Animal Adventures South America

Animal Adventures
South America

Many have compared the topography of South America to a bowl because the inner part of the continent is relatively flat and most of the perimeter is lined with mountain ranges including the Andes Mountains, the longest mountain range in the world. Most of the continent is tropical, but a wide range of climates can be found in South America, which is why it’s so biodiverse. South America is home to the Amazon River, and while it isn’t the longest river in the world it does carry the most water. In fact, The Amazon River has more water than the other 10 largest rivers combined.

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottlenose dolphins are highly communicative and use a combination of vocal communication and body language. Each dolphin even creates its own unique whistle when it’s born that it uses to identify itself. Bottlenose dolphins are very social and have been observed...

Bull Shark

Like other sharks, bull sharks need to constantly have salt in their bodies in order to survive, which is why they only live in saltwater. But bull sharks have special adaptations that help them store salt in their bodies, giving them the ability to spend some...

Cane Toad

Cane toads are poisonous in every stage of life from egg, to tadpole, to adult. As adults, they ooze poison out of glands by the sides of their eyes and are also able to squirt it at targets like a water gun. Cane toads don’t drink water. Instead, they get all the...

Common Octopus

Because octopi don't have skeletons they are able to manipulate their bodies to fit into super tight spaces. In addition to their malleability they are also able to change colors in order to camouflage with their environment. When hiding and blending in aren’t...

Dung Beetle

There are three categories of dung beetle based on how they use dung. Tunnelers bury their dung, dwellers live in piles of it, and rollers roll it into big balls. Sometimes after a beetle rolls a ball of dung, other beetles will try to steal it from...

Electric Eel

Electric eels have organs in their bodies which release electric charges of up to 650 volts. This is five times as much power as a standard wall socket. Besides hunting and protection from predators, electric eels use their electricity for navigation. They’re...

Firefly

Fireflies’ light comes from a reaction that happens when oxygen is combined with a substance in their abdomen called luciferin. They use this natural light, which is referred to as bioluminescence, in order to communicate with each other and each species has a...

Galápagos Tortoise

The Galápagos tortoise is the biggest tortoise in the world. The largest Galápagos tortoise ever recorded was 6 feet (1.83m) long and weighed 919 lbs (416.85kg). Galápagos tortoises don’t eat much and their metabolisms are so slow that they can go a year without...

Gecko

Geckos have hairlike structures on their toes that bond to any surface they step on. This allows them to run across tree branches and even crawl up walls and across ceilings. Geckos are one of very few types of lizards to have a voice and sound a little bit like a...

Giant Squid

At 10 inches (25cm) in diameter, giant squids have the second largest eyes out of any animal. Their huge eyes help them see deep underwater where it would be too dark for most animals to see anything at all. Because they live so deep undersea, scientists know very...