Wildlife
The Amazon is home to more than half of the most incredible species of plants and animals. In fact, in only a four square mile patch of land, over 125 mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 reptiles, 60 amphibians, and over 150 species of butterflies may be found! This an incredible area of the world which is known for its wide variety of wildlife. The Amazon is actually specifically known for its high density rainforest consisting of trees that may reach over 130 meters high. In other words, this is equal to about the height of about 216 giraffes standing on top of each other. In these kinds of heavily forested areas the upper canopy tends to be a hard area to study. So far, in the amazon the upper canopy hasn't been properly studied, while many botanists aren't able to get to these areas of the forest. In the upper canopy alone, botanists expect and have estimated that it may be home to thousands of undiscovered insects and birds
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Did You Know...
- Approximately 20% of the Earth's oxygen comes from the Amazon Rainforest, otherwise known as the "Lungs of the Planet"
- The Amazon is home to more than half of the world's species
- 20% of the world’s bird species live in the Amazon rainforest
- The Amazon rainforest accounts for more than half of the entire world's remaining rainforests
Landforms
The Amazon is not only famous for its incredible variety of wildlife but also some of the landforms it is home to as well. Provided below are some of the landforms the Amazon is most famous for:
- The Andes Mountains (Mountain Range)
- The Amazon River (River)
- Floodplain Forests
- Lowland Forests