welcome to the Amazon rainforest and get ready to see some exotic plants and animals that you won't see anywhere else in the world as you know rainforest are one of the Earth's major habitats habitats are areas that share the same weather plants and animals tropical rainforests are located around the world in Central and South America parts of Africa Asia and Australia they are usually found close to the equator millions of years ago rainforests covered most of the Earth this is where the dinosaurs once lived now they cover only 7% of the Earth but are home to half of the world's animal and plant species today we are going to explore the South American rainforest in the Amazon basin it is the largest of all the rainforest the Amazon rainforest is about 2.5 million square miles a bit smaller than the 48 states of the US here you'll find more than 1,600 species of birds 230 kinds of snakes 600 different mammals 40 different Turtles and 70,000 kinds of insects many of these species can't be found anywhere else in the world you will also hear this rainforest called Amazonia because the mighty Amazon River Runs Through It the Amazon is 4,000 M long and is the second longest river in the world as their name tells us rainforests get much more rain than anywhere else in the world it usually rains about 260 in each year but can reach as much as 400 in not only is it wet it is also very warm since it's so close to the equator the average daily temperature is usually between 86 and 90 5° a wet and warm region like this means that everything grows well this explains why the trees are so incredibly tall some parts of the rainforest are in mountainous areas up high the Treetops are always covered in a rainy wet Mist they appear to be in the clouds which is why these areas are called Cloud forests the Amazon along with every other tropical rainforest has four layers the emerging layer the canopy the under story and the forest floor each layer has its own story to tell the emergent layer is the highest in the rainforest it is where the tallest of the trees stick out from the top of the canopy these are also the oldest trees in the Amazon rainforest maybe even hundreds of years old they can easily grow 165 ft tall some grow even higher in order to live so high up in the rain forest animals need to be able to fly or climb up this High you might find the South American harpy eagle using the trees to look for its next meal they also protect their young by building their nest up high in the emergent layers you can see many colorful birds here including many members of the parrot family like these conures these parrots live in noisy flocks high up in the trees this Redwing parrot uses its strong curved beak to feed on fruit seeds flower buds and insects spider monkeys can spend their lives up here in the Treetops and are expert climbers they are able to use their arms legs and even their tail to grip the branches the blue morph butterfly is one of the many colorful butterflies that we see flitting around the Treetops moving down to the next layer we find ourselves in the canopy this is the umbrella of Treetops covering the rainforest it is the main layer of the rainforest more animals live in the canopy than anywhere else in the Amazon jungle in fact about 23ds of the rainforest animals can be found in the canopy here you might see the slow moving sloth who hangs upside down all day even to sleep the emergent layer and the canopy share a lot of the same residents Birds monkeys snakes butterflies and insects you might find this emerald tree boa another superb climber see how well camouflaged it is to look just like the leaves on the trees if a Herer monkey catches sight of one of these snakes it will sound an alarm that would be impossible I to ignore the shrieks are earsplitting maah like this brilliant hent maah are one of the many birds moving around the canopy many animals are able to find food water and shelter here and so they have no need to leave the canopy is the home of choice for 30% of the world's Birds like this red green MAA here is a tanet bird life ranges from Giant Eagles weighing up to 17 lb to these tiny hummingbirds weighing only a few o hummingbirds feed on a nectar of flowers like this longtailed silk beautiful isn't it their long bills let them get deep into the flower like this sword buil hummingbird as they feed they are dusted with the flowers pollen when they fly away they spread the pollen wherever they go these colorful toucans like to hang around the canopy eating leaves fruits and nuts here is one of the most recognizable creatures in the Amazon the redey tree frog it has suction cups on its tiny feet allowing it to hang on tight insects have an easier time of it since they can crawl up and down the trees so can the spiders these tarantulas are some of the world's largest spiders and can grow as large as dinner plates they come out at night to hunt chameleons live in the canopy along with other lizards a close-up look at chameleons show us that they can move each eye separately this helps them to be on alert against lurking Predators chameleons are Masters of Disguise able to change their color if they are scared or if they want to blend into the background geckos too can change the color of their skin for protection this ability known as camouflage helps them to survive camouflage allows an animal to either hide from predators or to sneak up on prey when hunting we hope you enjoyed meeting some of the exciting animals that live in the Amazon [Music] rainforest d