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AMAZON QUICK FACTS obtained from a variety of sources, simply organized, none verified and not meant to be the definitive guide to AMAZON facts. The AMAZON is the largest and densest rainforest on earth The AMAZON covers 2.5 million miles, about the size of the USA west of the Mississippi If AMAZONas were a country, it would be the 9th largest on earth Each minute the AMAZON River discharges 3.4 million gallons of water into the Atlantic, 14 times the discharge of the Mississippi The AMAZON runs 4007 miles from its origin in the Andes to the Atlantic, making it the second longest river on earth During its journey it touches and-or travels through 8 countries There are 200 major tributaries of which 17 are more than 1000 miles long and 10 of which discharge more water than the Mississippi Its vegetation represents about 1/3 of the remaining forest on earth and provides about 15% of the world's new oxygen Scientists have catalogued: 2500 species of fish 1500 species of birds 1800 species of butterflys 4 types of big cats 200 species of mosquitos 50,000 species of higher plants

It is estimated that nearly half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter-century due to rainforest deforestation.

Commercial logging is the single largest cause of rainforest destruction, both directly and indirectly. Other activities destroying the rainforest, including clearing land for grazing animals and subsistence farming. The simple fact is that people are destroying the Amazon rainforest and the rest of the rainforests of the world because "they can't see the forest for the trees."

When a medicine man dies without passing his arts on to the next generation, the tribe and the world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants.

The Amazon Rainforest By Alec The Amazon rainforest has many different plants that can be used as herbal medicines. Some of the most important medicines come from the Amazon. They have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years. These plants can be deadly if taken in large doses, but in small doses they can be very helpful. They can be used to cure headaches, skin irritation, high blood pressures, and many other diseases. Here are some of them. White Trillium The white trillium has three petals, three sepals, and three leaves. If the leaves are chewed, it can help cure snake bites. If the plant’s petals are chewed, they can help ease childbirth, and the sepals if chewed are used to help cure fevers. Cinchona Tree (Cinchona officinalis) The bark of this tree is used to make Quinine, a medicine that helps treat Malaria, a serious disease. A number of various other chemicals can also be made from Cinchona, and these chemicals include cinchonine, cinchonidine and quinidine. However, quinine has been replaced by other drugs such as chloroquine and mefloquine, and now quinine is rarely used to treat malaria. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) The leaves of this plant contain digitalis, a substance used to treat heart problems. When taken in large doses it can produce palpitations and dizziness, but when taken in smaller doses it can help the heart beat more slowly. This medicine had many effects, and sometimes it cured in miraculous ways, but it mostly produced violent reactions, occasionally killing because it was taken in very large doses. The foxglove tea is used as a morning tea to aid in birth control. Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) The opium poppy is used to make Morphine and Codeine, two drugs that are used as painkillers. The opium gum may be crudely refined and smoked, or converted to morphine and heroin.

A highly endangered specie of the Amazon river, it can grow up to 6 feet long and a weight of around 70 pounds.

the anaconda continue to grow throughout its entire life, reaching up to 37 feet long and astonishing 600 pounds of mass.

One of the most beautifl creatures of the Amazon river

Of these varying Amer-Indian people living in the Amazon Rainforest, one of the largest groups is the Yanomami.  “Yano” translates to “communal house”.  Their village life is centered around the “yano”, or communal house.  The “yano” is a large, circular shelter constructed of vine and leaf thatch, which has a living space in the middle.   Village activity revolves around the main house which has multiple living quarters built in the center.  

The Amazon is the world's largest and most famous rainforest. The Amazon River Basin is roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States (the United States not including Alaska and Hawaii) and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname. The basin is drained by the Amazon River, the world's largest river (and the second longest river after the Nile). The Amazon is home to more species of plants and animals than any other ecosystem on the planet and perhaps 30% of the world's species are found there. Some of the better known animals found in the Amazon include the jaguar, tapir, and many kinds of monkeys.

Today, more than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed and is gone forever.

Arapaima, Paiche or Pirarucu is one of the 500 species of catfish inhabiting the Amazon rainforest. The largest scale fish in the Amazonia. World's largest freshwater fish. An air-breathing, carnivorous fish that can grow up to 10 feet long and can weigh up to 400 pounds. One individual can yield 70 kg of meat. Pirarucu ranks among the most ancient fish on earth - Jurassic period, 200 million years back. Its name comes from Tupi language which means something like "red fish".

•  Natural rubber (or latex): used to make many rubber products from electronic components to condoms. Rubber was responsible for the first economic cycle of development in the Amazon rainforest. Natural rubber is extracted from tall trees called "Seringueiras" and still today is a major activity for many families. •  Brazil-nut: the nut is actually a seed. The Brazil-nut is one of the biggest nuts of the world and is exported all over the planet. Local populations use this nutritious seed to make all sort of food and condiments; •  Guarana: is a small berry-like fruit that is very sweet and juicy. You can taste it in natural refreshments anywhere in Brazil , they are also used to make sodas. Brazilians are very fond of their guarana sodas and it's something they usually miss when living outside Brazil . Because of that you can find it in any city that has a Brazilian community like Miami , New York or Paris. People use Guarana to stay awake and active in parties and raves, since guarana has an effect similar to caffeine without the problems related to it. Nowadays some companies sell Guarana as a weigh loss substance, although its value for weight loss has not been proven.

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

Scientists believe that there is such a great diversity of animals because rainforests are the oldest ecosystem on earth.

Many animals species have developed relationships with each other that benefit both species. Birds and mammal species love to eat the tasty fruits provided by trees. Even fish living in the Amazon River rely on fruits dropped from forest trees. In turn, the fruit trees depend upon these animals to eat their fruit, which helps them to spread their seeds to far-off parts of the forest.

There are around 800 species, of which the largest group is bats. In fact, there are more species of bats in the Amazon than anywhere else.

Life has been generous in its allocation of fish species to the Amazon region. Around 2,000 species are described, but scientists estimate at least another 1,000 remain to be discovered

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

AMAZON PINK RIVER DOLPHIN...Legendary creatureof the rainforest

faculties.... The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree an