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Rainforest animals

Tropical rainforest holds more kinds of animal than any other habitat, and a lot of this site's great apes, monkeys, big cats and frogs come from it: orangutans, gorillas, jaguars, sloths, poison dart frogs, macaws and okapis.

Many rainforest animals live high in the trees and are rarely seen from the ground.

71 animals, A to Z.

• 🐾AgoutiRodents related to guinea pigs but larger and longer-legged, living in forests and wooded areas of Central and South America.
• 🐍AnacondaLarge, semiaquatic boas of tropical South America.
• 🐜AntSocial insects living in colonies of a queen, workers and males, with more than 13,800 species described of an estimated 22,000.
• 🐜AnteaterFour species of toothless mammals that eat ants and termites, related to sloths: the giant anteater, the silky anteater and two tamanduas.
• 🐾ApeThe tailless primates of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia: the gibbons, or lesser apes, and the great apes, which are the orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and, scientifically, humans.
• 🐾Aye-ayeA lemur of Madagascar and the world’s largest nocturnal primate, with rodent-like teeth that never stop growing and a thin, bony middle finger.
• 🐾BabirusaWild pigs of Sulawesi and nearby Indonesian islands, also called deer-pigs.
• 🦎Basilisk lizardFour species of large lizards from the rainforests of southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America.
• 🦇BatThe only mammals capable of true, sustained flight, on wings of skin stretched over long fingers.
• 🐾Bird of paradiseForty-four species of rainforest birds, mainly from New Guinea, plus eastern Australia and the Maluku Islands.
• 🐆Black pantherNot a species: a black panther is a black (melanistic) leopard or jaguar.
• 🐍Boa constrictorA large, heavy-bodied, non-venomous snake of tropical America, and a staple of pet collections.
• 🐾BongoA large, mostly nocturnal forest antelope of sub-Saharan Africa with a chestnut coat, 10–15 thin white stripes and heavy spiral horns on both sexes.
• 🐒BonoboAlong with the chimpanzee, our closest living relative.
• 🦋ButterflyWinged insects with large, often brightly coloured wings, around 18,500 species in all.
• 🐊CaimanSix species of alligator relatives from Central and South America, living in marshes, swamps, lakes and mangrove rivers and fairly nocturnal.
• 🐒Capuchin monkeyClever New World monkeys famous for their foraging skills, including using stones to crack open nuts.
• 🐾CassowaryThree species of huge, flightless birds from the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia.
• 🦎ChameleonAbout 200 species of Old World lizard with independently moving eyes, a projectile tongue and gripping feet and tail.
• 🐒ChimpanzeeA great ape of the forests and savannas of equatorial Africa and, with the bonobo, humanity’s closest living relative.
• 🐾CivetOver a dozen species of small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammals of tropical Asia and Africa, most in the family Viverridae.
• 🐆Clouded leopardA medium-sized wild cat of Asian forests, named for the large cloud-like blotches on its grey or ochre coat.
• 🪳CockroachAbout 4,600 species of flat-bodied insects, only about 30 of which live around people.
• 🐾Electric eelNocturnal freshwater fish of South America that stun prey with electric shocks.
• 🐘ElephantThree living species, the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant, and the largest land animals alive.
• 🐸FrogTailless, short-bodied amphibians, making up about 88% of all amphibian species.
• 🦇Fruit batAbout 197 species of megabats, including the flying foxes, the family with the largest bats.
• 🦎GeckoNearly 2,000 species of small, mostly nocturnal lizards, the most species-rich lizard group.
• 🦧GibbonThe lesser apes: about 20 species of tailless apes of Asian forests.
• 🦍GorillaThe largest living primates: great apes of the tropical forests of equatorial Africa, living in troops led by a silverback male.
• 🐒Howler monkeyFifteen species of large New World monkeys, the most widespread primate genus in the Neotropics.
• 🐦HummingbirdThe smallest birds, about 375 species native to the Americas.
• 🦎IguanaLarge plant-eating lizards of tropical America, with a dewlap and a crest of long scales down the back.
• 🐾IndriOne of the two largest living lemurs, black and white with a stump of a tail, found only in the forests of eastern Madagascar.
• 🐆JaguarThe biggest cat in the Americas and the only one of the roaring big cats native there.
• 🐾Kingfisher118 species of small to medium, brightly coloured birds with large heads and long, sharp bills.
• 🐾KinkajouA tree-dwelling relative of raccoons and coatis from the rainforests of Mexico and Central and South America.
• 🐆LeopardThe most widespread wild cat, a spotted, secretive hunter that survives almost anywhere with cover: rainforest, savanna, mountains and semi-desert across Africa and Asia.
• 🦎LizardScaly reptiles, usually with four legs, with over 7,000 species.
• 🐒MacaqueA genus of 23 species of sturdy, social monkeys.
• 🦜MacawLarge, long-tailed and often colourful New World parrots in six genera.
• 🐒MandrillA large monkey of west-central African rainforests and one of the most colourful mammals, with red and blue skin on its face and rump.
• 🐒MarmosetTwenty-two species of tiny New World monkeys, most about 20 cm long.
• 🐵MonkeyPrimates of the Americas, Africa and Asia, split into New World and Old World monkeys.
• 🦌MuntjacFourteen species of small deer from South and Southeast Asia, also called barking deer.
• 🐆OcelotA medium-sized spotted wild cat of the Americas and the largest member of its genus.
• 🐾OkapiA forest animal of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with zebra-like stripes on its legs but a close relative of the giraffe.
• 🦧OrangutanGreat apes that live almost entirely in trees, now found only on Borneo and Sumatra.
• 🦔PangolinScale-covered, ant-eating mammals of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, also called scaly anteaters.
• 🦜ParrotAbout 410 species of intelligent, mostly tropical birds with strong curved beaks and grasping feet.
• 🐟PiranhaFreshwater fish of South American rivers and floodplains with razor-sharp teeth.
• 🐸Poison dart frogOver 170 species of small, often brilliantly coloured frogs from the rainforests of Central and South America, active by day.
• 🦗Praying mantisOver 2,400 species of predatory insects with big, grasping front legs held folded as if praying.
• 🐒Proboscis monkeyA large, reddish-brown monkey found only on Borneo, named for the male’s huge nose, which can be over 10 cm long and hangs below the mouth.
• 🐍PythonA family of 39 non-venomous snakes of Africa, Asia and Australia, including some of the largest snakes in the world.
• 🐾QuollSix species of spotted carnivorous marsupials from Australia and New Guinea, also once called native cats.
• 🦥SlothSlow-moving tree mammals of Central and South American rainforests, named for their very low metabolism.
• 🐾Slow lorisSlow, quiet nocturnal primates of Southeast Asia with big reflective eyes and stubby tails hidden in their fur.
• 🐍SnakeLimbless reptiles with more than 4,170 species, found on every continent except Antarctica.
• 🐒Spider monkeySeven species of long-limbed New World monkeys that live high in the rainforest canopy.
• 🐒Squirrel monkeySmall New World monkeys with short, close fur: black at the shoulders, yellow or orange on the back and limbs, and white on the face.
• 🐾Stick insectPlant-eating insects camouflaged as sticks or leaves, found on every continent except Antarctica, most of all in the tropics.
• 🐻Sun bearThe smallest bear, from the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, named for the orange to cream patch on its chest.
• 🐒TamarinSquirrel-sized New World monkeys in 22 species, many with moustache-like facial hair.
• 🐾TapirLarge, pig-shaped plant-eaters with a short, flexible trunk.
• 🕷️TarantulaLarge, often hairy spiders, over a thousand species in almost 200 genera.
• 🐾TardigradeAbout 1,500 species of plump, eight-legged micro-animals, usually about 0.5 mm long, also called water bears or moss piglets.
• 🐾TarsierTiny primates of the islands of Southeast Asia with enormous eyes: each eyeball is about 16 mm across and as big as the whole brain.
• 🐾TenrecA family of 31 species found only on Madagascar.
• 🐯TigerThe biggest of the striped cats and a solitary ambush hunter of forests, from Indian mangroves to snowy Russian taiga.
• 🐾ToucanOver 40 species of brightly marked birds of the American tropics with huge, often colourful bills.

How each answer is decided: How we answer. Every animal, in one list: All animals.