Welcome to the animal Encyclopaedia
This page contains animals from A-Z armadillos, falcons and every animal you can think of from armadillos to tyras <if you're looking for pretend animals you should check out(click neopets to go to that web site)>< Order: Armadillos Family: Dasypodidae Species: Dasypus novemcinctus
The Nine-banded Long-nosed Armadillos are identified by their hairless upper parts, covered with a bony armor, usually nine movable bands around their mid-body, and scales on movable bands on narrow triangles, and scales on the rest of their armor which are small and rounded. Their upper parts are usually gray, paling gradually to yellowish sides, but this color is often hidden by clay from burrowing. They have a long and narrow muzzle, large ears, set close together, almost touching at their bases, with no armor in between. Their tail is long, tapered and armored with distinct rings (the first 60%, of it), these rings are often with contrasting pale border. Their hind-feet have five claws, and their forefeet have four central claws, which are somewhat enlarged. Their under parts are almost hairless and pinkish yellow.
There are similar to the great long-nosed armadillos (D. kappleri) and seven-banded long-nosed armadillos (D. septemcinctus). Their sounds are not usually heard, but they snuffle while foraging. They are one of the noisiest travelers in the forest, treading heavily on dead leaves and shoving through the undergrowth. Nine Banded Long Nosed Armadillos are fast moving, nocturnal and moves about with a crashing sound. Although they are chiefly nocturnal, they may sometimes be diurnal, terrestrial, and solitary. They feed mostly on ants, termites, and other insects, but will eat many kinds of small animal prey, carrion, and some fruit, fungi, and other plant material.
Nine-banded armadillos are found throughout the forest but are most often seen in thickets and dense vegetation on sloping, well-drained firm land and rarely on flat plains subject to prolonged flooding. Small diggings in the soil show where an armadillo has been foraging. They walk or trot rapidly, often using well-worn pathways. They are found in a wide range of mature and secondary habitats from deep rainforest to grassland and dry scrub. They are common and widespread and live in North, Central and South America. Unfortunately, they are hunted extensively for its excellent meat, which is often an important food source, so it is sometimes scarce in areas populated with subsistence hunters. Armadillos seem to withstand a heavy hunting pressure. Northern Raccoon Order: Tapirs (Perissodactyla) Family: Tapiridae Species: Tapirus bairdii
The Baird's Tapir is identified by their particular body shape, their head and legs are a uniform blackish brown, their head has a flat crown, and their mane is often poorly developed or absent. Their proboscis is slightly longer, ad their lower cheeks and chest are usually a bit more whitish or grayish while their body is more often reddish. The small young tapirs are chestnut-red with white stripes and spots, while the older young are browner. They are similar with the Brazilian Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) and Capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris). When surprised the may stamp their feet loudly. They communicate with a loud whistle (unfortunately, they answer imitations of this call made by hunters, who then easily find and shoot them).
Baird's Tapirs are nocturnal and diurnal, terrestrial and usually solitary, while family groups seem to use a small area. They spend almost 90% of their waking time feeding on browse, grass, and fruits. Sometimes they sleep in the water. They are found in rainforest and montane forests, swamps, and flooded grasslands throughout Central and South America. They are threatened by hunting and deforestation. (CITES, Appendix I) Collared Peccary Order: Peccaries Family: Tayassuidae Species: Tayassu tajacu
Their uniformly grizzled gray-black upper parts, a faint but distinct collar or a stripe of pale yellow hairs, which extend from top to shoulder forward to the lower cheek, identifies Collared Peccary. Their mid-back from head to rump has a crest of long hairs, raised in excitement, and a large scent gland along the spine. Their hair is sparse; they have coarse bristles, banded black and white or yellow. Their head is large, sharply tapering from their large jowls to a narrow nose, their nostrils are in a naked, mobile disk small, protruding a little beyond the rostrum, and they have large canines, form distinct limps under lip, do not protrude.
Their eyes are small with a weak eye shine. They have reddish, small ears, covered with short hair. Their tail is tiny, or better said, not visible. Their forefeet have two large toes and two smaller rear toes that do not touch the ground (so they don't appear in tracks), while their hind feet have two large toes and one smaller toe. Their young are grizzled reddish brown. They are pig-like, with a stout body, a thick neck and thin, delicate legs. The Collared Peccary is similar to the white-lipped peccary (T. pecary), Chacoan peccaries (Catagonus wagneri) Capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris).
Their sound is usually quiet, but if surprised at close range may give very loud doglike barks, "Whoof" while in flight. They may also clack their teeth sharply. Their grunts (perhaps threats) are rarely heard. They chew on nuts and snails with a loud cracking. Collared peccary are diurnal in the rainforest; they are terrestrial, and form groups of 1 to 20 members, usually 6 to 9. Loose groups often change in composition: males are sometimes solitary. In rainforests they feed on fruit, palm nuts, browse, snails, other invertebrates, and small vertebrates. They release a strong odor, like cheese or chicken soup, especially when alarmed, and they frequently mark their trails by scraping the ground in front of a pole with their hooves, defecating in the scrape, and rubbing their back gland on the pole. They regularly use mud wallows and salt licks in favored, traditional spots. Collared peccaries are wary and surprisingly quiet and difficult to approach; they stampede in panic when they detect humans, and they are not dangerous (but those raised in captivity or habituated to man may be very aggressive, and inflict serious bite wounds). They are found in different habitats: from dry, shrubby Sonora desert and chaco to deep rainforest. Note that their behavior is different in hot, dry habitats, where peccaries feed on cacti, and where they are active at night. In this habitat they do not use burrows. They live in Central and South America. They are widespread and locally common, but hunted intensively for meat, sport, and hides. Collared peccaries are rare or absent near many settlements but not threatened, in general. Margay
Puma Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Species: Puma concolor
The Puma is identified by its upper parts uniform tawny yellow-brown to dark reddish. Its head is relatively small; the facial markings are prominent: its muzzle around mouth white, the patch at base of whiskers blackish and the throat whitish. Its eye shine is bright pale yellow. The tail is darkening to blackish tip. Its under parts are paler than back. When young is spotted with dark brown. It is large, long-legged, rangy cats, slightly swaybacked when standing.
Pumas are similar with jaguarundis (H. yaguarondi) and they are not usually heard in field, but young emit a shrill whistle and females in heat call with loud screams.
They are nocturnal and diurnal, terrestrial, solitary. Feeds chiefly on medium sized and large mammals such as deer, agoutis, and pacas, but also eats smaller prey such as snakes and rats. Pumas are found throughout the rainforest, where they seem to keep mostly to dry ground. They are lovers of wilderness, normally shy and wary of man, and are rarely seen even where common. The Puma is the most adaptable of the world's cats and is found in many climates from boreal to tropical, desert to rainforest, and lowland to montane, in forest, woodland, and scrub habitats with abundant game. They live in the North, Central and South America. Widespread but always uncommon or rare, locally hunted as a predator of livestock, extinct over much of former range, and locally threatened by deforestation and over hunting of its prey (CITES Appendix I) The Pumas are also locally called Leon, Leon Colorado, Leon de montaña, red tiger, tig rouge, and guasura.
Jaguar Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Species: Panthera onca
The Jaguar is identified by its upper parts tawny yellow with black spots, many on back and sides in open circles or rosettes, the neck is spotted above and below not striped, its fur is short and smooth. The head is very large, and its canine teeth are long and stout, its eye shine is bright greenish yellow, the ears are rounded, white inside and black behind tips. The tail is long, spotted or banded with black. The under parts are white with black spots. Its very large and heavy, built for power, and it is not speedy, with a short back, thick body, robust, short legs and large feet.
The Jaguars are similar with ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) and they occasionally roar, day or night with a pulsed series of single, deep, resonant, hoarse grunts that can be heard for several hundred meters.
They are nocturnal and diurnal, terrestrial, solitary. Feeds chiefly on large mammals such as capybaras, peccaries, and deer, also on turtles, tortoises, caiman, birds, fish, and smaller mammals such as sloths and agoutis. They are found in a wide range of habitats from rainforest to wet grasslands and arid scrub. They live in North, Central and South America. It is difficult to estimate populations, but jaguars are rare or absent in many parts of their former range due to over hunting for the fur trade, loss of habitat by deforestation, persecution by ranchers, and probably loss of their prey. Only a few hundred are thought to remain in all of Mesoamerica, but they are still widespread and can be locally common in Amazonia. (CITES, Appendix I) Jaguarundi Jaguarundis live in North, Central and South America. They are widespread and not hunted for fur trade but apparently, uncommon or rare everywhere. (CITES Appendix I, US-ESA endangered (Central and North America only) Spider Monkey
Anteater or Northern Tamandua Order: Xenarthra Family: Myrmecophagidae Species: Tamandua Mexicana
The Tamandua Mexicana is externally identical to the Southern Tamandua except that the Northern Tamandua is distinguished from it by characters of the skull. All individuals are black vested. Similar species are the monkeys, which have a short muzzle and Giant Anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), which have bushy tails and are much larger.
They are diurnal and nocturnal, arboreal, terrestrial and solitary. It feeds mainly on ants, termites, and bees extracted after ripping apart their nests with their fore claws. Tamanduas can be seen foraging on the ground or in the canopy anywhere in the forest, but seem most common beside watercourses and epiphyte-laden habitats, where their prey may be concentrated. By day in the rainforest a dense cloud of flies and mosquitoes accompanies them so they often brush their eyes with a forepaw. When inactive, tamanduas rest in hollow trees, burrows of other animals or other natural shelters. Their geographic range is Central and South America; from the south of Mexico throughout all of Central America and in South America in the west of the Andes and from Northern Venezuela to Northern Peru. They are threatened by habitat destruction in much of its range (CITES Apendix III)
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