Animals of South America. Fauna of South America - list, types, description and photos Animals of South America description

South America has a length of 7500 km includes the Andes mountain system, the Amazonian lowland between the Brazilian and Guiana plateaus, the Galapagos Islands, rivers, waterfalls.

South America has six climate zones. Mostly tropical climate. Favorable natural conditions have formed a rich animal and vegetable world! Some representatives of the flora and fauna of South America are unique and are not found anywhere else.

Freshwater poisonous and, marmoset monkeys and spider monkeys live in tropical rainforests. There are many birds on the continent, especially macaws and other colorful birds.

Rodents (tuko-tuko, marsh beaver), predators (,) settle in savannahs and steppes. Throughout South America, the pampas fox, Magellanic Fox, are common. And what are the most famous representatives of the fauna that live on the continent?

Puma is a large predator, a representative of the cat family. The body length of the animal is 100-200 cm. Weight is 800-100 kg. Larger than a cougar, only a jaguar, a lion and a tiger.

Cat cubs are born spotted, by the first year of life the spots disappear, and the animal becomes monophonic. Cougar milk is 6 times fatter than cow milk.

It is interesting! On the plain, the cougar is capable of reaching speeds of up to 65 km / h, but it quickly gets tired and, in case of chasing it, tries to quickly climb a tree.

Cougars adapt to any natural conditions: live in mountain, coniferous, tropical forests. Their range is limited only by the lack of food and shelter. The cougar feeds exclusively on food of animal origin. The cougar's pursuit of prey in 82% ends with a positive result.

The cat is active both day and night. The time of wakefulness and hunting depends on hunger. The animal easily climbs trees and rocks in search of prey, easily climbs mountainous terrain.

Also, cougars can purr like domestic cats.

Jaguar - predatory mammal kind of panther. Outwardly similar to a leopard, but much larger than it.

The main habitats of the animal are tropical and mountain forests, the ocean coast (where the cat looks for turtle eggs).

It is interesting! Jaguars are able to get food in the water, and are excellent swimmers and divers.

Jaguars - do not like intrusions into personal space and are menacing to representatives of another kind of cat. Therefore, the territory per animal is from 25 to 50 square meters. km.

The diet of jaguars includes waterfowl, snakes, rodents, monkeys, possums, livestock.

Important! The jaguar is a non-aggressive animal towards humans. He can follow people in the forest out of curiosity without attacking. Although occasionally there are cases and attacks.

spectacled bear

The spectacled bear is a predatory mammal. The only representative of the bear living in South America. Height - 150-180 cm, weight - 70-140 kg.

The animal lives in the mountain forests of the Andes slope, in open meadows and savannahs.

Spectacled bears are not fully understood, as they are on the verge of extinction. It is known that the animal does not hibernate and is a herbivore - it feeds mainly on grass shoots, fruits, corn crops and rhizomes.

The spectacled bear is peaceful. Maximum - growls at an uninvited guest, and he leaves the territory.

At Darwin's fox the fur is dark gray with reddish patches on the head and muzzle. The animal does not mate with other members of its genus. It is smaller and darker colored. Its legs are shorter than those of continental species. The weight of the fox is 2-4 kg, which is significantly less than the weight of the South American fox, which weighs from 5 to 10 kg.

The Darwin fox is a typically woodland animal found in southern, temperate rainforests. Leads a solitary life. It is active primarily at dusk and before dawn. Feeds on insects small mammals, birds, amphibians, berries and carrion.

There are 200 animals on the island of Chiloe, and less than 50 animals on the continent. The species is classified as endangered. Destruction of forests around national park and dogs that carry infections and attack foxes are the main reasons for the low population.

The body length of an adult capybara reaches 1-1.35 m, the height at the withers is 50-60 cm. Males weigh 34-63 kg, and females 36-65.5 kg (measurements were made in Venezuelan llanos). Females are usually larger than males.

This giant rodent is a fat animal with an elongated body, covered with coarse, shaggy hair of mottled brown colors. The front paws of the capybara are longer than the hind ones, the massive rump does not have a tail, and therefore it always looks like it is about to sit down. She has large paws with wide webbed toes, and the claws on her front paws, short and blunt, surprisingly resemble miniature hooves. Her appearance is very aristocratic: her flat, broad head and blunt, almost square muzzle have a complacently patronizing expression, giving her a resemblance to a pensive lion. On the ground, the capybara moves with a characteristic shuffling gait or waddle at a gallop, while in the water it swims and dives with amazing ease and agility.

Capybara is a phlegmatic, good-natured vegetarian, devoid of bright individual traits inherent in some of his relatives, but this lack is made up for by her calm and friendly disposition.

Capybaras are social animals living in groups of 10-20 individuals. Groups consist of a dominant male, several adult females (with their own internal hierarchy), cubs and subordinate males located on the periphery of the group. 5-10% of capybaras, mostly males, live alone. The dominant male often expels competing males from the group. The drier the area, the larger the groups; in a drought, up to several hundred individuals sometimes accumulate around water bodies. A herd of capybaras, on average, occupies an area of ​​​​about 10 hectares, most of the time, however, spending on an area of ​​\u200b\u200bless than 1 hectare. The site is marked with secretions from the nasal and anal glands; there were conflicts between its permanent inhabitants and newcomers.

It is interesting! About 300 years ago, the Catholic Church classified the capybara as a fish. Thus, the ban on eating capybara meat during fasting was lifted.

The maned wolf is a predatory representative of the canine family. It has an unusual appearance, more like a fox than a wolf. The animal has disproportionate body parts: the body is short - 120-130 cm, the legs are very long - 75-85 cm, high ears and a short tail. The weight of the wolf is 20-25 kg.

The animal can be found in the savannah, on grassy and shrubby plains. The animal's diet contains animal food and plant origin: small rodents, birds, reptiles, bananas, guava.

Maned wolves are monogamous: they choose a mate for life.

Geoffroy's cat is the same size as a domestic cat. Its length is 60 cm, and the length of the tail is an additional 30 cm. The main coat color is gray or yellowish-brown, with the first phenotype found mainly in the south of the range, and the second in the north. The coat is covered with small black spots. Quite often there is melanism (completely black individuals).

Geoffroy's cat lives in the southern part of the continent, its range extends from Bolivia and southern Brazil to Patagonia. Found only east of the Andes. The preferred habitat is forests and forest-steppes.

Geoffroy's prey includes hares and rodents. Since it often hunts fish in the water, it is also called the "fishing cat" in South America. In scientific terminology, however, this name refers to a different species (see fishing cat). Geoffroy's cat is active at night and sleeps in trees during the day.

A cross between a Geoffrey cat and a domestic cat is called a safari cat. However, it is known that this mixture is not so easy to obtain. Geoffroy's cat, who lived in the Hapley Zoo, killed all the male domestic cats that found themselves in her cage. All attempts to get offspring from her and a domestic cat were fruitless.

Wool of this species has long been valued in the production of fur coats. However, due to the fact that the Geoffrey cat has become extremely rare and seriously endangered in our time, it was listed in the Washington Convention for the Protection of Nature and any trade associated with it or products made from it is prohibited today. In the year before the entry into force of this convention, more than 5,000 individuals entered the market, which was one tenth of its total population.

Nine-banded armadillo

Settles in forests and shrubs from Northern Argentina north to Mexico and west to the Andes. Over the past hundred years, it has spread from Mexico to the southern United States, reaching Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The length of its body is 40–50 cm, the tail is from 25 to 40 cm and the body weight is about 6 kg.

It digs holes in the banks of streams and rivers, always near trees and shrubs. Such a burrow is a straight passage, into which sometimes 2–3 manholes 15–20 cm in diameter and up to 7 m long lead. The nesting chamber at the end of the burrow is lined with dry leaves and grass. This litter, especially after rains, the animal often changes, throwing out the old one, so that rotten leaves accumulate at the entrance. On hot days, the armadillo leaves the burrow only in the evening; in cool weather seeks food during the day.

For the claws of armadillos, even asphalt is not a hindrance - having sensed the danger, they immediately dig up the upper solid layer of the road surface and quickly burrow under it.

Coming out of the hole, he sniffs, holding his sharp muzzle near the ground. Moving in zigzags, he travels about one kilometer per hour, stopping at every step to dig up a worm or insect, which he smells at a depth of up to 20 cm. not so easy to extract. In the hole, the armadillo is wedged by its shell and paws, and it is difficult to grab onto its slippery conical tail.

The usual enemies of the armadillo are the wolf, coyote, cougar, as well as dogs, people and cars; a lot of armadillos die at night on the roads under the wheels of cars.

Armadillos can walk underwater. They have a very low oxygen demand and can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes, keeping air in the trachea and bronchi.

The body length of the armadillo ancestors reached 3 meters. From their shell, the indigenous people of South America made roofs for huts. It turned out a kind of durable tile.

At the foot of the Andes lie wet rainforests. When climbing uphill, deciduous and coniferous forests are replaced by shrubs and herbs. Here, at an altitude of 3500-5000 m above sea level, the llama grazes - a mammal from the camelid family.

In appearance, llamas have much in common with camels. The head is small, the ears are high, pointed, the coat of medium length is soft to the touch.

The animal was tamed 4000 years ago by the Indians of the central Andes (now Peru). Used to this day for the transport of goods across highlands where no vehicle can reach.

Only adult males are loaded. If the load is too heavy, the llama will not budge. When trying to punish, he will spit at the drover.

Coats

Nosukha is a mammal of the raccoon family. It got its name from the mobile proboscis formed by the upper lip and elongated nose.. Body length with tail - 1-1.5 m, weight - 10-11 kg.

Nosuhi are distributed almost throughout South America. They live in tropical forests and deserts. The animal is successfully tamed by people, it can be a pet.

Russian anthropologist Stanislav Drobyshevsky called nosuh "ideal candidates for sanity" in connection with the arboreal way of life, sociality and developed limbs.

Alpaca is an artiodactyl animal of the camelid family, domesticated 6000 years ago.. Growth - up to 1 m, weight - about 70 kg.

Most of the alpacas live in the Peruvian Andes at an altitude of 4000-5000 m above sea level.

The animal has long fleece hair (15-20 cm in length on the sides). They make blankets out of it. warm clothes. Valuable material has healing properties sheep wool, while warmer than her wool times.

Alpaca is inquisitive, but shy, afraid of the touch of hands. It has a peaceful disposition and never spits at people - only at each other in the struggle for food.

Crocodile is a reptile that belongs to the order of aquatic vertebrates. This is a cold-blooded animal, whose body temperature depends on the temperature of the external environment. Of the living representatives of the flora, the closest relatives of the crocodile are birds..

The length of the reptile is 2-8 m.

Crocodiles live mainly in fresh water. Most of the day is spent in the water, only in the early morning or evening they go out on land to "warm up". Crocodiles love the heat, live at a temperature of 32-35 ° C. Temperatures below 20 °C are fatal to the animal.

Crocodiles move with the help of their tail and are able to reach speeds of up to 17 km per hour.

Contrary to popular belief, not all crocodiles are dangerous to humans. Some species (such as gharials) never attack humans.

The snake is a reptile from the squamous order. Live in South America bushmaster- deadly venomous snake oriental rattlesnake, coral snake, flying snake, water muzzle etc.

All snakes are predators. They feed on vertebrates and invertebrates. Non-poisonous reptiles swallow their prey alive or suffocate and clench their jaws, pressing them to the ground. Poisonous - kill the victim by letting poison into her body.

In search of prey, snakes use the sense of smell: they use a forked tongue to collect particles of soil, air, water and pass them on for analysis. chemical composition into the oral cavity. This method allows you to detect prey and determine its location.

Turtle is a member of the order of reptiles. Lives in tropical and temperate climatic zones lives in water and on land. It has a hard shell that protects the reptile from enemies, a hard beak for biting off food. Turtles have no teeth, but have hard incisors on their beaks. In predatory species, they are very sharp, so they serve as knives for cutting prey.

The size and weight of the turtle depends on the species. The largest representatives of the species are leatherback turtles. The length of their shell can reach 2.5 m, the span of the front flippers is 2.5 m, and the weight is up to 900 kg. The smallest is the Cape speckled tortoise. Her body length is 11 cm, weight is 240 g.

Lizards are reptiles from the order of reptiles. The species is distributed throughout the continent.

There are lizards with developed limbs and legless ones. Legless is very easy to confuse with snakes - only an experienced biologist can distinguish them.

Most lizards are predators: they feed on mollusks, frogs, birds and small mammals. Sometimes they attack large animals - wild pigs, deer.

Some species of lizards are herbivores (iguanas, skinks). They eat the pulp of ripe fruits, leaves, flowers.

Humanity still has a truly unique corner of the earth, located on the continent called South America. Although the enclave itself raises concerns about the future exclusivity of the enclave a natural phenomenon, which formed a special flora and fauna, and human activity, which makes its own adjustments to the environment.

Animals and plants in South America are constantly in a struggle for survival, adapting to the ambiguous climate. The continent is under the constant influence of tropical rainstorms, highlands, savannahs, subequatorial forests, dramatic elevation changes and human progress. It is quite possible that all this variety of climatic zones of the southern part of the New World predetermined the uniqueness of natural world, which must be preserved and increased.

Interference with human nature

However, a recent example of human intervention in the world of nature, which did not bypass even an inhospitable place remote from civilization in the Atacama Desert (northern Chile), where the largest ground-based observatory arose, is indicative. Any traveler who finds himself within sight of this oasis of human progress can confuse reality with fiction, since such a fantastic landscape no longer exists on earth.

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South America - the territory of contradictions

The territory of the controversial continent, which occupies the fourth place in terms of area on the globe, literally crammed with contrasting natural areas. Indeed, through the countries of Uruguay and Argentina, where the livestock-breeding way of life, the hot steppe of the Pampas stretches. But on the island of Tierra del Fuego, which is under the partial jurisdiction of Chile and Argentina, mainly dominates cold weather with constant storm winds from the Atlantic. Quite a different matter is the west, where there are fertile valleys with a cool climate that arose in the Andean mountain system. The presence on the continent of the most sultry place on Earth (Atacama Desert) and at the same time the functioning of one of the deepest river basins in the world (Amazon) with impenetrable jungle adds to the picture of contrast.

Fauna of South America

A reasonable question arises: "What animals in South America could have appeared and survived, given such a natural habitat?". First of all, animals of the humid forest tropics and rare forests, savannahs and, of course, the inhabitants of the real mountain kingdom of the Andes are as inimitable and diverse as the very nature of the southern part of America.

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It makes no sense to consider the animal world of the southern half of the American mainland separately from the longest - about 9000 km - mountains of the Earth. The Andes spread their presence widely in various climatic zones in South America, covering six belts. The vertical division of the mountain range has identified three zones (terra elada, terra fria and terra calente), which are strictly demarcated, and regardless of climate. The unique nature of the Andes has allowed mankind to acquire new crops and plant species. Potato tubers, tomatoes, tobacco leaves, cinchona have become valuable and indispensable representatives of the flora of the whole Earth.

Animals living in South America, for the most part, came from the Andes themselves or the surroundings of the mountain range. Here you can find a large number (up to 600) species of mammals and even more (900) varieties of amphibians. The nature of the Andes painted many insects with bright colors, especially highlighting the population of butterflies, and among the ants tried to create unique specimens of large individuals. Andean bird colonies number 1,700 species and deserve special attention. In the dense thickets of plants, a constant numerous bird hubbub is heard. The colorful parrots and tiny hummingbirds have a special presence in the Andes.

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Condor is an animal symbol of South America

But the main animal of South America, belonging to the bird kingdom, is the condor, which has not taken an honorable place in the International Red Book. Mainly thanks to man, the condor became an endangered species, as it was considered a dangerous predator, and its habitats were reduced to two relatively small areas of the Andes. Nevertheless, he was awarded the honorary attention of a person, becoming the national symbol of several states of South America at once - Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and the Colombian authorities depicted a condor on the national emblem of the country. AT recent times began to appear programs to protect the present cultural heritage many Andean peoples.

The condor is one of the largest flying birds in the world. and has a rare graceful coloring, and males are often much smaller than females. Among the feathered inhabitants of the planet, the condor rightfully belongs to the centenarians, able to overcome the age threshold of fifty years.

South America is often referred to as a land of contrasts. The fourth largest continent is replete with unique natural areas, within which many endemic representatives of the animal world live. Light forests and savannas coexist with tropical rainforests.

The longest mountain range of the planet, called the Andes, is allocated in a separate zone. The climate of the heat-breathing steppe of Pampa is different from the island of Tierra del Fuego, "caressed" by storm winds brought from the Atlantic. The western part of the continent pleases the eye with fertile valleys, while the Atacama Desert is recognized as the most sultry region of the globe.

The increase in diversity was facilitated by the presence of a large river basin surrounded by impenetrable jungle. The Amazon and Orinoco rivers, carrying muddy waters, are home to the largest freshwater dolphins, reaching a length of 2.7 m. The underdeveloped vision of mammals is compensated by a developed echolocation system that allows them to detect potential prey and avoid obstacles. The rivers also attracted other large mammals assigned to the order of sirens. Slow manatees uniting in herds slowly migrate between river tributaries and the main channel. Animals feed on edible algae. Communication is carried out by touching the muzzles. The need for such close contact is due to poor eyesight.

Harpies belonging to the hawk family prefer to circle above the crowns of tropical forests located in remote regions. The wingspan of powerful raptors often exceeds 2 m. The list of forest inhabitants includes shuttle-billed herons, sun herons and hoatzins. The chicks of the latter can boast of having claws on their wings, with the help of which restless youth travel through the trees. A similar adaptation was found in the Archeopteryx living millions of years ago. In the woodlands, one can meet opossums, arboreal tenacious porcupines, koendu, bats and agouti, which at the same time resemble guinea pig and a short-eared hare. Nosuhi also hunt on trees growing in tropical forests.

The list of little-studied animals included the forest (bush) dog. The exceptional representatives of the fauna of South America include the Titicaca whistler, which lives within Lake Titicaca. A similar habitat was chosen for itself by the wingless Great Crested Grebe. The Pudu deer feeding on seaweed, whose height does not exceed 40 cm, got into the Red Book.

Every year the population of maned wolves living in the pampas decreases. The number of red ibis inhabiting the coastal lowlands is also declining.

The Amazonian selva does not lack reptiles and brightly colored poison frogs. The ability to accumulate poison is also possessed by many lizards and snakes. Of the land reptiles, the boa constrictor stands out. At night, the wild cat ocelot comes out to hunt. Easily find victims and such excellent swimmers as jaguars. Small rodents, deer, capybaras, monkeys and tapirs (relatives of rhinos) can serve as their meal. A small group of ungulates on the continent is represented by undersized South American pointed deer and a small black peccary pig.

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Instruction

South American rainforests are located in the Amazonian lowlands. Animal world this vast region is very diverse. Some, and its most diverse representatives, are interesting in that they have perfectly adapted to life on trees.

For example, broad-nosed American primates lead an arboreal lifestyle. Some of the most interesting are cybids and marmosets. The main feature of cybids or chain-tailed monkeys is a long and strong tail, which in these primates acts as a fifth limb. With their tail, cybids cling to branches when moving in the crowns of trees. Tiny marmosets or claws have claws on their fingers, thick hair and tassels at the tips of their ears. The body length of the marmoset monkey is 13-37 cm. At the same time, the length of the tail, which they use as a counterweight when moving, is from 15 to 42 cm. They live in the upper tier of rain forests. They rarely come down to the ground. Omnivorous.

The sloth is an animal that lives only in South America, another representative of the fauna that prefers life in the crowns of trees. Inactive, spends most of the time in a hanging position. It rarely descends to the ground. Feeds on leaves and shoots of trees.

Tamandua, or four-toed, is an animal that leads mainly a nocturnal lifestyle. It spends most of its time in trees, has long claws and a prehensile tail. On the ground they move slowly. In contrast, a large anteater, also living in the Amazonian forests, lives only on earth.

The arboreal way of life is led by some representatives of raccoons and rodents - nosuha, kinkajou or flower bear, koendu or tree chain-tailed porcupine - as well as certain species of marsupial rats or opossums. The largest representative of the rodent family, the capybara capybara, also lives in the Amazon forests, the body length of which reaches 120 cm.

And the forests are inhabited by a large number of amphibians and reptiles - the anaconda water boa, the tree dog-headed boa, many poisonous snakes and lizards, reptiles live in the rivers. The Orinoco crocodile is the largest South American animal. The body length of individual individuals reaches 5 m. But perhaps the most famous river dweller is the bloodthirsty predator piranha. Interesting representatives of amphibians are tree frogs.

A lot of birds live in the forests - hotians, harpies, black-billed herons, sun herons, a large number of parrots, among which the largest species is the macaw. A characteristic representative of birds is the hummingbird. One of the species of these birds, the hummingbird, is the smallest bird in the world. In addition, the South American rainforests are home to a huge number of insects - ants, beetles, butterflies.

In the South American savannah and subtropical steppes, there are no such large herbivores as in Africa. Here you can see small pampas deer, several types of llamas, armadillos, anteaters, wild pigs-peccaries. Coypu and marsh beavers live on the banks of reservoirs. In addition to the same predators as in the rain forests, here you can find cougars, cats and pampa foxes, Magellanic foxes, maned wolves.

In remote mountainous regions of the continent, 2 species of llamas live - vicuña and guanaco - a spectacled bear, some species of marsupials. Of the birds in the Andes, the condor is ubiquitous - the largest bird of prey in the world.

The fauna of the Galapagos Islands is peculiar. There are many large reptiles here - land turtles, iguanas. Among the birds, there are representatives of both tropical and Antarctic fauna - parrots, cormorants, penguins. Mammals are not numerous - seals, some species of rodents, bats.

Mainland South America is six climatic zones. The tropical and subequatorial belts predominate, the average annual temperature on the mainland is about thirty degrees Celsius, the climate is quite humid. All this contributes to the development of the unique flora and fauna of South America.

The flora and fauna of the South American continent is amazing and diverse.

During the Cretaceous period, when the mainland Gondwana broke up, South America became an island for some time and a special fauna was formed here, where notoungulata predominated. Notoungulates translated from Latin - southern ungulates. When the isthmus between South and North America was formed, the influx of North American animals led to the partial extinction of the local fauna. This mixing of the fauna of the Americas is what paleontologists have called the "Great American Interchange."

A large number of animal species live in modern South America:

• Mammals.
• Reptiles.
• Birds.
• Amphibians.
• Insects.
• Fish.

Some representatives of these species exist only in South America.

In the animal world of South America, a wide variety of the cat family is represented.

The leopard belongs to the big cat family. The leopard is a large and graceful cat. Leopard's body is light, lean and muscular with a very long tail. The weight of a leopard reaches sixty kilograms, the body length without a tail reaches up to two meters, while the tail reaches a length of up to one hundred and ten centimeters.

The color of the leopard coat is yellow with black spots forming a rosette with a yellow core. Each leopard has its own individual pattern of spots, akin to human fingerprints. Leopard hunts alone creeping up on the victim or waiting for her in ambush. It usually hunts antelope, but can use rodents and monkeys as food. May attack livestock. The female bears cubs for three months and gives birth to two or three kittens, upon reaching two and a half years, the kittens become independent.

Outwardly, the ocelot resembles a leopard, but is much smaller in size, rather comparable to a leopard cub. The ocelot prefers to live in the tropical jungle. During the day, ocelots prefer to sleep in trees, hiding in hollows, and at night they go hunting. The prey of the ocelot are birds and small mammals, sometimes ocelots catch snakes. They live and hunt alone. The female ocelot bears cubs for 2.5 months and gives birth to one or two kittens, which feed on mother's milk for about seven weeks, and at two years the ocelots will begin an independent life.

Pampas cat.

The Pampas cat, unlike the ocelot, prefers to live on the plains and in rare forests, among shrubs, grasses and deserts. Sometimes this cat is called "Grass cat". In size, this is a relatively large animal, weighing from five to twelve kilograms and a length of about eighty centimeters.

They usually hunt at night. The prey of the pampas cat is small rodents, large insects and birds. By appearance reminiscent of domestic cats pretty tough beast with short legs, dense gray-yellow coat. The color of the cat is complemented by brown spots all over the body and brown or red rings on the fluffy tail. Sometimes there are cats with a solid color.

Pampas cat bears kittens for two and a half months and gives birth to two or three cubs. Cubs become independent at the age of six months, and mature by two years.

Chilean cat.

The Chilean cat prefers to live in mixed and coniferous forests. This is a small animal the size of a domestic cat. By color, these sand color cats with black spots that merge into dark stripes. This color well disguises the cat in the forest, which accompanies a successful hunt. The Chilean cat hunts for small rodents, birds, lizards and insects.

animals of south america

There are a lot of unusual animals in the flora and fauna of South America.

Alpacas are artiodactyl pets. Alpacas have been bred since ancient times. They are grown mainly for cutting wool which is highly valued in the world. Alpaca wool is similar to sheep, but lighter. Alpaca wool is used to make clothes, bedspreads, warm blankets and blankets. They are peaceful, friendly animals. They are inquisitive and fearful.

Capybara.

In another way, the capybara is called capybara. Capybara is a rodent, and the largest in the world. The capybara has a large, heavy body, the height at the withers is about sixty centimeters, and the weight can reach up to sixty kilograms. By appearance capybara is very similar on a guinea pig, only significantly exceeds it in size. On the body of a capybara, hard, shaggy and long hair is reddish-brown. The back has a darker color than the light belly. Paws are short with webbed toes and powerful, short claws. The capybara is quite good-natured, phlegmatic. Eats plant food.

Battleship.

Perhaps the most amazing animal in the world is the armadillo. The entire body of the armadillo is covered with a shell of hard bone plates. The weight of the armadillo reaches sixty kilograms, the body length is about one meter. They usually live alone They feed on termites and ants. The stomach of the armadillo, as well as the shell, is expelled by bone plates, which improves the digestion of food. The female carries a pregnancy from several weeks to several months, the cubs are born sighted and always of the same sex.

The slowest animal on the planet, therefore, fully justifies its name. It lives mainly on trees, for the administration of natural needs occasionally descends to the ground. Since it is an easy prey for predators, the main life time spends in the crowns of trees. Swims well. The coat is thick and long gray-brown with a green tint. Outwardly similar to a monkey, the sloth has long limbs and a relatively small head. Sloths feed on plant foods, lizards and insects. They live alone. The female bears pregnancy from six to twelve months. The weight of an adult individual can reach nine kilograms, and height up to sixty centimeters.

Cheerful, smart and frisky monkey. The capuchin owes its name to the monks of the Capuchin order, since the color of its coat is surprisingly similar to the colors of the clothes of the monks of this order. small capuchins, weigh up to five kilograms and about fifty centimeters tall. These monkeys are very emotional, quickly change their mood and even know how to cry. They feed on fruits, can profit from lizards and insects. Capuchins live in groups, however, capuchins can be kept at home.

Fish and birds of South America

There are a lot of exotic birds in South America, here are some of them:

• Ara parrot.
• Andean condor.
• Frigate and other birds.

Ara parrot.

Red Macaw is the most beautiful bird. It has a bright, contrasting plumage. Lives in tropical moist forests South America. Macaws have a good memory and able to imitate human speech. They feed on plants, sometimes raiding farmers' plantations. They are hunted by the Indians. They are caught because of the bright feathers and tasty meat. Female parrots lay two or three eggs and incubate them for about a month.

Andean condor.

From the name it is clear that this bird lives in the Andes, comes from the family of vultures and feeds on carrion. It is on the verge of destruction.

Frigates are inhabitants of the sky. They spend most of their lives in flight. On the ground, they are clumsy and cannot swim at all, while they fly over water bodies and feed on fish. A frigate can take off only from trees.

Piranha predatory fish lives in the waters of the Amazon and other rivers. May be a threat to humans. The body length of a piranha is about thirty centimeters, in rare cases it reaches eighty centimeters. Males have dark blue scales, females are dark purple. Piranha loves warm, fresh, plant-rich water. They are always looking for food. They attack fish, animals and even their relatives. Sharp teeth in a closed state resemble a closed zipper. The piranha itself can be prey for turtles, caimans, snakes and birds.

Plants and animals of South America have a great variety and bright colors. Unusual mammals, birds, fish and insects make up the unique fauna of South America. The favorable climate of this continent promotes the reproduction of South American animals and a large variety of jungle vegetation.