ZOO Unit 4

Briefly explain how algae helps a sloth.

It helps camouflage them in the trees and keeps them safe from predators.

Briefly explain why Zoologists identify cassowaries as a keystone species in the rainforest.

It is because the casque helps protect the birds from things such as underbrush that they must get through as it goes through the rainforest. They swallow their food whole and scatter seeds in their scat.

Briefly explain why macaws eat clay.

It neutralizes chemicals in their stomachs that are made for their diet.

List 5 mammals of the rainforest and one characteristic of each.

Leopards have dark spots and are light-colored. Apes have no tail! Lemurs have large eyes and a pointy nose. Jaguars are reddish-brown colored and their non-red areas are usually white. Orangutans are usually reddish-orange and have dark faces and dark head hair.

Briefly explain how sloths defend themselves from predators.

Sloths are camouflaged by the algae in the trees that they are in.

What might happen if we lost our rainforests due to deforestation?

The rainfall declines and can lead to drought in the surrounding areas.

Why do Zoologists consider harpy eagles to be an indicator species?

They can tell the health and wellbeing of the rainforest by the number of harpies found in the rainforest.

What important role does the fox bat have in the rainforest biome?

They pollinate and scatter fruit seeds from the fruits they eat. This leads to the sprouting of the seeds and replenishes the rainforests.

Explain how rainforests help clean the air we breathe.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide that people exhale and make oxygen.

Select 3 things that make a rainforest a good habitat for snakes:

abundant behavior warm, moist climate plentiful food supply

Select 3 characteristics of fox bats.

also called fruit bats keen sense of smell and sight digest and eliminate food in 20 minutes

These are cold-blooded vertebrates such as frogs, toads, and salamanders, which intermediate between fishes and reptiles; they have gilled aquatic larva and air-breathing adults:

amphibians

Harpy eagles are a/an

apex predator

The most abundant mammals found in the rainforest are

bats and rodents

The variety of life in the world; or in a particular ecosystem or biome:

biodiversity

State 3 distinct characteristics of toucans.

brightly-colored bills they're social they make their nests in trees

The main layer of the rainforest and it acts like a roof over the last two layers:

canopy

The trees making this layer have dense foliage and many branches; they provide an abundance of food for the animals living in this layer:

canopy

The trees of this layer have dense foliage and many branches; they provide an abundance of food for the animals living in this layer:

canopy

This is the main layer of the rainforest and it acts like a roof over the last two layers:

canopy

While birds of the rainforest can be found at all layers, the majority of species live within

canopy

While birds of the rainforest can be found at all layers, the majority of species live within the

canopy

A helmet-like structure, like that on the head of a cassowary:

casque

This is the largest bird in the rainforest:

cassowary

This type of nonvenomous snake uses its body to grab, wrap around, and squeeze its prey.

constrictor

A massive cutting down of trees in a forest:

deforestation

The location of objects by reflected sound:

echolocation

The top most layer of the rainforest is:

emergent

Vaporization of a liquid into a gas or vapor:

evaporation

All amphibians live exclusively on the ground, and do so to be near water resources.

false

Bats are just one of the many mammals that can fly.

false

Cassowaries live in the Understory Layer of the rainforest.

false

Mammals only inhabit the lower layers of the rainforest.

false

Rainforests absorb oxygen from the atmosphere and replace it with carbon dioxide.

false

The bill of a toucan is large and intimidating. Toucans use it to protect themselves from predators.

false

The bill of a toucan is large and intimidating; they use it to protect themselves from predators.

false

The trees and plants add massive amounts of water back into the atmosphere through evaporation.

false

Tropical Rainforests are more scarce, much cooler, and smaller in size, than Temperate Rainforests.

false

When a salamander is attacked by a predator its primary defense is to hide under water.

false

Cells that help salamanders grow new limbs and organs:

fibroblasts

The lowest level of the rainforest:

forest floor

The lowest level of the rainforest: forest floor:

forest floor

This layer is very dark and almost no sunlight reaches here:

forest floor

This little creature is known as the "terrible dart frog".

golden dart frog

This is the most toxic of ALL poisonous dart frogs:

golden poison dart frog

Select 3 characteristics all snakes share:

have scales cold blooded forked tongues

The fox bat is a

herbivore

Sloths are

herbivores

They are the largest big cat in the rainforest and rank the third largest in the world of all big cat species.

jaguar

Select 3 big cat species found in rainforests.

jaguars leopards tigers

Select three adaptations of salamanders that make them perfect for the rainforest biome.

like to live in cool, moist places they have permeable skin five toes on their back legs which help them swim in water

Toucans are

omnivores

Macaws are more commonly known as

parrots

The primary purpose of the casque on a cassowary is

protection

A cold-blooded vertebrate of a class that includes snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and tortoises:

reptile

How does the fire belly snake neutralize the poison of the dart frog?

saliva

What is the cassowary's best defense against predators?

sharp middle toes

List 3 products you use or eat that come from the rainforest.

soaps coffee bananas

This mammal communicates by rubbing its spine on its back, creating a high pitched chirp much like a cricket.

tenrec

This mammal communicates by rubbing the spines on its back, creating a high pitched chirp much like a cricket.

tenrec

What is responsible for the ability of the dart frog to secret poison?

their diet of tiny beetles

State 3 reasons why macaws vocalize, according to Zoologists.

to communicate with their flock mark their territory identify individuals among the flock

The process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the atmosphere:

transpiration

A cassowary can run at speeds of up to 30 mph.

true

A salamander's skin is quite smooth and slick and if it dries out the animal will die very quickly.

true

Cassowaries are omnivores, but their preference of food is fruit.

true

Fifty to eighty percent of moisture remains in the water cycle within a rainforest biome.

true

Macaws mate for life; sharing food and grooming one another.

true

Medicines treating fungal infections, burns, fever, pain, respiratory illnesses, pain, and even the treatment of wounds are obtained from plants found in the rainforest.

true

Organic matter decomposes at a rapid rate on the floor of the rainforest.

true

Poison dart frogs are not poisonous or toxic in captivity.

true

Poison dart frogs are one of the most poisonous species of the Animal Kingdom.

true

Rainforests are home to approximately 1,500 species of birds.

true

Rainforests are home to over 50% of all plants and animals found on our planet.

true

Rainforests have the greatest biodiversity of any other biome on our planet.

true

Salamanders are primarily deaf; they have no eardrums at all.

true

Sloths do not move quickly as they climb trees but they are excellent swimmers.

true

Sloths do not move quickly as they climb trees, but they are excellent swimmers.

true

Some examples of animals in the Underforest are frogs, toucans, and many species of snakes.

true

The claws of a Harpy Eagle can grow as large as the claws of a Grizzly Bear.

true

The flying fox is the only bat that does not have echolocation.

true

There are frogs that live their whole lives within plant receptacles in the Canopy of a rainforest, never making it to the forest floor.

true

There are two types of rainforests, tropical and temperate.

true

Without natural predators like snakes, rodent populations would grow to an intolerable point and diseases would spread.

true

Zoologists estimate that just one flying fox can distribute approximately 60,000 seeds in one night.

true

Very little sunlight reaches this layer and as a result the plants have large, flat leaves:

understory

Select the three animals that are prey for jaguars:

wild pig caiman turtles