venom is relatively weak; most likely because it relies more on the strength of its pincers than the potency of its sting.

The Western lowland gorilla (or Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is native to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo and Southern Niger, living and foraging in the rainforests, swamp forests and abandoned farmland there. They have black skin, dark forward-facing eyes, a prominent brow ridge, large nostrils and coarse hair which covers most of their body except the face, ears, hands and feet. Males are much larger than females and, when they mature, the hair on their backs becomes grey and they are identified as ‘silverbacks’.

The Western chimpanzee (or Pan troglodytes verus) is a subspecies of the common chimpanzee native to the forests of Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. Along with bonobos, they are the closest living relatives of human beings, sharing more than 98% of our DNA.