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Reptiles have been around for 300 million years, and during the age of the dinosaurs, they ruled the Earth. Those days are long gone, and those giants have vanished, but some 6,500 species of reptiles still thrive today. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles are all reptiles. Most reptiles live on land, and most lay eggs. They are vertebrates, and, unlike any other animals, are covered in scales. They are cold-blooded, and regulate their body temperature by seeking or avoiding the sun's heat.

The rainforest is an ideal place for many types of animals to live. There is plenty of water, shelter and food, and it is warm all year.

Many reptiles and amphibians also live in the forest. The most spectacular is the anaconda which can measure 9 metres. Others include the colourful, but deadly poisonous coral snake, the python and the carpet snake (a delicacy according to the natives who eat it

Tropical birds are also very numerous. Over 500 species are found in one small reserve in Costa Rica which is almost as many as the entire number of bird species found in the United Kingdom.

The forests and rivers of the Amazon harbor more species of reptiles than anywhere else on earth

Desert biomes can be classified according to several characteristics. There are four major types of deserts: Hot and dry Semiarid Coastal Cold

Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's surface and occur where rainfall is less than 50 cm/year.

The animals include small nocturnal (active at night) carnivores. The dominant animals are burrowers and kangaroo rats. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds. The animals stay inactive in protected hideaways during the hot day and come out to forage at dusk, dawn or at night, when the desert is cooler.

Many species of animal life can be found in the rain forest. Common characteristics found among mammals and birds (and reptiles and amphibians, too) include adaptations to a life in the trees, such as the prehensile tails of New World monkeys. Other characteristics are bright colors and sharp patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets heavy on fruits. Insects make up the largest single group of animals that live in tropical forests. They include brightly colored butterflies, mosquitoes, camouflaged stick insects, and huge colonies of ants. The Amazon river basin rainforest contains a wider variety of plant and animal life than any other biome in the world. The second largest population of plant and animal life can be found in scattered locations and islands of Southeast Asia. The lowest variety can be found in Africa. There may be 40 to 100 different species in 2.5 acres ( 1 hectare) of a tropical rain forest.   When early explorers first discovered the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, they They were amazed by the dense growth, trees with giant buttresses, vines and epiphytes . The tropical vegetation grew so dense that it was difficult to cut one's way through it. It was thought at the time that the soil of a rainforest must be very fertile, filled with nutrients, enabling it to support the immense trees and other vegetation they found. Today we know that the soil of the tropical rainforests is shallow, very poor in nutrients and almost without soluble minerals. Thousands of years of heavy rains have washed away the nutrients in the soil obtained from weathered rocks. The rainforest has a very short nutrient cycle. Nutrients generally stay in an ecosystem by being recycled and in a rainforest are mainly found in the living plants and the layers of decomposing leaf litter. Various species of decomposers like insects, bacteria, and fungi make quick work of turning dead plant and animal matter into nutrients. Plants take up these nutrients the moment they are released. A study in the Amazon rainforest found that 99% of nutrients are held in root mats. When a rainforest is burned or cut down the nutrients are removed from the ecosystem. The soil can only be used for a very short time before it becomes completely depleted of all nutrients.

Besides these four layers, a shrub/sapling layer receives about 3 % of the light that filters in through the canopies. These stunted trees are capable of a sudden growth surge when a gap in the canopy opens above them. The air beneath the lower canopy is almost always humid. The trees themselves give off water through the pores (stomata) of their leaves. This process, called transpiration, can account for as much as half of the precipitation in the rain forest. Rainforest plants have made many adaptations to their environment. With over 80 inches of rain per year, plants have made adaptations that helps them shed water off their leaves quickly so the branches don't get weighed down and break. Many plants have drip tips and grooved leaves, and some leaves have oily coatings to shed water. To absorb as much sunlight as possible on the dark understory, leaves are very large. Some trees have leaf stalks that turn with the movement of the sun so they always absorb the maximum amount of light. Leaves in the upper canopy are dark green, small and leathery to reduce water loss in the strong sunlight. Some trees will grow large leaves at the lower canopy level and small leaves in the upper canopy. Other plants grow in the upper canopy on larger trees to get sunlight. These are the epiphytes such as orchids and bromeliads. Many trees have buttress and stilt roots for extra support in the shallow, wet soil of the rainforests. Over 2,500 species of vines grow in the rainforest. Lianas start off as small shrubs that grow on the forest floor. To reach the sunlight in the upper canopy it sends out tendrils to grab sapling trees. The liana and the tree grow towards the canopy together. The vines grow from one tree to another and make up 40% of the canopy leaves. The rattan vine has spikes on the underside of its leaves that point backwards to grab onto sapling trees. Other "strangler" vines will use trees as support and grow thicker and thicker as they reach the canopy, strangling its host tree. They look like trees whose centers have been hollowed out. Dominant species do not exist in tropical rainforests. Lowland dipterocarp forest can consist of many different species of Dipterocarpaceae, but not all of the same species. Trees of the same species are very seldom found growing close together. This bio diversity and separation of the species prevents mass contamination and die-off from disease or insect infestation. Bio diversity also insures that there will be enough pollinators to take care of each species' needs. Animals depend on the staggered blooming and fruiting of rainforest plants to supply them with a year-round source of food.

There are four very distinct layers of trees in a tropical rain forest. These layers have been identified as the emergent, upper canopy, understory, and forest floor. Emergent trees are spaced wide apart, and are 100 to 240 feet tall with umbrella-shaped canopies that grow above the forest. Because emergent trees are exposed to drying winds, they tend to have small, pointed leaves. Some species lose their leaves during the brief dry season in monsoon rainforests. These giant trees have straight, smooth trunks with few branches. Their root system is very shallow, and to support their size they grow buttresses that can spread out to a distance of 30 feet. The upper canopy of 60 to 130 foot trees allows light to be easily available at the top of this layer, but greatly reduced any light below it. Most of the rainforest's animals live in the upper canopy. There is so much food available at this level that some animals never go down to the forest floor. The leaves have "drip spouts" that allows rain to run off. This keeps them dry and prevents mold and mildew from forming in the humid environment. The understory, or lower canopy, consists of 60 foot trees. This layer is made up of the trunks of canopy trees, shrubs, plants and small trees. There is little air movement. As a result the humidity is constantly high. This level is in constant shade. The forest floor is usually completely shaded, except where a canopy tree has fallen and created an opening. Most areas of the forest floor receive so little light that few bushes or herbs can grow there. As a result, a person can easily walk through most parts of a tropical rain forest. Less than 1 % of the light that strikes the top of the forest penetrates to the forest floor. The top soil is very thin and of poor quality. A lot of litter falls to the ground where it is quickly broken down by decomposers like termites, earthworms and fungi. The heat and humidity further help to break down the litter. This organic matter is then just as quickly absorbed by the trees' shallow roots

What is a Rainforest?

Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.

ropical rainforests are found in a belt around the equator of the Earth. There are tropical rainforests across South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia (and nearby islands).

Hornbills are important to the tropical rainforest of Borneo. Their bills help them eat large fruits and carry seeds to new areas of the forest

The island of Borneo started as a single volcano beneath the sea. Millions of years ago, it erupted. Over time, smaller eruptions and earthquakes joined land together to form an island. Today, Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is twice the size of Japan. Three countries share the island: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Over 16 million people live on Borneo. Borneo’s landscape and wildlife are diverse and include high mountains and rugged coastlines. Most of the island is covered with dense, ancient tropical rainforest. Borneo’s rare and endangered wildlife includes the orangutan, Asian elephant, proboscis monkey, flying frog, and many species of rare plants.

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on earth. A four-square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians, and 150 species of butterflies. More than 50% of the world's plant and animal species inhabit the 7% of the world that is covered in rainforest.

Some forests in Southeast Asia have been around for more than 100 million years, when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. During the Ice Ages, the last of which occurred about 10,000 years ago, the frozen areas of the North and South Poles spread over much of the earth, causing huge numbers of extinctions.

While there are many species of plants in a square-mile of tropical rainforest, there may only be one or two of each. In addition as most of the species are found nowhere else on Earth, by removing one plant or animal, the fragile ecosystem would be threatened, and the species may be forced into extinction.

A Food Pyramid in the Hot Desert Biome      Here we see a food pyramid that shows how the Kilocalories pass up the food chain.      The first trophic level is occupied by the primary producers, which are the plants.  Plants make food through photosynthesis. The limiting factor for these plants is the shortage of water, so they produce fewer than 200 Kilocalories of food for the animals for each square meter each year.     The primary consumers, who eat the plants, occupy the second trophic level. These animals have very little to eat, and are small. Many are insects, or reptiles, who are cold blooded and who use less energy to maintain their bodies than mammals and birds do. As food for predators, they provide about 20 Kilocalories per square meter per year for predators.      The predators are the secondary consumers. They occupy the third trophic level. Again we see cold-blooded animals, such as snakes, insect-eating lizards, and tarantualas. Only about 2 Kilocalories per square meter per year are stored in their bodies. In the harsher desert environments, they are the top predators.     In areas where deserts get more rain, more plant material is produced and a few tertiary consumers may be able to survive. They form a fourth trophic level.      This diagram shows the energy available at each trophic level in the hot desert biome. These numbers tell about the numbers of Kilocalories per square meter per year.  Cold Desert Energy Pyramid  Introduction to Desert Biomes  Return to Introduction to Biomes © Elizabeth Anne Viau, 1999. This material may be used freely for instructional purposes but not sold for a price beyond the cost of reproduction. Please inform the author if you use it at eviau@earthlink.net

The Reticulated Python is located in Southeast Asia in countries including but not limited to Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Reticulated Python's diet consist of birds, mammals of different sizes including deer and pigs and on very rare occasions possibly humans.  Pythons will typically wait in hiding for prey to move close by before striking.  The Reticulated Python is not venomous; like other members of the Boa family it will use its large muscular body to constrict and suffocate its prey.  HabitatThe Reticulated Python can usually be found near water, including ponds and rivers, in warm and humid tropical rainforests of southeast Asia.  They may also have a tendency to live near human activity.     SizeThe average length of an adult Reticulated Python can range from 15 - 25 feet making it the longest snake and reptile in the world.  It is possible for Reticulated Pythons to grow over 30 feet in length.  The adult weight can be over 300 pounds.ReproductionUnlike other members of the Boa Family who bear live young, Pythons will lay eggs.  The female Reticulated Python can have between 25 - 100 eggs at a time.  The mother will coil around the eggs and create muscular vibrations to raise the temperature of the eggs several degrees.